Speaker 1: 0:00

JM Ryerson, a successful entrepreneur and leadership coach, has founded and sold three businesses. With over 20 years of experience in business and sales leadership, he now helps leaders and teams achieve peak performance through coaching, speaking and writing. As CEO of let's Go Win, he's dedicated to fostering leadership, enhancing culture and inspiring personal growth. Let's see what makes JM so buzzworthy. Welcome to the Buzzworthy Marketing Show. Welcome to the show JM.

Speaker 2: 0:41

Hey brother, Thanks for having me. Always good to see you. Anytime I get a little buzz in my life, it's never a bad thing.

Speaker 1: 0:49

I love it. I love it. So since the last time I talked to you, I've actually moved to Virginia. You did not know that, I did not know that.

Speaker 2: 0:57

How's that treating you, brother? Are you enjoying?

Speaker 1: 1:00

it, it's so much better. So for those who don't know, I lived in. I grew up in Northern California. I was actually born an Air Force brat over in England, so I've been everywhere. I've lived in four countries, eight states now.

Speaker 1: 1:13

But I lived in Alaska for 17 years and when I took my business virtual, I let my wife decide whether she wanted to get another job. She was working for the University of Alaska at the time. There's a lot of politics going on. It's like well, I'm virtual, now I can go anywhere I want. I got rid of a 13,000 square foot facility and now I'm a free man. And she said, all right, and so she started looking around.

Speaker 1: 1:38

We ended up in Springfield, illinois, mid-state cornfields and soybean fields. That's it. So huge, huge uh scenery shock, if you will. Oh my gosh and um and the the weather was tremendously different in the whole nine yards and we were, and then that ended up. Her job ended up being a shit show there, and so this last uh move here now we've moved twice in five years is to uh, just outside of richmond, um, she's working in at the colonial williamsburg foundation and loving life. It's it's right, in line with her purpose and her impact that she wants to give in in her community, with history education um a whole nine yards. So yeah, loving it, living on a golf course now.

Speaker 2: 2:25

So like I can't complain, Well, hopefully you're getting some golfing too, man, I mean that's. But you know you upgraded, no offense, springfield, illinois, but it sounds like for you and your family you upgraded. So congrats, man.

Speaker 1: 2:39

Yeah, it was funny. We came here for her interview. She had like a day long interview, eight. We came here for her interview. She had like a day long interview, eight hours of just back-to-back interviews. And we're driving from Richmond to. It was about 45 minutes between Richmond and actually it's almost an hour. Anyway, the drive down and I found myself in the car and I'm smiling and I'm like why am I smiling? And I come to find out I was like it's all the trees there, trees everywhere here. I'm like I love it and the topography is not just flat. There are no cornfields to look at. It's a beautiful thing. So I'm definitely a more of a mountains guy. So we're only like an hour and 20 minutes away from the Blue Ridge Mountains and we're only about an hour and a half away from Virginia Beach. So perfect spot for us. Uh, dc is only three hours away. There's just lots. Everything's within reach. This was beautiful. So we're we're really excited about that. So what is new in your world?

Speaker 2: 3:36

What's new in my world? I didn't move across the country like you did. Uh, I did that three and a half years ago. Uh, okay, I did that three and a half years ago. Okay, where are you at now? I'm in South Florida.

Speaker 1: 3:47

South Florida.

Speaker 2: 3:48

Okay, you're just down the street, just down the street, just down the road. Now, man, I mean shoot.

Speaker 1: 3:52

I have so many people who are retiring down in Florida and like in Illinois, that's where everybody went. They either, yeah, they were like, and so now we're done with this, we're going to Florida.

Speaker 2: 4:03

Yeah, and so they, probably the Illinois folk, ended up probably on the west coast of Florida, which you know Naples, fort Myers, the east coast. It goes by freeways, by the way. I know this isn't the question you asked, but 75 goes straight down and that's where all the Midwest ends up and west coast of Florida, 95 goes straight down think New York all the midwest ends up in west coast of florida.

Speaker 2: 4:30

95 goes straight down. Think new york all the way down. That's where they migrate to. It's crazy to me how literally it's based on traffic still today, uh but let's see what's what's new with me? My son is going to college. He will be playing tennis at marquette, so he's gonna go in the midwest and go freeze his butt off um so that's new.

Speaker 1: 4:49

Only during the winter it is hot as balls up there. I did not understand how hot it could get in a northern state. I was like what the hell is going on here.

Speaker 2: 4:59

yeah, man, the midwest man, you get some humidity, maybe not like I'm dealing with now in florida, but uh but no. So that's what's new's going to go play tennis there and that's going to be amazing for him and really hard for my wife and I, cause our baby's leaving the nest and I. It's going to be hard. Uh, business wise man, it has just been awesome. Uh, I was telling you off air, I've been just partnering with companies helping them double their revenue and it's a win-win man. They're doubling their revenue, I get a small piece of equity. It's like it has just been so much fun. So, yeah, that's been what I've been doing and it's just been fun, man, that's awesome, that's awesome.

Speaker 1: 5:48

So let's uh. So, for the folks who haven't uh heard of you before, let's talk about what your business is. Let's go win what? What does your business do and who do you serve?

Speaker 2: 5:54

Yeah, so small businesses is who I serve, and I know everybody's like what's your niche? Well, here's the deal. I niched for a minute with dentists and dentist practices because they suck.

Speaker 1: 6:07

What's that?

Speaker 2: 6:08

I said that sucks. No, I love them. I absolutely love them, because here's the deal they are awesome at drilling teeth. They suck at sales and leadership. Well, guess what? I'm good at sales, leadership and building teams, so great fit. And I did niche there for a while and I still do. I still have dental practices, but I keep getting pulled into these other areas. So what do?

Speaker 1: 6:33

I do.

Speaker 2: 6:35

I am great at sales, leadership, building teams. That's about it. There's not much more. I'm not going to be a good accountant, I'm not going to be a good COO. I'm not like no man. If you want that bad bad guy for your spot, but if you want to go kick ass and sales and leadership, like okay, give me a call. So I get to do that. I get to do what I love, because that's what I did in the first three companies that I built and sold, and now I do it on a smaller percentage, but it's, it's created this amazing win-win. So, yeah, man, uh, let's go win. It's. It's all about inspiring people live their best lives and I just that's a way that I get to do that is work with these business owners that are maybe frustrated with their growth and it's like, hey, maybe a fresh set of eyes and let's get you clear on where you're going. And it's really actually easy for me, but it's really fun, man.

Speaker 1: 7:29

I love that. So when I mean and and I I say it sucks, isn't it like if that was all you worked with was dentists? I have a friend who did that. He only worked and he's been doing it for a while. And then he went all the way down to say he only works with dentists who do veneers and he only does the marketing for the veneer part of their practice. And I was like, wow to me I'm a creative.

Speaker 1: 7:56

And the one thing that I love about my you know who we serve which are B2B professional services, consultants and fractionals is that the fundamentals are the same in the b2b services world, right, but every one of those stories is different.

Speaker 1: 8:10

Yes, but what I have found in the the single and not so much in the groups, because I do, I, I work with a group and that's much more interesting because there's multiple locations with different stories and each location and you've got to create that there. But I, I found, like with the single location, dentist that it was like just the same thing over and over. They all want the one thing and they all do all of the things right, and so it's always the same. That's why I was like, oh, that would suck, but it sounds like you're leaving your horizons open. When people come to you, what is usually the biggest pain point? I know you're going to say sales or they're going to want more, to close more, but really what is the underlying problem that you're solving when you come into a business that's struggling with their sales?

Speaker 2: 8:59

Yeah, it's really is clarity. It's funny, it's not funny, it's ironic, it's interesting. I can ask the same question to a thousand companies and 999 will get it wrong.

Speaker 2: 9:11

I'll just ask you know, hey, what are the values of the company? And one company executive will say a set of things, the next will say something different, the next will say something different, and it's. It's crazy, because you're trying to go accomplish whatever your goal is, but not everybody's on the same page. They don't even know why the company exists, what you're trying to accomplish. So really, what I start with, michael, is I just ask basic questions about who are you, what are you trying to accomplish, what are your goals? And they don't have clarity on it Once we get clarity.

Speaker 2: 9:46

now we get to work on sales. Now we get to work on what's your leadership philosophy? How do you build your team? Do you have the right people in the right seat on the bus? Should they even be on the bus to begin with? And it's crazy, brother, because it's simple questions, but they end up being pretty profound because they're spending so much time spinning their wheels with the wrong people, or the right people in the wrong place.

Speaker 2: 10:14

Once you get that cleared and it's amazing. It's like, oh, now it's not hard to grow and I just happened to figure it out along the way in my companies and now I get to share with some of the others.

Speaker 1: 10:26

It's so interesting because it's not very often that you hear somebody talk about sales and leadership, and when we talk, we hear leadership in sales or sales leadership, but not sales and leadership. Right, how did you come to connect those two as a single service in your offerings?

Speaker 2: 10:52

So here's what I say I sell them what they want and I give them what they need. Leadership doesn't really excite people. For the most part, they're like okay, great. But if I say, hey, I'm going to help double your revenue, well A they're like well, that's too good to be true, that can't happen. Well, here's my track record Every company I've ever worked with, that's too good to be true.

Speaker 1: 11:09

That can't happen.

Speaker 2: 11:09

Well, here's my track record Every company I've ever worked with that's what we do, so okay. But so I sell them what they want, which is double your revenue, and then give them what they actually need, which is all the clarity stuff that we talked about, All the leadership philosophy stuff that doesn't excite people, but it's actually what's going to allow your company to scale to much bigger heights. Now, I figured that out because I stubbed my toe along the way right and I didn't have the proper leadership.

Speaker 2: 11:38

So now it's like it's not that challenging, but we weren't taught this stuff. So now, I get a chance to just go educate and work with people and partner and that partnership brother it is. It is so fun like I just get psyched every single day because I get to go work on somebody else's dream and we get to help them accomplish it, so it's so cool that's awesome.

Speaker 1: 12:02

That's awesome, and so, and you work with companies all over the united states with companies all over the United States.

Speaker 2: 12:07

I do, yeah, man, oklahoma City to Seattle, to down here in South Florida, california, yeah, all over.

Speaker 1: 12:17

I'm sorry you have to go to California as often as you probably have to, but as a former Californian I even have a small sect of friends still left there, a couple of family members that still haven't become the California refugees quite yet. But when we're talking about doubling our sales and we talk about the leadership and the clarity, it reminds me a lot of when you're talking about values and I think that it's interesting that you know. When we do ask the C-suite, you know what are the values. It's the values that they usually wrote.

Speaker 1: 12:53

But when you ask the senior leadership right below the C-suite what those values are, they don't remember them right Because they were taught them. But then through action they're just reiterating what they know through action. So it's interesting to see how people will write values. They'll put them on their website these are our values but then when you go to work with them their actions don't reflect those values. And having that clarity of values from the top down because it is a top down culture that you don't permeate your culture from the bottom up right I don't know one company that does that successfully yet. But what do you think the biggest disconnect in getting the ownership's values permeated all the way down to the line level worker.

Speaker 2: 13:47

Yeah, there's two things A sheer repetition Every meeting I ever have with my company. The first thing I start with is who we are, what our values are, what we're trying to accomplish Very few companies do that, and the reason is I want them to repeat it over and over and over. The other thing is those values that you're talking about, or these beautiful mission statements that are on walls that no one ever looks at.

Speaker 1: 14:14

It's too much right.

Speaker 2: 14:17

Most companies they have like 10 values. Okay, great, Try to remember that you have no chance. No after three, you have diminishing return. So what I coach on is what are your three values? And you repeat it over and over and over, and here's why.

Speaker 2: 14:32

I love it. It says 66 days to create a new habit. So if you just came up with it, put it on your website and you never talked about it again, no one has a chance of knowing what the values are. You literally have to repeat it again, and again, and again. And now people start to embody it, not just words on a wall or a website, but it's actually who we are, to the core, to our DNA. It's how we are forward facing. Everyone acts that way, but it is repetition which I know isn't sexy, but it's the way it works.

Speaker 1: 15:05

But I think that that says something about business. I think that people, this generation of entrepreneurs that we're going I mean both of us have been in business for a long time and owned multiple businesses and been through the ringer a few times as well. And it's weird because when I got into business I thought, okay, once you get to a certain level, it's all smooth sailing. And boy was I wrong on that one right there. So, so then it's okay, now it's a journey. Okay, I got the journey.

Speaker 1: 15:34

But when we talk about, like the complexities of Like what you're saying, there's this beautiful mission statement, but they don't realize that it's not just writing it down and saying it over and over again, it's acting. The part I find myself as a leader. When I have anybody in my company ask me what should we do here? They give me the situation and I say what should we do here? Well, our core values say X, y, z and whatever value it is that pertains to that situation. So what do you think? And then usually they go oh, now I'm teaching them how to use the values to make decisions in the company without me.

Speaker 2: 16:19

Yeah, so good.

Speaker 1: 16:22

Sorry, no worries, no worries, I. I appreciate that. So I'm wondering, like why are values a thing that were created in the 80s and the 90s and are just because I don't see them in the newer businesses? All their? They have a vision of like I want to build a 10 million dollar company and sell it for 16x. That's's their vision. Where, when we were growing up, it was I want to impact XYZ. It was usually an impact or an influence or a disruptor action, something like that. Versus this younger generation of entrepreneurs. Where do you think the disconnect in what an actual vision and core values is in in the, in the, in these days now?

Speaker 2: 17:06

Yeah, I think there's a couple of things. A, you do have a lot of solopreneurs that they wouldn't think of it because it's their, it's their company. And why do I need values? I'm me, I know what I am and even the even. In that case, it's so important forward facing to your clients that they know who you are to the core.

Speaker 2: 17:26

Why we've gotten away from it. I don't know, man we live in a pretty complex world that it's so fast, so furious, that it's just. What can you do for me now that I think? People aren't like well you know integrity or trust, or for my company it's happy, healthy, wealthy, that literally every decision I make has to do with those, I think you are so I just got to get this done.

Speaker 2: 17:50

Like you said, I got to get to this X EBITDA so I can get out of the business. Okay, cool, and I support you on that. However, if you had your values, you will get there faster because you will service your clients better. They'll know who you are People will like savagely, refer you to other people when they're like hey get behind this company. We know who they are. I think the newer generation could get behind that. They will grow that much faster.

Speaker 1: 18:19

Oh, I love that and the fact that you know when a company is built on values and you make decisions on the values. It's almost like an instruction manual for the business. How do you guys do business? We do it through these three to five values. I agree with you the three, and we have five and we say no more than five, right. And after six it's like, okay, what's your actual priorities in those? Right.

Speaker 1: 18:50

But it's amazing when people talk about well, I'm going to sell my business, well, what are you selling? What do you mean? I'm selling my book of business. Well, what's keeping your book of business there without you? Right? And so many people are selling themselves in the service based industries that they forget that the values are something that stand on their own, even if it's just you, because you could have a solopreneur business, especially in marketing nowadays, where a big firm would buy you out because it's easy, you don't have any employees to worry about. But if you don't have those values that are being sold against versus you, you and what you, what you bring to the table for your client list, you're not it's going to be a lot harder to sell, right.

Speaker 2: 19:35

Yeah, no doubt about it. And here's the other thing it makes you not recession proof, but damn near like you you the the internet bubble, when the companies that stayed around they were the ones that were really clear on who they are 2008, 9, 10, same thing. The companies that went away they weren't clear on who they were. They weren't clear on who they service.

Speaker 2: 19:56

So during the great times it's really easy to not have to have these values, because the economy is booming, it's crushing it. When you have your values and it goes through the pandemic, you don't have to shut the door. You have again, these people that are like rabid fans of you because they know who you are, they will run through a brick wall for your company.

Speaker 2: 20:21

Those are the companies to make it through and we've seen it. I mean, those are three examples where the economy wasn't ideal and the strong companies that were clear on who they were. They made it. Now they may have had to pivot a little bit cool, but the value of who they were as a company never shifted.

Speaker 1: 20:39

Right. No, I love that, and it's funny because, through the COVID, I was in the middle of a reinvention of what I wanted to do for business. So I had shut down a creative agency and started a marketing firm and in that and went and joined virtual, as we were talking about earlier, and so with that, though, I did keep a lot of the clients that we a handful of the clients that we had had with a creative agency, and that we only lost one client at all of those, and the only reason that was is because the type of businesses was it was a daycare they had no clients, they couldn't. It was illegal in Alaska for the kids to get dropped off there, right. So there was nothing I could do. There's nothing they could do. It wasn't that they didn't love us, it's just they couldn't. There's nothing to market if there's no clients, right. There's nothing for them to pivot, right.

Speaker 1: 21:27

And I think that when we talk about recession-proof businesses, there are certain types of businesses that will go through depressions, recessions and pandemics for sure, if they have what you were talking about. And then there's others that are if the government shuts you down, the government shuts you down. I mean, this is where it goes, and it's crazy that we live in a country that that can happen. But, with that said, when people are trying, when we're talking about the solopreneurs, I really feel like this is a really good point that you've made today, in that they need to have a set of values, regardless of the fact that they might be the only ones in the company needing to follow them. How does one approach creating that in a vacuum of solopreneurship?

Speaker 2: 22:14

Good question. There's a couple of ways to do it. A just sit down, get quiet with yourself and ask yourself what do I truly value? Because it simplifies your business, everything, every decision you make, it truly simplifies it. If you're struggling with that or you don't like to be quiet with yourself, go to your closest five to 10 confidants and say when you think of who I am, what, what do you think of, what attributes really speak to you, that idea of getting feedback from people you most trust and love, and have a clear picture of who you are. You will be shocked at how, on the money spot on, they will come back and say this is how you show up, this is who you are to your core, and immediately you'll you'll recognize it and you'll grab those again. I coach on three, but you know, like you said, three to five, where you're like yep, yep, yep, gotta have those, and when you do, oh my gosh, making decisions, everything becomes so much easier.