Shed Geek Podcast
The Shed Geek Podcast offers an in depth analysis of the ever growing and robust Shed Industry. Listeners will experience a variety of guests who identify or specialize in particular niche areas of the Shed Industry. You will be engaged as you hear amateur and professional personalities discuss topics such as: Shed hauling, sales, marketing, Rent to Own, shed history, shed faith, and much more. Host Shannon Latham is a self proclaimed "Shed Geek" who attempts to take you through discussions that are as exciting as the industry itself. Listeners of this podcast include those who play a role directly or indirectly with the Shed Industry itself.
Shed Geek Podcast
When Success Becomes The Lesson: Rebuilding A Smarter Growth Engine Part 1
The shed business isn’t simple anymore—and that’s a good thing if you know how to harness it. We take you behind the scenes of our five-year arc, share the wins and stumbles that pushed us to relaunch Shed Geek Marketing, and get practical about what actually moves revenue when buyers start online and finish on their terms.
We dig into a hard question that reshapes everything: what is a lead for your model? If you run a high-volume, SEO-driven engine, a name and phone number can be enough when you have a team ready to engage within minutes. If you’re a lot-based closer handling walk-ins and custom builds, you need richer context at the first touch—budget, timeline, use, and site constraints. Either way, speed-to-lead matters, but so does tone. Reaching out in thirty seconds can feel helpful or pushy, and the difference is your script, your offer, and whether the buyer asked for that help.
You’ll hear how we’re aligning marketing and sales in a 2025 reality: clean websites with analytics, 3D configurators that convert, buyer guides that educate without pressure, and CRMs that automate qualification while keeping humans available when stakes rise. We talk partner tools that make proof visible—local delivery maps, photo galleries, and reviews tied to neighborhoods—because credibility is a growth multiplier. We also get honest about dealer economics: margin is thin, so disconnected tools are expensive. That’s why we moved away from a pure white-label model to manage the customer experience in-house, coordinate specialists, and make sure ads, pages, and follow-up all point to the same goal.
If you sell sheds, you’re guiding one of the biggest purchases your customer will make. Clarity wins: pricing that makes sense, financing and RTO explained in plain English, timelines you can keep, and support that’s one click away by phone, text, or live video. Ready to rethink your funnel, define your lead, and build a system that closes more of the right buyers? Follow the show, share this with your team, and leave a review with the one change you’ll make this week.
For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.
Would you like to receive our weekly newsletter? Sign up here.
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube at the handle @shedgeekpodcast.
To be a guest on the Shed Geek Podcast visit our website and fill out the "Contact Us" form.
To suggest show topics or ask questions you want answered email us at info@shedgeek.com.
This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: Shed Pro
Hello and welcome back to the Shed Geek Podcast. Here's a message from our studio sponsor. Let's be real. Running a shed business today isn't just about building great sheds. The industry is changing fast. We're all filling the squeeze, competing for fewer buyers, while expectations keep climbing. And yet, I hear from many of you that you are still juggling spreadsheets, cluncky software, or disconnected systems. You're spending more time managing chaos than actually growing your business. That's why I want to talk to you about our studio sponsor, ShedPro. If you're not already using them, I really think you should check them out. ShedPro combines your 3D configurator, point of sale, RTO contracts, inventory, deliveries, and dealer tools all in one platform. They even integrate cleanly into our Shed Geek marketing solutions. From website lead to final delivery, you can quote, contract, collect payment, and schedule delivery in one clean workflow. No more double entries, no more back and forth chaos. Quoting is faster, orders are clean. And instead of chasing down paperwork, you're actually running your business. And if you mention Shed Geek, you'll get 25% off all setup fees. Check it out at shedpro.co/ shed geek. Thank you, Shed Pro, for being our studio sponsor and honestly for building something that helps the industry.
Shannon:Okay, welcome back to another episode of the Shed Geek Podcast. Thank you so much for listening today. Thank you for taking time out of your day to listen to anything that we would have to say, whether it be monologues or dialogues. Certainly want to bring value to your day as you are going down the road, swinging a hammer, uh building a shed, or whatever it is that you're doing. Um quick housekeeping. Uh, if you guys ever need to reach out to me, uh, I think most of you have my number, 618-309-3648. For any questions, info i -n- f-o @ shed geek.com or visit our website at shedgeek.com, s-h-e-d-g-e-e-k. com. You guys can uh subscribe to our newsletter. Certainly encourage you guys to do that, to stay on top of like trends in the industry. We've got some uh new blogs that are coming out in there for your uh reading pleasure, uh some folks that are trying to uh uh to put some information out there for you uh not only to watch and be entertained uh by us, hopefully, uh, but also to uh to learn by taking the time to go and read there. Make sure to give our sponsors a shout out there and let them know the shed geek sent you. That means a lot to me, is if you can let people know uh that Shed Geek sent you over uh to start working with their business or buy something from them. It just goes a long way for me. If you enjoy the podcast and the content, it helps keep us going. And the Shed Sales Professionals page, be sure to go check it out as well. Too if you do want on the newsletter, just message us at uh infot shedge.com. Let us know that you want to be added or go visit the website. And for those of you who are listening on the call in line, you already have this number. But if you know somebody in the plain community that may need it, 330-997-3055. That's 330-997-3055, where we do get about 400 plain community members uh listening um uh regularly. Uh so very excited about that. Thank you, Plane Community. If we can be of any assistance to you in any way, um let us know. We did build in the the uh the the newsletter. Uh it does actually have now a list of all the shows and uh when they were aired. So, if you have questions about that, we'll be happy to expand on that registry in any way we can. So, Cord, what's up, man?
Cord:Oh goodness. Well, that was uh that was a good thorough uh informational uh there at the top. We always appreciate that. Um yeah, I mean, I think what's up is uh as we approach the end of the year here, uh just getting ready for uh building, right? Getting ready for making things more efficient, uh being better in the new year, um, all of those things that of course we do as individuals, um, but you know, in our businesses um are even possibly more important, right? As far as what the trajectory of the year is going to be. Um so yeah, just uh really excited. And I don't know if you want me to steal the thunder here or if or if you want to be the one to announce, but the uh guess who's back? Back uh you know, Shed Geek Marketing. Uh, you know, I think we are ready. We've kind of sojourned uh you know to find some really great partners, uh, you know, and taken a couple months to really evaluate what the uh what that business model is going to look like. But you know, I don't want to speak for you, Shandon, but I I feel really great about what we've put together. Um, you know, so um yeah, with some of what I think are the absolutely highest performing um, you know, best partners in the industry, um, you know, so that we can more thoroughly control that kind of customer experience and make sure that at the end of the day, um, not only are you getting a friendly face and a good customer experience from Shed Geek headquarters uh directly, um, but you're getting that performance, sales, revenue, uh, everything that you're paying for on the back end.
Shannon:You know, as I as I think about sort of like the journey, and we're gonna be doing like a year end, and it's gonna be so it's so late. Like we here we are after Christmas, between Christmas and New Year's, even shooting this. We've shot this episode twice, and because of technical difficulties, here we are a third time, a third time guys doing this. But uh, haven't had this many technical difficulties in five years. Uh, get behind me, Satan. You know, we've just uh we've just had just a uh heck of a time trying to get this episode out. We're like, Lord, what are you trying to say? Uh and the reality is, you know, it's just it's just continued to move forward. But I began thinking about like the trail of five years and what it looks like and jumping into marketing, and even, you know, we were marketing before we were we're considering ourselves a marketing agency, even whenever we started, you know, on most of the checklist that we think we that that we would check on. But this was the thing that came closest to what we could expound on because most people just don't make a living off a podcast, right? Like most, and neither did we anticipate that, you know, just started doing something for fun, spent seven grand on a website and some equipment and said, Hey, I just want to do this because I enjoy doing this. And then uh I remember that first time I got asked, you know, could you sell advertising? I was like, uh sure, let me figure something out. And it's just been a whirlwind since then. It's been a lot of fun. It's also been um uh what is the song it says, you know, um, you know, um, I can't even walk without him holding my hand. The mountains are too high and the valleys are too wide. And I you know, I think about that and I think, man, it's been it's been a challenge, you know, Cord. And I think the one thing that the people like, I'm not sure, but the feedback I get from most people, especially some of the closest people who stay in regular contact with me from the show, is I think they just like the real and the raw. I think they just like the you know, unscripted, hey, this is me, this is who I am, and that becomes very difficult whenever you try to cross that line from entertainment education into like are you moving the needle in terms of helping the industry or helping a particular business? I mean, it's kind of why we started the consultation, is like you've seen just the amount of phone calls that come in. It's just like, hey, curious about this, or emails. It's like thoughts on this. Um, and it's like, well, how do we separate helping and then like also being able to make a living uh and help and be as you know fair and balanced and all those things as possible? Man, it has been quite the journey, Cord, for five years. But I'm so happy that you're here with me now on that. I think you bring a lot of clarity to the show uh for me personally. You know, I love your company Growth Ops. I really wish the industry would take a look into that more. Uh, if I've learned nothing over the last year, and I think others have too in this industry, it's just how needed as a small business um you need these things. If you can't afford a full-time CMO or CFO or CEO, just how needed those things are on even a part-time basis. So we'd love to be somebody who brings that uh sort of like value proposition out there. We've had others on the show, others have been on here that have advertised, you know, and the industry's not always embraced that just immediately. And I find it interesting how certain services, the certain products just jump right in, and others, it's it really is this uphill battle. You know, you have to put out a lot of education, uh, and then all of a sudden those things come to fruition. I mean, CRM's a good example. We really started talking, CRM's heavy on here, and guess what? As part of that marketing apparatus, you know, a CRM became part of that conversation in that digital world, to which we, you know, we partnered exclusively with our buddies Joe Ignace over at Velocity360. We interviewed Joe three years ago, you know, at Knowledge Gap. And then he changed his value proposition. Excellent sales guy, and knows how to convert leads. And like, boom, next thing you know, look at how that opportunity came about, you know.
ADVERTISEMENT:When your business depends on getting materials fast, you can't afford to wait around. At Three Oaks Trading Company, we get it. Your production schedule moves fast, and so do we. From studs, SPF, and SYP to all your panels, siding, and flooring, square edge or tongue and groove, OSB or plywood, we're stocked, ready, and delivering across the US, often in just three to five business days. Our team specializes in serving shed builders and manufacturers, providing the products you need when you need them. Because your next build shouldn't be waiting on a delivery truck. So, if you're ready for reliable service, quick turnaround, and a partner who understands your business, reach out to Three Oaks Trading Company today. Call 833-214-1723 or visit Threeoaks TradingCo.com to get started. Three Oaks Trading Company. Fast, dependable, built for builders.
Cord:Joe would hate for it to hear you say that that's part of the marketing apparatus. He is.
Shannon:He would.
Cord:You know, I remember I think maybe just for clarity of the listeners, right? I mean, we talk a lot about like, well, what uh, you know, what are marketing services, right? What kind of what qualifies as a marketing service? Um, and you know, I think that that has evolved, if we're just being honest, um, you know, over the last few years as social media has turned, you know, what people may have thought of as earned media, which would have been um, you know, back in the day, or you know, I mean it still exists, but you know, newspapers or coverage from uh you know news-like organizations, right, that are kind of informative, uh, first and foremost, probably have some kind of a journalistic function. Um, you know, that was thought of as earned media. You know, maybe that was more of a PR function, but you know, it was as part of a marketing plan. Um, you know, then I think um marketing in general went through a phase where it was then viewed as like the lead generation portion, right? So it's it kind of got to a spot where it was viewed as uh everything maybe from you know that product research that a customer goes through all the way up until you manage to capture their uh name, phone number, uh, email, any of that lead information that a sales team would then need to actually physically work with. Um you know, and in that kind of structure there, obviously you have your paid advertising, you know, uh, which goes right alongside your quote unquote earned media, uh, you know, any kind of uh newspaper coverage or non-paid coverage. Um and then the qualification of that lead was really a sales function, but gosh, all of those things, Shannon, have just gotten so gray, whether it be what earned media uh kind of actually is, right? Because at this point, um even inside of uh Facebook and TikTok and YouTube Reels, any of those vertical video platforms, you know, your quote unquote earned media. Now those are not you know news or they don't have a journalistic function or anything else. But if you hit the algorithm just right on that interest-based algorithm, you know, your earned media is can be this thing that that blows up uh and actually generates um more leads, more prospects uh than any kind of paid advertising, which is you know kind of flip-flopped to where uh most kind of industries have been for gosh, the last 40, 50, 60 years, right? You kind of had to pay um you know for those leads. So, uh and then the qualification that used to maybe be more specifically on the sales side, um, you know, that happened through uh asking questions and really digging into a customer's problems and um you know uh what their whys and hows and everything like that. How are they gonna pay for it? Right, qualifying in the financial way. Um, you know, all those things have kind of gotten moved on either side of that actual lead process, right? Uh sometimes you kind of pre-qualify the lead. Uh sometimes even once they're in your sales funnel, you know, CRM to Joe's point, you know, where he kind of the line at, um, you know, great strategy these days, even once you've collected the lead, um, you know, to continue to ask the questions or qualify that lead, you know, in an automated way, which could be considered somewhat of a marketing function, right? In that in that sales side.
Shannon:So, you know, the complication of the digital world and setting in an office and somebody comes in, you're like, what brought them in? And I it prompted me to uh to have two thoughts here. One is I love the I love the like um what am I trying to say? Like the difference in listeners, the demographic that we have of listeners too, because there's a couple of different things at play here. There's awareness conversation that I feel like happens on the podcast, and then there's like actual selling of the service. And those are two different things whenever you're trying to educate. Now, like we don't, we're not suggesting we have all the answers. That's what's made, I feel like that's what's made kind of part of the shed geek brand valuable in the industry, is it's served as a hinge point, as a connector to so many things. And whenever you're just like trying to help, it's like that that that's okay. But then how do you monetize that? And how do you monetize that without getting greedy? I mean, I really feel like we lost our way during marketing. I feel like personally, I feel like we kind of lost our way. I lost my way as an individual, even on the show, because like you know, we were seeing so much success, it was just like, wow, this is great. You begin to think, I mean, you even begin to get a little arrogant. I mean, if we're being honest, and you start to think, you know, this is too easy, right? Like, you know, there's so much opportunity. You know, uh, you know, we always try to give it, you know, back to the Lord and say thank you for that. But I mean, we're men, it's easy to forget, and it's easy to start to think something of yourself if you're not too careful. And but uh, I begin to think about like even Philip Rudolph's question at the Shed Cells, you know, professionals, or not Shed Cells Professional, the Shed Cells Summit uh during Shed Week this year. And you know, Phillips, awesome guy, Watson Barn Rentals, love those guys. Uh, need to get down there and see them. Uh, would love to get him and Timothy on sometime if they would uh oblige, you know. Um, and I just think they're a great company. Anyway, Phillips said, and a lot of you guys know Phillip from being the NSRA chair, you know, formerly, and uh he said, you know, what is elite? And Phillips, brilliant man, right? Brilliant guy, knows his way around business, you know, really good or whatever. Uh and so like he wasn't asking the question from a like you know uh elementary perspective. He was saying, I want y'all's thoughts, the panel's thoughts, on a more elongated, you know, in-depth analysis of sort of like what is a lead because it looks very different than what it used to. But it prompted me to do something here today, and that's for one, that's it gave me a thought, and I'm sorry for being so scatter-brained here this afternoon. Uh uh bear with me. But it be begin to make me think about like, you know, we have you know CEOs of multi-million dollar companies, hundred plus million dollar year companies who I know that listen to the show because we conversate. Several, not just one, but a couple, right? Like we have some you know very high arching, you know, people in the RTO world or in the product world or whatever that we have some regular conversation with. And uh it made me think about like we also have shed dealers or shed manufacturers, you know, on a much smaller scale. Some that sell two million dollars a year. And whenever you begin to talk about marketing and when you begin to talk about sales, you know, if you're a hundred million dollar a year company, you've already divided out your sales team and your marketing team. They're two totally different entities and they operate with a whole list of uh deliverables, right? That they, you know, they're accountable for and things like that, and they don't really cross into each other's path other than where those two things come together to make for a sale, essentially, or you know, a benefit to the company in some way. So here you have some like really well-thought people that I'd love to interview, would love to interview in the future. I've expressed the sentiment on interviewing some of those. Um and then you have some guys who are like still feeling things out, still learning, and we become sort of an educational piece for that. And we were lucky enough to see business in both fronts, you know, at when we were full steam. But I but I wanted to go back to my roots here, which is simplistic. Like I'm just Shannon, right? I'm just Shannon, I'm just learning my way through this like everybody else. And you think that you have something to offer, but I was sitting here looking at this on the most basic level, and I feel like this is what resonates a lot of times with the audience now. If you're you know, if you're somebody who's working with a company selling three hundred million dollars a year at sales, you might not be entertained by this. But I just went and just looked up the sales definition in general. It's something so simple. What is a sale? The exchange of a commodity for money. The action of selling something. Which I always hate when they put in the action of selling something. They put a verb into the definition. I'm like, right. So like you know, the action of selling. But what is it? The exchange of a commodity for money. In this case, a building or typically a service. But what is marketing? The activity or business of promoting and selling products or services. Uh now these are both just, you know, quick online Google definitions or whatever. But it says including market research and advertising. And I thought that was interesting. Um just getting down to the how do you how do you define them uh yourself, Cord? You've got a marketing degree. How do you approach marketing and sales, the difference in them?
Cord:Well, I mean, I think realistically, again, uh, you know, uh, I'm glad Joe Ignace is not on this podcast because he'd be, you know, we'd be going back and forth. But, you know, I think that in any modern sense, marketing encompasses the total strategy that it takes from um uh from a company perspective, all the way from market research through product design, right, through pricing, um, through promotion, right, and all the way through the actual sale. Now, you know, um, you know, in companies that you then have a a very like you need a sales team, right? You need the personal interaction to kind of get those sales across the board. You know, it makes sense to kind of stop the marketing process, so to speak, or, you know, sometimes you have uh, depending on the way the company structures it, you know, you may have a completely different ladder uh you know tree of organization above sales than you do above marketing, you know, because it does, it is a little bit different discipline, um, you know, like closers, right? Like sales closers are a little bit different. But, you know, in my mind, like whenever we say marketing, um, you know, in the in the way that we talk about it, we really are talking about it in a 2025 sense, which is, you know, approaching something all the way from uh conception and branding and what that total uh customer journey, right, looks like. Uh everything that they experience from touch points to uh you know websites to actual what I would think of as a a lead funnel, which means some side some kind of uh strategic capture process, right? Um in which you might even be giving away a little uh piece of value, right? I mean, I've begun to um you know highly recommend taking that kind of e-comm approach where you're maybe even giving away uh you know the 2025 shed buyer's guide, right? That doesn't necessarily push them towards your brand, you know, that that just kind of says like this is what these things mean, right? This is what it means to have a double top plate or to be 16 on center. Uh here are the products, right, that have uh various uh you know long-lasted um you know value, longevity, uh, whenever it comes to siding or flooring, um, you know, or roof style or whatever it might be, right? Um, and that can be within that sort of lead funnel, right, where you're saying in exchange for uh you know your name and your email address, I'll send you over this thing that whether or not you buy from me, right, is going to help you uh in your understanding. You know, the that's a very e-comm approach, right? Let me let me give you a little informational product in exchange for your lead information, because I think that we can uh we can develop that lead, right? So anyway, I mean that's just a little small example, but you know, to me, um it's pretty well all-encompassing. I mean, I'm uh I've been in sales, so I certainly believe in closures. I believe at some point there is time for a person-to-person conversation on big ticket items, of which a shed is definitely one. We've said it before, but I continue to believe it, you know, for a lot, a lot of people in this country, um, you know, uh around the world, I suppose, too, but for a lot of people, a shed is the third biggest purchase in their life. Their house, their car, their shed. Right? I mean, it's a ten thousand dollar consumer purchase. Um, how many consumer purchases are $10,000 that are not just pure luxury goods that are going to the whatever you want to call it, top 1%, top one-tenth of one percent, you know, a $12,000 coach purse or whatever. Well, you know, how many people have one of those, right? You know, so um anyway, you know, to me, like I understand that at some point it really truly does come down to a closer, a sales guy, somebody who is closing that sale. Um, you know, but also on that other hand, um, we know of plenty of companies who are now basically marching people right through from 3D builder through a digital, you know, sales process that ends in them either being approved for financing RTO or just paying cash for a custom shed, right? And may not have had any interaction with salespeople.
Shannon:That's what I love about the conversation while we can sit here and talk about this really for two hours or three hours, because we can really get into the details or we can stay very topical.
ADVERTISEMENT:Introducing the Challenger, the revolutionary new shed mover that's taking the industry by storm. The Challenger features a touchless design, ensuring it only makes contact at the end of the skids and the bottom of the floor joists. So rest easy knowing your gable walls will remain pristine. Worried about reliability? Fear not, the challenger is always up for the challenge and will not overturn or scuff your shed. Harness the power of innovative wireless technology. Remotely control the challenger via your smartphone. No cell service needed. And guess what? The cell phone remote comes standard with every Challenger at no extra costs. Featuring floating forks, a four-directional tilting mast, and sliding weight transfer, move the shed weight precisely where you need it to get ultimate traction. With self-loading capability, straight onto your truck, say goodbye to the need for a hydraulic carriage. The Challenger makes your job easy and more efficient. Choose from two machine sizes, 10,000 pounds and 15,000 pounds. Perfect for any job. Visit www.shedchallenger.com or email us at info@ shedchallenger.com or call or text 828-220-3508 for more information. Experience the future of Shed Moving with the Challenger.
Shannon:Whenever I think about like that question, like what is a lead? That's because it's like, well, what is a lead when some, you know, when you put out a feather flag, right? And it's like that's marketing. You know, we're marketing our company, we're marketing our brand, we're marketing our product. We put out a feather flag. Hey, we use this siding, we use this paint, we use this whatever. Come on in, take a look. But then, you know, what is on the other, what's met on the other side of that, both with the product, but then also with the process, with the customer service. I mean, I've watched the industry literally just throw, and I I'm not throwing any shade on anyone. I'm just saying I've watched them throw shed lots out there on a whim, which costs thousands of dollars to transport, to build, you know, to build, you know, whether it's the cost of the material, the labor, and then the trucking to get it there on a whim, uh, because somebody's got you know two or three acres outside of a boot barn, you know, or something. And like they may turn into, you know, fascinating, fabulous sailors. They may be a million dollar, two million dollar lot within no time at all. And that's just because they're just good at marketing and sales or whatever. Um, or maybe they've got a high traffic count or or or what have you. But uh, I'm sitting here thinking about the sales cycle and I'm thinking about customer acquisition time Cord. And I'm thinking about like if you would to build a house, I don't think that you're gonna go in, see a guy or gal in the shed office, you know, and boom, all of a sudden you're like, I just went and bought this house, it took 15 minutes from an impulse perspective, because there's like a lot of questions that come into place. Like, you know, uh you've got to go through a lot of 3D designers yourself, you know, you've got to establish timelines, you've got to establish what you, you know, what you want, how long it's gonna take, what it's gonna cost, where you can add and subtract. And really, sheds have always been like a low customer acquisition uh time frame, an impulsive decision almost to some extent. But I think that that that the market maybe is changing, that people take their time and at least educate themselves a little bit better, but that education to me typically starts online. So, like the better your website presence, the better your social media presence. You know, I think about, you know, uh uh, you know, some of our partners, you know, that are that are selling products. I think about some of our partners that are selling processes, real work labs. Think about, you know, I'm I've been a fan of real work for a long time, and I love what they what they do in terms of like on the map showing, like, hey, here is a specific, you know, like uh service area that we've worked in, you know, and here's 150 sheds delivered in your neighborhood. Like uh the more brand authority that you can put out there to say, like, we know what we're doing, we have salespeople who are going to be able to take care of you, that's part of your marketing. But whenever people get to the actual lot, there's a whole different set of skills necessary to bring them in or to try and close that sale online. I just talked to a company the other day, said we hired our first online salesperson last year in 2024 or 2025. Uh uh, and they said they you know they closed $500,000 uh this last year and never met any of these customers.
Cord:Yeah, 100%. And you know, I think um the question of what is a lead, and even on the panel, you know, at the um Shed Sales Summit, you know, some of this kind of came out. I don't know that anyone said it specifically, but you know, what is a lead is really leads to the next question, which is well, what is your strategy, right? Because if you're if your strategy is um, you know, we know some companies that that sell um nationwide, right? And they have a hyper SEO driven um you know, um thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of individual pages, right? And so like if you're you know, if you're an online model and you just you need the volume, right? You need the you need the volume coming in uh and you have an in-house uh you know, whether you call it lead development, uh seems to be like a word that's being used in the industry right now. Um, you know, basically a call center, right? If you have a lead development center, a call center um where you have, you know, two, three, four, five, you know, trained staff who are doing nothing but sort of getting on those, you know, not necessarily cold. They've interacted with the brand in some way that's led to a very basic lead. Maybe it's as simple as just their phone number and their name, or just their email and their name, right? But, you know, in either case, like if that's your strategy, if that's your approach, then a lead is pretty simple to you, right? We have the people and the processes to develop those leads and actively work those leads. So we need really simple uh um, you know, details. We don't need a bunch of qualifications coming into our one sales guy who is also sitting on the lot, who also is gonna have to go out and talk to people and close a sale that takes an hour or an hour and a half or two hours, right? While these leads that are piling up in the computer really deserve or, you know, the best uh results. And it this depends on what product you're selling, but like you know, that under three minute uh window, speed to lead, is really important for capturing that person's attention uh and continuing to move them through the process, depending on who you talk to and what product you're selling. Some people say under 30 seconds, right? Now, at some point we start to get creepy here, right? You press a button, you know, you autofill your information on your phone, and five seconds later somebody's already, you know, dialed you up, you know. Uh, hey, this is Cord with Shed Geek. Can I sell you shed, right? Um, but uh at some point it starts to get a little too much there as far as what kind of uh vibe or emotions you're throwing at the customer. But my point is it's just you know, that simple statement at the beginning. What is a lead is very much determined by what is your strategy. And as we well know in the shed industry, there are probably a dozen different business models that have led to success and continue to, right? You know, varying kind of uh levels depending on which business model you're using, um, as we can always continue to encourage, right? If you are wholly and totally dependent on roadside traffic and old school leads, um, you know, and you're not running any kind of you know pay-per-click or Google ads, uh, you know, you're not you're not using a 3D builder online or whatever it might be, right? Like you, it's not to say you can't still have success, but like the you're not pulling in all of the potential customers that you could. Um and frankly, as younger people age into you know their the years where they are uh then becoming the primary consumers, right? Uh you're just you year by year you're missing more, uh missing more people.
Shannon:So, um anyway, even if you do a 50 mile radius, I mean a perfect example is uh 50 miles from where we live, there are roads that I will probably not travel down because they're not necessarily in any particular route to where I'm going. Uh, you know, they're not there, there's just no reason, even living here my whole life. I won't travel down that road unless I just happen to cross it. And then you see that they're building uh we were down at the Karnak Y the other day, and no one on this podcast will have any clue as to what that pickup mark is, right? And you're like, when did they tear that down? And I was like, Oh man, some folks bought it, and you know, the right sold it and blah blah blah. And we're just talking about that. It's close to where my wife grew up, and we used to drive by it every day. And you're like, Man, I haven't been through here in like a year. Well, it's not like it's that far, it's 20 minutes from you, but it's all right.
Cord:At the same time, it's beloved, right? At least to me, yeah, you know, the part.
Shannon:Yeah, so that's where everybody went in the rural community, you know, to you know, get gas or whatever. But you if they started selling sheds, you would know it because you don't drive through there, but every couple of years, you know, so just because you're you know, and that was a a fairly high traffic area for that for that county, not in terms of like any other uh any other standards or whatever, but in terms of like that county, that was a high traffic area, state route. And it's just one of those things where I'm I don't know, as we're sitting here having this just this natural conversation, we've got screens pulled up, we've got things that we want to talk about. I'm just trying to break it down to like the most the most basic level because we have some people on here who like we love to interview because they teach us. It's like my pastor says, you know, like I get ministered to a lot of times. It's not just me ministering to others, I get ministered to you. Bless me whenever you share with me when we talk, when I know about your you know, things in your life and things like that. And I and I think that's the way it is here. Like, we believe we have something to offer in terms of value ourselves, but our guests are so much more valuable to come on and talk about these things. And we've interviewed six or eight marketing companies in the past to the point where one of them took us up uh and said, Hey, why don't you just start a marketing company and white label it and like you know, like let's do something and we'll get into that, we'll talk about that. But you had you had a thought.
ADVERTISEMENT:Hello, shed sellers. Let's take a moment to discuss the shed customer and meeting their expectations. I remember growing up in the neighborhood where a certain percentage of the houses had well-manicured lawns and well manicured homes. These were the type of individuals who felt it was important to purchase a well-constructed home or vehicle, or maybe equipment, to help maintain the quality of the item. As shed manufacturers, we seek to provide a well-built quality shed. We want the customer to feel satisfied that their hard-earned money has been well spent on a product that will last. At LuxGuard, we believe adding high-quality rubber flooring to your line of sheds makes sense to the customer and adds value the customer can appreciate. With each year, sheds are becoming more complex. The customizations we are seeing are virtually endless. LuxGuard not only gives a complimentary aesthetic appearance for their shed, but also protects the floor from spills and keeps cleanup simple. Offer your customer the customer service they seek with LuxGuard. At LuxGuard, we are committed to delivering exceptional customer service and innovative products to help our customers achieve their goals. We strive to meet the evolving needs of the customers. To speak with one of our ready-to-serve customer product specialists, simply call 336-468-4311. To see our product and view an installation video, just visit our website at LuxGuard.com. LuxGuard, the floor that lasts a lifetime.
Cord:Well, that's a good place. You circled all the way to it. That's a good place to start, maybe, which is what do we even mean um when we say white labeling, right? Because we're talking about um, and I think it'd be great now to bring on some of our, you know, we're very excited about the partners um that we've been able to put together who we feel like are the best and brightest and highest performing uh, you know, within the industry, but really, you know, some of them do this uh, you know, inside the shed industry and outside of the shed industry, but have great results uh either way. But I think, you know, to me that's part of at least what we're explaining here, which is like what not only what is marketing, but what does the model look like? I mean, do you have you know eight or nine or ten, twelve? If you're a full service marketing agency, um, you know, like if you either you have a bunch of people sitting in the same building with each other, right? Or you are you're outsourcing some of that, um, or you are partnering with other specialized companies. But I think a good place to start, Shannon. Uh we throw these terms around all the time, white label, but you know, I'm not sure like how common that Is uh, you know, in in everyday industry, maybe like what that means and then what it means when we say it specifically in marketing is probably a good little it's almost seen as a it can even be seen as a negative thing to some extent, right?
Shannon:Or a very positive thing. Like we've had constantly, like we've got people, several people who want a white label with us right now, whether it be in the industry or even outside the industry, especially outside the industry, when people find out sort of like where you're moving the needle, because this is what they do every day. I don't actually like can I can me and you get on here and speak intelligently about Wix, the difference in a Wix site and a GoDaddy site and a WordPress site or an HTML site or something like that? Yeah, I think we can get through some conversation. Could we build a website? Yeah, absolutely. We can build a website, you know. Is it gonna take us longer than someone who builds websites every day? Absolutely, you know, and then it depends. You so you start to look at that's where consultation came in, is because like you have people contact you and you're like, Look, I'm a shed builder, I don't know anything about any of this stuff. So tell me your thoughts. And you realize at that point you're not just selling a service, you're educating somebody to help make the best decision. And that was something that I was always, you know, uh, that's why I was always on the first call. It was usually the initial call, and then you pretty much didn't see me much after that. It was to kind of like help guide that conversation into the right direction. Like, hey, this is what this person actually needs. We don't need to oversell them on something. We just need to get them like this situation, get them started. Maybe it's get a website, maybe the website looks good, maybe the website has some good tracking analytics. I am like so surprised at like some of the websites I go to with my limited knowledge and see that there's no tracking analytics, no tracking data. I'll tell you what, that's especially disappointing whenever somebody's like, you know, going to measure your effectiveness. And it's like, well, what are you using to measure it by? And they're like, We have we have we have measured and we have found you, you know, came up short and we're like, what tool, what instrument did you use to measure it? We were like, our gut. And I'm just like, well, that's good, don't get me wrong, but I don't think that that's really an effective way to measure, you know, this is why, you know, you have to sometimes tell the listeners, for those of you who are listening to me, this is why you get my little, my little the ambiance of me every so often Cord being like, hey, tell them shed geeks sent you. Because that seems to be a big thing in the industry. We can be like, look, we can see they clicked here, they clicked here, and then they bought this, and then it's like, oh, well, that's definite proof. But it's so much different when somebody says, Hey, talk to Shannon, heard about you on the Shed Geek. Seems interesting. You know, we're sitting here talking about marketing. I'm looking at my hat, live switch, did an interview with those guys. Can't believe that hasn't taken off more, right? Like it's a perfect example. And to me, this is a you know, uh a bit of marketing and sales, Live Switch, you know, live video calls, send one-click browser call links with no downloads. I love their tagline. We increase your bottom line through instant video communication, being able to hop on the video on a video by sending a link to a customer right now. One of three companies that do that in terms of like live video in America, work with you know, government agencies, like very established. It's like this is the this is a new age way of selling, and it's hard for people to kind of grasp that Cord. So, I know we're kind of blurring the lines between you know, sales and marketing, and we're a little bit scattered, we're a little bit all over the place here today, uh, but we're just having real raw conversations. So yeah, white label is really as simple as it sounds allowing a company to do business ass. And that's really what we did, you know. Like we, you know, we just found one partner, and like here's the one thing that we learned through that process more than anything, is that a lot of companies had the same issue, which was we contact a marketing agency and they just don't understand the shed industry. And I think it's a it's such a valuable point, like they might be phenomenal marketers, and if they figure out the dynamics of the industry, they may be able to do a uh just an absolute just awesome job. But the downside was a lot of them didn't understand that just the common language, the things that needed to be said about RTO and finance and how consignment works versus whatever, you know, and like, well, my company technically does this, they do the leads, they do the Google ads, they just come over to me. I think for dealers, it's a big struggle out there for them. And same company I was talking to that did 500,000, he's like, Yeah, it's just kind of tough if they sell a million dollars a year, you know, that means uh a hundred dollars in profit, you know, and that profit really shrinks because that's got to be turned back into business expenses. So, if you're a if you're a dealer for any company on consignment and they don't produce the website, they don't produce the lead gen, you know, the CRM or any of that stuff, uh the 3D configurator, and you're doing that yourself, that's coming out of your bottom dollar that shrinks from even a million-dollar sales lot at 10%, $100,000 to $50,000 in expenses, to have a website, 3D configurator built, all these different things to have a budget for Google Ads, have a budget for meta ads, to have you know a CRM that's working and functioning, and maybe it increases your sales to two million and then it becomes worth it. But you only do that typically, in my opinion, through taking market share. But we're kind of all over the place. I recognize that. But um I just feel like I just feel like education is the answer. So I'm trying to figure out where we can bring awareness and that people can understand what we do at Shed Geek. You know, yes, uh, we did drop our marketing program for about four months, right? Because we broke off with our previous partners. You know, wish them the best. Really, wish them the best. Go do your thing. Um we just didn't see the results, right? Like we, you know, we're very like geared towards making sure the customer has the best experience, and I didn't have control of that experience, so we wanted to change that white label experience to where that comes in-house now. We oversee that, and we don't want to make a big splash like we did. I mean, we got so many customers coming in that I think that was part of our downfall. It's like our success was our part of our downfall. And I actually did an article. If you go back and look at it, I was almost precursoring what was coming uh for us in the in the Shed Business Journal, where I wrote an article about like how success will teach you far more than failure will, right? Because like we just didn't have the ability to say no, right? Like we had so many clients coming in that we're just like, hey, we need to focus on what we uh what's priority, and that's kind of with this relaunch of Shed Geek Marketing. That's what me and you have been uh overseeing is like, hey, people have to get results, has to be good communication, it can't be a lag in services if people are paying for things. So it's been a really interesting journey. I mean, again, high the high mountains and the wide valleys, accord.
Cord:Yeah, and I think drawing that distinction right from um a white label experience where uh the shed geek name um you know is able to be used, um, but ultimately that customer experience, that actual day-to-day account management or project management, task management, however you want to think about you know, what exactly those sort of that what encompasses the customer experience when it comes to dealing with an agency. Um, you know, the fact that uh moving away from that white-labeled model where all of those functions um, you know, were kind of being taken care of on the on the agency side, right? The idea here is to let's bring um the customer experience back in-house. So that means Shannon uh overseeing, um, you know, probably myself doing a lot of the actual um account management stuff as far as coordinating what those services actually look like, making sure that our partners, uh again, who we think are tremendous uh in each of their own areas, making sure that that that data and that information is able to flow back and forth uh between each of those uh partner build-outs, right? So if we're building out um, you know, uh a Google Ads account, right? We need to make sure that uh, you know, the website builder um has that that knowledge, right? And they're able to make sure that that data is flowing, uh staying constantly up to date so that we are maximizing then on the ad side. So really bringing that experience, uh, that customer experience and really that um, you know, obviously uh guarantees are the type of thing uh you know, it's hard to flat out guarantee that uh, you know, a certain experience or whatever else, but as best as we can, bringing that guaranteed for uh customer experience squarely in-house at Shed Geek, um so that yourself can oversee, I can do the management, um, and so that the customer has a very clear path to um, you know, of who to call and where to kind of place uh you know anything that they do see that needs to be improved or anything like that. Very clear path. Um, you know, so I think that's uh one piece of it, a big piece of it. Uh and then the other part is uh as we've discussed off-air and I guess we'll uh go on and tell to the potential customers here as well. Um
Cord:Hey, thanks guys for listening to part one of two of the Shed Geek podcast. We will be back next week for the conclusion of our conversation.
OUTRO:Thanks again, Shed Pro, for being the Shed Geek's Studio Sponsor. If you need any more information about Shed Pro or about Shed Geek, just reach out. You can reach us by email@ infoshedgeek.com. Or just go to our website www.shedgeek.com and submit a form with your information, and we'll be in contact right away. Thank you again for listening, as always, to today's episode of the Shed Geek Podcast. Thank you and have a blessed day.