Episode 305: The Power of Sales in Business with Liam J Ryan
In the world of business, success is often attributed to a combination of factors such as knowledge, communication skills, and sales acumen. Liam J Ryan, an ultimate entrepreneur and business expert, exemplifies these qualities and has achieved remarkable success in his career.
Liam J Ryan shares his insights on sales, building great teams, and the importance of marketing in business. He emphasizes the value of understanding your product and being able to articulate its benefits to potential customers. Liam also highlights the importance of perseverance and resilience in sales, as well as the need to practice and refine your pitch.
Liam J Ryan is a property and business entrepreneur, mentor, host of The Deal Maker Podcast, author, and co-founder of Assets For Life. With years of experience, he enjoys helping people change their lives. He is also a thrill seeker, traveller, gym enthusiast, and devoted family man.
Show Highlights:
- Liam’s background and early experiences in business
- What people should do if they have no sales experience
- Importance of perseverance and practice in sales
- Effective process for creating an effective pitch
- Why building a strong team and company culture is essential
- Importance of understanding the lifetime value of a client
- Liam’s success in scaling his business during the lockdown
- The value of building and nurturing a list
- The significance of marketing spend and investment in business growth
Links Mentioned:
Check out more from Liam J Ryan on his website: https://liamjryan.co.uk/
Get your Business Growth Secrets SUCCESS PLANNER for FREE and profit like a pro: https://adamstottplanner.com/free-book47315172
Adams website: https://adamstott.com/?el=Pod
Watch the Episode on Adam’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/adamstottcoach?el=Pod
Connect with Adam on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adamstottcoach/?el=Pod
Join Adam’s network on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-stott-coach/?el=Pod
Business owners: Monetise social media, get more clients, increase your following and make more sales: https://socialmediamonetisation.com/unlockfb?el=Pod
Coaches, Consultants and Speakers: lower your marketing costs, increase ticket prices and get more high ticket clients: https://personalbrandunlocked.com/fb-event-reg?el=Pod
Transcript:
Please note this is a verbatim transcription from the original audio and therefore may include some minor grammatical errors.
Adam Stott:
Hey everybody, Adam Stott here. Thanks for checking out my podcast, Business Growth Secrets. You’re absolutely in the right place. This podcast is going to reveal to you all of the secrets that you’ve been looking to discover. They’re going to allow you to cure your cash flow problems. more clients, bring in more leads for your business, and create systems and processes that give you the growth that you want. You are going to discover the business growth secrets you have been looking for that I’ve used to sell over 50 million pounds worth of products and services on social media and help clients everywhere to grow their businesses on demand. So let’s get started on the Business Growth Secrets podcast. Next person I want to introduce has been somebody that I’ve known for over six years, have actually built a really, really amazing relationship with, and now consider him to be a really, really good friend as well. What has impressed me actually most about the person we’re going to introduce next is actually his knowledge of business is phenomenal. He is a very, very good speaker, communicator and salesperson. But what you might not know is this guy’s business mind is phenomenal. Look, Liam, as I said, you know, work really, really closely together and been doing some great things. Many of the people you’ve worked with in the room are quite a few because they’ve been on this speaker program, the speaker training, and you’ve got to know, well, they’ve been to one of the events that we’ve run together. Me and Liam have run a number of two-day events, like weekend events. We plan to run a few more where we just write existing clients, which always great. And having worked really closely with you and got to see the way that you manage your team, the way you build a culture, I really feel that there’s some great lessons that can be shared with the group. So do you want to start off, just give a bit of an introduction, tell people, you know, for those who don’t know you, where you are? How you got there? What we’re doing now? And give a bit of background and then we’ll dive in and great and pull some lessons out.
Liam Ryan:
Good. Yeah. So, you know, really today I just want to give as much value as I possibly can to, you know, Gold Circle. Really excited to be here. My name’s Liam Ryan. I am an ultimate entrepreneur, love business, love property, love making lots of money, love having lots of fun. And really, for me, business started at a really young age. I was the kid at school that could get you whatever you wanted. I used to go into school with two bags. I had my school bag, wasn’t interested in that. And then I had the Reebok bag with the jeans and the perfumes and the cigarettes. So, at the age of like 8, 9 years of age, after selling sweets in the playground and puff crisps, they want to remember puff crisps, 10p bags, so I used to go and buy them by the box load, and then sell them behind the bike shed. But from that very young age, I was just exhilarated and infused with trading products. You know, buying something for a pound and then being able to sell it for three pound and I had this bit in the middle, which was money I could spend and give to my mom and do stuff that I really wanted to do. And I always felt from a young age that I was like an eight, nine, 10 year old but really, I just wanted to hang out with the adults. You know, I wanted to really provide a fantastic future for my mum and my younger brother. And you know, we weren’t born into money and lived on a rough council estate and, you know, it was pretty tough. You know, listening to my mom cry herself to sleep every night because she couldn’t put food on the table. So, from the age of eight, consciously or subconsciously, I made this decision that I was going to do whatever it took to look after my family. And I associated money and I used to spend my Saturdays in the local newsagents in the parade of shops, spending hours looking in magazines. And being absolutely like fascinated with like Ferraris and Lamborghinis and, you know, big yachts and men dressed in lovely suits. So that was really the start of my business journey. Made it through school just about, I’m really not the most academic, but I always gave everything 100%. You know, I always gave it 100%. And I think that’s a really important lesson in life. Whatever you do, don’t complain, just give it your all and do the best you can. And some things you’ll excel in some things, you won’t be very good at. Became a door knocker for Zenith Windows, went to college, ran out after three weeks, and found myself working overseas for a sales and marketing company. Done really went well there. And then after a couple of years, set up my own business and went into property, made a lot of mistakes, lost some money, made some money, came back to the UK in 2014. Set up a renewable energy business. Very successful, 170 staff, build it very quickly and then the government changed the feeding tariff for renewable energy products. So literally overnight it was like one minute we were like on cloud nine, the next minute I’m crying myself to sleep because I’ve had to let go of nearly 170 staff over three days and lost a lot of money in that business. Wasn’t able to make it up. But you know, sometimes in your darkest moment, you have your biggest breakthroughs. And even though you don’t know it at the time, going through that painful process of losing that business in 2015, I met one of my now business partners, Jay Munoz. I met my beautiful wife, Holly. She was one of my marketing girls and we just fell in love. Now I’ve got two more beautiful children. So you just don’t know where life’s going to take you. It’s about opening those doors and just stepping through the door and just giving it everything you got. And these last seven years have been just incredible. It’s been like turning on a tap. It’s like all of those mistakes, all of those feelings, all of the ways that I thought of doing things for all of those years since I was seven or eight years of age, it’s like it’s clicked into place. And today I feel a much more mature investor, a mature business partner. I’m proud of who I’ve become and, you know, I’ve created an amazing community within assets for life over the last seven years.
Adam Stott:
Absolutely. And there’s a nice short kind of intro into a long story. But one of the things that you said, and I want to break it down and take it all the way back is that you had been trained almost in sales by a market trader, right? In the beginning.
Liam Ryan:
Yeah.
Adam Stott:
So you add exposure to working on a market, very young age selling products and services. And I think it’s something that many, many people don’t have that exposure to sales. And the first time they go in, get into business, almost the hardest thing for them to do is to go and sell something, right? You know, because in my career, I got trained in sales. When I went into business, you can make a lot of mistakes in a lot of other areas, but if you can sell, you can often sell your way out of it, right? But if you can’t sell and you have no experience selling, the hardest thing is to do a deal. So what would you say, and you’re obviously a phenomenal salesperson. We’re very close with Liam. He can fucking sell shit, right? He really can. So what would you say to some people that have not had experience in sales? What would you say? What did you get from that market store or the belief? Or what could you do that could help someone maybe to go out and just have a conversation and make their first offer and get their first deals or just push forward a bit in that, in that one area?
Liam Ryan:
Yeah, it’s a really good point. So, like Adam said, I was introduced to sales at a very young age through my mom’s friend, Tim. And I used to spend my weekends down at the markets. I don’t know if they’re still about, but you used to get the markets with the big lorries, and they used to pull the side up, and the guy would be on the headset, and he’d be throwing stuff into the crowd, that was Tim. So I used to just spend my weekends with Tim. And then I said to Tim, well, look, I can sell this stuff at school. That’s how I became, you know, to sell it at school. But what I learned through that process is that what’s really important is that you understand your products. And a lot of business owners or people wanting to get into business, they don’t fully know how to articulate how great your product or service is and the value that you’re able to bring to your customer. And it’s almost like you get scared to say I am a great person, I have a great business, I have a great product, and this is how I can help you. So, you know, that’s really important is being able to understand your product. And also through that process, the art of rejection, you know. You’re going to get more no’s building your brand, selling your products and services, then you are yeses. And at the start, the no’s will be more than the yeses. And as you get better, and as you build a brand, you’re still going to get more no’s than yeses, but you will end up getting more yeses. So you have to understand that you’ve got to go through a whole series of no’s in order to get a yes from a client. And I really understood this when I was a door knocker for Zenith Windows. So at the age of 15, I remember leaving school one day, walking down into cultures, the town center, and I was walking down head street and on the left side, I saw this shop front window with this big yellow sign in the door saying massive commissions to be made, door canvases needed, 16 years or over. And I was like, well, I’m not 16. But what if I take my blazer and my tie off and I say I’m 16? And I remember dumping my school bag and my blazer and my tie around the back, walking into Zenith Windows, this was like a quarter past three, half past three, half past four, I’m in a car with four grownups that I don’t even know, right? Squeezed in the middle.
Adam Stott:
Teen traffic.
Liam Ryan:
Squeezed in the middle, and we’re driving to Ipswich, I’m given a notepad, some leaflets, and a script, and I’m told to go and knock on 200 doors. And if I got a pitch, so i. e. I got someone to agree to have a salesman come round and give them a quote on their windows, I’d get 25 quid. I thought, how hard can this be? And I knocked on those doors, and I knocked on those 200 doors, and I didn’t get a single lead. And I went home and I told my mum, she was like, this is slave labour. You need to get a pro, I said, Mum, I’m going to master this. I said, I’m going to do this. You wait cause I’m going to get that first 25 quid. Next day, go knock on 200 doors, no leads. Third day, 200 doors and I get my first lead. And it was, what’s cool, I thank you very much, yeah. And it was what was called an immediate, which basically meant the sales rep was around the corner. He went in straight away and I opened my first 25 quid. But I had to knock on nearly 600 doors. And I was a 15-year-old kid trying to make it in a big world. And I remember having door after door slammed in my face. And I thought I’ve just got to persevere with this. And the moment I got that first appointment and I bagged myself that first 25 quid, everything changed. It was like, if I can do it once, I can do it a hundred times. And I thought to myself, I want to become a master at knocking on doors. And there was all this talk about these top door canvases working for Zenith Windows up around the country and they had all these targets and awards. And I was like, I’m going to make it my life’s mission. I don’t care what it takes. I’m going to become the top door canvasser in the whole of the UK. And I mastered that process. And I learned that scripts. And through that process, I understood how to read people and also how to build desire very, very quickly. You only have a few seconds to capture someone’s attention. Like three, four, five seconds to really get your foot in the door. And I figured out after a while, all you do is you put your foot in the door so they can’t slam it in your face. But yeah, look, you know, I learned a lot through that. You’ve got to put in the hours, you’ve got to put in the graft, and you also have to perfect your pitch, your script, whatever you want to call it. So the first time I knocked on the door, my script was useless because I didn’t really know the products. But after a week, after two weeks, after three weeks, after one year, it was perfect. It was seamless. I just knew it inside out and that’s how you become masterful at what you do.
Adam Stott:
There’s quite a few things in this that Liam’s just said. First of all, when Nick and Nikki were up, they talked about success leaving close, all right? When Palm was up a moment ago, he spoke, he said exactly the same thing. And one thing that, whenever I speak to someone really successful, the lessons are all the same. Just in a different wrapping, right? The lessons are actually all the same. And what Liam’s saying there is, you know, I went out. I went out, I had the conversations until I got the result, which is pretty much perseverance, which is exactly what Palm said as well. So the real clue is, if you’re not quite where you want to be, have you had enough of those conversations? Because it’s really easy, isn’t it? I mean, look, what you could have done is you could have listened to your mum for one. That’s a back out, yeah? Was that an easy back out when mum said this is slave labour? What could he have done? He could have gone, Yeah, it’s slave labour, this is bang out of order! And he could have avoided that, yes or no? So that’s the first thing, because you get these little pivotal points in the breakdown. You know, you could have listened to your mum, you could have done it the second day, and you could have given up. Could have done it the third day and you could get it given up on the hundredth door, but you didn’t, right? And what was really interesting, you said that when that one thing happened, that’s when it changed my life. I actually really feel the same, that when I was working at Powerhouse and I got my first commission deal, that changed my life as well. It really did because it made me, it gave me, and it gave Liam from what he’s describing control. And that’s what all business owners need to be able to do is they need to be able to impact and control their own future. And that’s what sales gives you. If you can go and have a sales based conversation and do a deal, you’re in control. Because then you can do it again and again and again and again. So often the first it was the hardest one, but it’s really important there. So that was really good. And then the other thing that you said, which was great, is that I’ve never met anyone that practices as much as Liam. Tell me a little bit about how you practice.
Liam Ryan:
I do practice. So, in my companies that I have, and I’ve done this for years, but the one thing that we do pretty much most mornings department, sometimes as a big team, individual departments is we role play every single morning at 8:40 in the morning. And pretty much everyone in the company will spend the first 30 minutes of every single day drilling down product knowledge, funnels, unique selling points, how to overcome objections, what makes us different to the competition, how to drive in more money, how to build desire, how to create more excitement, how to give more value. And I’ve been doing that type of thing for years and years and years and years and years. And when I decided seven years ago that I was going to become a speaker and I really found the stage which was just an incredible, incredible process. And you know, it’s really, really transformed, you know, my life and the clients that I work with, really found the true happiness and my real calling. But when I was learning how to become a public speaker, you know, seven years ago, I was not somebody that wanted to get up on stage. And I would get really nervous. And I remember for a number of months being a speaker, I would come up on stage, I would sweat. Like it would be ridiculous. I used to have to make sure I had a jacket on, my mouth used to go really dry. I used to get, yeah, it was horrific, right? But I remembered knocking on those doors years and years ago and I thought eventually this is going to go. It’s going to go, right? Like I’m not going to sweat as much when I’m on stage. And what I used to do is I would get my wife, Holly, my beautiful wife, Holly, I’d get my kids and I would practice every night in the lounge. Put my slides up on the, on the TV screen, and I would make my wife and my kids listen to me every single day. But that’s the type of commitment that I make to myself when I’m starting a new business or I’m trying to master whatever it is, marketing, building funnels. You know, if I’m not very good at it, I’ll invest in great training, great mentoring, I’ll get around the right people, and then I’ll just want to become a master at it and just drill it down every single day.
Adam Stott:
Yeah, really, really noticed that. And actually, when I first started working with Liam, especially in the speaking capacity, I realized actually how lax that I personally had been really practicing. And it did help me take my game up because I saw how he was a maniac practicing all the time. So what are you doing? He’s like, not speaking in the corner to the wall. But it really did make me better because it made me realize actually, you need to practice more, you know, something that’s really, really important. So look, one thing you mentioned is refining that pitch. We did a training, a two-day training where you taught some people in the room where you did an Oscar-winning pitch. Who was there? Mary? You were there I think? A few of you. We had some really good feedback on that. Did you enjoy that? Yeah. Do you remember the bare-bones elements that you could give people very quickly for that?
Liam Ryan:
Okay, great. Good. So, so something I believe that every single person who wants to grow a business has got a product and service, something you should have in your armory, up your sleeve that you can use at any given time with any person to really promote you and what you do, I call it what’s called a mini Oscar speech. So this is typically, you know, three to five minutes where you can stand up in any situation with anybody, anywhere in the world, and you will be able to explain with passion, with excitement, with conviction, with integrity. What you do, what your business is, what you stand for in the services and products that you provide. Now, do I, it’s not like I just pull someone like I’m sitting on a train and I just bang out my Oscar speech. Doesn’t quite work like that, right? But it’s there. But when you know, and you are able to articulate in five minutes, what you do and the service you provide, that will increase your confidence by a hundred times. A hundred times. You’re just going to be so in tune with how special you are and how amazing your product is, and no one will ever be able to tell you anything different. That’s really what I feel an Oscar speech is there for. To help you and you can pull that out the bag at any time.
Adam Stott:
And the way that you break that down is that was really knowing who you are, what you do, what you serve.
Liam Ryan:
Yeah. Yeah. So really broken down into four sections which can then also be a mini elevator pitch, you know. Anywhere up to 60 seconds and then you can expand it. So it’s really broken down into four sections. So you want to write these down. Number one, who you are? Number two, what is it you do? Yeah? Number three, this is the most important, and this is what really people care about, how can you help them? And then always some type of call to action at the end. So what is the next logical step you know, in that particular environment? So if I was on stage and I got a chance to do a presentation or a 60-second mini pitch, then the call to action would be will come and see me by the teas and coffees and let’s connect. Why teas and coffees? Well, everyone’s going there anyway. So I’ll just be there and obviously, then create the networking event. The call to action could be, hey, should we have a tea or coffee? It could be, let’s get a Zoom meeting in. It might be, hey, let’s get a lunch date in. But when you’re with somebody, if you feel that there is a bond and you feel that there could be value between the two of you, then always make sure you put in the next step. And what a lot of people do is they’ll just go and collect loads of business cards and then do nothing with them. I’m always looking for that next step, whatever that might be. Cause you never know, right? You know, one conversation, one relationship could lead into something really, really fantastic.
Adam Stott:
Absolutely. So some really good advice there, especially on just having those short conversations and pushing people through that process to get them to take that next step with you. Which is what we always say in marketing, great marketing sell the next step. Fabulous. So then we move on. So we look at the the journey that you went on, Liam. You went abroad. Did tons in property abroad, but when you came back and you were building the solar company, for example. We’ll talk about that.
Liam Ryan:
Yeah.
Adam Stott:
What did you do then in terms of building it up when you were growing the staff? What have you done so differently this time around? Because I feel like when I see your team, they’re all like deliberately happy all the time. He’s built a culture throughout his team where they all really serve each other. They could never do enough for him. You know, they’re really, really good culture. So, was there a difference between what you did then what you do now? What do you really try to do with your team in order to build great teams? Especially for those of you how many in the room have got employees? Are you starting to get your first employees? Raise your hands. Okay, most of them. So what do you do? What’s your secret source for building the team?
Liam Ryan:
Yeah, that’s a good point. I love building great teams. I think you’ve got to also enjoy or at least give it a go and say, look, I want to build a team. Because, you know, there’s far greater people out there than me at specific roles and tasks and projects that can be brought into the company. I’ve spent years trying to do stuff on my own that didn’t quite work. And really the biggest successes I’ve had is always when I had a great team around me. And I do believe it’s important to have the right culture in place and it does start at the top. So, the owner of the business and how you’re going to treat people and how you want people to treat you and other people in the organization. And I know there’s maybe you’ve been involved with some of this where you’ve been in maybe the corporate world or you’ve worked for companies and it’s like dog eat dog. It’s like everyone’s trying to like get one over on one another and it’s just not really, I don’t, I’m not one for confrontation, you know. I will confront and I’ll be firm where I need to be firm, but I’m not a big one for confrontation. And for me, I always like to bring the energy. So I feel that if you’re bringing the energy as a business owner, that’s going to rub off on your employees. And also having the culture of let’s all support one another, every single person in the organization is no better or different than anyone else. Like, we are the same. And it’s like an engine, and we’re just pieces of that engine. If there’s a piece missing, the whole engine’s gonna fall apart, and it’s very similar in a company. So that’s the type of stuff that I try and install into my staff members, you know, leave the politics at the door, leave the negativity at the door. And something which people say I’m really good at is allowing your staff members to have the correct lines of communication. So allowing your staff members to have a voice. Allowing them to be heard. Not allowing your staff members just to feel like they’re just on a minimum wage, or they’re just getting paid a salary. They don’t bring much value to the business. And also allowing your staff members to be able to communicate through the right channels, any improvements that they feel could take place within the organization. It doesn’t mean you’re going to have to take the onboard but I think that’s really important. And also, a big thing as well is not having your staff members feel like they are just task lists. Lists, lists, lists, lists, lists. I feel if you can give a staff member a project and something that they can take ownership off and then reward them at the end of that project, that’s how you get people to do extra hours. That’s how you get people to come in early, leave late. And also incentivize people. So things I’ve always done is pay over the national average salary. Pay people well, give really good bonuses, incentives within the organization. So I like to have a lot of fun in my companies. I like to go and, you know, play Topgolf, or go Go Karting, or go for weekends away. So it’s like, well, I want to take my staff and do that. Some of the stuff I do.
Adam Stott:
But there’s loads there. There’s actually, you know, a ton there. What would you say to people that are like, but I don’t want to pay extra. I want to keep the margin size. I want to keep the wages down. What would you say to somebody like that?
Liam Ryan:
Well, you may not get the best quality staff and you may not get the best out of them. So you’ve got to look at what each staff member is bringing to the table. So if you pay them more, they’re going to deliver more, hopefully. They’re going to stay with you for longer. Because here’s the thing, right, and many of you will know this if not all of you, actually hiring someone takes quite a considerable amount of time. You’ve got the adverts, you’ve got the interview process, you’ve got the training process. It really, in my view, takes somebody three to six months to be fully trained in any one position, depending on what that position or I’m generalizing.
Adam Stott:
Actually even getting them fully trained in six months, yeah.
Liam Ryan:
To get them fully. Yeah. Three to six months. So if you put that time and energy and effort number one into the wrong person or into somebody and don’t treat them well, it’s going to cost you more money in the long run. Because you’ve got to start that process all over again. You’re another three or six months behind. So staff members to me are like gold dust that they literally are. Because without them, there’s no way we’d be doing the numbers we’re doing, there’s no way I’d be able to have the lifestyle that I have, you know. So I really value my staff members and I love everyone that works for the company. So yeah, treat them well, man. Pay pay. Don’t worry about it. Yeah. You will get a return. You will get a return.
Adam Stott:
Absolutely. So, you know, some really important lessons there for everybody as well in terms of building your company building. And I think it comes back to those money beliefs that a lot of people have. Now in terms of money beliefs, so I don’t know how deep I want to tell this story, but one thing that I saw, because I want to give away to too much on numbers maybe.
Liam Ryan:
Whatever you want to do.
Adam Stott:
You’re right, yeah?
Liam Ryan:
Yeah, I’m open. I’m open. Whatever you want to do, mate.
Adam Stott:
So one thing I thought the Liam was very bold on, bolder than me, and I thought, Jesus, he’s serious here is during that lockdown, do you remember I told you I called the 150, 000 people? So when we all went into lockdown, we had no idea what was going to happen. I was talking to Liam and he was spending 25, 000 pounds on a Zoom call once a week, 25 grand. And I said, are you off your fucking head? 25 grand on a zoom call. What if the Zoom cuts out,? You know, and it, you know, it does at times. Isn’t it? Right? And I was actually like, and also the fact that we’re in lockdown, but actually where you gained a huge growth was in that period, didn’t you? And you know, it’s an opportunity. He was like, I’ve seen an opportunity, everyone sat at home. I’m going to speak to as many of us as I humanly possibly can. And I’m going to, and you did that every single week and a lot more in the end, probably 50 grand a week on marketing spend for zoom calls, right? Yes. We were spending per week on these different things. And I thought that was bold. And especially, you obviously had some events where you didn’t get anywhere near that back, right? And you know, you had some events where you did and you got more and there, but there were ups and downs. But I thought this man has balls of steel. Like literally, I did. I was, it really made me think Jesus, right? That’s really really powerful. But obviously, you know, and this is what I’ve been teaching this morning, I’ve been talking about ltv I’ve been talking about list building. So I think it would be really useful for you to, because especially as you’ve got some experience in this. You knew the LTV of the client, so you weren’t afraid of the 25 grand a call or the 50 grand a call, were you? That was the first thing, you knew it instinctively, you knew it properly, and you knew the numbers. Now, when you know the numbers that instinctively, it allows you to become much more ballsy. It allows you to grow much more because you know what’s coming back. And even if you had a 50 grand loss, you know, well actually, within 90 days, I’m going to get a quarter million pound back, so it don’t matter, right? So if you know the numbers, that helps you. But then also the list, you’ve built a huge list. Do you want to maybe chip in on, what was your feelings during that point? How did you think? Because that was different. By the way, in that period, everyone in the public speaking seminars and motivational space, some of the biggest people went home and, you know…
Liam Ryan:
Shut shop.
Adam Stott:
Shut shop, went and watch TV. That’s serious truth. And he scaled up more than anyone that I’d seen, right?
Liam Ryan:
Yeah. So, you know, obviously, it was a crazy time for every single one of us in, in this room in the world. And I had a growing successful live events business model. You know, the fantastic name, hundreds of, you know, client success stories, COVID came and I was really then in a position where, okay, stop what we do and ride the storm or pivot. And I’ve always pivoted in my life. Pivot, find a way to keep making this work. And I had 15 or 16 staff and it was like, I don’t want to let these people go, you know. I’ve just spent the last four years or so building this business and I know how valuable they were. And we had meetings on, it’s like, there’s gotta be a way. And, you know, other than that initial three-month period, you know, the property market was still open, right? So it was like, okay, well, let’s just find a different way to teach people how to start, scale, and grow a successful property portfolio. And we just made the decision to pivot. We took everything online and it was one of the best things that ever, ever happened. Because pre-COVID, you know, I was up and down the country, which I don’t mind doing, but it was like every Saturday, every Sunday, up and down the country. I’ve sort of grown this beast. And it was like, well, now we can get the same result if not better result but do it online. So we just doubled down on the content. Now, also what happened in that period is that no one was really advertising. So, where I used to maybe spend 15 pound on a lead, I’m now spending 5 pound on a lead, and I always knew that the value is in your database. So, I could see that we weren’t going to be in here, this situation forever. And it’s like, build a database, give great value. So I started to shoot more content, I started to do more YouTube videos, I started to create more podcasts. We were putting out more amazing content to the database we were running. A whole bunch of free stuff to the database, you know, mindset tips, business tips, motivational tips, health tips you know. I just spent that time plowing my heart and soul into the database, ie the community, people that we care about. And you know when things get difficult in the world, actually, what people need is more help and support. And through that time, more and more people were looking for that solution. And a lot of the people that became clients of ours in that time, yes, okay, the property market, it was more challenging and it was more difficult to go on viewings and there was more fear around lending and things like this, but those people are absolutely killing it now. So yeah, the values in the database and I knew in terms of talking about numbers, I knew that if I can get people to one of my three day events, which they’ll all be able to come to at some point, you know, per head revenue, there would be an excess of nine, 10, 11, 000 pounds. I knew once I get a client on board, that client’s potentially worth 35 to 40, 000 over the lifetime. So I didn’t mind spending the money. It was an investment. I didn’t see it as spending. It was an investment into the business. It was an investment into the community and it’s done very well.
Adam Stott:
Able to make the decision based off of what we spoke about this morning. How many can say that, right? That that’s the list and it’s the LTV. Knowing that LTV, knowing what the client is actually worth to you, and then knowing the value of lists. I think, a couple more bits on this, Liam. For you, how important is a list? Could you run a business without a list?
Liam Ryan:
No, very, very difficult.
Adam Stott:
Is that how you…
Liam Ryan:
It’s like impossible. Yeah. You need to have a community. So it’s like step by step, right? So I’ll just talk about the business that I have now, which I started, you know, seven years ago, seven and a bit years ago. You know, when I initially started that, the first thing I did was set up a facebook group. Like within days. Didn’t know what I was doing, didn’t really know what I was talking about. But I thought wow, they’ve got these things called Facebook groups so people join and then you can talk to them every day for free. You can go live and you can do videos and people then get to know like and trust you. So that’s the first thing I did is like set up a group and I just start talking in there, see what goes on. Then it was like, okay, now I’ve got a group, I’ve got to monetize the group. Okay, I now need a database. So then I created a lead magnet. So a front end, cheat sheet, infographics, four, five, six-page thing on your business, you know, something with a nice sexy hook. So I created a document, turned it into a nice PDF. And I started to give that away for free across my social media channels. And it was like, I remember one day when I first launched it, I had something like maybe 300 people click the link and then there was in my infusion soft. I was like, now I’ve got their phone number. Now I’ve got their email. Now I can email market them. And that was really the start of that. So yeah, list building is really important. The most important spend I believe in any business is marketing spent. Whatever you do, do not cut back on marketing spend and where possible increase marketing spend obviously in relation to operating costs and also turnover and the growth of your business. So, you know, I wouldn’t go and spend all the money tomorrow marketing, but I’m always looking to increase and I would be more than happy you know, started with 5, 000 pounds a month, then 5, 000 pounds a week, then 50, you know, it builds and builds and builds and builds up. But you know, between you and I, we do a serious amount in market and spend.
Adam Stott:
A serious amount because look, you’ve got to get numb. And you’ve got people got to know about you and got to know about your product. And if you know the numbers, so what really, what I tried to show you this morning, and Palm’s come up and talk to you. He understands the fundamentals. Liam’s come up and talk to you today, he understands these fundamentals. And that’s why I wanted you to teach these, let that lesson and have these guests today, because I knew that they would compound and show you how important it is. Therefore, I’m confident that you’re going to put it in place. Who’s going to put it in place? Okay, absolutely. I want you to put it in place because look, you know, if you hadn’t started your list and you started your list last year, you know, you would have been missing out on millions of pounds in revenue, right?
Liam Ryan:
Yeah.
Adam Stott:
And that’s the thing and you can never really you want to start it up as soon as you possibly can and keep building it. What is small today, will be bigger tomorrow, and will be bigger the day after that and we’ll just keep growing. And before you know it, you’ll be able to talk to 10, 000 people, you’ll be able to prospect it for leads, you’ll be able to get more deals on a continual basis. So you want to build that list, look after that list. And actually, I love Liam’s frame there. So I said, build a relationship with the list earlier. What Liam’s just said is if you make your list a community, that’s an even better frame, actually. than what I said earlier, you know. And the reason that’s a better frame is if your list was a community, how would you treat it? Would you treat it slightly differently? You would, you know, you would talk to them more regularly when you. And that’s the way you want to look at your within our community cause you’re on our list actually like that even better. Because that way you can go out and you can build that relationship. Okay. Look phenomenal stuff, Liam, you know. Really wanted to showcase today some of the things that, you know, Liam that I’ve seen firsthand. What I’ve seen firsthand from working so close is really builds great teams. Very, very strong on the numbers, understands building to understand and building those teams, making sure he goes out to market. And because of that, that’s how you can end up scaling to an eight figure business and you can then get all the things you want, right? You know, live the life, your dreams, get your time back. But what Liam’s also just said, there is your marketing budget. You all need to have a marketing budget. Even if that starts, like say that you haven’t got any money, all right, that start put in whatever you can at the beginning. That’s the start a hundred pound a month, start at a hundred pound a month. But you all want to be paying to get your message out to market. Once you get some success with your a hundred pound, move to a thousand pound. Once you get some success with your a thousand pound, move to 5,000, to 10,000 to 15,000 and scale. Cause any investment in marketing brings you back a return if it’s done in the right way, which will just see your companies grow and flourish. What would you sound that Liam in terms of market and budget? Do you want to add anything to that?
Liam Ryan:
Yeah, I just feel it’s the most important spend in any business. So never be afraid to you know, invest in generating great leads for your business. And also remember, there’s a percentage of those leads that will come on your database and they’ll never do anything. Think that’s also okay. They’ll never even open one of your emails, that’s also okay. You know, we work on a 90 day cycle in my company. So we’re always cleaning the list and bringing in new people in. And also remember you, you just don’t know when that person’s going to be ready you know. We’ve had people this year that have been on the database. They’ve been engaging, so we haven’t took them off a list, they’ve been engaging for three, four years. One guy bought a couple of weeks ago, he’s been on the database for four years. Never bought a single product until one of the webinars recently, four years. But he’s been opening the email, seeing what we’re doing. You know, some people will watch you for 60 seconds and they’re ready to buy and they’ll buy your thing. Some people will need to watch you for two, three or four years before they’re ready to really know, like, and trust you. You just don’t know. So if you stay consistent with your messaging, consistent with your marketing, if you go out with the mindset of I’m going to give as much value for free as I possibly can, that’s how people will then convert into, you know, loyal fans, customers, whatever you want to call them. So, yeah.
Adam Stott:
Absolutely brilliant.
Liam Ryan:
Start with something small, you know, get a lead magnet out there, you can generate leads for free as well, organically. You know, you’ll hit a wall with that fairly quickly. But then you’ve got, you know, cheap ways of getting leads in your business.
Adam Stott:
Brilliant. I think there’s been some brilliant points there. Will we agree, everybody? Yeah.? Should we give Liam a big round of applause? Hi, everybody. Adam here. And I hope you loved today’s episode. Hope you thought it was fabulous. And if you did, I’d like to ask you a small favor. Could you jump over and go and give the podcast a review? Of course, I’ll be super grateful if that is a five-star review. We’re putting our all into this podcast for you, delivering you the content, giving you the secrets. And if you’ve enjoyed it, please go and give us in a review and talk about what your favorite episode is perhaps. Every single month, I select someone from that review list to come to one of my exclusive Academy days and have lunch with me on the day, meeting hundreds of my clients. So if you want that to be you, then you’re going to be in with a shout if you go and give us a review on iTunes. Please, of course, do remember to subscribe so you can get all the up-to-date episodes. Peace and love. And I’ll see you very, very soon. Thank you.