The Brendan Ecker Influence
Brendan Ecker discusses topics surrounding entrepreneurship, business, branding, personal development, and how to succeed in life while studying the quickest paths to health, wealth, love, happiness, freedom, and time. Brendan Ecker incorporates his experiences and inights from being a serial entrepreneur, author, investor, police officer, and former NCAA student athlete.
The Brendan Ecker Influence is a self improvement and growth hub with a primary focus on discussing the mindset required to survive in business, entrepreneurship, and every day life. On this show, we study the rich and teach you how to get rich. We explore the most effective strategies to increasing your earning capacity, chasing your dreams, conquering your fears, and dominating life's greatest challenges. Learn how to Succeed, Accomplish your Dreams, and Develop Multiple Income Streams.
"I talk about how I did it, how I still do it, but primarily, the foundations, mindset, and mental frameworks that helped me to crush my goals, and achieve everything I wanted in life". If you love the content, then be sure the leave a review, as this helps us grow the show and build something special for other motivated entrepreneurs like you. Welcome to the 1%.
The Brendan Ecker Influence
Building Trust in Business with Author & TEDx Speaker | Natalie Doyle Oldfield
Building trust is essential to building a successful brand and business. Natalie Doyle Oldfield, author and TEDx Keynote speaker, discusses her strategies for building trust with in potential clients and customers.
Get 5K+ Leads and Video Editing:
https://www.goldsharkmedia.com
Get Natalie's Books:
https://a.co/d/0WqMx5i
#Education #BusinessGrowth #Trust #SocialMediaMarketing #podcast #businesssuccess #entrepreneurship #marketing #advertising #SMMA #leadgenerationagency #seo
Please leave a review if this show brings you value. We'd love your feedback so we can improve it and make it better for you! Also be sure to buy one of my books! Link Below.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=brendan+ecker&i=stripbooks&crid=1VUZG3NL89CXQ&sprefix=brendan+ec%2Cstripbooks%2C107&ref=nb_sb_ss_fb_1_10
Companies that have the trust of their customers. They have the trust of their employees. They have the trust of their stakeholders, people in the community. Well, I'm going to try to figure out. How is it, in a business-to-business environment, do customers decide to buy? You can have the best product in the world, the best process, the best technology, but it comes down to the people.
Speaker 2:The best way we've acquired our clients is through having real relationships and actual connections right, Having real conversations and getting to the root of their problems as a business.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you very much for having me on your show, really delighted to be here. It's great to be able to talk business with you. My story, well, the long and short of it is I spent about 25 years in business, working for some amazing companies both in Canada and in the US, and what I found is some companies do really well and others not so well. And while working for a software company, I decided to go back to graduate school and do a master's and I went in thinking well, I'm going to try to figure out how is it in a business to business environment, environment do customers decide to buy? And you know, I was trying to figure out, like why are some companies so successful and others are not? Like what's the single factor that makes some companies successful and some not? And you know, I think we all kind of think about this when we're looking at companies. And so I went in to try to figure out the answer. So I started on a research project and the results really made my jaw drop. I was like, wow.
Speaker 1:So the answer is companies that have the trust of their customers, they have the trust of their employees, they have the trust of their stakeholders, people in the community, it all comes down to trust.
Speaker 1:It's truly the single factor that makes companies successful, and when you have what I call trust equity it's a term that I coined a long time ago when I was doing my research in 2011. When you have trust equity, you have more customers, higher revenue, employees that are engaged and you have repeat business business and your clients give you recommendations. So I created a framework while I was in university doing my master's, while I was working full-time, and an evidence-based framework that shows that when you are trusted, you have all these other benefits you have loyalty, you have growth and engagement and retention and innovation. So that's kind of, in a really short way of describing my backstory. I just got so curious about it because I had taken over a role in this company of sales and I really didn't know how to do sales, so I thought, oh my gosh, how do I do this? And went on to figure out okay, it's all about trust and having relationships of trust.
Speaker 2:I definitely agree with that and it's absolutely true. In business, I think that's been the best way we've acquired our clients is through having real relationships and actual connections right, having real conversations and getting to the root of their problems as a business and, you know, taking time to not price gouge but to actually make sure we're getting to the main issue of what they're trying to get to Right. So solving problems and complex issues most of the time with a lot of the stuff we're doing. But yeah, so tell us a little bit more about trust and how business owners can really understand that a little bit deeper. Why is that so important?
Speaker 1:Well, it's, it's the foundation for everything. And if you think about business in its broadest sense, when we have business challenges or business issues, it doesn't matter what industry your listeners are involved in, whether you're in construction or professional services or products you know you sell a product, whether you are a subscription-based company or you know one of. When you have customers that are lagging on the subscription or they're not renewing, or you have sales that maybe are flat, or you don't have customers that are not calling you back, you have declines in revenue but increases in customer complaints. All of those things are signals or issues or indicators, if you will, that something is broken and really what it comes down to is those are signals that there is low trust and in every business we have different issues happening. In every business we have different issues happening, but really it all comes down to what's causing those and in most cases it's coming down to the employees and something happening.
Speaker 1:So for every business, brandon, there are what I call common critical trust risk points. So you know there are many different things that businesses face right. So critical trust risk point I define that as an event or an activity in a company that can either build a customer's trust in you or erode or fracture the customer's trust in you. So things like selling things we do not need or want, failure to admit a mistake or responding poorly to a customer complaint, a safety issue, a privacy breach or security breach it could be not listening to the customer. It could be failing to act in the customer's best interest.
Speaker 1:You know thinking, well, I'm going to push this product even though it's probably not the right thing for the customer. All of those are pretty, I would say, common, critical trust risk points. And what's so significant is that, for every business, what all of those things have in common are people. For every business, that's the key right. You can have the best product in the world, the best process, the best technology, but it comes down to the people. If the people are not trustworthy and they're not communicating, behaving and serving you in a trustworthy fashion, then it breaks down.
Speaker 4:Hi, I'm Nova, an AI avatar created by Gold Shark Media Digital Marketing Agency, ready to create AI ads that give a professional and aesthetic impression to your brand, like the one you're seeing now. Gold Shark Media can help create you cutting edge marketing projects and advertisements using our own AI software. We believe your business deserves more than just a one-size-fits-all marketing solution. That's why we offer a range of customized plans designed to meet your needs, whether you're just getting started or ready to take your business to the next level. Our plans are built with one goal in mind delivering results that matter to you, from lead generation to social media management, paid advertising and SEO. Thank you.
Speaker 4:You get the support of a dedicated team of experts who work closely with you to achieve your goals. We deliver clear strategies, measurable success and the peace of mind that comes from knowing you're in good hands. And here's the best part With our transparent pricing, there are no surprises. You'll know exactly what you're getting and how it will drive growth for your business. We're here to make sure that every dollar you invest in marketing works harder for you and start seeing the results you deserve. Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2:And I love that you mentioned that you were in sales as well, because I have spent a lot of time in sales just being I'm also a police officer, but I like to spend a know, test that and kind of see, do I trust this person and what makes me trust them, you know, and what really does work for me, what gets me to buy, is truly that transparency and right, showing me the testimonials and, you know, just being upfront and honest with me but being able to show me the results as well and also, like the track record, everything that you mentioned. So for somebody who's B2B you've worked a lot of it in B2B Tell us a little bit about some of your horror stories and then some of your glory stories, some of the best stories.
Speaker 1:Well, horror stories. So define horror stories. So what do you mean? I love that term, but what do you mean?
Speaker 2:So I guess I like that term because in business we all go through them, and especially with B2B, it can be tricky. You have to definitely maneuver this niche in a particular way, and so I guess that's what I wanted to say is, what's the worst thing you've seen, so like, what was the craziest chaos in a business, in a B2B kind of business or just any business that you've experienced?
Speaker 1:Well, I've seen a lot of crazy interesting things, interesting things. So I mentioned to you before we started the show that I have a new book coming out on October 29th. It's called Trusted the Proven Path to Customer Loyalty and Business Growth and in that book is a collection of stories they're actually real stories of real companies and clients that I've worked with. I changed the names to make the people anonymous, but it's a collection of stories and the first story that was a horror story for this company that I worked with and turned into a great success story after they got through it is one that I'll share with you. So here's an example. It's an IT company, the very successful, well-known IT company in North America, and for those in the IT industry you would know this brand well-known company. There was a technology person in the company who continued to get promoted and became the CTO. The chief technology officer continued to get promoted and became the CTO, the chief technology officer, and after several years the owner of the company decided to retire and he sold the company to this CTO. So his name I'll say in quotations is Chris to make him anonymous. So Chris was. He loved the company, he worked on all the technology. Great guy, really great guy and very technical, brilliant.
Speaker 1:There was an industry conference and the company thought you know what, this is a really great time to introduce Chris as the new owner, introduce Chris as the new owner. And so they invested heavily. They bought a trade show booth, they sent several people to the event and they worked really hard and they got him on the stage and he did a presentation and he worked really hard on that presentation and they actually hired someone to help with the speech and he did a great job. He was nervous, he's not a professional speaker, but he did a great job and you know what, the audience was really kind and they, you know, clapped at the end. I've been told I wasn't in the audience.
Speaker 1:They called me after and you know he got through the presentation but then what happened was after his presentation, it was the Q&A, and so people are asking him questions about oh, you're the new owner now and you're the new CEO and tell us about this in the industry, and tell us about that, just like we do after someone does a presentation. That, just like we do after someone does a presentation. And one of the questions, one of the responses that he gave to the question. When they asked about what are your plans now with the business as the new owner and this was in front of all the people in the industry, including their clients and prospects and employees he said, well, those who need to know. And prospects and employees. He said, well, those who need to know. No, next question Yep.
Speaker 1:Then someone said well, and you could hear a pin drop, apparently in the room. Then someone asked another question and he said that doesn't really apply to us. I know it's an issue in the industry, but not not for us.
Speaker 2:Next question yeah, so he was dodging the questions and oh boy, yeah.
Speaker 1:So it did not go over well because of the way he responded and because of his tone. And you know a lot of folks said, you know, he's kind of arrogant and gosh, like he's not very open and transparent, like what's happening here, like what's happening here and he's you know his body language and all of his responses came off as not trustworthy, let's say. And so what happened is people started to doubt what the company was doing and over the next couple of weeks they had some fallout. They had some long-term customers that were very important to the business, not as friendly as they used to be. They had a couple of companies and they were a subscription based, so they wanted to get monthly managed services fee is another way of saying it. And you know, a couple of months later, they, they, he went out to lunch, the CEO did.
Speaker 1:And he went out to lunch, the CEO did this new guy with one of their largest customers, and the customer said something like well, who was a bit standoffish with him, but he said something like oh, am all these things that have been happening over the last few months are I'm the problem, I'm the reason, because of the way that I responded. So you know, step number one is we have to really understand that everybody in an organization has a part to play in the customer's decision to trust you. And and we have to realize that, wow, like we all have to look in the mirror and you know what are we doing, how are we communicating, how are we behaving and how are we serving our customer. So what he did was very proactive. He realized, wow, it's me, like I'm part of the problem. He didn't have the soft skills. He was a brilliant technician, but he just didn't have the soft skills. He didn't have the skill set to build trust, to open up to be yeah, to relate to the people.
Speaker 1:And so it is a skill set. And so he went in and I have a corporate program and a group program that's professional development training, and he and some other folks on the leadership team and people who weren't on the leadership team but needed to improve their skills, learned how to build trust. It's an evidence-based system, it's based on science and evidence and it's step-by-step to build, manage and protect relationships of trust. So after a few months all their sales started coming back up and their relationships started coming back up. But it was.
Speaker 1:It was a horror story and you know, as I mentioned, my book's coming out October 29. So I thought about that because I've been in the, you know, reviewing it and talking to people about my new book and that's what I opened my book with. That it's, it's, it's a skillset and I really believe it's a leadership imperative and we can all learn to build relationships of trust. Cause for this company Chris's company, like he wanted to be the most trusted in the industry because he knew like when we're the most trusted, it drives loyalty, it drives revenue growth new partnership opportunities, new distributors in his case.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Need more leads, need content marketing. How about video editors and consistent lead generation? How about maximized brand awareness and consistent lead generation? How about maximized brand awareness? You're in luck, nice to meet you. We are Gold Shark Media Digital Marketing. What do we do? We guarantee 5,000 leads per month with our $90 plan and over 100,000 leads for our $10,000 per month plan, along with quality social media management. We work for everyone who needs a platform Simple. We work for small business owners, personal brands, freelancers and even for the Fortune We'll see you next time for entrepreneurs and businesses. If you want to see success in business, outsourcing to an agency can save you time and money. Book a free consultation or order a plan from our website. We look forward to working with you. Envision Gold.
Speaker 2:Yep and to ask you a difficult question related to trust. And so you don't have to get too political. But I'm actually curious if you were to give advice to Donald Trump and Kamala Harris today on how to gain the trust of the people. Again, you don't have to get too political. Just what would your answer be to anybody really competing for positions of power to those echelons?
Speaker 1:Well, you know I'm Canadian, so I don't have a vote.
Speaker 2:Oh, yes, yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1:However, I do watch and see what's happening and the advice I would give to anyone running for office, or any leader of any company or organization or non-government organization, is to start with being authentic and sincere and, you know, in the case of someone running for office, show the public your true self, and I think that that is the most important thing.
Speaker 2:I think so too, that that is. That is the most important thing.
Speaker 1:I think we, we buy from people, we trust, we invest in people, we trust, we vote for people, we trust and and you know, it's the framework that that I've built that's that's I talk about in my book is it really comes down to how we communicate, how we behave and how we serve, and I would suggest start by being authentic and showing your real self, because that's that's key to behavior is being open and transparent and just showing people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I appreciate your answer too, and I think it's an even more important answer because you are Canadian and you are outside of the United States, so I think that makes it an even better answer in that sense. And so for leaders in the space who are getting into public speaking, how did you start and what would you suggest they do to get better at that skill, specifically Because it's one of the hardest skills in the world?
Speaker 1:Oh, I would say practice. I would say practice and really get to know who your audience is. That's, that's, those two combined, so that what you share, whatever your message is, that it resonates with the audience and it's it's, it's, it's you know, it's relevant to them. So I think there's two things is to get better, is to practice as much as you can all the time. I mean, there's lots of ways that people can practice. You can practice on, you know, and podcasts, speaking to local, whatever your local association or you know, maybe it's a college class. Those are all great ways to get some practice. And then the second piece is really understand who your audience is.
Speaker 2:What was the hardest part for you? Getting started with public speaking?
Speaker 1:What was the hardest part? Getting over myself.
Speaker 2:So would you consider yourself more of an introvert or an extrovert? I would consider you more of an extrovert. I am an extrovert. Yes.
Speaker 1:I am. Do you know what?
Speaker 2:Yes, I am, I'm chatty, I am, I'm chatty, I love being around people, I love learning from other people and, yeah, I love learning new things when I talk to other people and I her name was Romy Vander Mew and he's or she is a life coach, and I had asked her a similar question and kind of what the key is to that, and she had a similar answer. I was like, okay, do you have to be an introvert or an extrovert? And I'm curious to see what your answer is. Do you? Is it required to be an extrovert or do you have to put out to get out there?
Speaker 1:Oh, I don't think so at all. I don't think so at all. In fact, I have a client, uh, who is an extremely successful business owner and, uh, he's an introvert. Uh, 100%? And no, I don't I. I think that, you know, we're all a little bit different, right? We all learn differently. Some of us, um have different bat. We all have different backgrounds. You can be an extrovert and be an a brilliant public speaker. You could be an extrovert and a not so good public speaker. You can be a brilliant public speaker as an introvert, yeah.
Speaker 2:No, I love that answer. I definitely agree because and I'll and I'll notice that as I interview different people myself I'm probably more of an ambivert. If I'm being honest right, I have a little bit of an introvert in there too, and so I love to watch, like a lot of people in our space, entrepreneurs specifically, and how different they are. Right, like Elon Musk, one of the wealthy, like the wealthiest man in the world, but if you listen to him on a podcast, you'll hear him stutter all the time. He's a very nervous speaker and I've noticed that about him and then you'll notice somebody like who's just probably a starter level entrepreneur when it comes to comparing to Elon Musk. You know a lot of the influencers Tai Lopez, gary Vee. You know Tony Robbins. You look at them, it's just so natural for them and you can really see.
Speaker 1:That's one of my favorite things to study with entrepreneurs is whether or not they're introverted or extroverted, and you can really tell or introverted or extroverted and you can really it's, you can really tell, and so I think what I find amazing is, sometimes we think it's so natural and it's so easy for them. However, what I often wonder is is it really, or is it that they're so practiced Right? So so, and I say that because you know you, it's a skill to be a great presenter, just like it's a skill to do a great podcast, and, and you know, you've learned to do that and you've bought all the tools and have the setup to do that In the Trust Mastery Program that I offer, which is a leadership development program that really teaches people how to become, or how to be, a trusted leader, become a trusted advisor, trusted leader, and one of the modules in the program is around communicating to different types of people. So communicating to people who are extroverts or introverts, communicating to people who might, who have different social styles or behavioral styles, have different social styles or behavioral styles, and when we watch some of these folks who you're talking about, some of them look so like it's so natural. It's because they're so skilled at knowing that.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'm going to tweak my message or my delivery to talk to someone who is analytical, because I know she really wants to hear a lot about statistics and facts and figures, versus someone else that we may say, oh, they really want to hear about stories and they want to hear about testimonials and how the results worked out for that company. So it is, I, like you, find it fascinating and my master's that when I went in to research how is it the customers decide to buy, and to try to figure out what makes some companies successful and not, is a master's in communication. So, like you, I, I, I, I do find it very interesting and I have learned, because I've coached and worked with so many leaders over the years, that that it really is about knowing what your style is and then being able to adapt it to the people that you're presenting to, whether it's presenting one-on-one or one to you know thousands.
Speaker 5:At Gold Shark Media, we understand the challenges entrepreneurs face in today's competitive landscape. That's why we offer a comprehensive marketing plan designed to elevate your business. Imagine receiving 5,000 leads, 30 engaging video shorts and access to our extensive digital e-learning resources, all tailored to your unique needs. Our cold email sequence setup and conversion rate optimization leverages cutting edge AI and website SEO to maximize your outreach. Think of us as your virtual assistant and in-house marketing team, dedicated to turning your vision into reality. Envision Gold, your American dream, is our dream. Visit wwwgoldsharkmediacom and let's make it happen.
Speaker 1:You know thousands.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so when what's like a really technical thing that somebody should remember when they're public speaking, that that you might not realize until you're actually up there like I like a lot of those when I've studied public speaking, for example, or just things like that, or everybody has their own style, and so that was one of the things I realized about podcasting. I'm not perfect either, but I noticed that slowing down was one thing I noticed. Right, listening a little bit more as a podcaster versus interrupting. What are some of those little things you learned early on as a public speaker. That was like whoa, this is hard for me to get good at training myself to hear how I speak and how I say things.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:Well, I guess there's a lot of things.
Speaker 1:So when I'm speaking at a company event, like a sales kickoff meeting or an annual strategic planning session, whether it's a group of 12 people or 800 people, the most important thing that I do is my homework, and I think that the difference between a good presenter and a fantastic presenter comes down to, yes, being skilled as a presenter and being really great at the delivery about.
Speaker 1:You know how it's delivered, because, really, how, how, how it said matters right, how we communicate matters more than what we say. So I I learned very early on that it it truly is important to be thinking about and and the audience more than anything else, and that's really what I do. I didn't have a speaking coach tell me that I've hired people to help me become a better speaker. However, at at the end of it, a better speaker, however, at the end of it, I actually really believe in my heart of hearts that the best speakers are the ones that really, really care about your audience. I actually believe that I think they care about their audience, and then you know they're being sincere and they're being authentic and they're showing the audience their true self, absolutely.
Speaker 1:I think that's the most important thing. I mean, yes, it's important to you know, have a great message and a great speech and all that stuff, but I really believe that sincerity and authenticity and really wanting to serve the audience and do the best job for the audience is the most important thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think I think all of that's perfect, and especially preparation, practice and preparation right. Abraham Lincoln had said if you give me six hours to cut down a tree, I'll spend the first four sharpening the ax. So it's one of my favorite quotes and it's very accurate to how success is able to be obtained when you have those elements the preparation right, you have the practice, you have the experiences and then everything that you had just mentioned. And so when you were writing your book, tell us a little bit about that experience, because when I was writing my books, I found it to be. I thought it was very liberating and freeing it. Definitely it was a fun experience for me. So I guess I want to learn a little bit about your experience writing your book experience for me.
Speaker 1:So I guess I want to learn a little bit about your experience writing your book. Well, I published the Power of Trust how Top Companies Build, manage and Protect it in 2017. And this book is a you know, it has all the theories and the science and the evidence behind how my framework was created and it's got case studies in it and checklists. It's you know, as you can see, it's uh, it's a bigger book, um, and I then wrote the book trusted this year and it's a shorter book and it's, like I said, it's a collection of real stories and, uh, it's a very it's a guide for business owners and leaders and managers to build customer loyalty and and business growth and, like I said, it's all about being trusted.
Speaker 1:It talks about the eight principles of trust, and so it was very rewarding to write because I actually wrote about real stories, the challenges the businesses had whether it was having all these leads in the door but nothing translating into a sale, or having a customer complain and saying I'm leaving the company if you don't replace this person to companies that lost trust during COVID and had to turn it around to try to regain trust. And I have another client. The last story in the book is about a company that did really well in COVID because they're in the building material space and then after COVID it just sort of leveled out and they had to figure out what was wrong and why they lost the trust. So it was really rewarding because it's they're all true stories and I shared the results of all these companies that really want to be the most trusted, that want to have the highest market share, that want to have the customer retention and the business growth.
Speaker 2:I think that's very excellent what you're working on, and I think it's very important that business owners do learn more about trust and why that is the most important part about sales. It really does all come down to that. It comes down to making sure your clients can trust what you're selling, trust what you're saying, because, at the end of the day, ultimately people you know we're characters of habit and a lot of the decisions we make, we make them because we trust that decision, the food we eat, everything we do right. So it's very important as a human being to operate at a functionality where you can provide that trust to people on a on a normal, seamlessly basis. I think that's very important.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it was really rewarding and it's like I said, it's a guide. Each chapter it's a much shorter book. Each chapter has framework for companies to be able to implement right away. It has a section at the end of each chapter called making it happen, so that you can operationalize and put the learnings into practice right away. And the other thing that I did in this book that I didn't in my other book is there are links that you can go to my website to sign up for more information. So sign up for, as an example, a customer readiness assessment, or sign up for a poster that you can, that you can download to talk about trust at your next sales meeting, or to another download I have is, you know, words that erode trust or fracture trust versus words and phrases that build trust. So, you know, I'm hoping that I hear from people and they download these things and there are ways that I can stay in touch with the readers as well.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And where can people find you?
Speaker 1:You can find my book Trusted on Amazon and you can find me on LinkedIn, which is how we found each other. I'm Natalie Doyle Oldfield on LinkedIn and my company is Success Through Trust, so you can also find me on successthroughtrustcom.
Speaker 2:Awesome, Natalie. Yes, I definitely want to do another interview soon. I definitely want to ask more questions and talk more about this stuff. I think they're important conversations to have and I really appreciate you coming on the show and being patient with I know we've been back and forth trying to get on each other's show, so I know. Yeah, yeah, I appreciate you coming on and it's it's been a great, it's been a great experience.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's been great to meet you. Thanks so much for having me and I look forward to seeing you again soon. You.
