435 | From Failure to Crushing Marketing And Cold Calling

Feb 16

[00:00:37] Chaz Wolfe: What's up everybody? I'm Chaz Wolf, gathering the King's Podcast. Coming back to you here today with another king on the stage, my brother Robert Pool. How we doing this morning, Robert?
[00:00:49] Robert Poole: Yeah, perfect. Better. Now I'm talking to you.
[00:00:52] Chaz Wolfe: Well, we're gonna have to disseminate that down, figure out why the heck that, that, that matters to you. But,~ uh,~ I appreciate that nonetheless. ~Uh, ~we're, we're recording pretty early here this morning and at least really early for you. I appreciate your attentiveness to not only just. Your, your business and wanting to,~ uh,~ share with people what you do, but there's gonna be a lot of value here because of what you do.
[00:01:11] Chaz Wolfe: So I'm excited for that. I'm excited for the listeners to pay close attention. They're gonna get plenty here today. So, Robert, tell us what kinda business that you got.
[00:01:18] Robert Poole: Yes, absolutely. ~Um, ~my business is,~ uh,~ uh, total business results. We're a B2B marketing firm. ~Um, ~kind of our specialty has always been,~ uh,~ cold calling, in particular with B2B, but,~ uh,~ we have,~ uh,~ in recent years branched out and started offering. ~Uh, uh, ~additional services to our clients. So we do everything from,~ um,~ educational work,~ um,~ you know, seminars, educational type of stuff,~ uh,~ events,~ um,~ mostly virtually.
[00:01:39] Robert Poole: ~Um, ~we do business coaching, which is sort of my specialty and background. ~Uh, ~and then we also offer some implementation services along with the B2B cold calling. We also do, you know, ~uh, ~limited social media stuff,~ uh,~ management,~ uh,~ advertising. ~Uh, ~website's design, you know, pretty much it's driven by what our clients need.
[00:01:55] Robert Poole: ~Um, ~and so that's, that's where our business is right now.
[00:01:57] Chaz Wolfe: I love it. I love it. You've got,~ uh,~ get your hand and a few things that would be valuable for some of these listeners. ~Um, ~I, I want to talk obviously about your story and, and some of your services and stuff, but before we do that, why are you an entrepreneur? Why, why are you, like, what's the bigger purpose?
[00:02:12] Chaz Wolfe: Maybe even below that, what, why are you after this thing called life? What gets you excited?
[00:02:17] Robert Poole: you know, that's a, that's always a good question because,~ uh,~ and I think it changes,~ uh,~ you know, depending on where we are in our stage in business, our stage in life. ~Um, ~I, you know, this may sound bad, but,~ uh,~ I'm just being real. When I, when I started out,~ uh,~ it was because what a lot of people do is, you know, in my twenties,~ uh,~ when I got out of the military.
[00:02:33] Robert Poole: ~Um, ~you know, I wanted to make money. I wanted to get rich, you know, and,~ um,~ I also,~ um,~ had enough of having a, a permanent boss, like in the military. And,~ um,~ so I wanted to, didn't wanna be limited. So, ~um, ~so many years, that was really my focus was making money. I. And it, it didn't, it, I just jumped from,~ uh,~ opportunity to opportunity and what I thought was best to do that.
[00:02:54] Robert Poole: ~Um, ~which is great, you know, I mean, hey, we're all in business to make money to start off with. But I think,~ uh,~ as I grew and I experienced different things in my business career,~ uh,~ and in my personal life, that that kinda shifted. Where I realized that I wasn't really in business for me. I was in business,~ uh,~ to serve other people.
[00:03:10] Robert Poole: And that was a, a huge transition. And, , I'm, , man of faith and so I believe that I'm put on this earth, , with certain skill sets and, one of those skill sets is in business and being able to help other business owners based upon the experiences that I've had.
[00:03:24] Robert Poole: And so that's really my passion, is to help others skip some of the mistakes. 'cause I've made a lot of them. I like to say I have a PhD in failure. And,~ um,~ you know, I,~ uh,~ with all those mistakes, if I can help somebody avoid some of those things. Move along the path quicker. That's,~ uh,~ really what gives me that fulfillment, joy that people are always talking about.
[00:03:42] Robert Poole: It, it sounds kind of cheesy, but it really does. ~Um, ~as you get older and get more mature in business and in life, I think you start to value those things more.
[00:03:50] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, that's a great answer. I love the,~ uh,~ the acceleration of that,~ uh,~ via maturity, via, you know, failures via all the things that,~ uh,~ that we, we do experience over the course of time. It changes our perspective. For, for you,~ uh,~ you mentioned military. First off, thank you for your service, but give us a description there.
[00:04:06] Chaz Wolfe: I mean, you kind of painted that as a picture of like a box and you were kind of in it, and then you were like, anything to do to get out of it. Tell us, I mean, give us your,~ uh,~ maybe experience,
[00:04:16] Chaz Wolfe: so kinda give us that transition there.
[00:04:17] Robert Poole: Yeah, absolutely. I,~ uh,~ you know, I grew up,~ um,~ my father was in the army,~ uh,~ not career, but ~um, ~so I always. ~Um, ~and I was always been very patriotic family. And so, you know, service was,~ uh,~ always important. And so I was driven towards that. And,~ uh,~ so I,~ uh,~ was able to get into West Point,~ um,~ and,~ uh,~ which is the,~ uh,~ the academy for the Army,~ uh,~ and then,~ uh,~ an army officer afterwards.
[00:04:37] Robert Poole: And,~ um,~ when I got out,~ uh,~ where I graduated from West Point and, and started as an officer, it was right in the, the mid nineties where I, you know, for lack of a better term, I think the military. And as a country, we're a little bit unsure of where to go and how to use the military. ~Um, ~we were doing things like,~ uh,~ peacekeeping missions and, you know, humanitarian things like going to Haiti.
[00:04:57] Robert Poole: My unit did. ~Um, ~I, I didn't go on that deployment, but,~ um,~ you know, to basically,~ uh,~ help with logistics and everything, but it wasn't. I, I kind of signed up to, you know, let's face it, fight the big bad Soviets, which is what I grew up with. And,~ um,~ and that all kind of went away in the mid nineties. And I felt,~ um,~ that in the, I felt the military was directionless at the time.
[00:05:16] Robert Poole: And so I got a little bit disillusioned with it. And I also,~ uh,~ I think my personality, I realized that I tend to be. For lack of a better term, a little rebellious when it, when it comes to authority, I, you know, ~um, ~I love following great leaders. I have no problem with that. And,~ uh,~ admire people. But sometimes in bureaucracies, you end up following leaders that, you know, ~uh, ~you follow 'em.
[00:05:38] Robert Poole: 'cause you have to not because they're a good leader. And that drove me nuts. And so, ~um, ~when I got out, I, I really wanted to get into entrepreneurship to be able to sort of write my own ticket and all that. And so. When I got out, I did,~ uh,~ a variety of sales jobs, everything from commercial real estate to,~ um,~ you know, ~uh, ~headhunting, corporate headhunting.
[00:05:57] Robert Poole: ~Um, ~you know, I did,~ uh,~ financial consulting. ~Um, ~I, I did a variety of things, but it all sales oriented because I know and knew then that,~ uh,~ sales is, you know, what drives our companies and,~ uh,~ is the oxygen, if you will. So I figured I had to get good at that first. And, and that kind of kick started my, my entrepreneurial career that,~ um,~ came out.
[00:06:15] Robert Poole: The military, I. A fantastic experience in the military in West Point and, you know, taught me a lot of those lessons that, you know, have just proved invaluable in business. And that's, so, I always highly recommend it, you know, service for any young person,~ uh,~ because you learn so many great, valuable lessons that you can use in life.
[00:06:32] Robert Poole: So it's a real positive experience overall.
[00:06:34] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, and I appreciate the, maybe the distinction between, structure and being maybe boxed in. ~Uh, ~I think you did a great job there of, of kinda giving the, the distinction. But you, you mentioned sales. I'm a big sales guy as well. Big history. ~Uh, ~I know that you have a huge history in cold calling and now you even offer that as a service, like you said.
[00:06:51] Chaz Wolfe: So let's, let's talk about cold calling for a second because there's a lot of people that know there should be cold calls happening in their business or some sort of outreach, let's just say that. 'cause maybe cold calls isn't applicable, even though you and I both know probably every business could use a cold caller too.
[00:07:07] Chaz Wolfe: ~Um, ~talk about that for you. Like how did you learn how to cold call? What's the importance of cold calling? Why do you offer it as a service? Like you've been in that lane for a long time. Give us a little juice there.
[00:07:16] Robert Poole: Yeah, absolutely. And ~um, ~you know, cold calling is one of those things that. Particularly these days, you know, the, let's face the buzz is digital marketing. And a lot of people think that that cold calling,~ um,~ is obsolete or, you know, it doesn't work anymore. ~Um, ~and that's understandable because I mean, when you've, a lot of people think of cold calling.
[00:07:32] Robert Poole: They think of, you know, the eighties, nineties type of, you know, getting the. The call, you know, interrupting your dinner type of thing. ~Uh, ~and that, that residential consumer based cold calling is definitely gone. ~Uh, ~most of the calls you get today are some kind of scam. ~Um, ~but,~ uh,~ so we started, or I started back in, you know, the mid nineties cold calling.
[00:07:49] Robert Poole: ~Uh, ~and it was primarily out of necessity. There was, the internet was just common online. There wasn't really any kind of digital marketing. ~Um, ~and so, ~uh, ~you know, when you're starting out, a lot of times you don't have,~ uh,~ the money for advertising and, you know, things like that. And,~ um,~ so I, I started it out of necessity and just started to learn,~ um,~ you know, by, by experience a lot of it.
[00:08:09] Robert Poole: And, you know, it was in different coaching programs. ~Um, ~I was heavily into real estate,~ uh,~ doing a lot of cold calling then, and, you know, you start doing thousands of cold calls. Eventually you kind of figure things out. And,~ um,~ you know, I, I stopped counting, I think when I was about 15,000 cold calls in, and,~ uh,~ so I, you know, ~um, ~over the years I figured I've probably done several hundred thousand and, you know, experience is the best teacher, as you know, ~um, uh, ~for anything in life, but.
[00:08:34] Robert Poole: Cold calling is one of those things that,~ um,~ that was, was very relevant back then and it's still relevant today. But as you mentioned, Chaz,~ um,~ it has to be with the right type of business. I mean, it's a good experience,~ uh,~ for anyone to do. ~Uh, ~most people have a fear of cold calling like they do of death.
[00:08:50] Robert Poole: You know, it's right up there next to, you know, public speaking or something. ~Um, ~but,~ uh,~ it's a skill that,~ uh,~ can be learned like anything else. And ~um, ~but it's also one of those things that. ~Um, ~you know, there's a lot of passive activity in marketing. ~Uh, ~cold calling has the benefit of you. You're putting somebody on the spot,~ um,~ you know, unlike when you're trying to get them to click or you're trying to get them to call you or, or things like that.
[00:09:12] Robert Poole: With cold calling, you're forcing them to make a decision right now. For the right type of businesses in, in B2B, typically it's higher,~ uh,~ ticket items. ~Um, ~you know, it makes more sense. ~Um, ~you know, if you've can get the right list of people, get access to them. ~Um, ~and it's just like everything,~ uh,~ it's your, your right market.
[00:09:29] Robert Poole: , we did a survey of some of our clients, ~uh. ~Maybe two or three years ago. And,~ um,~ you know, we did a survey, what, you know, how do you consume things? You know, how do you,~ um,~ do marketing your business and how do people approach you? And we were just shocked because I think it was 72% of our clients pretty much said they don't use social media,~ um,~ in their business at all.
[00:09:51] Robert Poole: And of course, that's changed a few, you know, as. The point is that the, those small business owners are not reacting, they're not sitting there on Facebook all day. ~Um, ~and so there's, there are different ways to reach them. A lot of times those business owners, you know, will pick up the phone if their receptionist is out for the day, you know, so you'll get to the owner that way and they respond much better to a human, because we're all.
[00:10:14] Robert Poole: Starving for that. So, ~um, ~I know this is a long answer, but,~ um,~ you know, cold calling is, is definitely effective in the right context. ~Um, ~and it's not something that you necessarily have to do yourself. There's companies like us, you know, I think it's a great exercise for people to get comfortable with it, to learn how to do it themselves.
[00:10:31] Robert Poole: You know, as a business owner just in general, I think we should be able to. Do most of the roles that are in our company. Maybe not do 'em well, but have an understanding of how they work. ~Um, ~so cold calling is one of those things that understanding.
[00:10:45] Chaz Wolfe: I agree with you. What do you think about just maybe the,~ um,~ the shifting of the mind of what a cold call is? I'm just thinking of like, you know, ~uh, ~most business owners even, you know, like thinking of a guy that just got started this last year, right? And he's like, okay, I gotta go get new business. Well, he is probably gonna join like a local like lunch meetup or a chamber of commerce, or he's gonna, you know, call his friends and family and say, Hey, I'm now in business to do whatever. I mean, that's kind of cold calling, you know, whether I know this person well, I saw that maybe wouldn't be considered a cold call, but it's outreach. And so I think that's why in my mind, if, if I'm outreach, you know, if I'm reaching out to people that I know or don't know, it doesn't have to be this like strenuous like, ~uh, ~another cold call.
[00:11:32] Chaz Wolfe: You know, I went to the chamber, I had lunch. I shook hands with 10 or 15 people. I got a couple cards, I'm gonna follow up with them and have an individual lunch. That's called networking, but that was the same as me making 10 phone calls and just, Hey, I'm a local business owner. I do marketing and you are a contractor, and I'd like to see if I can help you or you wanna grab lunch.
[00:11:53] Chaz Wolfe: Like it's the same thing, right?
[00:11:54] Robert Poole: Yeah, the bigger picture is that,~ uh,~ it's this misperception of sales that I think a lot of people have and, and a lot of business owners, we think,~ uh,~ you know, a lot of business owners, let's face it, think, well, you know, I'm, I am, I'm not a salesperson. I don't like to sell.
[00:12:09] Robert Poole: ~Uh, ~I hate selling any number of that sentiment. And the. What? It's a misunderstanding because everyone in life,~ uh,~ is a salesperson. We just don't realize it. Like you're talking about Chaz. ~Um, ~you know, if, if you're talking to people,~ um,~ and you're telling 'em about your business, you're selling and, you know, if you're talking to your friends,~ um,~ you know, for instance, you know, ~uh, ~you just saw a great movie.
[00:12:31] Robert Poole: ~Uh, ~what do you do when you see a great movie? You tell your friends about it, you know, Hey, wow, I saw this great movie with blah, blah, blah, actor in it, and I wasn't expecting much, but it really turned out great. And here's storyline and you should go see it. In fact, I'll go see it again. You wanna. And you just did the hook story close on 'em,~ uh,~ you just didn't even realize it.
[00:12:48] Robert Poole: And so it's the same thing with cold calling. And I think,~ um,~ if we change our mentality to, you know, hey, I'm a business professional, I own a business, or you know, I'm representing a business and ~um, ~I'm just gonna talk to other businesses that may have a need for a service. And I've gotta find those that do.
[00:13:06] Robert Poole: And if I don't. Reach out to those people, then I'm actually doing them a disservice by not doing that. They're, they need my service. There's somebody out there that needs it, desperately needs it. They're gonna get taken by another company that doesn't do a good job, that doesn't have good ethics. ~Um, ~and so it's our moral responsibility to get out there and, and ask them and say, Hey, I'm here to help you.
[00:13:27] Robert Poole: And,~ uh,~ so, but it's like, exactly like you said, it's a misperception because we do it all the time. We just don't even realize it.
[00:13:33] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, it's interesting that you kind of almost categorize it as a duty, I've thought that way for a long time. One of my, one of the,~ um,~ part of my visualization that I read through every morning,~ uh,~ gathering the Kings is a peer-to-peer mastermind group for entrepreneurs. And,~ um,~ part of the, what I read is that, that there's incredible owners that are already looking for exactly what we do and, and.
[00:13:53] Chaz Wolfe: I have to meet them like it's my duty, it's my obligation,~ um,~ because they, they need what we have and you can fill that in with whatever business that you have. ~Um, ~for me, I'm helping people with a community and helping them better themselves and become better business owners, but then obviously every other part of their life.
[00:14:09] Chaz Wolfe: And so it's like, okay, I can build dicks or I can do marketing, or I can do whatever. And it's like the scenario still remains the same. That there are people out there literally to Robert's point that need your service that today wrote down in their goals for Q1. I need to find a good marketing agency, or I need to, I need to, we we're gonna redo our deck this year.
[00:14:27] Chaz Wolfe: They, they've wrote it, they've written it down, and they're looking for a high quality company. And it just is a matter of you reaching out to them in some form or fashion, phone call, networking, podcast. I, I mean, whatever, whatever works. Okay. Alright. So Robert, you've given us a little bit of a story here on this line.
[00:14:43] Chaz Wolfe: I appreciate that. You mentioned that,~ uh,~ you've got hundreds of failures. I'm only gonna beg you for one. Okay. But, but I want it juicy, man. I wanna know like, how much money did you lose? ~Uh, ~what, how, how terrible was it? Did you, did just, did you spin into some sort of a downward spiral? Like, give us the juice of this terrible situation?
[00:15:04] Robert Poole: Yeah, absolutely. I, I think probably the, the number one thing that's affected my business probably in the last six, seven years,~ uh,~ now,~ um,~ I. In an event that happened, I think that might be the most relevant. ~Um, ~it wasn't something that I initiated as far as a mistake, but,~ um,~ well, part of it anyway, but I'll, I'll just tell you, I,~ um,~ this is back in 2017.
[00:15:22] Robert Poole: There was,~ uh,~ the, ~um. Uh, ~the week before 4th of July, I went out with my family to,~ um,~ our timeshare in Carlsbad, California. Enjoy life, blah, blah, blah. ~Um, ~and,~ uh,~ I, you know, I'd mentioned always been very money driven, and that was kind of my reason for doing business. And I, I read a book and I, I, for like me, I can't remember it, but it was about how to create raving fans as customers.
[00:15:42] Robert Poole: And I just had a light bulb moment where I realized. Geez, you know, I've been doing this wrong all these years. I, I should be in the service business of serving people. I'm doing it for the wrong reasons. And it was a,~ um,~ and I had business partner for many, many years. We started our company in 2002 and we'd done other ventures before then.
[00:15:59] Robert Poole: So, you know, ~um, ~he was, you know, like family to me and. ~Um, ~and he was always better about that, and he was less money driven and more about the customer than I was. And so I literally was planning on having a conversation with him when I got back and say, you know what? You've been right all these years.
[00:16:13] Robert Poole: I've, I'm wrong. And we didn't really change our company fundamentally and how we look at things. And so I, I think 4th of July was on a Monday and I came in the office just 'cause, you know, I, I tend not to. ~Um, ~you know, take time off too much. ~Um, ~and,~ uh,~ he didn't come in,~ uh,~ which wasn't abnormal. And then,~ uh,~ next day I came in and,~ um,~ he didn't come in and I thought, well, you know, he is just late or, you know, he's busy doing something that wasn't totally out of the norm for him.
[00:16:38] Robert Poole: And,~ uh,~ then his fiance started calling me. And she said, yeah, I haven't heard from him since yesterday and blah, blah, blah. And I thought, you know, he's just, he's got, he's always been that way, you know, and sometimes he'll just go MIA for short periods of time. And, but she kept bugging me so she's, can you go over to his house?
[00:16:52] Robert Poole: And,~ uh,~ 'cause he didn't answer my call. And,~ uh,~ so I, I went over there and I. Unfortunately, I found him slumped over his computer. He had passed away with a heart attack the day before. And so here I am, I'm,~ uh,~ suddenly in charge of this multimillion dollar company that we'd built up for, you know, 17, 18 years at that time.
[00:17:09] Robert Poole: And, you know, he had always been the public face of the company. ~Um, ~he had always dealt primarily with the clients and I was kind of behind the scenes running operations and,~ um,~ doing the, running the Salesforce and, and things like that. And,~ uh,~ you know, an enormous amount of work. And the great thing about having a partner is I was able to take as much time off as I want.
[00:17:28] Robert Poole: I took a three week honeymoon. ~Um, ~you know, I, like I said, multiple vacations a year because I knew he could kind of cover for me temporarily and everything would be fine. And then, then suddenly I realized, oh my gosh, I'm stuck. ~Um, ~I can't go anywhere. I can't do anything. I was at the office at four in the morning working until seven at night.
[00:17:47] Robert Poole: ~Um, ~and,~ uh,~ you know, it was just overwhelming trying to do everything he. And I wasn't the person that he was 'cause we were completely different personalities. ~Um, ~and then, you know, so I'm, I'm going through this, you know, decision making process. What do I do? Do I try to continue the company? Do I fold the company?
[00:18:04] Robert Poole: Do I sell the company? And,~ um,~ fortunately,~ um,~ we had put together a quick I. Buy and sell agreement,~ uh,~ out of, you know, paranoia For me, primarily, I literally wrote it myself like two years before. ~Um, ~it was two pages and one of the things I put in there was, you know, we'll have to have a business evaluation done.
[00:18:21] Robert Poole: And,~ um,~ so I started to do that,~ uh,~ with his heirs. And,~ um,~ I, I went through that process and. You know, part of it, of course is what's, what's typically good advice for,~ uh,~ businesses to have what they call, you know, key man, key person insurance, you know, so if,~ um,~ one partner dies, the others, you can buy out the estate of the other one.
[00:18:40] Robert Poole: Well, you know, we thought,~ um,~ we had term policies that. ~Um, ~that I think were like 10 year policies or something, and they came up for renewal or lapse or whatever it was, and we were like, ah, neither of us are in great health right now. ~Um, ~we're outta shape, you know, let's take a few months off and we'll, we'll reapply to get the insurance.
[00:18:56] Robert Poole: We'll let it lapse,~ um,~ and,~ uh,~ get in better shape, get better blood work, done all that good stuff. And we never got the new policies in place. And so here I am with this valuation that's saying this company is worth millions of dollars. And,~ uh,~ guess what? I had no way to buy out,~ uh,~ his estate and I. Boy, talk about a costly mistake.
[00:19:18] Robert Poole: I mean, literal cost. ~Um, ~this was not cheap. ~Uh, ~I'll say it that way. And,~ um,~ that was one of the most painful lessons I've, I have learned,~ uh,~ over the years is,~ uh,~ so if you have a business partner, ~um. ~Make sure you have key person insurance,~ uh,~ and you have that worked out because you think it won't happen to you.
[00:19:34] Robert Poole: And like I said, I didn't think it would happen to me,~ um,~ but it did happen. ~Uh, ~and it will happen to a certain percentage of us,~ uh,~ when we're not expecting it. So, ~um, ~that was one of the most painful financial decisions I've made. And this is a little bit different topic, but you know, going through that process also changed me as a person and forced me to grow as a person,~ uh,~ and a business owner that, you know, had,~ uh,~ I sit far reaching,~ um, uh.~
[00:19:57] Robert Poole: You know, kind of a cascade of things, of changes I had to make as a person. And so it actually turned into a lot of ways in a positive. So, ~um, ~it sounds like doom and gloom, but,~ uh,~ yes, make sure you're covered with insurance-wise,~ uh,~ whether even if you don't have a partner, you know, just for your family's sake,~ um,~ 'cause ~uh, ~when you don't think it'll happen, it will happen.
[00:20:14] Robert Poole: ~Um, ~and,~ uh,~ but. You know, sometimes bad things,~ uh,~ turn, it can turn into positives, you know, as well. So, ~um, ~I, I think that's probably the number one thing,~ uh,~ you know, financially, at least as far as mistakes,~ uh,~ that I've done over the years.
[00:21:16] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, I mean, it literally cost you millions of dollars. That one little decision, you know, the crazy part about a decision like that is that it, it, it seemed so simple to you because you had already made that choice ahead of time. And then unfortunately, the bad choice of letting it lapse and you know, that type of thing.
[00:21:31] Chaz Wolfe: But there's some people listening right here who's hearing this for the first time. Like, oh, that makes sense. Have a strategic partner if he goes away or if she goes away. That's bad. I should get that liability covered, which is what life insurance or those types of policies are for. Okay, great. But that person didn't even know.
[00:21:50] Chaz Wolfe: So like if that had that, you know, situation had happened to them yesterday, they would not have even known that, that were experiencing a bad thing. Right. And so that, again, fast forward to your story of, well, I learned a bunch and actually I became a better person and I learned some of this and I learned that and I was able to persevere.
[00:22:08] Chaz Wolfe: All of those things were the gift that the other person would've experienced too. But now that you gave them this next gift of, Hey, go get policies,~ um,~ that, that transition probably would've been a whole lot easier. There would've been a payout, there would've been a payout to the family. You would've kept right on going,~ um,~ but maybe you wouldn't be where you are.
[00:22:27] Chaz Wolfe: Right?
[00:22:29] Robert Poole: Oh yeah, it's,~ uh,~ that that's the way life works. You know, we can never really see it coming,~ uh,~ you know, ~um, ~so be prepared as we can, but,~ uh,~ it's kind of like, ~uh, ~in the Army used to say, you know, you have a great plan, but when the bullets start flying, you know, it goes out the window.
[00:22:43] Chaz Wolfe: That's right. It gets real. ~Um, ~well, tell us about a good decision. I mean, I, I love the vulnerability of that one, but tell us something that you've done well with,~ um,~ that maybe these listeners can go implement in their business today.
[00:22:53] Robert Poole: Yeah, I, I think, um. And, and this, this is actually related to that. You know, I mentioned that, that it be, I became a, a better person,~ uh,~ because of that, because I was forced into it. ~Uh, ~I was forced to grow,~ uh,~ in a good way. But one of the things that I picked up along the way is,~ uh,~ was sort of, ~um, ~a different way of looking at.
[00:23:11] Robert Poole: You know, you can call it whatever you want. Catastrophes, challenges, you know, problems, whatever. You know, I'm not talking about, you know, your coffee's got cold. I'm, I'm talking about, you know, significant problems like that. You know, those kind of problems can either, you know, sink you or,~ um,~ you can use those problems to actually accelerate your business and accelerate you.
[00:23:32] Robert Poole: And so I think one of the biggest things that I learned was. To stop, stop looking at those situations like I had. 'cause in the past I would,~ um,~ you know, we have a catastrophe like that. I'd be running around, you know, the chicken with a head cut off, you know, type of thing. And,~ um,~ all this stress and, you know, gloom and doom and, you know, it's very easy to go down that spiral.
[00:23:51] Robert Poole: ~Um, ~but I somehow I picked up this idea that. You know, what happens to me happens for me. And you know, of course it's, it's certainly helped by my faith that you know, that God is ultimately in, in charge and that nothing's gonna happen without his consent. But,~ um,~ but even if you're not a believer,~ uh,~ in that,~ um,~ you want to the universe or whatever, doesn't really matter because,~ uh,~ if you take the attitude that.
[00:24:12] Robert Poole: Okay, this horrible thing happened. ~Um, ~but there is gonna be good that comes out of it. And not only, it's not really a positive thinking type of thing, not a silver lining. It's as much as okay,~ um,~ you know, sort of looking for the good. You look at what is this gonna force me to do? Who is this gonna force me to be?
[00:24:30] Robert Poole: And when you look at it, something like that, not only ~um, ~do, do you focus on, on how to get something positive out of it,~ um,~ but you also,~ um,~ kind of change yourself. ~Um, ~and you know, the mentality that that goes with it. ~Um, ~and so, ~uh. ~When you change that mentality, it gives you a certain, certain power,~ um,~ a certain confidence that you didn't have before.
[00:24:53] Robert Poole: Because let's face it, in some of those situations you feel powerless. ~Um, ~you feel like, oh, what am I gonna do? The world is fall, you know, sky's falling, you know, type of thing. ~Uh, ~but when you start to take back, ~um. ~Your power, so to speak,~ uh,~ and start to use it as, okay, this is gonna force me to grow into this person that's gonna take my company to the next level.
[00:25:12] Robert Poole: ~Um, ~suddenly,~ uh,~ that gives you the confidence and the power that you need to go forward. ~Um, ~and so. Somehow I, you know, I kind of stumbled on that concept,~ um,~ of what happened or what happens,~ uh,~ to me happens for me. And I think it just fundamentally changed the, the way I look at business and, and life, quite frankly, and probably one of the biggest, um.
[00:25:32] Robert Poole: Uh, ~uh, ~probably one of the biggest things that's made me money over the last five, six years, you know, is that mentality. So if,~ um,~ if I was talking to the, the me of 15 years ago, I would talk to me about, you know, that concept and how to use difficult circumstances,~ um,~ to figure out what's it's gonna cause me to do.
[00:25:51] Robert Poole: How is it gonna cause me to grow? ~Um, ~how can I use this as impetus to grow? ~Um, ~because ultimately that's what it's about is growth in, in business and in life.
[00:25:59] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. How do you tie this to, I mean, you, you're, you're giving the opposite of comfort, right? You're saying that you were in a very uncomfortable position, but you embraced it so that you could grow. How is maybe the,~ um,~ achievement of comfort, the opposite or maybe the, the, the wrong mindset that keeps us actually, or maybe sets us up for thinking like, oh, this is such a terrible thing, as opposed to, I wonder what this can do for me.
[00:26:26] Chaz Wolfe: If we're seeking comfort as opposed to learning or just sheer optimism of like being okay with whatever happens to me again, whatever happens to me is happening for me. If I genuinely believe that, then I'm not really seeking comfort. I'm seeking the next level. Whatever that looks like for me, the better version of me, the better version of my business, the better version of my marriage, the better version of me as a father, like whatever those, those definitions are.
[00:26:52] Chaz Wolfe: But, but I'm not, I'm not seeking the easy road or the comfort. It's like, so tie these together in maybe your experience.
[00:26:58] Robert Poole: Yeah, absolutely. I think,~ um,~ you know, along with that,~ um,~ and it's probably, I've probably been better at the last few years, but I think it's,~ um,~ you know, it's embracing,~ uh,~ Chaz, the, the, the discomfort that you're talking about and understanding that if, if I'm comfortable, if things, if I'm just hanging out,~ um,~ and I'm not challenging myself.
[00:27:17] Robert Poole: ~Uh, ~I'm not gonna grow and if I don't grow, my company's not gonna grow. ~Um, ~and it's actually gonna go backwards. It's gonna be stagnant,~ um,~ like you said, but it affects all of our areas of our life. You know, if we don't put work into our marriages, if we don't uncomfortably grow and do things that, you know, maybe I'm not used to,~ uh,~ I'm not one of those people that compliments, you know, people all the time, but guess what, if I don't compliment my wife all the time.
[00:27:41] Robert Poole: You know that that's going to eat away and,~ uh,~ you know, that's gonna hurt our relationship over the long term. ~Um, ~so it's things like that, you know, if we,~ uh,~ if we don't,~ um,~ embrace discomfort, if we don't realize that this, this, it's a good sign to have discomfort. ~Um, ~if we're, if things are not scaring us a little bit, let's be real.
[00:28:01] Robert Poole: You know, if we're not nervous about doing something, I. We probably shouldn't be doing it because it, it's not getting us anywhere. ~Um, ~the only way we can grow,~ uh,~ as people and as business owners,~ uh,~ as and as our companies grow is by embracing that discomfort. And it's almost like I. If you're uncomfortable with an idea or something you're doing, you know, obviously not something you're doing that's unethical or whatever, but if you're uncomfortable because you've never done it before or you are worried about what other people think, any of those things,~ um,~ if you're uncomfortable, well guess what?
[00:28:33] Robert Poole: You're probably on the right track. And so that's kind of like a. Sign to me anyway that I catch myself and go, okay, I, I don't wanna call this client or I don't wanna do this thing. You know? ~Um, uh, ~it kind of makes me nervous in the back of my mind. I'm a little bit scared if I'm honest with myself. ~Um, ~then I, I've learned to tell myself, oh, hey, you're on the right track.
[00:28:54] Robert Poole: You definitely need to do this,~ uh,~ because that's what's holding me back. ~Uh, ~I think it was,~ um,~ I think it's Keith Cunningham, one of my favorite authors,~ uh,~ who said, you know, every,~ um,~ and maybe this wasn't his original quote, but everything you want on is on the other side of fear. And,~ um,~ I've, I've really focused on the la last few years to try to do that, to try to remind myself that, Hey, if I'm uncomfortable, I'm, I'm on the right track and I'm doing,~ uh,~ I'm going in the right direction, if that makes
[00:29:19] Chaz Wolfe: Oh yeah, it's great. It's a great point. It's a, it's a super cliche point. I think that there's value there. That's why it's cliche. It's like this actually means something. So, you know, the little, the listener paying attention here right now is like, okay, I've heard this before. It's like, no, no, no, stop. I know you've heard this before, but this is real.
[00:29:37] Chaz Wolfe: You know, you've gotta be able to, you've gotta be able to embrace it. Okay, so what you're tying to that though, just that the last little piece there was fear. Love it. How can I practically be in a new, uncomfortable. You know, pressing situation that you've described, but also then remove fear. Now fear is gonna come naturally to a new situation like that, but then how can I deal with it and move it past?
[00:30:01] Chaz Wolfe: 'cause you and I both know if I step into a situation and then am absorbed with fear, I'm not either gonna take action. I'm not gonna do what I need to do. ~Uh, ~I'm gonna be limited in my either thinking or in my ability. How can I then remove it or how have you removed it?
[00:30:15] Robert Poole: Yeah. And,~ uh,~ well, I'll say it this way, at least for me,~ um,~ I don't know, maybe it's different for others, but,~ uh,~ the fear never completely goes away at, at least,~ um,~ you know, when you're first initially trying something. ~Uh, ~and that's natural and that's. Okay. ~Um, ~you know, it's, it's to be expected. ~Um, ~but how do you,~ uh,~ the only way to get rid of that fear is to actually do what you're afraid of.
[00:30:33] Robert Poole: I talk a lot about,~ um,~ how small business owners are heroes in our society. You know, we give,~ uh,~ a lot of credit to first responders and things, and healthcare workers and, you know, 'cause of covid and everything, and,~ uh,~ you know, military law enforcement.
[00:30:45] Robert Poole: ~Uh, ~and that's all absolutely true. ~Uh, ~they are heroes, but small business owners are heroes too. And it's because of this exact concept. ~Uh, ~you know, if you look at the definition of courage, it's really, is that. You're afraid to do something, but you do it anyway. And so, ~um, ~you know, when you come to that,~ uh,~ point where you're like, oh, geez, you know, I'm, you know, I'm freaked out.
[00:31:05] Robert Poole: I don't wanna do this,~ uh,~ you know, I'm, I'm freezing up. That's the point where you need to have it in your mentality and a, a reminder, a little voice in your head that goes, okay, I'm gonna be a hero. I'm gonna be courageous and do this. Accept the fact that I'm scared of it. Do it anyway. And because I know that once I do it.
[00:31:23] Robert Poole: Most likely it's gonna be a lot easier. It'll definitely be easier the second time I do it. And the more I do it, the easier it's gonna get. Just like cold calling, just like anything. ~Um, ~it's, you know, Tony Robbins talks a lot about physiology and, you know, ~uh, ~sometimes you gotta get the body to move first.
[00:31:38] Robert Poole: So sometimes we have to physically take an action. We've gotta pick up that phone, you know? ~Um, ~we've gotta show up to that meeting force ourselves to go into it. ~Um, ~knowing that once we get there. Things will be okay. ~Uh, ~so I, I think we, it has to be an artificial,~ um,~ pushing of ourselves sometimes. ~Uh, ~and ~uh, ~so we have to, and the best way I've found to do it for me is that I've got that little reminder bell again going off of my head that says, I.
[00:32:04] Robert Poole: Okay, I'm scared. I don't wanna do this. I don't wanna go into this meeting. I don't wanna talk to this client, but here I go. ~Um, ~and I do it anyway, and I know on the other end of it, it'll work out. ~Um, ~so it's a, it's sort of, you're forcing yourself,~ um,~ into that uncomfortable action. And that's really, in my mind, at least my experience, the only way to get rid of that fear,~ uh,~ if that makes sense.
[00:32:24] Chaz Wolfe: I hope the listeners paying attention. You did a great job of breaking down the fake it till you make it kind of mantra, and it's not actually being fake, it's just doing something that maybe you don't know how to do super well yet with courage through fear unto. Doing it better. ~Um, ~and, and there's actually, I have a, I have one of my favorite worship songs that I listen to, you know, somewhat frequently, but there's a phrase, there's a, there's a, a bridge of chorus.
[00:32:49] Chaz Wolfe: I don't know music that well, but that, that the artist sings, that says, sometimes you gotta sing your way into the truth. And so it's like, I can, I can hear it, I can, I can, I wanna believe it, but sometimes I just need to do it. Until my belief grows is in essence what you've said, what the song says. And so I think that you're right that doing and belief are attached.
[00:33:11] Chaz Wolfe: But you've gotta define what that belief is. what you said in that moment is that when you take action, I was having this conversation with somebody on social media just this past week, and he was like, you know, look, actions are everything. You are not your thoughts or beliefs. You are your actions.
[00:33:24] Chaz Wolfe: And I was like, well, let me, let me just come in here and just tickle that a little bit because you're right. I think that, just like what Robert just said, I think that if you take action, your belief grows. But that is stemmed from a belief that if I take action, my belief grows. So let's, let's not get it twisted here that I have to first have a belief and it could be one out of a little bit of fear, little bit of unknown.
[00:33:53] Chaz Wolfe: I gotta take courage to get there. I. All those things are still thoughts and beliefs that I can say, okay, I'm gonna go do this. And then the courage to actually go do it is the next step, which then can build the belief or the confidence in the thing that I'm saying that I'm fearful about. And so I, I, I just appreciate your perspective there.
[00:34:11] Chaz Wolfe: All of you gave belief. You gave the action, even the result. The result is then. Eventually at some time, I'm a master of cold calls or I'm a master of talking in front of people when I'm an introvert or I'm a great husband because I compliment my wife constantly. And at the beginning when I was doing that, it was kinda odd.
[00:34:30] Chaz Wolfe: It felt like I was forcing it, but now it flows out naturally. I do it multiple times a day. She loves it. Like that's what I'm hearing you say. That's what I do, of course as well. But man, it's like you, we just start building it into who we are. Would you agree with this?
[00:34:42] Robert Poole: Yeah, absolutely. And, and,~ uh,~ particularly that last phrase,~ um,~ I, and I think that's the key, Chaz, is the more we do this, you know, it's like anything, it's a muscle. ~Um, ~you know, it's a mental muscle. And the more we train ourselves to, to be able to take that action,~ uh,~ to, to, to have that belief and then put it into practice by, you know, like you said, you're, you're an introvert.
[00:35:03] Robert Poole: You don't wanna go to that big meeting and network with a bunch of people, but. You in the back of your head, you know that little alarm bell goes off and goes, walk through the door and ~uh, ~walk through the door before you have a chance to change your mind. And so if we have that mantra and that,~ um,~ that little reminder voice in us, that helps us get us over that,~ um,~ you know, that helps remind us.
[00:35:23] Robert Poole: Because that's, that's one of the things,~ um,~ you know, that I think that's helped me a lot in business is that we tend to get away from the basics, if you will. ~Uh, ~you know, you mentioned a few minutes ago we were talking about, oh, I've heard this before, or whatever. Well, good. ~Um, ~because you probably need to hear it again.
[00:35:39] Robert Poole: ~Uh, ~and I know that, you know, for me, I need to constantly hear things because, you know, you can set goals at the beginning of the year, for instance, or whatever, and six months later you realize. Geez, you know what happened, you know? ~Um, ~and it's because you didn't constantly remind yourself. ~Um, ~and we have to consciously remind ourselves of things like this.
[00:35:58] Robert Poole: We have to remind ourselves that, okay, I'm doing this. I'm scared of it, but that's okay. I'm doing it anyway. ~Um, ~and if we remind ourselves of the basics, if you will,~ um,~ that's really what it comes down to. 'cause businesses and life is not that complicated. ~Uh, ~if you focus on the basic stuff. It's when we get wrapped up in,~ um,~ all, we get sidetracked with all these other things that we kind of forget.
[00:36:20] Robert Poole: And so being consciously reminded of, you know, everything in life I, I think is key. And, and I know has certainly helped me a lot. I.
[00:36:28] Chaz Wolfe: That's so good. Great way to wrap it up too, because I think that the mindset of the entrepreneur, you know, it's just tied to everything. You've just done a really great job there of kind of painting it as a baseline. ~Um, ~you mentioned a few minutes ago that, you know, if you had to talk to your, you know, self 15 years ago that you would talked to him about this concept, it's, it's typically my last question, which is, you know, if you had to talk to the younger version of you.
[00:36:52] Chaz Wolfe: And you, and you had a chance to whisper something in his ear, what would you say? And so I've kind of already set this up because you already, you already answered it partially, but is that phrase what you would say? Is there encouragement behind it? I mean, imagine yourself at whatever age, maybe it's 15 years ago, maybe it's you as a teenager, but if you did have that opportunity, what, what do you just instill into that person's maybe belief?
[00:37:14] Chaz Wolfe: 'cause that's really what we're talking about,~ uh,~ that younger version. What, what do you give to that guy?
[00:37:18] Robert Poole: I think,~ um,~ you know, in business in particular, I. A concept that I didn't get for a long time,~ um,~ was that,~ uh,~ my business is only gonna grow to the extent that I do. And I, I don't know who said that. ~Uh, ~somebody famous and brilliant, I'm sure. But,~ um,~ if, and, but I, and I didn't believe that for a long time either,~ uh,~ particularly when I was younger.
[00:37:37] Robert Poole: But I think if, if I were to be able to talk to myself, I would say, Hey. You know, you need to focus on growing you, you need to get around the right people, you need to get the right mentors. ~Um, ~you need to build those skill sets. ~Uh, ~and the business part of it will take care of itself,~ um,~ because,~ um,~ you know, you look at it and it's like, you know, take Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk, any, anybody who's super successful,~ uh,~ in their business and.
[00:38:00] Robert Poole: If you had taken Zuckerberg when he was just starting out with Facebook, just founded Facebook,~ um,~ just came up with a technology and you had plopped him into the role he has now. Facebook probably bankrupt in a year or two. Not even that. ~Uh, ~and it's because he couldn't handle it because he hadn't become the person,~ um,~ that can build that business, sustain that business, and grow that business.
[00:38:22] Robert Poole: And so, ~um, ~if I were talking to myself, I'd say focus on you. I. Focus on growing yourself because that will allow you to become the person that can do the thing, so to speak,~ um,~ that can grow that business. That can be the husband you wanna be, that can be the father you wanna be if you focus on growing you.
[00:38:39] Robert Poole: ~Um, ~and it sounds,~ um,~ you know, touchy feely, but I really think that would be one of those fundamental changes. And if I'd known that earlier, I think that would've made a, a huge difference in my life.
[00:38:50] Chaz Wolfe: I appreciate that. I think,~ uh,~ I'm going back through Atomic Habits right now for the umpteenth time, and he talks about everything that you're, you're the principle that you're referencing, which is rather than focusing on the result, focus on the habit or the belief that you have that then the actions can follow so that you can become the person that you need to be.
[00:39:09] Chaz Wolfe: ~Uh, ~which I think is great advice. So I think for the listener, paying attention right now, whether they're new in business or they've been in business for 40 years. We're still paying attention to, not necessarily our new targets for 2024, but who we need to become in order to hit those targets. ~Uh, ~it's just so much more important.
[00:39:25] Chaz Wolfe: So I appreciate that perspective. What do you think some of those things that you would've like, okay, focus on you younger, Robert, what would be a thing or two inside of that that younger Robert maybe needed to focus on as he was focusing on himself?~ ~
[00:39:39] Robert Poole: ~um. ~one of the things that I suffered with over many years was my people skills in how to,~ um,~ build the right team,~ uh,~ at a company. ~Uh, ~and,~ um,~ I came from a, a military background, which people in the military understand is very top-down mentality. ~Um, ~you know, as in,~ um,~ if you're a leader, you tell somebody what to do and they have to do it, and they don't do it because they necessarily believe in the cause or believe in, you know, what you're doing or the bigger picture.
[00:40:06] Robert Poole: They're doing it strictly because they have to, and they'll, and there'll be some consequences that they don't. ~Um, ~and that's the way I ran my business for many years. It was a very top down. I give the orders you implement and,~ uh,~ that can work in the military context because you can't have people questioning things.
[00:40:21] Robert Poole: But in business in general, when you, when everybody's sort of a volunteer, if you will, and they have other choices,~ um,~ I didn't understand that. And I think if I'd understood,~ um,~ how to deal with people better. ~Um, ~in how to build that team, how to hire the right people,~ um,~ how to get rid of the wrong people, quite frankly, how to build that culture.
[00:40:41] Robert Poole: ~Um, ~I think that would probably be the number one thing that would've affected me differently,~ uh,~ if I had been able to do that earlier in life, because I know, you know, like I said in the last 6, 7, 8 years, but maybe a little bit longer,~ um,~ that's really been a focus. So that has paid just huge dividends.
[00:40:56] Robert Poole: So yeah, if there were one thing that I could change, I think that would be it, you know, would be how I deal with other people,~ uh,~ particularly people that work for me or work with me, you know?
[00:41:05] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. You said it earlier that everything we want,~ uh,~ maybe it was Keith that said it, but everything we want is on the other side of fear, and I agree with that. I also think that everything we want is on, like in an exchange with another human.
[00:41:15] Robert Poole: Mm-Hmm.
[00:41:16] Chaz Wolfe: You know, clients, family, fulfillment, joy, like I if you were just by yourself all the time. Like, what would life really be? And so I think that all of those things that we've talked about here today are through another person. So I think that you're spot on with, with,~ uh,~ the, the skill sets there. ~Um, ~okay. Robert, there's people listening here today that are like, this is really good, it's great mindset, but the guys, I think he said he, he helps people grow their, their business through marketing and or maybe some business coaching services.
[00:41:44] Chaz Wolfe: How can they get ahold of you? Maybe they wanna get more information, maybe they just want to network with you. How can they find you?
[00:41:49] Robert Poole: Yeah, absolutely. ~Um, ~I'm on all the,~ uh,~ major platforms, but probably the biggest,~ uh,~ LinkedIn is probably the easiest way to get ahold of me. ~Um, ~but all of 'em,~ uh,~ are the Robert Pool, like, ~uh, ~swimming pool with an e on the end. Shoot me a message on LinkedIn. Be happy to, to talk to you or,~ um,~ you know, about what's going on with your business and what you're looking to do.
[00:42:06] Robert Poole: ~Um, ~or you can always email me directly, I can make myself available that way. ~Um, ~so just email me at Robert at operator to owner net. ~Um, ~there's some other company that's got.com that,~ uh,~ doesn't even make sense for the, the domain they have. But,~ uh,~ so it's Robert at operator TO,~ um,~ to owner,~ um,~ dot net.
[00:42:23] Robert Poole: And,~ uh,~ be happy to, to set up a time we can chat and find out a little bit about your business and see if there's any way that,~ um,~ you know, we can help each other out, you know.
[00:42:30] Chaz Wolfe: Love it. We'll put all that in the show notes as well. But Robert, I appreciate your mindset and,~ uh,~ even just the story of you making your way through that,~ uh, uh, ~sticky situation with your, with your partner, and of course, being able to experience grief in the middle of all that, just, I admire you, admire your success.
[00:42:45] Chaz Wolfe: ~Uh, ~I appreciate you sharing all that here today with the listeners. Thank you for being here, and blessings to you and your family and your business here in 2024. Thanks for being here.
[00:42:52] Robert Poole: Absolutely thank.

Host Chaz Wolfe is joined by esteemed guest Robert Poole, a West Point graduate, Army vet, and accomplished business coach from Total Business Results. In this episode, Robert shares his compelling journey from facing failures to mastering the art of cold calling. He discusses how transforming from an operator to an owner led him to success, and how embracing discomfort is key to personal and business growth. Highlighted Topics: The Entrepreneurial Drive: Transitioning from Military to Entrepreneurship The Power and Relevance of Cold Calling in Today's Business World Overcoming Business Challenges: Lessons from Robert's Personal Journey The Significance of Personal Growth and People Skills in Business Development Embracing Discomfort and Turning Fear into Confidence Robert's insights are a must-listen for entrepreneurs, business owners, and anyone interested in personal development, sales mastery, and strategic business growth.

Robert Poole:

Website: https://www.totalbusinessresults.com/

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Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@therobertpoole

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobertpoole/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/therobertpoole

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