The Trust Recession: Why Buyers Stopped Believing You

Scott Proposki went from shooting events at the White House under President Obama to building a multimillion-dollar photography business, then losing all of it during COVID. In this episode of Unpacked with Ron Harvey, Scott walks through the three years he spent in the wreckage, the one question from his coach that pulled him out, and the method he now uses to help business owners find the small changes that move an entire year of revenue.

Ron and Scott get into why trust has become the scarcest asset in business, why most owners keep restarting instead of building momentum, and what it really takes to earn a yes in a market full of noise.

In this episode:

• The trust recession: why buyers have stopped believing claims, and how to earn belief back one step at a time
• Selling the destination instead of the seat on the plane, and what that shift does to your pricing
• Base camp: why climbing the same hill over and over stalls growth, and how to rebuild with the right team first
• The only two reasons people do not buy, and how to solve both
• Moving from victim thinking to ownership after a setback you did not cause
• Why small businesses lose deals on follow-up, not on price
• Being of service instead of selling, and why service closes what pressure cannot
• The unconventional path that got Scott into the White House, and what it teaches about being found
• Why it is not how, it is who, and how to staff around your weaknesses

Scott Proposki is a former National Geographic and White House event photographer, author of Camera Focus, and creator of the Business Focus Method. He works with businesses from six figures to nine figures to identify the one to three percent changes that compound.

Connect with Scott: businessfocusmethod.com | scott@businessfocusmethod.com

Ron is covering the cost of Camera Focus for the first five listeners who email Scott after hearing this episode.

Hosted by Ron Harvey, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Global Core Strategies and Consulting, a leadership development firm helping executives stay closer to their people.

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Disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any organization or entity. The information provided in this podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice. Listeners should consult with their own professional advisors before implementing any suggestions or recommendations made in this podcast. The speakers and guests are not responsible for any actions taken by listeners based on the information presented in this podcast. The podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice or services. The speakers and guests make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the information, products, services, or related graphics contained in this podc...

Transcript

Welcome And Leadership Purpose

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Unpack Podcast with your host, Leadership Consultant, Ron Harvey of Global Core Strategies and Consulting. Ron believes that leadership is the fundamental driver towards making a difference. So now, to find out more of what it means to unpack leadership, here's your host, Ron Harvey.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Well, good afternoon, everyone. This is Ron Harvey, the Vice President, the Chief Operating Officer for Global Core Strategies and Consulting. I own a leadership development firm, my wife and I, and we spend all of our time helping make sure our leaders are well equipped and prepared to lead the people they're responsible for and responsible to. Be better connected with taking care of the people that's going to actually make them look really good and do great, which is our work for. So our job is around executive leaders to help you stay closer to your people. But I do the podcast, um, unpack with Ron Harvey. I bring guests from around the globe, all walks of life, all backgrounds that have something of value to add to the conversation, to the people that listen to us. And so I'm excited to always bring another guest on. You're gonna be impressed with this individual when he introduces himself. You know, I don't introduce anyone, I let them tell their story, which they get it right. Most of the time, I probably mess it up. So I'm gonna uh introduce uh bring Scott on over to the microphone and I'm gonna get out the way and then we'll dive back into the conversation.

Scott’s Career And COVID Collapse

SPEAKER_01 1:16

Scott, welcome.

SPEAKER_05 1:17

Yeah, hey, thanks, Ron. Thanks a lot. No, I sometimes I try to make an impactful um announcement of who I am. Um, but what I find always is when I say, hi, my name is Scott. I'm a former National Geographic and event photographer for the White House, I seem to get everybody's attention.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

Yes, yes, it got my attention.

SPEAKER_05 1:37

And then they go, wow, really? Wow. And then they ask me a bunch of camera questions and photography. And I say, Well, hold on. Uh, after I left the White House, I built an eight-figure photography business, brought us over 4.2 million dollars, and uh I lost it during COVID, and everything I had is gone. Wow, so it's like wow, silence. Um, but then I said, Hey, listen, I'm still here. Don't do what I did, do what I say. And now I help businesses around the globe make small one, two, three percent changes in the business, and I call it the business focus method.

SPEAKER_01 2:11

Wow, yeah. But Scott, you came and dropped three things real, like really, really it's just like let me just drop these little uh opportunities of who I am. Yeah, boom, boom. And so at the White House, COVID disrupted everything. You still here, you're you're now helping businesses understand the things. What do we what do we start to unpack? Well, let me start with we'll walk backwards. What has been the most important thing that you've done to help businesses today? And then we'll go back into the White House because everybody wants to hear that story. So I'm gonna keep them around. Y'all gonna hang around and hear that story. I'm not giving you the information up front. We're gonna we're gonna tease you a little bit. So hang on for 25 minutes. Yes. So so now that you're in the in the space that you're operating now, you learned a lot, you're doing a lot. What is it that you do that's been most helpful to the people that that you're currently serving?

Stories That Make Strategy Stick

SPEAKER_05 3:07

The most important thing is is telling them a story that they can relate to. And if they can relate to it, they can put themselves into it, and then it becomes believable. Right? Give me an example. Tons of information out today, right? Information galore, AI everywhere, right? It's not about the information, it's about the experiences and what I call the legacy people like you and I run, the legacy people that have the stories that back up what we've been through and how it can help somebody forward. And if they can get through that and say, wow, that makes sense. They can they can see themselves doing things 10 times bigger. They see the strategy, they're not just making it up as they go, it starts to make sense 10 times bigger. Let me think about that. And they have to write it down, they get to put it on paper, they're not just winging it anymore. And now they're putting together a plan, a business plan, not knowingly, but now they have a structure, they have a plan and a goal and a framework, and that's what I get them to.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

Yeah, I love it. I mean, because stories do sell. I mean, at the end of the day, so people want to hear that that part of it. When you think about your story, and like you said, you lost you lost it all. COVID happened and and it went belly up. What kept you in the game?

SPEAKER_05 4:30

What kept me in the game? My coaches, my coaches, and there was when this one pinnacle point where you just lose everything, pandemic's going on. You don't know what's gonna happen, right? You build a substantial business, small business by all means, yes, made an investment, a bunch of equipment, and all these jobs that you bought this equipment for is no longer useful, right? Now you hold the bag for all this equipment, it piles up pretty fast, and then depression kicks in, right? Where'd I go wrong? What happened? Can't can't pay the loans, can't pay the bills, money's not coming in. Well, that's okay, it's temporary. Keep talking yourself into it, talking yourself into it year one, year two, year three, right? I'm not alone with this story, by the way, right? Yes, and the most important thing I did is I I reached back out to my coach. And just before this call, you and I were having a great conversation about how we can help somebody with just maybe that one small thing, that one small thing that got us to think differently that could change the world, change the world for me, and change the world for everybody else, for that matter, at our level, right? Yes, and that one change for me was being a former national geographic photographer working for HBO, Google, Microsoft. I was at the top one percent in that space, and I was the go-to guy, so you build it up, have that momentum going on, and it stops, and then I go on, time goes on, pin that's going on. You go on Instagram, Google, and more Instagram and social media, and you talk about people that are gonna help people. They're gonna, I'm gonna coach you through photography for just an example, could be any market. And I'm like, how can this person say this? They've never done it before. And it's like, where are they just repeating the information? They never did it before. And I believe it's only bragging rich till after you do it, right? And they never did it. And they're trying to, you know, coach, you know, the word coach is being overused and they're making all these claims, and this is what I can do. I've done over 22 weddings, and I'll help you. 22 weddings. I did that last weekend, you know, back my time doing that, right? I mean, that's nothing. What are you talking about? And I I I'm not kind of a moey kind of guy, you know, you know, guy. Um very positive, very future-based kind of thinking. But that very moment in time, I was explaining this to my coach, you know, you know, you know, that rant, right? And he stopped me and he said this. Scott, why don't you do something about it? Well, that's fair. That's fair. Yes. So since then, I took my book, Camera Focus, that I wrote in 2019, to help photographers focus on one thing and using that book as a metaphor for a lot of people that AD had ADHD and that very creative individuals. And those were my employees, those were my team members, and I needed to rally up more people like that to build the business. So I had a really keen idea of leadership and dealing with creators and how they thought, and I could relate to them, and that's what helped me build my business so big is I knew how to bring in the right people and help them. And so he said to me, Why don't you do something about it? I figured I don't need a business to do that. I could just let me just go out and do it. Let me just do it, and so that's exactly what I did. I started reaching out to a lot of creative businesses um that were struggling. And today there's a lot of businesses struggling, and what are they struggling for? They want more leads, they want more business. But it's more than that, right? It's more than that. You know, what's your offer? What do you do? Let's let's bring things down to basic. And when they when I can tell somebody that story of let's just break it down, and I'm talking to them within the first hour, it all becomes believable to them. And then our conversations continue and continue and continue. And I see I see all these people grow and doing substance, doing some substantial numbers and photography that would like most said, I can't even believe I'm doing what I'm doing. Um, but it was small incremental changes, one step at a time, that built them up, which I'm doing myself back again.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

How do you, Scott? Thank you for sharing. How do you stay patient in that

Coaches, Resilience, And Doing Something

SPEAKER_01 8:50

process? Because we all know that people want success overnight. Yeah, like we really do. You go into the game and you're not thinking a year down the road, you're not thinking even a month down the road, you think like I need to have this done in the next 10 days. I mean, that window is real short, and and we're in a microwave society now. Everybody, I like that. Yeah, we we want like everything has to be cooked immediately in a microwave or air fryer. Yeah, so yeah, so so how do you slow it down enough to make it reality? Because everything can't be microwaved.

SPEAKER_05 9:21

Yeah, no, it's a big thing, right? And and and to so that's where this trust recession comes in. Okay, I believe we're gonna trust that, Scott.

SPEAKER_01 9:29

You have to unpack that part of it.

SPEAKER_05 9:30

Right. So trust recession, right? So everybody's claiming they can help anybody, and you know, in 10 days I can bring your business to a million dollars and I can do all this crazy stuff, right? The the claims and and and hooks that are out there to get people's pay attention, the noise, the noise versus signal is just absolutely at an all-time crazy high right now. So when you get a hold of somebody, you probably heard the story before, they're gonna claim to help you, and they have the best funnel, the best hook, the best website, the best C SEO, whatever the case may be. And it becomes unbelievable, like really, I've heard this story before, and I paid people, and it really didn't work before. So now we live in this trust recession. Who do we trust? And how I help people to make it it has to be believable. Yes, and the reason why I'm doing these podcasts with you to spread my word, who I am, people can find this conversation, learn about Ron, learn about Scott. These are real people that are in the real world that made real changes to the world. Yes, and this is what we do for a living and our passion to help people. We're not here to sell anybody anything. I'm if if you're looking for the help, I'm here to help you to accomplish that. So if I can make them believable, it's believable, and they can trust me because there's only two reasons why people don't do business with me. One, they don't believe themselves, or two, they don't believe I can get them there.

SPEAKER_04 10:51

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 10:52

So if we can solve those two things, and you can give me trust one separate time, we can get that.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

Isn't that applicable, Scott, to leadership as well, though? I mean, you think about people that are listening, um, that are running businesses, that are in organizations or corporate America, isn't that also applicable to just leadership in general?

SPEAKER_05 11:14

Yeah, no, exactly. You know, I I've been in the trenches as a photographer, this rugged individual, yeah, not knowingly, and became a CEO of this business, right? And you learn a lot when you're in the trenches. And uh honestly, I I can be the quarter CEO per year company to help you see things that you didn't see. You could be a $200,000 company, a million-dollar company, $10 million company, and I've helped a hundred million dollar companies solve one small problem that could actually change the whole year's revenue, could help jobs, could save jobs. It doesn't, I and that's the biggest thing I learned when I when I consulted with a hundred million dollar company. I had this aha moment like, gosh, they had the same problems when I was doing a million, or they're having the same problems when I talked to Susie Q, who's who's only doing a hundred thousand dollars a year in business. It was all the same problems, just giving numbers for the most part.

SPEAKER_01 12:06

Yeah. How has photography helped you? Because sometimes you people don't see what's right in front of them. And I can only imagine as a photographer, you see stuff from that business more than people that that don't do the work that you did in the background. How has photography helped you see that in companies?

SPEAKER_05 12:22

Um, let's give you an example. So I I still do some um big events, um, not necessarily taking photos, but yes, still what we're called photo activations. Okay. So this week in Boston is the stamp show. It's the big 250-year anniversary of the stamp show. Yes. So it's a week-long program doing a photo marketing campaign for picture marketing, a program where you have pictures taken and we print out a postcard of you um on a postcard using AI to make it look like you're in a stamp. Really cool.

The Trust Recession In Business

SPEAKER_05 12:56

So we embraced AI, we embraced marketing, we put in a photo booth, right? Basically, souped up photo booth, let's call it. Did some programming to do AI, take a photo, and it looks like you're on a stamp, and we print that on a postcard. And this all happens within a minute. Okay. So the other day I was with the CEO David, um, the postmaster of United States Postal Office, and um pretty, pretty big guy up in the ranks. And you know, him and I can I I can I can relate to anybody, and I can relate to David, and doesn't matter. And we just had a good 15-20-minute conversation. He was like, Wow, this is amazing! Like, what's going on? How do we do this? And he brought his wife in, had a picture taken, put on the postcard. He goes, Can I have three of those? I said, Yeah, absolutely. Printed out three photos, gave him a photo, and um you know, it kind of had kind of led him down this road where it was like, you know, let's face it, a person that sadness can can buy anything, right? What kind of souvenirs would you bring home to your three teenage sons, right? What are you gonna bring up? A sweatshirt, right? Um, but he brought he saw him and his wife saw this idea of this postcard of them on a Boston postcard. And he goes, I you can get anything, but out of everything you're gonna go home with today, you're gonna go home with these three postcards and give it to your sons. Because priceless, right?

SPEAKER_02 14:20

Yes, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 14:23

So I tapped into the mind of a CEO, the US Postal Service, about the importance of a photo, how valuable it was. Could buy anything, but to bring home these three postcards for his son, he was saving everything, making sure that it got home. That's in his head. It wasn't about the money, it wasn't about the dollars. Don't you think when this comes up again, he's gonna remember those postcards and the impact that he had and that experience? It was the experience, not the photo.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

So, can you unpack for a second? Because I totally agree with the experience. I mean, across the board, um, we we do a lot of work, and I tell people it's it's the experience. The activity is nice, but it's the experience that people go through that keeps them engaged and and shift the mindset. What do you tell people that to help them deliver the experience? What do you pay attention to? When you say it's the experience, how do you train and develop people to focus on the experience, not the money, not the paycheck, not the who I'm talking to, but the experience that will forever give your brand um some recognition that you probably don't have to pay for if you do it well?

SPEAKER_05 15:34

Yeah, and I have those conversations with the New England Patriots, same thing. And what I do is I sell the destination, not the seat on the plane, right? Would you buy a plane ticket to Hawaii for $10,000

Turning Photos Into Customer Experience

SPEAKER_05 15:48

for a one-way ticket, or would you pay $20,000 to be in a Hawaii by next Tuesday at 2 p.m. with your wife, sitting down at the beach drinking my thai?

SPEAKER_01 16:01

Yeah, I'm gonna spend the money that it takes for me and my wife to go enjoy ourselves.

SPEAKER_05 16:04

Right. So I just gave me an extra ten thousand dollars. Yes, right. So it's not about the money, it's about clarity. It's about clarity of exactly what's gonna happen once they have this widget. For me, it's always been the photo, and honestly, I was never a great photographer, I've had some amazing clients, but I sold I sold the big picture, I sold what's gonna happen. I I I got them to see wow, if 3,000 people can get their photo all the same day and leave with it and share it on Facebook and social media, and everybody can see our logo and XYZ and ABC. And they saw, I brought them to see that. Yeah, maybe in sales and psychology, but I honestly believe that. Yes, because if I just sold them, well, I can print out 25 photos at $10 each, I'd be broke for the rest of my life.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

Yes, yes, you'd be yeah, for the rest of your life. Let me unpack a little bit. I mean, you're sharing a phenomenal story. A lot of people that listen to the show um sometimes struggle. Businesses struggle, um, whether they're new in business, whether they had a setback like you had. When you went through that, what was your toughest moment? And what did you personally do once you realized like I gotta do something different? What was the toughest moment? And when did you realize what you need to do something different?

SPEAKER_05 17:32

You don't like everything else when you go through a crisis.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 17:37

Um it was after I lost everything. What happened? What was I really good at? Was it really in the photography? Was it pitching to high-end, high profile event and being with the CEO of the postmaster of the USA? That kind of drives me. How can I get into that space? So kind of how to think about what am I good at? What am I good at? And that's what I was good at. I was comfortable talking to the top 1% of the corporate American people that leaderships and people I can relate to. And it didn't need to be technical, it didn't need to be. Actually, what I found out is it actually most times it was very simple. Yes, simple conversations, honestly.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

Yeah, I mean, I I love it because what I love and appreciate about what you said is I just started asking myself questions and and getting crystal clear on what am I good at. It's changed. Like, what is it that I'm actually doing? And I think it and it wasn't like a blind game, like hey, COVID happened. Hey, people are you know, because it's easy to get caught there, and I'm not saying that won't happen, but that's not what you led off with when I asked a question. You literally started reflecting on what are you good at so you you can pay attention to that.

SPEAKER_05 19:12

Absolutely, and I and I see people like you know, I many people have been my similar situations, but when they say, Well, you know, COVID did this and they took that away from me, and this happened to me,

Sell The Destination With Clarity

SPEAKER_05 19:24

and then I got the loan from the SBA and this and that, and oh gosh, slow down. Yes, yes, you're a victim, you're not a victim. It's called life. If you get stuck there, you're never gonna get moved forward. We have to get past that. We have to get past it. Blame people all day long, ain't gonna do any good at the end of the day. You're the only one that can move forward. I'm the only one that can move forward.

SPEAKER_01 19:52

Yeah, yeah. I think if you if you get caught up in the blame game, you end up becoming that thing that people say you are. Um I gotcha. Yeah, yeah. I tell people all that look, yeah. Regardless of what you may say about me, it doesn't become me unless I let it become me. So let me not take ownership of it. Don't let your perception of you become my reality.

SPEAKER_04 20:11

That's right. It's stories we tell ourselves most of the time. Yes. So tell better stories.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

Yes. So so when you think about where you are now and people that are listening, what would be a good a good reason for them to say, let me pick up? You know, I listened to this, I listened to Scott. Um, he's gone through it, and they're in that same position. What are some things that you would tell people that are listening that you can help them with? What are you good at?

SPEAKER_05 20:38

Yeah, you know, I try to take myself out of it. You know, what can I do? But me or anybody else, put yourself in that moment, listen to this podcast, and like, man, I gotta pay the bills, I gotta do this, I gotta do this, I gotta do this. Am I gonna make it? Am I gonna do this? Break it down one thing at a time. One thing at a time. Because anxiety, depression is it's don't know the stats, but it's pretty high right now in America, very high. Um, and around the world for that matter, anxiety and social media and the pressures and the pressure of expenses and the costs of things are much more, right? Yes, and um, it'll just take over your life. And yeah, I had lots of issues and problems and deal with things, but I simply just have to take one thing at a time.

SPEAKER_01 21:22

Yeah, take something at a time. Yeah, very solid advice. I mean, because at the end of the day, that's all you can really manage, anyways, one thing at a time. Um, there's a lot thrown at us. I mean, society, social media, uh, it just there's so much information out there now that that you'll get caught up just consuming information, not doing anything.

SPEAKER_05 21:41

You you will become I'm guilty maybe last week of doing that and getting caught into it, right? Um and I you know, I hear it all the time, but um, but I'm I'm aware of it, right? The self awareness is that there's something called you know, learning, investigating new options for the business and new marketing. strategies and how I'm gonna do it and and I'm off of that yes for sure but then I I I caught myself like I'm going I'm going down that rabbit hole yes it maybe maybe it would have worked out and maybe not but I'm catching myself before I go too deep right oh yes

Hard Lessons, Ownership, One Thing

SPEAKER_05 22:16

and if I'm gonna commit to something I know I gotta commit to a year we try things for yeah yeah yeah what is what is what has been your biggest biggest struggle as you're in business now I mean you're you're up you're you're what's what do you say is your biggest struggle now as an entrepreneur I mean you're you're figuring out in your back in the six what what is what is a challenge you're still dealing with you haven't figured out yet so here's funny if I can visually explain this right short story I think a lot of people can relate to this um small businesses we come up with ideas they're the great idea there are ideas we're gonna make a million dollars so yeah you know the story we all at some level we all have those stories in our minds um but what happens is is we do have that time where like oh this is a great idea this is what we're gonna do as leaders we all need to have that strategy we all need to look forward all for it right and we're at a peak all time peak and if you can see yourself right on top of that hill right you're at a this is great this is awesome and we start implementing it it's a little bit difficult taking a little bit longer than you thought maybe it's not the right decision some self-doughts go through and you start sliding down that hill a little bit and then you're like now you didn't make any money now you're a little panicking finances is a problem maybe investors whatever the case may be they start sliding down a little bit more and then you go ah this ain't gonna work I put I'm gonna put my hands up I got a better idea so then you go all the way back up the hill and then you go through the same process over and over again and you can probably relate to it maybe you've done this three or four times you came up with an idea it's all good and you slide down the hill and they're like ah and you scrap it and you start all over again well that momentum ain't moving us forward at all yes we're just starting and stopping starting stopping we're not moving we're wasting time we're not moving forward we're not learning versus once you get down to the bottom which I call base camp that's base camp and once you get to base camp in in real life in base camp we need to have a team of people unique team of people one that knows how to do the the tents and the rigging one for the food one for the directions one's for safety whatever the case may be but each person has to have their unique ability to do different things. Yes that's base camp we got to get to base camp once we get to base camp get your team together and in business to mark and guy your VP your CEO whoever that team is at base camp now we can kind of summit back up the hill or we can go up the top and we're gonna have challenges but now we have a little bit of a team here that we can actually make it up because that's the biggest heart is getting back up the mountain. Because once we have that team we're crystal clear where we want to go the summit of Mount Everest that's the goal once we get there we know where we're going we know exactly the direction we have a team to get there and that's what we execute that's what we need to follow.

SPEAKER_01 25:17

Yes I love it I love it. I mean you know get back you know base camp and what what came up as you're you're sharing you know get back to to the basics um and and begin to you know play sports a lot and we were losing games you know the coach would always pull it guys get back to the basics block and tackle block and tackle block and tackle run the play play your position do your one role or function but he brought us back because we were caught up in the the losses and and you know didn't realize that we still had the skill but we weren't doing

Base Camp Teams Beat Start Stop

SPEAKER_01 25:45

the the skill set things that we should be doing you know so I I love that you said hey let's get back to base camp get back to base camp so we can get to the fundamentals of we know what we're doing we just got to pay attention to details and get the right team members in not not three people doing the same thing but each person doing a different thing to bring the team forward.

SPEAKER_05 26:04

Yes how do you tell how do you help entrepreneurs that that are listening what do you what is it that you've done that help you win trust of people that you want to do business with a lot of entrepreneurs like yeah it takes me forever to get indoors and I and I fundamentally believe yeah you got to build trust I mean people will will begin to once they trust you it's easier to do negotiations what have you done in in in your experience to to build trust with people that you want to do business with stories yes stories and I'm I'm never selling yes you know I'm never really selling um the only time is when somebody asks me well Scott okay tell me what the investment is to work with you okay okay now or what does it take to you know Scott what does it take to work with you and I'll say well are you asking what the investment is to help you move forward yeah that's what I'm asking great glad you asked let me show you so that's what I wait for actually um in the meantime I'm giving good information and showing value um but you know I don't have a team of a hundred here where I'm on uh you know on a you know set schedule of commissions and close rates right yes we can only help so many people so it's it's and and it shows right that's why you want to work with me because it's direct it's not we're not a factory we're not just pushing sales like some of the other major coaching and empires out there right get on the sales call that you don't know they get on the the set is called then you get on the closes call and you never really get to talk to the guy right you know that's not that's not here. This is like real stuff building a relationship that I can help you with you know maybe you know four five six seven ten years down the line where that's what I'm looking for um that I can help you grow with the business.

SPEAKER_01 27:47

I love it.

SPEAKER_05 27:48

Those are the people I want to work with yeah I love it.

SPEAKER_01 27:50

I mean the and so you know knowing who you want to work with and who who's not your your potential client because not everybody you know I've learned in our business everybody is not our client there's some people that it's just not a good fit. Yeah right yeah we've learned that over time and and they've learned that we want a good fit for them so it goes both ways there's some clients that's just not not the right client for you you know which is important I mean and it's even more difficult when you're when you're strapped for cash and you need to make some revenue you'll you'll it'll lean you into like let me just figure it out just this one time and next thing you're so out of alignment that you don't you don't you didn't got out of alignment with what your company does or who it should be doing it what they're doing it for and you just responded to the needs of society versus what you really are business for.

SPEAKER_05 28:33

Yeah yeah guilty yes I've been there been there is there anything that you will share I mean um love that you're on the show um and and your your conversation has been phenomenal what would you share that I haven't asked you about that that you think is really important um for our listeners I think um there's something to be said about small businesses here in North American America um but I I actually have customers in South Africa that I help in business as well so I just talked to somebody this morning we had the time difference it was like five o'clock there you know uh eight o'clock here we we finally got this time thing situated today I think we I think we're both are guilty of it so I think on Thursday's call we're gonna be on time um so we're you know around the world right helping people is that there's a bigger problem out there for businesses of having profit and being in business that a lot of people small businesses go out I mean let's face it one out of I mean within five years starting a new business they go out of business right think about how many that is and right now with AI and technology and what's going on in the world more and more people it's easier to start a business today than ever before right we all know that let's face it and there's about 25% increase in more businesses starting in 2026 right now. So that means more and more businesses need help. More businesses need help than ever before the economy is a little wishy washy competition space information's out there everybody's following the next next new widget the next new mousetrap the next new funnel and it's no trade secret anymore there is no trade secrets right if they're following you they're going on your website they're copying your price it's a rat race dude and it's like when you throw your hands up right and a lot of people struggle with trying to stay afloat and competition is fierce and it is um but what needs to happen is that we need to be as small business owners better salespeople better communicators to sell our unique services that are genuinely this is what we do. I talked to so many small businesses that never make sales calls they expect the phone to ring pre-COVID it kind of did ring or they kind of did get some emails or inquiries on the website I know I did I never really had to make a sales call pre-COVID I had a list couldn't keep up with the proposals that game has shifted no doubt about it.

SPEAKER_01 31:06

It's easy to find

Trust, Fit, And Not Selling

SPEAKER_01 31:08

photographers the painters the butcher the candlestick maker wherever you want to find them they're out there you can find them now it's a matter of are you gonna follow are you gonna do the basic basic infrastructure of sales are you going to follow up you can keep track of the leads are you going to follow up three times people are busy what's your offer what's your proposal the basic since the basic things in order to get business are you ready are you ready if somebody says yes to submit the proposal to submit the quote to jump on the call most times the answer is no yes I yeah a lot of people are excited about someone picking up the phone when someone answers you freak out and I think that's why they don't want to make the sales calls and is it freed that somebody's actually gonna say yes yes I I'm not even kidding I really believe that um what what happens if they say yes Scott and then they actually talk themselves out of the deal yeah right it's it's phenomenal to watch you know like well you know we only work with what are you doing what are you saying don't talk yourself out of the deal for all you that listen i've I've been I've been there when I first started like I was I was surprised they answered then you got to figure out how to get your foot out your mouth and start talking about something that matters that makes sense and so totally get it if you've been there you know it and and um but you're right you know how how do you make sure that you come up and I love that you say hey you know I I offer my services here's what I do um as you go across the board because selling some people don't like the word sell I mean they're they're intimidated and afraid um and and don't just cringe when it comes to selling I say well be of service then yeah be of service like what is it that you can offer to them that will be of service and you have an offer that you can discuss with them then then figure out a way and if you can be of service you never really have to sell anything yeah be of service I mean I tell them I'm not selling anybody anything so two stories I'll share with you based on that and I help photographers get through that mindset. Oh nobody's gonna pay for my prices I'm gonna do that yeah well let's let's back that out a little bit what problems you solve I don't solve problems yeah so you do so when that bride and groom calls for example and she's looking for photographer he's droom's looking for photographer they're asking you questions are you paying attention yes because maybe perhaps they had a bad experience or one of their friends had a bad experience with a photographer and it's not about the money but they just want to make sure you show up or have a backup plan how long you've been in business you know not not that they're looking for price it's always not the price yes they're looking to they're looking for clarity and comfort and trust not not necessarily the price absolutely you know uh no this that's just photography so just real story today went out to get a cup of coffee my wife's been bothering me Scott you gotta call the um the bug guy called the bug guy right little ants running around the house and all that you know living in New England and things happen yes I haven't done it in a few years in all in all honestly right and uh I got it honey I'll do it I haven't done it you know I called a few I called a few bug guys three or four they never call me back I never got a call back three of them I said I said no I really did I try to call a few people I'll I'll look around trying to find another bug guy got my bug guy so I went out to get a cup of coffee and there's a van nice graphics on the side and it says um identity identifying pet center control big graphic sign on the van got us in there got his shirt on logo on there sitting in the van I said hi he goes hi I said are you the bug guy

Sales Basics And Following Up

SPEAKER_01 34:58

he goes that's what they call me I said I've been looking for a bug guy I need a bug guy he goes where do you live 10 minutes on the road how about we get a cup of coffee I can go there right now that'd be amazing 10 minutes later he's at my house he's telling me the thing he's I'm not selling you I'm just telling what the the service is I'm not it's yes I didn't tell you the price I like your program you're gonna be here twice a year you're gonna show up you've been in business 25 years you gave me a great brochure you showed up right away you got your shirt you got everything else seems like you qualify for the job here's the check I gotta jump on a call great thanks see you in six months done I didn't even know if he left the house yet here's his phone sign here Scott put it in there here's the order two minutes say no order no big thing or take a check credit card vemo what do you want no checks fine okay great I'll write a check I just happen to have checks gotta get rid of them I don't use them that often so I gave him a check I gave him a copy of my book said hey you know I maybe I maybe you need some help in your business you know he goes yeah I'm gonna tell my my owner I I'm one of the XYZ partners and so forth so on he doesn't say any any he doesn't say no to anybody that can help him with his business how about we book a call like let me see if I can give him give me 15 minutes and see if I can show him give me typically I say give me 45 minutes I can show you uh $5000 missing in your business in profit in your business just give me 45 minutes and I do I can I got a process I got a framework I can actually show them to do that especially when you're doing two million dollars yes yes I love it be of service yeah be of service might be my customer next yes exactly yeah so is that so helpful I mean that's very helpful I mean no it's it's very helpful process yeah yeah it's about processes it's about relationships it's about communication it's about being of service I mean you shared a lot of information that's super helpful which is why I enjoy the podcast because sometimes we make it look easy or we don't we don't talk about it we do it and people watch us but they don't really understand what all we done and and I tell people all the time I apologize I say look if I made it look easy let me let me help you see the recipe and that's why I got the title unpacked I said let me unpack it for you here's yeah now I got it a little slow I said they're like oh that I said yeah I I just want to unpack because oftentimes you see people running through the airport with all this stuff in there and if and if you just don't know what's in their suitcase until you have a conversation with them and I said let me unpack the suitcase for you um here's what's really in there here's what I did here's who I talked to here's what I didn't do here's what I paid attention to here's what with what my team was doing that you didn't see me doing but someone was doing it just wasn't me and you saw me on camera but behind the camera all these other things were happening so I don't want you to think that there's 15 of me there there are 15 people in the company that helped me and this is what that looks like um you know like I told you in the green room it's like

Be Of Service, The Bug Guy Story

SPEAKER_01 37:55

yeah I I wanted to throw the towel in because all the stuff I had to do to make the podcast possible was more than I wanted to do and it wasn't fun. I had to find people that have fun doing the back end of it and they do they don't want matter of fact if I accidentally get on camera like no I I don't want to be on camera I just you go on camera you ask the questions I just want to make sure you can get on camera and that we can capture everything and that it that we can make sure the lighting's right and all the stuff that we do never end those magic yes we don't want to do the other part and I think that's that's huge for anybody that's listening is do what you do well and the things that you don't do well get someone to help you. Yeah it's not how it's who yes yes well how do people reach you Scott I mean some I mean uh I enjoy joining the podcast and and a lot of podcasters listen to the show but a lot of business owners and people that are looking for people that do the work you do how do they reach you yeah I try to keep everything simple in my life so it's as simple as this business focusmethod.com love it's got a business we gotta stay focused and we have a method for it yes yes love it love it it's awesome well it's been great any last minute thing you want to share before we wrap up with the with the group no I'm just gonna leave with this this what I say all the time you know progress equals happiness equals progress yes you're happy you'll have progress happiness equals progress I love it Scott it's been great um looking forward to it and for all you that stayed with us um thank you for joining us um as Scott and I talked our way through and share some stuff that you don't should be I am gonna say one thing though we didn't talk about the White House we didn't talk about the White House okay well let's let's let's extend this let's drop some stuff about the White House 30 seconds words up word I'm thinking I'm words up you know my word is my word and we that's what I what our word was right real quick so before we wrap up we got we're gonna pull back in here and and and Scott's gonna drop some stuff because you know people are gonna be curious about the White House. Go for it.

SPEAKER_05 39:47

You have to right so two years with President Obama event photographer for the White House okay people ask me how'd you get into the White House Scott okay um it's gonna take unconventional ways I tell people to get into any big businesses going to be unconventional ways okay Ron ask me Scott how'd you get into the White House? Scott how'd you get into the White House would you believe I took photographs of the Easter Bunny at the White House and printed the photos on site in the north lawn so everybody had a photograph with the Easter bunny that's how I got into the White House right on conventional ways but if you think about it this unique dominant position of my business I was able to be found first off yes right second I

How To Reach Scott And The Giveaway

SPEAKER_05 40:34

was able to show up right you gotta show up and and third it provided such a unique service that nobody even thought of and I worked in an event that's been going on for 250 years 200 years plus don't quote me on it the Easter egg role that they have every year at the White House had it for two over 200 years. Like this is an event that goes on keyboard event that's what I that's what I focused on where are the biggest events that is a big event so I focus on that let me do something unique well taking photographs of the Easter Bunny in Santa Claus is actually a big deal it's a really big business right and so it took me unconventional ways got into the White House my first job was taking pictures of the Easter bunny wow how to share that story.

SPEAKER_01 41:18

I love it I mean but you said some things that that I think are important for entrepreneurs you be be able to be found that was that I heard that loud and clear then show up and do something unique. Boom bang yeah because I listened to the story and thank you for bringing it back you know um and I tell people we don't know where we're gonna go but but Minnie Scott you know you gave me three things and we walk backwards but I love it because like people do want to know how did you get into the White House? I mean it's hard to become a visitor at the White

How The Easter Bunny Opened Doors

SPEAKER_01 41:48

House tell me about it to get on that list. You got to know somebody that knows somebody that knows somebody right just to just to do a tour now so it and it's always been that way so how long did you stay at photography at the White House once you got past the Easter bunny and you got to do other stuff how long were you doing it two years with Obama different events that went on after that whole new team had to go back to base camp build team all over again wow so we moved on to uh HBO yeah that's exciting so did you get any pictures of Obama when you were at the White House I did you know got to meet him and so forth but you know my role was more um events special events right that most people weren't doing right yes um really interesting stories I have a great chapter in my book called camera focus uh you got it with you can you pull it on camera uh I do it's right over here on the counter of course I do just happen to have it right here it's called camera focus awesome where can we find it it's on amazon go Amazon camera focus Scott Proposky Amazon my name try that I have a few a few published books so here's here's here's here's what I put on the table so uh I'm I'm going to ask people to respond to to our podcast when they listen to it and the first five people that once they hear the podcast that sends an email to to Scott I will purchase them a book from you I will I will cover the cost of that it but they must respond to you. So give them your email address again so when they listen to this they got to send the email and then you'll be able to tell me the first five and and I will I will gift them a copy of your book. Yeah so um Scott S O T T at um businessfocusmethod.com awesome awesome so once you hear this podcast you hear the you hear his email address um he will keep track of the first five people and I will gift you a copy of his book I believe in giving away things and adding value to other people so thank you for being on the show and I'm sure that that will help someone that's in business um do better in business. That's a deal

Final Takeaways And Sign Off

SPEAKER_01 43:58

sounds good thanks appreciate you Scott everybody thank y'all for hanging in with us um appreciate you and look forward to having you join us again.

SPEAKER_00 44:06

Until next time Scott and I will sign off well we hope you enjoy this edition of Unpack Podcast with leadership consultant Ron Harvey remember to join us every Monday as Ron Unpacks Sound Advice providing real answers for real leadership challenges. Until next time remember to add value and make a difference where you are or the people you serve because people always matter