How to Increase the Profitability and Productivity of Your Business while keeping Overhead Costs Low! – with Louis Spagnuolo. PART 2

Louis Spagnuolo

LOUIS SPAGNUOLO : Basically, we had a lot of people running in different directions that came from other companies, and had other ways of doing things and we weren’t really all on the same page. So we felt that it was critical that we have all of our employees with the same vision, same ethics, same integrity, same customer support, same dedication, all driving towards the same goal. Because at one point it seems like we’re all going in different directions trying to accomplish the same thing. Whereas now we’re all uniform, we all do things in a certain manner, we do things with a certain methodologies, and tenets, and things like that, that we’ve put in place so there’s really very little doubt what needs to be get done, what order needs to get done, and how much time we have for each project.

OWEN: Can you give me a specific example of this problem you just mentioned? How would that impact maybe was the Aha moment where something happened to you like you just have to change things around?

Louis Spagnuolo CEO

LOUIS SPAGNUOLO : Basically we had one client where it involved maybe 8 different disciplines to integrate what we’re looking to do integrate what we’re looking to do. And we got through the first week pretty quickly, and then when it came to the 4, 5, and 6 we ran into some challenges and some hurdles but we had 8, 9, or 10 done. So we basically at the beginning part done and the end part done, but we ran into issues in the middle. And it just created a big disruption where the client was disappointed, I was disappointed, the whole team was disappointed where we felt that it should’ve gone a lot smoother, and then we realize that if we don’t have each section accountable for what they have to do in the proper order, we’re not going to be able to get the synergies and the results that we’re looking for.

OWEN: Okay. So now let’s talk about how you solve that problem that you mentioned and the lowest point. So what did you guys do to solve the problem? What was the first thing you guys did?

LOUIS SPAGNUOLO : The first thing we did was we all got together cumulatively, we sat in the boardroom and we said, “Okay, let’s identify what the problems are, where the disconnects are, and then let’s put a plan in place to how to eliminate these problems with disconnects.” So we basically came up with a book so to speak of first company tenets on how we’re going to operate and interact. And then we came up with each department what their responsible for, what the timetables are, and how to interact with the next piece that goes into place. And it’s kind of like building almost like a Lego set so to speak, where if you don’t have the base done correctly you can’t really build the roof so to speak. And I think that really helped us once we identified those things, we got new systems in place to alleviate problems, and we got everybody on the same page.

Louis Spagnuolo Tiger 21

OWEN: So during the pre-interview you mentioned how you broke it down to departments first of all and then I think you identify people within those departments who would be responsible for taking charge of building now the systems within the departments. And then also be responsible for passing it out to other employees that work on them. Can we talk about some other things that you do specifically [Unintelligible 00:06:44] the different departments at this time?

LOUIS SPAGNUOLO : What we decided to do instead of giving each person anonymity. What we did was we’d have 1 manager and he’d be ultimately responsible for his area of getting done. And then that person would interact with the person that will handle the middle piece. And that middle piece person would handle the person that finalizes the project. So really we designated 3 leaders and then we had people working underneath them. So we had accountability at all phases of the project. So we knew exactly what was going on and exactly where we have hiccups, and exactly what the challenges where, and where we needed to add resources. So, it’s much easier identifiable by having different layers of accountability where people would oversee their section and what needed to get done.

OWEN: Okay. So let’s dive in and talk about what specific systems that you currently have in this very business that allows it to run without you?

Louis Spagnuolo CEO

LOUIS SPAGNUOLO : Basically, the main systems that we have are pretty standard where we set an objective, we set a timetable, and until that objective is completed none of the employees are allowed to work on anything else. I’m a big believer in accomplishing one thing at a time and then moving on to the next. A lot of people feel that it’s better to multitask. I kind of disagree with that. I think you should make a checklist of your 5 most important things that you need to accomplish during the day. And you start with the first one, you check it out, you start with the second one, the third one, the fourth one, and the fifth one, and you stay much more focused and you tend to get much better results. So we instituted that plan with all our employees, and we basically call it the 5-point system. And each one comes to work each day, they write down what needs to get done so we never had issues where there’s a hiccup of something major, if someone was spending time on something less relevant.

OWEN: Okay, so let’s talk about that 5-step system you just mentioned. Break it down and give us more specifics on it.

LOUIS SPAGNUOLO : Basically, each employee will come to work and write down what the 5 main priorities are for the day in order of importance. So number 1 would be the most critical thing that needs to get done. So they’ll make sure that they spend all their time in the morning or even if takes the whole day to get that one thing done before they move on to number 2, number 3, number 4, and number 5. Because before that you have employees that have 5 objectives, they’ve been working on all 5 at the same time and none of them would be completely done. And it created a big problem. And I told my employees it’s better to get 4 things 100% done than 5 things 80% done. And that’s kind of the new program that we instill and we found much better results from that.

OWEN: And where are they getting this list of 5 things that they have to do. Are they just making them up as they go, where is this coming from?

LOUIS: Self-determined, and then the person that oversees that division will review them each morning to make sure everybody’s on-track so there’s no hiccups. And that’s how we have the checks and balances.

Louis Spagnuolo Private Jet

OWEN: Okay. And so, one of the things that my listeners like to talk about specifically is they like to listen to how– imagine your business like being a conveyor belt. On point is a customer now who– potential customer that has interest in the service that you provide. And on the other end that very customer has been transformed into raving fan. But behind the scenes there are a bunch of things that are happening to make that happen, right, to transform that person. So let’s talk about different parts of your business and how it affects to make sure that, that transformation happens.

LOUIS: Really, it comes down to results, and we basically, very carefully who we partner with and do business with. Because if we feel that we can’t help them exponentially then it’s not a good fit for us because we’re not interested in unhappy clients, and we’re not interested in having a ton of clients. We rather have very satisfied clients that we added material value to that could see that in form of maybe revenue, or profits, or customer acquisition. So then they could say, “Hey, you know what this was a great relationship, we want to keep building with them when we’d take on new ventures, and new products, and expand our business.

OWEN: Okay. So I need to know about the parts there, the different parts of the business.

LOUIS SPAGNUOLO

Louis Spagnuolo Forbes

OWEN: You have a customer, right? A potential person who’s interested in your service who you’re transforming into– yeah, I get all you say but I want to understand the different parts that make that happen. Because that transformation didn’t just happen by happenstance. There is a series of processes that happen behind the scenes to make that transformation happen. And that’s what we’re trying to dive behind the scene and understand.

LOUIS: Well, each situation is unique, it just depends on what the client’s requirements are. So first we identify what the requirements are and then we put a plan in place in how to integrate intellectual property to help them do that. So first is diagnosing what the situation is. Then coming up with a plan of execution, third following up with that plan, and then fourth interacting with that client to make sure they’re getting the results that they need is how we typically do it.

OWEN: Okay, so is it safe to say that every customer you have now is a whole different series of steps to execute for every customer is never going to be the same?

LOUIS: Exactly. It’s never really the same. Some customers need telephonic assets, some customers need licensing assets, some customers need patents, it just really depends upon what they’re trying to accomplish, what they’re trying to gain, what their budget is, how committed are they growing a certain space of their business. So then once we analyze and diagnose all that, then we know what pieces to put in place and what we need to do. So we don’t really have a generic formula, it’s more of a specific formula. Almost as if a patient went to a doctor, there’s not always one cure for whatever the person’s illness is. It’s really about a diagnosis, finding out where the challenges are, where the areas are, and then giving them the proper medication and the proper procedures done to get them where they need to go.

LOUIS SPAGNUOLO INVESTOR

OWEN: Okay. So one of the things that we keep hearing over and over again from the interviews that we do is that most of the time the guest, they always have a series of steps that are always predictable that happen in order for them to deliver the results to their customer. Meaning that it’s the same series of steps all systematized. But what you say now to me is that every customer gets the different product and also on top of that a different series of actions when you guys part. And I’m beginning to wonder, how is that now systematized? How do you systematize such a situation where each customer is going to get something totally different?

LOUIS: Well, the system is first you have to diagnose. That’s the first part of the system. The second part is we have to analyze what assets are going to add the most value to what they’re doing. The third part of the system is, okay, how do we now integrate and execute upon adding those. And then the 4th part of the system is one of the results that the client’s seeing and what modifications do we have to make. So those are the 4 principles as far as the system goes and it’s just varies per client on what actual little pieces of intellectual property that they’re needing to bring them to the level they want to go.

LOUIS SPAGNUOLO BUSINESS

OWEN: Okay. So it’s more of like a framework that guides people along the line but then it just keep going back to that framework and based on the specific customer, having a feel for what needs to get done based on this framework we’re already using, right?

LOUIS: Exactly, yeah. Because I don’t think business is generic enough where we can decide one model for every case. I think business is fluid. And I think you have company that understands the fluidity of business. And to do that you have to go into each situation knowing each customer has different demands, different budgets, different expectations. And until you analyze all that and piece it together, and put it in your process, you’re not going to really know what the true solution is for them.

OWEN: Okay, so I get the framework. Is there an example that you can share for a specific customer? And maybe even talk about the specific problem they have and then how you apply the framework that you just mentioned, the 4-step framework all the way to the end for that very customer.

LOUIS: Yeah. A lot of times we’ll get customers that’ll say, “Listen, we have a great business, we have a great product, a great service. We just don’t have a presence online where our online business is doing as well as our offline business.” So for example the customer could be a tax attorney, and we could say we could say, “Okay, we can develop taxattorney.com which would be the premier piece of intellectual property within that vertical.” We would build it out, we would develop it, we would generate leads, we would then feed you the leads, we will integrate a telephonic phone number that everyone could be remember so it’d be easy. We can add some licensing deals with partnerships where we can help you. We could basically analyze the whole thing and put it together, just depending upon the client. So it could be anything from the legal space, to retail space, you name it. The insurance vertical space, there’s a million niches that we work in for clients that are looking for specific pieces of insurance that they want to bind and provide the clients. So it just all depends upon what the client’s goals are, and we adapt to those goals.

OWEN: Okay. So what challenges did you experience as you initially tried to create the systems for the business and how did you solve them?

Louis Spagnuolo Louis Spagnuolo

LOUIS: Really the big challenges, like I said initially is we had basically all our employees go on in different directions at one time and not everybody was really in-tuned as to where everybody was at in the process. And when we put the system at checks and balances in place, when we put the system of the 5 points in place, when we had the re-processes of the management overview from start, middle, and finish. Things became a lot tighter, and we knew it all the times exactly where every project was and what the impediments may be or the challenges may be. So if there was a problem we could diagnose it right away, we could correct it, and it really made things a lot more efficient.

OWEN: Okay, so you just mentioned something. You said you knew where each project was at every stage. So I’m curious, to make it even more concrete for the listener we get the framework that you’re using and all that. What tools also are you using to actually make this framework that you’ve mentioned come to life? What tools are you using to do all this stuff?

LOUIS: Most of it is done through our computer systems. We had a proprietary software basically that we created that allows us to do timeline projections. It’s like a project planner, and basically we could all collaborate on that and see exactly where each of the puzzle is. So one side of the puzzle’s kind of slacking or slowing down, the guys ahead of them know that. And they can’t transition from what they’re doing to help the people on the backend and vice versa. So by having that online collaboration where we know where every aspect is, if there’s any hiccups or unexpected problems, or stall issues, we could identify those and then reposition employees to fix those quicker, and then go back to their standard procedures.

Louis Spagnuolo Success

OWEN: Okay. So is this the system that now enables them to know that the propriety system that you built. This is what now enables them to know exactly what they need to do. I’m just trying to get more insight on this.

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https://www.sweetprocess.com/increase-profitability-productivity-business-keeping-overhead-costs-low-louis-spagnuolo/

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