Moving a BBQ = Great Business Lesson

By Kendall Walker | November 3, 2014 |

http://sixth.wistia.com/medias/vo5xm8bris?embedType=iframe&videoFoam=true&videoWidth=733

The other day I came into the office and was talking to one of our coaches, Clint, about his weekend. In case you haven’t met him, Clint’s the guy with the beard.

He responded by saying, “oh, well…actually, I have a funny story…”

I don’t know about you, but when anyone responds by saying they have a funny story to tell, I automatically stop what I’m doing to listen.

So, the story he told was pretty awesome for a few reasons:

  1. I would bet that everyone has had this experience at least once in their lives
  2. The experience he had was completely relatable to what we, as entrepreneurs, tend to do in our business

As soon as he was done with his story, I immediately turned to him and told him he had to retell the story on camera, so we could share it with you.

Would love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to drop me an email if you have any similar stories to share.

PS: Next week, I’m going to tell you about a similar experience I had involving my kids and hiking. Stay tuned.

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4 Comments

  1. jamiehayes on November 9, 2014 at 5:53 am

    The story reminds me of when our 3 boys were young and my wife thought they would like a “cubby house” (mini log playhouse) in the back yard. This was before Google and she did a Yellow Pages search, called and asked about the price ($400). She then asked about installation ($200 – 2 blokes – 2 hours). So she asks “Does it come with instructions?” “Yes” said the lady. So my wife figures her husband (me) should do it and it would be a good bonding exercise, plus we had a hardware store next door. The kit arrived, I read the instructions and started spending money on tools and parts in the hardware store (way more than $200). I then had to drive across town for more parts and explanation of the instructions. The next day I had to go back! Then I asked “Do you get a lot of people needing help with the instructions?” “All the time” she said. “Who wrote the instructions?” I asked. “The installers.” she said in frustration. Then I came up with my suggestion “Why not send the installers to watch a half-intelligent, half-good-with-their-hands person like me trying to follow their instructions BUT put tape across their mouths so they cannot give tips and tie their hands behind their backs so they can’t even point. Make them sit there and squirm. Pretty quick you’ll have instructions and processes that make it easier for the customer to get the result they want without the frustration and wasted time and resources.” I’ve made this suggestion to many software companies who actually think their software is intuitive. It is for them, but not for us. Of course this “watching” could be done with screen sharing, but it would not be as powerful as sitting directly behind a new software user.



    • bradmartineau on November 12, 2014 at 3:33 pm

      Haha… Been there, done that… 😉



  2. Ramon Ray on November 17, 2014 at 2:36 pm

    Brad, thanks for CONTINUING to provide awesome insight to your TRIBE!!! Lovely story…



    • bradmartineau on November 19, 2014 at 8:15 pm

      Thanks brotha!

      Brad