2026 Shed Sales Summit

Chick-fil-A didn’t become a powerhouse by accident, and we’re bringing that same kind of disciplined thinking to the shed industry. Peter Miller joins us to talk about the Shed Sales Summit in Knoxville, Tennessee, and why having the former Chick-fil-A CMO Steve Robinson as keynote is such a big deal for shed sales, marketing, and branding. If you’ve ever felt like customers only shop price, this conversation will challenge you to see how service, consistency, and message can make people choose you even when another lot has a “similar” building.

We also dig into what’s changing across the industry calendar and why it’s a win for attendees: coordination with NSRA for those thinking about rent-to-own, plus the momentum of the Shed Builder Expo. The real payoff is the networking. The best ideas rarely happen on stage. They happen at tables, in hallways, and in the honest back-and-forth where shed dealers and sales teams compare what’s working, what’s broken, and what they’d do differently next time.

Finally, we get candid about the emotional roller coaster of selling. Deals cancel, pipelines dry up, and even seasoned sellers take hits. Peter shares why you keep filling the pipeline, how psychology matters in what you say and how you say it, and why events that mix learning with community can keep you sharp. We also touch work-life balance, because no sales win is worth losing your family.

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This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: Shed Pro

LuxGuard
Shed Sales Summit
CAL
Stryker Hunting Blinds

Transcript

INTRO 1:14

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 feeling the squeeze, competing for fewer buyers, while expectations keep climbing. And yet I hear from many of you that you are still juggling spreadsheets, clunky 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 leads, 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 cleaner. 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/ShedGeek. Thank you, ShedPro, for being our studio sponsor and honestly for building something that helps the industry.

Shannon 1:33

Okay, welcome back to another episode of the Shed Geek Podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We really appreciate uh appreciate you guys listening. We're excited about today's guest, a familiar favorite, uh, and really excited about the topic of conversation here today. Uh, perfect example of why coming on, hopefully coming on the Shed Geek Podcast helps to create value for you and for your company uh is to be on here having discussions about things that are happening in the end in the industry. Uh I guess I better slow down, Peter. I'm talking way too fast here. I'm

Summit Origins And Big Keynote

Shannon 2:07

just excited to get underway. But uh I am joined today by Peter Miller of uh the Shed Sales Summit, along with many various other projects uh that he's involved with. But uh as usual, uh one way to stay connected with us and plugged in over at the uh Shed Geek Podcast is to give us a call at 618-309-3648 or email us at info@ shedgeek.com. Uh feel free to go and uh fill out a lead form or find out some of the things that we do uh on shedgeek.com, like our Facebook page, go to YouTube and give us a uh give us a follow, you know, subscribe. We really appreciate that. And check out the shed sales professionals page where shed sales professionals do like to share an information that's helpful. Uh call in landline for those that have plain community friends that want to listen, 330-997-3055. Peter, we're talking about Shed Sales Professionals Group, or we're talking about Shed Sales in general. And uh, you know, excited to have you back on, brother. It's always a pleasure.

Peter Miller 3:12

It seems like uh the hour flies by so quickly, and I do want to say thank you for having me back. I always enjoy getting on here and talking with you. Shed Sales Summit is something that was born back in 2024, as far as the first year that we did it. Here we are, year number three. Hard to believe. Uh it's kind of like my kids, they're five and six now, and it just seems like just yesterday we were bringing home them home from the hospital. And so now it seems year number three, and it's hard to believe that, but we are very excited about this year, and seems like every year, just like uh anything, it grows and it has um things that we can better for the people that are attending. Um, every every year, you know, we learn something new about ourselves, we learn something new about how we run our companies. Um maybe we need to tweak something to be able to sell a little bit better. And that's kind of what what we like to do with the Shed Sales Summit is we're we're learning. Uh we take feedback from our attendees and we then turn around and try to implement that into the next event. And that is that is what we've done. I'm excited about the speakers that we have coming in because uh I've been my life has been changed by these speakers. Uh at least uh one of them right off our keynote speaker that we're going to have. Um, and that is Steve Robinson. He is the former uh chief marketing officer for Chick-fil-A. He was uh the man responsible for uh putting out the cows campaign for Chick-fil-A, which to this day they still use. He was a uh he was the uh marketing officer for 35 years. And I I guess there's probably some uh CMOs, chief marketing officers out there in different companies that are listening to this right now. And uh maybe you're only five years in or 10 years in, but he lasted 35 years in that company. And he's also going to be uh bringing some books with him. I want to uh give a shout out right now to those who are thinking about coming to the Shed Sales Summit. Let's just stop thinking about it and let's go ahead and uh pull the pull the plug uh and start signing up at shedsalessummit.com because one of the things I will say, we have some VIP slots where you're gonna be able to go in and sit down and talk with Steve Robinson and our other speakers. And in that VIP session, we will be giving away his book, which is called Covert Cows and Chick fil A. I enjoy listening to books as I drive all across the state of Florida, Georgia, and who knows where else. Um, I listen to books a lot. I listen to podcasts, I listen to the Shad Geek podcast, um and really get a uh enjoy the content that's uh brought out from all the different people on here. Um so going back to uh Steve Robinson, covert cows and Chick-fil-A, one of his stories that he tells in the very beginning of his book is he got hired, I believe it was 1985. Um, and uh he said the first year he made a marketing decision that lost the company two million dollars in his first year as the uh the uh chief marketing officer for Chick-fil-A. He said he didn't think he was gonna keep his job. And uh it's really interesting to read that story or listen to that story and look what happened 35 years later and even to this day, how big Chick-fil-A is. Um, some people may not like their food, which if you're one of those people, you may need to check yourself at the altar this Sunday.

Shannon 7:14

Um but it's Jesus chicken, is that what they call it? I always hear people call it Jesus chicken. I hope that's not sacrilege. I don't think it is, but uh maybe to some to some folks, but I've always heard it, heard it called that, at least around here.

Peter Miller 7:30

Well, I'll just put it this way. You may not like their food if you if you are those, but I don't think you can uh disregard their branding and their marketing. And that's one of the things that he's gonna be talking about in the uh keynote speech that he's gonna be giving at the Shed Sales Summit. I listened to him about eight years ago, seven, eight years ago. And it changed my perspective on that very word, perspective. And uh I hope that he can change your perspective when it comes to branding and marketing. So, make sure you get your tickets for uh Shed Sales Summit for sure.

AD-LUXGUARD 8:09

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Shannon 9:42

Actually, I love their nuggets. Um and it's always their pleasure, and I appreciate that. Uh, you know, the the the way that they've sort of built this machine, you know, as well too. Whenever you pull up, like I know, at least in Paducah, you know, you cannot go to Chick-fil-A, and it is not just completely covered. We didn't have a place to park. I had to park across the street, walk over. I actually thought about uh uh throwing out a Facebook post and taking a picture and just kind of uh mentioning, you know, because I knew that that

Chick-fil-A Service And Branding Bar

Shannon 10:16

would be the speaker. The campaign was brilliant. Really loved the eat more chicken, you know, cow campaign and and what they were doing. I think it was brilliant. Uh I can remember eating Chick-fil-A, goodness, from the time I was a kid, but they really set the bar in terms of service and different things um, you know, over the past 20 years and a lot of other good restaurants out there that have had good success. But um, my son even worked, you know, uh at Chick-fil-A for a time uh while he was going to college. So, um definitely, definitely love what they're doing, love what he was doing. Look forward to meeting him, look forward to reading his book. Very excited to learn from others. I feel like we're always in that space where we're learning. And uh yeah, I just I don't know. I'm I think it's gonna be great. Um, if you want to find out how to get tickets outside of going to uh shedsalessummit.com, go check out our newsletter. We're gonna put a link right on there so that you guys can get uh, you know, purchase your tickets right there. Um just excited about it this year. Congratulations on year number three. It's amazing how fast time goes by while you're having fun and creating these things. And uh it's just a need, it's what it boils down to. And I feel like there's so many needs in the industry. Um, we've talked about, you know, me and Cords over here working diligently in the background, trying to create more things and opportunity, and you know, uh whether we be the ones to bring that to fruition or whether others do. I just see an endless amount of opportunity in this growing industry. Um and while I know we do have professional competitors, we have professional collaborators too, and we try to walk those tight ropes. And you know, it's tough. It's you know, the NSRA, you know, it was tough for them, you know, to start out as a group of competitors to create something that was, you know, uh mutually beneficial for the industry. I would imagine the same exists for you know sales event, you know, with what uh Marty's done uh over at the expo, and and like it's just it's it's really awesome to see just the industry as a whole uh just keep keep getting bigger and more organized. Uh and uh and uh yeah, you guys are a big part of that and what you're doing. So, many endeavors you have going on, but uh but tell me tell me more about Shed Sales Summit. Tell me more about this year, what people can expect. We appreciate being able to share some of that information here at the podcast.

Peter Miller 12:44

Yeah, so you know, last year we were we were on uh Monday. This year we're actually we got some I don't know if this is breaking news or not, but we got some news to share. You know, like you said, collaboration is huge and we love being able to do that. Um we were on Monday, and it was a little bit difficult for our attendees to get there two days, two days earlier before the the expo starts. And so um this year we're actually kind of splitting a day with the NSRA. Um, they are gonna be taking off their event actually Monday evening,

New Summit Schedule With NSRA

Peter Miller 13:17

which is perfect. People come in you know a little bit early and be able to have a great time that Monday evening and uh listen to keynotes and get to network and such. Monday morning, they're gonna have their you know their breakouts and just a really great event. If you're if you're thinking about rent-to-own, you need to go to the NSRA. You need to become a member, you need to go there and be part of that. Um, it's a really great event. I went for the first time last year, and I'll just put it out there. I do not own a rent-to-own company, um, but I still found value in it, um, just because they put on a really, really good event. Um, but then we'll be taking over in the afternoon and uh we take it and knock it out of the park as well. Seems like we're gonna be hitting home runs all day and all week. Um so that's gonna be kind of some news to some who are just listening to this or hearing this for the first time. But you need to make sure you have your tickets not just to the Shed Sales Summit, but also to the NSRA. And then um on Wednesday and Thursday, of course, the Shed Builder Expo, which has been just phenomenal throughout the years, and every year it seems to get just that much better. Really excited about you know that and being able to attend that, being able to uh meet so many people and see the new things that are brought into the industry. I mean, think about it. Uh, I've been going since 2022, I think it would have been in Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, I think it was there. And so that's when I went to the first expo, and it's just grown every single year. You see new gadgets, you see, you know, like AI talking people last year and sales agents, and then you have a challenger come out and mule, and you know, that that's where the competition kind of forces you to grow a little, a little bit um more circumspectly, where you're not just you know putting out a bad product, but you're putting out a product that can help in every aspect. But that goes back to sheds and shed lots and sales, and you know, you can have a certain shed at your lot, and somebody across the street or across the town can have a different shed, and they're both good products. It's just it depends on who they choose to buy from.

Shannon 15:36

You know, they say everybody uh is Irish on St. Patty's Day. I say everybody is a Shed Geek during these events, you know, they just are like uh, you know if it's your business, it's if it's the trade uh in which you're doing business in, why not learn all there is to know? You know, why not why not go and be part of uh the bigger hand holding, you know, that helps make the industry better overall. And like you can you can like do those things and still compete professionally, I believe. Absolutely. Um and and like it's just cool to learn about new products, new services that are coming out. Uh, but even you know, trying to think about the spokes on a wheel, if you if you will, um, you know, shed hauling, you know, there's something there for everybody, you know, shed manufacturing, you know, there's something there for everybody. You know, obviously part of sales is you know, finance and or rent to own. Um, you know, so like those events seem to certainly make a lot of sense. Um, you know, but but sales specifically, and and that that's just probably where I'm more comfortable, sales marketing and uh networking and things like that. You know, it's just exciting to see what's happening in shed sales. And it's kind of hard for an outside entity to come in and be able to speak on the fragmentation of our industry and how it operates in many different aspects, and be able to do so cohesively, like you can uh from the internal perspective. With that being said, you know, it's easy to always say from the internal perspective, well, what does this guy know that I don't know? And I've just always been of the opinion, are you telling me that you know something that the Shed Sales Summit or the organizers don't know? And it's like, yeah, I think so. And I'm like, great, you might make a good panelist. You know, great. It would be good to have you as an attendee or potential speaker. So reach out to these guys because if your position is, well, I'm gonna maintain that competitive advantage and just not say anything, okay, fair, understood. But, you know, for so many of us that are like, hey, I think that when we make the industry better, it honestly raises the tide for all of us. It lifts all our boats, right? You know, like we just become better and there becomes more opportunity. Now, I know that there's mergers and acquisitions happening. I get that. There's a time that there's a bubble burst whenever we have so many people out here. And we saw an influx of people come in during COVID and post-COVID where it does look a little different than it did pre-COVID, right? Because well, maybe I should say it looks similar to pre-COVID because you have to you have to like go through and do everything that's necessary to succeed. It felt like during COVID, it just was very easy, but it's not that way all the time. Uh, this business is a uh, you know, something you got to work at and be very intentional. And so, so sales just fits naturally for me to want to have a conversation about, especially as someone who's spent a lot of time marketing themselves or networking. I'm just curious with Making Sales Simple and Shed Sales Summit, and you know, you have some lots yourself. And what drives you, Peter? What drives you to keep doing this and what excites you about these opportunities like Shed Sale Summit?

AD-SHED SALES SUMMIT 19:07

Hi, this is Peter with Making Sales Simple, and I wanted to personally invite you to the Shed Sales Summit this September in Knoxville, Tennessee. First of all, we're going to have some speakers come in that are motivational but also knowledge-driven. So, one of the things they're going to teach you is about marketing. And as we look around in this shed industry, there's all kinds of people talking about marketing. But this guy has a proven track record. Steve Robinson will be joining us in Knoxville, Tennessee. You do not want to miss him. He is known for creating the cow campaign for the Chick-fil-A brand, and he will be speaking to us. Make sure you get your tickets at shed salesummit.com. You won't want to miss it this September in Knoxville.

Why Peter Keeps Building Community

Peter Miller 19:58

Well, I get it. I guess the different things is um I get excited because I enjoy I enjoy the camaraderie in the industry. I enjoy helping people. Um and that is that is very beneficial. But I say, you know, the Lord has given me um ability, I guess. And I don't want that to sound like, oh, look at me, but it's giving me ability to be able to network with different people. And I look at that and I say, hey, maybe, maybe somebody will somebody's life will change. I think back to my early sales career when I when I was selling welding supplies and um out of a van, and I had you know the opportunity to talk to people, uh, nobody had trained me how to be a salesperson. I had not done any courses and found, hey, this is what you do, and this is how you overcome objections, and this is you know, nothing along those lines. But my dad was a great uh mentor. He was he would sit down with me after a long day and I'd kind of go through the day of what happened that day, and we would talk about it just a little bit. And I I've written about that and talked about mentorship and finding people around you, but the drive of that, I like talking to people, I like people. Um, I think I'm more of an extrovert than an introvert. Um I don't like the limelight, I think. That's a little bit different. So, if I can just sit there and talk to a group of people in uh, you know, four or five people, I'm great with that. You put me up on stage, I'm sorry, that that scares me to death. I do not like being up on stage, uh where everybody's looking at me. That's just not my that's not my wheelhouse. Uh put me behind the curtain back there working on stuff and then going out and talking to you afterwards. That I love that. Um, but Shed Sale Summit has been near and dear to my heart for the last right about three years, because you know, we were preparing back and 2023 for 2024 for the kickoff to it. And I don't know if I said this before. We were thinking about starting it in 2023, but we're like, we're not there yet. And we want to make sure that it's valuable to people that come. Like if you've been to the Shed Sale Summit and you didn't find any value in it, I'm going to give you an opportunity. Tell me. I want to know why and I want to fix it. Um, and that's I guess it's a free shot uh for anybody who wants to. But if you didn't find value in it, please just let me know so I can fix something about that and uh make it better. So that way people always find value when they come to it and they're able to walk away changed for the rest of their life because the in information and the connections. I think networking is undervalued so much in this industry. Um you just getting to talk to other people that are in the same boat as you, you can learn so much that'll help you avoid pitfalls that you can naturally fall into just because you didn't know. You didn't know because you didn't you hadn't been to that part of the road yet, but somebody else had. And if you'd sat there and talked to them a little bit, you can you can avoid it. And it definitely will help out in that that part.

Shannon 23:23

I you know, I've heard some of those ideas and thoughts criticized a bit in a way that, like, you know, it's turning into data-centric, you know, it type industry. And look, um, all industries eventually find themselves in a growth pattern. And typically, you know, some of that, you know, does create data. It also does create opportunities to analyze that data, learn from it. But I mean, uh, you know, I think uh I think there's a lot of purist in the in the way that they're approaching this is like, hey, I'm one of you. Uh I came from these from these same, you know, shed selling loins, if you will. You know, like I cut my teeth here doing a very similar thing. And just like many of the services and the products that you see in the industry, they got developed out of necessity, out of a need. Somebody saw a need, they wouldn't fulfill the need. You know, um, you know, whether it be a software. I mean, I think about like our buddy Jason Graver with Shed Suite, it's a perfect example. Beginning in the shed industry, seeing a need, creating a need, fulfilling it, doing a good job, you know, so many others uh uh that you can point to. Uh so shout out Jason, that's free of charge. Uh but in reality, it's uh it just is one of those examples of like uh you know, uh Phil Carsillawi, you know, what he's doing uh uh with some of those products only. Some of the guys that we just interviewed, you know, they they're in the they're in the trenches and they're like, hey, let's go create something of value for people. And those aren't always welcomed by people who are necessarily in this industry with open arms. Some do, some don't. But I'm gonna tell you what, it sure seems to fit more than this than someone coming in from outside having no knowledge.

Peter Miller 25:16

Right.

Shannon 25:17

I'm not saying the people who come in from the outside might not do a better job. Perhaps they will, but it just feels more like um like a family type atmosphere and environment in some ways, if you will, because they're seeing a need, they're addressing a need, and they're often saying, Well, wait a minute, there's a business line here that this turns into more of a passion project for me than selling sheds or doing rent own or selling whatever software. Now all of a sudden this becomes my new focus. You're a shed dealer, you have sheds, and like this need turned into something that's opened up for you to focus on. I'm not gonna say more than your shed selling adventures, I'm just saying you saw the need, you're hoping to fulfill it, and now it's become a big part of what you need.

Peter Miller 26:08

Well, in reality, is you know, we have shed lots in in Florida, shed lot up in Georgia. I I drive a lot. Um, and if I'm not talking to one of my shed lots about uh a sale or a pickup or uh a pre-owned building or selling, you know, bring in new shed. I'm talking about shed sales summer. It seems like those two things are um, I guess, engulfing my life. And then when I get home, I try to

Work Life Balance And Seller Isolation

Peter Miller 26:41

tune that all out. I have do not disturb on my phone, and then I'm able to spend time with my boys because they're getting older. Uh spend time with my wife. We try to try to separate the two because that that is very important. We were talking the other day on Simply Shed Talk, and Willie Brickard talked about um uh it was ads are selling on holidays. And he was he was making the mention like, hey, time with family is very important on being able to separate those two. And I said I agree with you, you know, that's that is absolutely true. I know a lot of people use um, think about Brandon Suarez with Easter egg and the helicopter dropping eggs there. That's a that was a huge raw. Um, but also don't forget your family. You know, you can you can gain the whole world, but if you lose your family, it's what what's the worth of that? Um I think what is it, if you gain the whole world and lose your own soul, what's the worth of that? I think that's the most important thing is you make sure that that you know where you're going when you die. And we can uh definitely look into that and the correlations with what we look in industry and I think about I'm kind of rambling here, but I think about Shed sales is a very can be a very lonely um very lonely when you don't have uh people that you talk to a lot and they don't quite understand some of the things that you go through. And it's like you know, I this is just another passion thought was like maybe you could get a group of people together in different regions and be able to have weekly or maybe even bi-weekly or bi-monthly uh meetings, and you just encourage one another and going through different things because um it is it is very helpful. When we go to you know, Shed Sales Summit, NSRA, Shed Expo, it's like a huge reunion. Everybody loves it. You know, hey, what are you doing afterwards? We're gonna go out to eat. We're gonna you know catch up from the whole year. Well, what can you do, you know, in a smaller version of that throughout the year with people that are maybe within 50 to 100 or 200 miles from you? And so that's definitely a passion project that I'm thinking and trying to figure out how to do. Maybe we can collaborate on that, Shannon, and get something worked out. But,

AD-CAL 29:15

If you're in the shed business, you already know the hard part isn't selling, it's keeping everything organized once the orders start coming in. Quotes, dealer orders, change requests, delivery schedules, it adds up fast. Consumer Aligned Logistics, or Cal is software built specifically for the shed industry. It brings orders, dealer management, integrations, payments, and delivery tracking into one system so nothing slips through the cracks. Cal works with tools like Ideal, Shed Pro, and Sensex. And it's designed to adopt to how your business actually operates, not force you into a rigid process. Pricing is volume-based. As you grow, we grow. If you're ready to replace spreadsheets, paperwork, and disconnected tools with one platform built for sheds, head to calcanhelp.com and schedule a demo. Cal helps shed businesses scale with clarity.

Shannon 30:20

I'll tell you what, people don't really sometimes you underestimate what it's like to be a new shed salesperson, especially if you've never sold in general. Like a lot of times you're not ready for the emotional roller coaster that exists with sales. That first month will just tear you down and build you up. And I just remember not only myself, but other people, uh, you know, when they start that journey and they're like, uh, well, how'd that how'd that go? How'd that customer interaction go? Man, that it went great. Those guys said they're gonna come back next

The Pipeline Problem And Cancellations

Shannon 30:54

week and uh and get that shed. And you're like, oh it's like, I mean, man, all I gotta do is sell that shed. I'm pretty good for the week. Just that one. I mean, if I get two or three more, I'm really rolling it in the dough. So, I can pretty much bank on that one and then you know, see what else I can go out here and get. It's like, okay. Uh that relic coaster of like, man, those people never came back.

Peter Miller 31:15

You know, it's like I've got a story on that. Uh I think it's interesting. One of our salespeople is he was texting me, he's like, I'm really bummed right now. I'm like, oh boy, what happened? Like, I sold three buildings and all three of them have canceled. That's $74,000 worth of buildings that I just got canceled. And uh I was like, well, you know, I don't want to I don't want to get you down, but you know, that is gonna happen. You just gotta keep on filling that pipeline because there are gonna be people that change their mind or they go with somebody else and something and so forth. And so, yes, the ups and downs of sales is real, even if you are uh a seasoned vet on that doing it, you just gotta remember hey, you just keep on bringing them in and you keep on selling and you keep on doing what you need to do. Um I know you had asked a little bit about Shed Sales Summit. I wanted to kind of dive in a little bit more into that if I could, just to kind of like what we're who we're gonna have. So, I know we have Steve Robinson, who's our keynote. Um, another guy that I'm really excited about that we're gonna have in is a guy named Owen Fitzpatrick. Now, Owen has been um I'm gonna read just a little bit about him. He was touched the lives of millions of people and spoken in over 30 countries. Uh he's obsessed

Sales Psychology Panels And Comedy

Peter Miller 32:41

with helping people become better by believing better. The beliefs we hold, positive or negative, can be the very impediments to our success. That's just one of his uh his things. He is uh he's a psychologist and he's gonna be speaking at the Shed Sales Summit. He's going into the psychology of sales and what we say, and maybe it's our speaking or maybe it's their speaking, and going diving into that. I'm really, really excited about that and learning more because you know I'm not a psychologist, but I know there is definitely psychology involved there. And how can we use that um in our uh in our day-to-day when we're using you know uh sales tactics and things that we use throughout the day. What are we saying? How are we saying, what is what is it that we're doing, and how can we do it better? Um and then I just have got to put this out there because I am super pumped about this guy. Uh we are going to have Jacob and he is going to be there. I don't know if anybody uh here knows Jacob. Don't tell the bishop, but he is going to be at the Shed Sales Summit this year. And um how can I say this? He he's a comedian, so uh he's uh he's a funny guy, but yet he has some interesting stuff that he can talk to about. Um you know he actually comes from the rodeo world. Um his main profession was a rodeo clown, but he's talking in front of hundreds and thousands of people, you know, weekend to weekend or week to week, going all over the country. And so, we want him to bring some humor, um, but also to bring some value to those around. So, we're really excited about Jacob and "Don't Tell the Bishop", and he will be there. Um there's gonna be some panels speaking and different things along that. Uh don't you don't want to miss Shed Sales Summit. I know that I've said that, but I am super pumped about this year's event. And if you don't come, you're gonna miss out. I'll just put it that way.

Shannon 35:00

Uh I always appreciate a little bit of uh comic relief. And uh it sounds like he's speaking in front of a lot of people, so it's a bit of a mixture of you know uh comedy and also probably some engaging content. But I think it's just uh look, I say all the time that you know, as a conservative, you know, typically speaking, a conservative person, you know, we definitely don't engage in laughter and humor enough. And I just always believed uh, you know, that the Lord is serious, and I know that, you know, uh uh fear of the Lord, you know, is uh is you know uh necessary. But I also believe that the Lord give us these things like joy, you know, and I think he's given us, you know, laughter in our heart. And uh I got I gotta think that, you know, a God who wants to see us laugh and smile and and and be merry is good. I think there's probably in a certain, you know, level of appropriateness, you know, in which you do that, don't get me wrong, and we measure that against the moral objectivity of you know the Bible and his word. But generally speaking, I think it's uh it's even fun to make fun of myself. I do that all the time. I actually it's one of my favorite things, and it's definitely something that I learned early on that takes the sting right out of a bully is whatever you can admit your own faults and flaws and even tease yourself uh about your own imperfections. And I'll tell you what, I'm just excited to see, don't tell the bishop. Uh uh uh the psychology side of this sounds not only new and awesome, uh, you know, yeah, and uh I've attended the last two years and had the joyous opportunity of being on the panel, and that was just such a pleasant thing to do. And um, you know, even was able to win an award, and I don't talk about that much because I'm probably more introverted on that than you realize. And uh, you know, I don't know if you're doing that again this year, but if you are, I certainly want to wanna uh you know encourage people to go and vote. And no, that's not opining for my own vote. You know, thank you guys for you know selecting me before, but I'm gonna be going out here and making my votes for others too, if you guys do that. Uh and yeah, how can you not be excited about you know the former CMO of Chic Fil A? Dude, I just think you're killing it. I think it's awesome. I think these things are you know selfless. You know what I'm saying? Like uh I know the behind the scenes just from my communication with you from here and there about how difficult some of these things are to organize that people don't get a chance to see. They don't get a chance to see the work that you're putting in behind the scenes. And probably the uh, you know, the idea of filling your pockets, as I've heard people say, is probably a lot less uh a lot a lot less uh attractive than what people realize, that there's a true opportunity here to want to do something good, not just from a money sake or a money perspective, you know, but genuinely from a position of uh of just being a professional tradesperson, like treating the sales, treating sales like it is professional. I mean, I think all the way back to you know conversations with Anthony, Anthony Mitchell down in Georgia, and he was talking about I just it stuck with me one time, uh maybe it was on the podcast when we were talking, and he was like, you know, I'm just I'm so disappointed that people aren't seeing shed selling as a professional career, as whether it's being a stepping stone or a pit stop to something more. Like you can actually do really well, you know. Jeremy Martin, uh, you know, over there in eastern Kentucky talks about, you know, how you can make more money than a lot of professionals in in the medical field, uh, you know, in real estate. I mean, like, you know, so if money is something that you're after and you and you covet, or you just need to be unbalanced for a season in your life and make some money to help create some wealth for your family for long term or whatever, you can do that because it's typically untapped, right? And the sky is the limit. You can make as you can sell as many as you want this month. You know, are you gonna put the effort in to make it happen?

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Peter Miller 40:29

One of our salespeople said, I like the fact that I get to choose my top salary. Like you don't put a limit on it because I can sell as much as I'm able to. You know, it's not like, oh, well, here's your salary, you're gonna make $75,000 or let's just say $100,000 this year. Well, no, like you want to make $250? You got to dig in, it's not gonna be given to you. You're gonna you're gonna be eating, breathing, and sleeping, you know, uh sheds and steel buildings, but uh still at the same time, if you put the work into it, um, there's definitely the return uh to be able to be made on that.

Shannon 41:12

Opportunity finds you in work boots, doesn't it? You know, opportunity always finds you wearing coveralls and work boots. It seems like some of the luckiest people I know, you know, seem to happen upon these uh lucky opportunities while they're grinding while they're working hard. Yeah, yeah.

Peter Miller 41:29

You know, that's another thing you could do is is uh there's apprentices for different trades. Well, maybe we need to have shed sales apprentices.

Shannon 41:39

You must be you must have my office bug, Peter. I'm not sure just how much you're listening. Ideas come free, and we've been talking about a lot of ideas over here, you know, and um we're trying to figure out, you know, are these things that we want to encourage or are these things we want to tackle ourselves? And you know, um, we just we really do eat and sleep and and breathe. You know, it's what 6.07 here. I got in at uh uh got started at 7 o'clock this morning. And like we do try to do a nice little work balance, a work-life balance. You know, I'm fortunate enough for my kids to be raised that now we just have the uh the time with our grandbabies. I mean, we still spend time with family and each other and all and all of that, but I'm able to just uh streamline you know my day and put it into work. And I really am still when I wake up, I went through probably at the end of year five podcasting. That that's 15 years in the industry, probably, but year five of podcast, I did go through a slump, and I think we all go through lulls, you know. And I think when you're putting something out publicly constantly, weekly, like we are with the podcast, it's hard to hide those things because you know, you do face opposition, you do face difficulty, and you do face some peculiar situations, but uh, and it's you know, you get burnt out, among other things, you know. Hey, that's the youngest guest we've ever had on the podcast right there. Um but we just a call.

Peter Miller 43:10

Give me a second.

Shannon 43:11

You no, that's okay. You need to put him up here selling some sheds. I'd buy I'd buy from him in a heartbeat.

Peter Miller 43:17

I think he will be a good salesperson. So, uh we'll just we'll give him a few years. He's an apprentice, uh, but still going to school. Going out for now, buddy.

Shannon 43:32

Perfect example of work-life balance right there, whenever you've got your family. You know, so many people do this. I remember, you know, traveling and seeing kids in in people's office, and you know, just see their uh uh seeing their children be part of their ecosystem is really cool. Actually, uh one of the few benefits of being self employed and things like that. I mean, the fact that we're here at you know, for you 709 at night is no mistake that we're actually trying to do things and have conversations, you know, but could be time spent sitting what in front of a TV or uh you know what I'm saying? Like, but instead we're out here, you know, thinking about how do we improve ourselves and each other. So, I mean like I I'm just thankful. I I'm going to the Shed Sales Summit this year and I can't wait to be there. Uh can't wait to learn from others. I'm really excited about meeting Mr. Robinson. I think that's really cool among others. I mean I don't take anything away from anybody else really excited to see who you're going to have on the panel this year. So, uh I'll be I'll be I'll be excited to see whenever those names start to come out and what the curriculum looks like. You look I'm not saying that I'm going to go there and I'm going to walk away and say you know what I'm changed forever but I am going to be able to walk away and say hey I'm someone who's genuinely engaging in being the best I can by networking with others who are attempting to be better themselves in sales. And yes I do I compete with some of these folks from time to time of course but I do still believe that I can um this goes back to something that my mother-in-law said this I remember one time it stuck with me up you know she said it doesn't matter what you own you can keep it clean you know we were talking about you know property and things like that you don't have to own the best but I remember a small time that I was in between jobs and I was selling health insurance and there was this guy

Networking Lessons And Final CTA

Shannon 45:33

he's I'm just killing it he's making half a million dollars a year selling life insurance and I'm over here struggling to sell my first policy and I can't figure out why people don't you know it's like well they obviously need it because he's done so well and I remember asking him because I've always been told you want to know the secret to success take the CEO out to breakfast you know like just pick his brain ask him questions or her you know and uh I asked this guy I said how are you having so much success and he had a an unusual way of looking at things he said I take a look at someone's property and I know all I need to know and I said what do you mean he said well you know obviously I go and I knock on doors that's a hard job for one knocking on doors selling anything but he said what I began to realize is like it didn't matter if they had a big old house and like oh I'm gonna go kill it if I go sell this policy to these people because like look at this amazing spread they have of a house he said it didn't matter how big the house was I started taking a look at the yard is it well manicured do they keep their uh plants uh watered uh does everything look meticulous this is someone that whether they have a lot or a little are very intentional about keeping things appearance friendly and those people are very intentional about their decisions so I learned that I could go into a neighborhood I could go into a neighborhood and I could sell to these people uh because you know they cared about life and they cared about you know they cared about what happened to their family when they were gone and I was like man this guy has it figured out and so my mother in law when she said that to me you know it doesn't matter what you have it doesn't matter if you're out there selling 200 000 in in sales for the year well if you're selling 2.2 million this year you always have room to get better you always have room to get better and if you're willing to come as the 2.2 and share in some of those thoughts I'm sure those other people will appreciate it. So, you've heard me say it and you've mentioned it already some of the best podcasts happen sitting around tables that don't happen when the record button's on and that to me is the power of networking and I just believe in these I believe in being at the NSRA I believe in being at the Shed Sales Summit I believe in being at the Shed Expo because I just want to be the best I can and part of that is being around people who are better at it than me and hopefully I get a chance to be up line on the wall and listen to them and learn from them.

Peter Miller 48:14

Absolutely and I couldn't say it better. I'm just there to to learn and I try to bring in people that I think would bring value to those that that attend and it's gonna be it's gonna be great. If it's not you can uh come tell me that it was horrible but it is going to be great. And make sure you do set your calendars for September 22nd. And uh we do I just want to let people know we do have a hotel room block for Monday night. That is that is very important. Make sure you get in there in in time and make sure you do that.

Shannon 48:54

So, shedsalessummit.com if you guys want to know more feel free to go check out the newsletter we'll make sure to put a link on there for those of you who want to enjoy uh uh uh your time there especially if you're coming to the expo already spend a couple extra days there and um go to these other events and you know what if you're coming to these events make sure you go to the expo too it's an exciting time exciting time to be a shed geek in the industry Peter I always appreciate you love what you guys are doing uh it's just been a joy getting to know you I think we've probably had plenty of conversations over the years and it's nice to record some of these and try to offer value to people who want to know more about what you're doing. Love the lineup that you got going and I'm really just rooting for you man.

Peter Miller 49:44

I'm rooting for all of you guys I want to see you do well and you're just uh just a breath of fresh air man I appreciate you just putting your nose down and just keep keeping on keeping on well thank you for the input and we are we are very appreciative of the platform that Shed Geek Podcast has allowed us to step up on and definitely let those in the industry because we know that there's a lot of people that listen to the podcast and we want to make sure that we're getting the message out to as many as we possibly can so that way we can help as many as we possibly can. And Shannon you're a close friend of mine and I really appreciate our friendship and the conversations we get on and off the air.

Shannon 50:29

I'll tell you what same thing uh famed pastor used to say Hadden Robinson you know thank you Lord for giving these me this opportunity to speak in front of people because if uh if they knew me the way the Lord knew me you know they probably wouldn't listen to a word I was getting ready to say so uh always appreciated that he said that when he started out his sermons we do the best we can but all glory to God for giving us an opportunity to even uh even have this platform it just means so much. Peter I'm gonna let you go. I don't want to keep you on here too long. But man, I'm just wishing you lots of success. Shedsalessummit.com uh go get your tickets today we're gonna be there we encourage you to be there come help be a part of it you know give back give back through this community through your advice through your uh attendance uh and you know what reach out to Peter you never know he just may be listening to these ideas that you have uh he's always I bet always looking for people to be participants so feel free to absolutely be part of it info@ shed sales summit.com that that comes right to me um if you have an idea send it over to me INFO@ shedsales summit. com so we would love to hear your ideas and thank you once again for listening to the podcast thank you Peter.

OUTRO 51:51

Thanks again, Shed Pro, for being the Shed Geek Studio sponsor. If you need any more information about Shed Pro or about Shed Geek, just reach out. You can reach us by email at info@shedgeek.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.