#1399- Hard Decisions You're Procrastinating On Are Costing You MONEY!

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  What's going on squad? Welcome to another episode of the change I was make money podcast for business owners that want to grow and sell on social media. My name is Brian Mark. I'm your host. And in today's episode, we are going to be discussing hard decisions that cost you money. Now, before we discuss that, I just want to let you guys know, as of recording this episode, it is now October 1. And as promised, once a month, we are giving away $1,000 cash on the podcast. All you have to do is screenshot any podcast episode, share it to your Instagram stories, tag me at the real Brian Mark, and you're entered to win. As of October 1, we have a winner for September. So please, if you're listening to the podcast, give me a motherfucking drum roll, please. Congratulations, unstoppable coach Mel. She's been screenshot of the podcast, sharing it their Instagram stories. I've actually seen it a few times. So Mel, I would like to reward you for listening to the podcast. I'm going to be sending you $1,000. There's absolutely no cash,

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  right? So once you hear this, DM me on Instagram, unstoppable coach Mel, and I will be sending you your $1,000. If you guys want to be entered to win, all you gotta do, subscribe to the podcast, screenshot, share, leave me a rating, and you're automatically entered to win. Now, we're gonna do that every month. Hard decisions cost you money. Now, what do I mean specifically by that? What do I mean by hard decisions cost you money? This whole running a business thing, the reason that running a business is difficult is because oftentimes when you're running a business, you end up like for me, I don't know about you guys, but I end up developing a very deep personal relationship with the people that are in my business, you know? And so if I have like phone closers that are on my team, it's like I have a personal relationship with those people. If I

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  have coaches that are on my team, I develop a personal relationship with those people. If I got people on my media team, I develop a personal relationship with those people. If I got leaders on my team, I develop a personal relationship with those people. And I'm going to be transparent with you guys about something in this podcast. I'm going to let you guys know that the personal relationships that you have with the people that are working in your company, and also, this doesn't just apply to business, this applies to life, and I'm going to talk about this as the podcast continues. But the personal relationships that you have in your life are either going to drag you down, or they're going to propel you forward. Okay. And as a leader in your company, it is your responsibility to always, always, always put the vision of the business first. Because if you don't put the vision of the business first, and you don't put the the goals

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  of the business first, and you don't put the aspirations of the business first, and you are choosing the people over the business, then you will keep low performers in your company for too long. And as a result of that, it will cost you a fuckload of money. However, I'm going to tell you guys what happens on the back end of you making the decision that you're not going to allow low performance in your company. And I'm going to give you guys a personal story of mine. So you guys can understand like what I actually mean by this. So little backstory, the month of September was full of traveling for me. Okay, so I did a lot of traveling. I was, I spoke of funnel hacking live, I spoke in the aspire stages. I had a lot of shit going on in September. It was my wife's birthday, so I took a week off. It was my baby girl's birthday. So I obviously was present for

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  my baby girl's birthday. She just turned one year old. That was the cutest thing ever. So in this process, what I did is I essentially promoted people to leadership positions in the company, so that I could take the time off that I needed to take off in order to like spend time with my family. Now, when I did this, I literally said, I was like, this is 100% your responsibility. And I'm going to be transparent about what happened. All right. So I'm going to open up a little stuff. I was like, there's 100% responsibility. You own this department now. It's like, I'm going to take some time off. I'm going to take a step back, and it's going to be yours and yours alone. So I did that. And I authentically stepped back. Now, over the course of the last two weeks, my sales velocity has been absolute dog shit. Like, we're talking like ass cheeks, you know? Typically

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  speaking, my closing percentage is around 45%. You know, like last month, we did $981,000 in new cash. Closing rate is around, it was 44.3% to be very specific. And my show up rate to my sales calls is also extremely high. So my show up rate to my sales calls is usually sitting around 65 to 70%. And that's with 1100 sales calls per month. So my sales velocity is usually very high. And I'm also like, typically speaking, pretty involved in the sales process, as in like, I've got myself, I'll be reviewing calls, so giving feedback on those calls. And I'll also make sure that I'm like applying pressure to the DM team to make sure that like, we're getting high quality prospects that are booked in, and they're taken care of in the DMs. Now, I took a step back,

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  right? Fucking let my team run the ship. And over the course of the month, I watched the numbers go down and down and down and down and down. And so I have consequences in my team, right? Here's how my team structure work is if you're in my team, and you're under KPI for two weeks in a row, I write you up. If you're in my team, and you're under two weeks, if you're under KPI for two weeks in a row, after that, I fire you, or I demote you. And so I haven't had to do that with members of my team for a very long time, because usually, I'm pretty involved in the performance. Like, I'm pretty involved in like driving the ship. Like, when it comes to like my sales team, I'm pretty like, pretty hands on. However, I wanted to step away to take a month

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  away to spend with my family. And in this time period, we came across an instance where one of my team members was under KPI for two weeks in a row. So I like, I wrote them up, and I was like, dude, like, this happens again, like, I have to like, you know, I have to terminate you. And they're like, okay, I understand, I understand. Under KPI for two weeks in a row again. And I knew in my head what I had to do. Because over the course of the month, what happens when you're running a business is like when the numbers are like slowly going down, everybody on your team feels the lack of momentum. And so this was like across the board, you know, we were still booking 30 to 35 calls a day. However, my people on my DM team were dropping the ball,

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  and they weren't confirming the calls properly. And so we were getting a fucking donkey ass show rate, like our show up rate is like 53%. A drop from like 65 to 53%. So 10% less calls showed up. And when you're booking 1100 sales calls a month, like, that's like, we're talking like to 130 less calls are showing up per month, you know? And then our close rate was fucking abysmal. Like, we're talking like my best closers from last month, started closing at like 10 to 15%. And so I knew what I needed to do. It was just difficult to do because I have personal relationships with the people that are on my team, including the leaders that are on my team. So, long story short, Sunday last week, I was flying back to Canada, or flying back to Kelowna, flying back

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  from my trip to speak at Aspire. And on that trip, I fired three people. So like, literally on that trip, I fired three people. I fired my sales lead, I fired one of my team leads for my VAs, demoted, and I also fired somebody else on my team that was underperforming. So three people all at once, bam bam bam, I just fuck. And I was like, I knew what I needed to do. And it was like, it was fucking difficult. And I was sitting with that emotion for like, literally 24 to 48 hours, because I developed such a deep personal relationship with these people. So like, I sat with it, I realized what I needed to do. It was very fucking difficult for me to do. It was a very difficult conversation, but I just ripped the fucking bandaid off, and I called every single one of them, bam, making the decision to, I'm making the decision to demote you and put you back

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  in the position that you were in previously. Because frankly, I like love and appreciate you, but the vision of the business is important to me right now. And if the business doesn't eat, everybody's on this team that feeds their family, don't eat as well. And so I'm making the decision that's best for the business, and I'm demoting you. This decision is final, it's not up for negotiation. So I made that decision, bam bam bam, like fucking three back to back to back. These were like key people in my company. And I'm going to talk about why I did that. I'm going to talk about the, what came on the other side of that. Now, I did that for a couple of reasons. One, obviously, the performance wasn't there. Two, when you're running a company, and you've got low performance, and it continues for an extended period of time, you need to understand that the reason that that performance exists, and the reason that people are low performing, is because

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  you, as the business leader, are tolerating it. You tolerate it. You're tolerating your team's low performance, which is why they're not performing. Period. Full stop. And so, for me, what I did by making the decision to let key people go that were in the organization, I set the tone for the entire organization. Low performance is not tolerated at all in any way, shape, or form. The next meeting I had with my team was, we made the decision to let this person go, this person go, and this person go. And moving forward, this is the standard. And if you are in this company, it doesn't matter if you've been here for one year, two years, five years, or 10 years. If you start missing your numbers, if you are not performing to the level that you need to, if you are not going above and beyond to meet your numbers that you've been

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  given, you will be removed from your position. Period. Full stop. The first day after I did that, I basically shook the fucking tree. Shook the tree. It was like, holy fuck, everyone's like, what the fuck? Like, I can't believe he just did that. And so that day, everyone was kind of like recovering. I had a meeting with my team the following day, and I basically wrote up new agreements for everybody on the team. And I was like, these are the new agreements. And I included some consequences and some benefits. So I made it really, really sweet if you win. So I sweetened the deal if they hit KPI. And then I, I made it very clear that if they're under KPI, these are the consequences. So I created very fucking sexy benefits, and very crystal clear consequences.

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  The day after we did those agreements, yesterday, we collected $135,000 in cash one day. One day. That was what we collected all of last week, in new cash. I was tripping, okay? I was fucking tripping out last week. This is a fun fact. I actually got to a point where I wasn't even mad anymore, you know? Because I was like mad when I stepped away, and then the numbers like dropped. And then, like, honestly, when we fucking absolutely shat the bed last week, we did dog shit numbers. I wasn't even upset. I was like, well, I was like, this is what I'm gonna do now. And I just did it.

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  What's going on, fam? It's your boy Brian Mark. If you didn't know, we just launched the $10 million Instagram funnel blueprint, became a three time national best seller within the first week of us launching. You can get the book, the $10 million Instagram funnel blueprint. That is my literal start to finish complete guide on how to make money with your social media account on amazon.com. So search out the $10 million Instagram funnel blueprint by Brian Mark, get your copy, guarantee you best purchase you've ever made.

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  And on the back end of making that very difficult decision to let the people go in the positions that they were running that weren't actually meeting the numbers, the following day, we had $130,000 day in one day. All of the people that were sitting on the sidelines, all of a sudden fucking rose to meet the new standard because as soon as they realized that I wasn't fucking around and they agreed to the new commitments and they agreed to the new expectations, the waterline on the entire team rose. And so here's the lesson. Okay. I actually sat with the decision to let these people go for like a good two weeks. It's in the back of my mind for about four. And I was like, I don't know if this is a good idea. But then two weeks I sat with the decision. I was like,

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  I feel like I need to make a move. But I didn't want to make a move because it was a hard decision, you know? I'm very close with all the people that I like demoted or or let go, very close. Some of them are my actual friends that I like talk to on a regular basis. You know, some of them are like they've been with my company for four years. And so like, that was a very difficult decision for me to do. But it wasn't just the, it wasn't just the numbers that was a win. It was like, one of the dudes that I demoted, literally in two days, closed two deals by himself that were worth over $150,000. The day after I demoted him, he closed a $60,000 deal, paid him full. The day after that, he closed a $75,000 deal, paid him full. And this was a dude that I

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  just demoted from a position. He was basically one of my best closers. And then I made him the sales lead, which it's in his defense, like, I just kind of fucked off for four weeks. And I didn't give him any support that he needed. But the day after, I let him go, he just rose to the occasion. So it's not just that you're looking out for the interests of your company, you also need to look out for the interests of the people that are in the position that are not hitting KPI. Because oftentimes, if they're not hitting KPI, it's because it might be because they're not properly equipped, or they're not ready for the position that you put them in. But keeping somebody in a position where they're not hitting their numbers, they're probably stressed out all the fucking time, you're stressed out all the time. Like, it's better to remove them, even if you don't have a

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  plan for what happens next, than to keep somebody in a position where they're not actually hitting their numbers. Like, not removing somebody that's not hitting KPI costs you far more than removing them, even if you don't have a backup plan. You're like, oh, you know, when I find my backup plan is when I want to remove it. It's like, no, do that immediately. And this isn't just business, you guys. Okay. This isn't just business. This also applies to your fucking life. Because there may be people in your life right now, or there may be decisions in your life right now, that you know that you need to fucking make, but you're not making them, and they are costing you money. I'm going to give you guys another story. All right, let's do a little story time. I had a friend of mine, okay? This is a friend of mine when I first started my business.

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  We were really close, really tight. We'd been tight since we were 15 years old. And as my business started to grow, guys, business is the ultimate personal development tool. Because as you grow in business, you must become a stronger leader, to be able to handle the adversities and the struggles and the fucking obstacles that business deals with. Which also means, like, as I became a more prominent business leader, I needed to let go a lot of the vices that I was hanging on to. One of the vices that I used to hang on to, I used to smoke a lot of, smoke a lot of marijuana, you know? I also used to, I used to drink, like, almost every weekend. But as my business became more successful and had more clients accounted on me, and I had more commitments that I made, like going live five times a week, I was like, I can't go out on the weekend and fucking drink, because Monday morning, I'm going to do a live stream. And for me to feel like the energy that I need to feel in order to deliver value, like, I need to keep my energy

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  fucking system clean, so that I can show up and fucking deliver. And so I made the decision, I was like, I'm just not going to drink anymore. You know, I'm not going to party, I'm not going to do any of this stuff. I had a friend, that was building the business with me, that could not make that decision, because he was a victim to his vices. And like, it wasn't really a concern for me. I'm like, he might do the ganja every day. It's like, but it's like, it didn't really bother me, because he was still getting his work done. So I was like, whatever, you know? But then there was an instance where this individual, I'm not going to name names, of course, was like showing up to coaching calls on the ganja, you know? He was showing up to in-person events on the ganja. And we started doing youth mentorship programs, and then he shows up on the ganja. And I'm like, dude, like, you can't fucking do that, you know? But it's like, he was my homie.

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  He was my best friend. He was like, somebody that had been with me for a long time. And so I kept this person around for a long time. And this person being around for a long time, caused a big problem for me and Cole De Silva. And it actually got to a point where my business partner, Cole De Silva, said it's either me or him. It's me or him, period. And so I made the decision. I was like, Cole De Silva is obviously ride or die. Cole De Silva is not a victim to his vices. I'm like, the decision's cold. And so we made that decision, and we were, I had to remove somebody from my life, because they were not only dragging me down, they were dragging my brand down, they were dragging my name down, because of how they were showing up as an individual. Now, that was a very difficult decision. On the back end of that decision, my business fucking skyrocketed.

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  I'm not exaggerating. On the back end of that decision, like 1.2 million in a year to 5.5 million the next year. One decision. Because now I no longer had to justify somebody else, somebody's behavior. I didn't have to explain myself to other people. I no longer had to waste energy trying to bring somebody else up with me. I didn't try to, I didn't have to waste energy trying to convince somebody to like fucking get serious. I had all of my energy to focus and just fucking execute it. It was just me and Cole now, and at this point, we just doubled down, we locked in, without having to explain ourselves or, or apologize for somebody else's behavior. But it's not just that. You might also be in a relationship, that literally drains the fuck out of you. You know, you might be in a relationship with either a friend, or significant other, where every time you

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  hang out with them, or every time you're with them, it's like the soul is leaving your body. Do you know what difficult it is to build a business, or build something worthwhile, when you're hanging out with people, where your soul is leaving your body every single time, and you feel like the energy is being sucked out of you? And you know, you should spend less time with them, you know, you should protect your energy, you know, you should do what's best for you. But it's hard, because you're close to them. And the hard decisions that you are procrastinating on right now, are the very decisions that are costing you a fuckload of money. And I'm telling you, okay? Whenever I've made a difficult decision, that I knew was going to be good for me, but I was procrastinating on it, I was like, I don't know if I can make this decision, you know, I don't know. And it's hard. Whenever I've made a difficult decision like that, on the back end of that,

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  I make significantly more money. Kirsten, like, frequently has conversations with me, because she will like, my wife, Kirsten, my wife, for those of you guys who don't know, my wife's name is Kirsten Mark, she's beautiful. That's her name. Anyways, back to the podcast. My wife and I will have frequent conversations about the way that I make decisions, because she thinks it's funny. Because when I make a decision, it's like, it might take me, you know, it might take me a little bit of time to actually like, fully commit to the decision. But when I make the decision, like, I make the fucking decision, you know? It's like, I make the call, and I say exactly what I need to say. I'm like, I'm making the decision to remove you from this position. There's no bad blood in any way she performed. I value you as a person, but this is the best move for the business. This decision is final, it's not up for negotiation, it is effective immediately. Do you have any

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  questions? It's like, I make the decision. Because I know, on the back end of those decisions, what's going to happen to my business and also my life. I also believe in this, okay? I'm going to leave you with this. Your intuition is your guide. I want you to write that down. My intuition is my guide. When I got something that's like nagging on me, you know, something that's like in my chest, something that's like in my head, something that's in my heart, something that's in my mind, that I know I need to do, I've got a thought that keeps nagging at me, you know? No matter what that thought is, you know? You gotta let that person go. You gotta let that person go. You gotta let that person go. You gotta let that person go. And I'm like, I have to like, fight that thought off. Like, that's my intuition speaking to me. That's my instinct speaking to me. That's

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  my entrepreneurial instinct speaking to me. And when I ignore my entrepreneurial instincts, my intuition comes and visits me less. Because my intuition is like, why would I visit you? You're not listening to me. And there are times, and I don't know if you guys feel this as well, there are times, where I'll be like, sitting with something that I know that I need to do, it will actually wake me up in the middle of the night. And then my mind will be literally racing with this thing that I need to do. And I know I need to do it, and I just haven't do it, I just know I need to get it done. And I'll have to like, my mind will be fucking just racing, it's just racing. That's my intuition speaking to me. And I know, that even if it's difficult for me to think about doing it, I know that I need to follow that intuition, I know that I need to follow that instinct.

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  And this doesn't just apply to cutting people off, or letting people go. This also applies to making commitments. Like, there's some of you that are listening to this right now, you know, you need to hire that mentor. You know, you need to reach out to that person that's at a higher level than you, and just fucking pay the money. You know it. But that's a hard decision. You have to think about, literally, forking out your money. And then you think to yourself, what am I going to do if I lose the money? What am I going to do if I don't make the ROI back? What am I going to do if I don't actually do the work? What am I going to do if this isn't worth it? What am I going to do if I don't get my, what if I get scammed? So you like, have all these thoughts, that will prevent you from actually making the decision. And so you just never make the decision, you just procrastinate. But that's just costing you money. Whereas like, when I know, that there's something that's going to be good for me, that I can do immediately, that will make

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  me more money, I don't hesitate on it. I make the decision, and I make it confidently and certainly. And I'm like, send me the fucking information, I'm sending you the wire. That's a wrap. All right. Thank you guys so much for tuning in. I hope everyone has the best day of their entire life. Just a reminder, we're giving a thousand dollars cash on every single month. All you got to do is screenshot any podcast episode, share it to your Instagram stories, tag me at the real Brian Mark, let me know that you're tuning in. That's it. That's all. Have the best day ever. I'll talk to you guys soon. Peace, love and protein. Deuces. Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. Hopefully you got some value. If you did, and you want to learn more about how me and my team can help you scale your online fitness business to $10,000 a month, DM me 10K on Instagram, at the real Brian Mark, for more information. And I'll reach out to you to see if I can help you grow in online coaching business.