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During a crisis, many companies find themselves making the tough decisions of what to do with their employees and clients. Many will fall by the wayside while others rise to take their place at the top of the business food chain. And Chris Snyder, President of Juhll, says that how you struggle through a crisis from your mindset to your plan of action is crucial.
In this week's episode of Snyder Marketing Showdown, Chris Snyder, founder of Juhll, is interviewed by Dr. Jeremy Weisz of Rise25 Media about what leaders can do to stay forward-focused amid the current crisis and how they can best preserve their organization while at the same time considering how it affects their sources and clients. Chris also gives his top recommendation for books and podcasts to listen to in order to stay positive and action oriented. Stay tuned.
Dr. Jeremy Weisz is the co-founder of Rise25 - a company with a mission of helping businesses connect to ideal prospects, referral partners and strategic partners using a done-for-you podcast.
This episode is sponsored by Juhll. They are a full service digital marketing consultancy that has over 20 years of experience helping your business grow sales online. They've helped most of their clients grow more than 50% year over year by helping them meet their digital marketing goals.
Juhll Digital Agency works with companies who are doing $50 million in top line revenue that have a marketing budget of $2 million. They build your company from the ground up and they also help you in creating a strategy that will work best for your team.
Contact Juhll today and find out which of their services will work best for your success story.
Dr. Jeremy Weisz is the co-founder of Rise25 - a company with a mission of helping businesses connect to ideal prospects, referral partners and strategic partners using a done-for-you podcast.
Intro 0:06
Welcome to Snyder's marketing showdown and original Juhll agency production. In this show, you'll discover which elite business executives hold the strongest hand in business marketing and operations. Listen to Epic no holds barred showdowns debating the latest groundbreaking strategies this side of the internet WARNING This show ain't for rookies. So check your ego at the door with your host president of Joule agency and founder operator investor in banks.com Chris Snyder.
Chris Snyder 0:43
Hello everyone. Chris Snyder here host of Snyder Showdown president at Juhll.com and founder of banks.com. On the show, I talk with top leaders in the financial services and b2b software space about what's working and what's not with their growth pro Pro. Grahams. Today I have Jeremy Weisz here who has done thousands of interviews with successful entrepreneurs, investors and CEOs. And we turn the microphone around, and he will be interviewing me today. Thank you, Jeremy.
Jeremy Weisz 1:13
Chris, thanks for having me. And, you know, with business owners, there's always some kind of fire we have to put out. So always some kind of crisis. And right now, when we're recording this, there is a large crisis. So I want to get your take your thoughts and how you're leading through this. But before we do, I just want to mention the episode is brought to you by jewel and jewel is a digital consultancy that focuses on helping executives solve their toughest growth problems. And they basically work as an extension of the executive team. And oftentimes, Chris, I know executives come to you and they're like, we have a serious problem here. And what you focus in on is three things you quickly identify the biggest problems impeding growth, and you've done this because you do it quickly because of the 25 years experience. you propose solutions. They Give them the best opportunity for success. And finally, you know, you're about getting it done and the work has to get done. So you bring a private marketplace of vetted world class talent to execute that plan. And of course you manage the whole process so if you have questions about any of that and working with their team you can go to jewel calm is j u h, LL calm or email Chris personally at Chris at j u. h. ll calm. So, Chris, let's talk about there's some crazy times going on. There's a crisis and maybe just your thoughts what you're doing personally and just leading through this crisis.
Chris Snyder 2:40
Yeah, yeah. You know, I've been, you know, I'll say a couple things. I think that too many people are probably for right or wrong, are probably listening to politicians and what I would consider to be the popular media probably way too much. And I say that I say for right or wrong because obviously you have to watch the news to figure out what's going on. Depending on the news stations you're watching, whether it be cable news, or regular TV news, whether it be a popular media station, or or a particular political party. And I think that the problem with that is you have to think about the incentives on both side. And so someone like a citizen journalist, as an example, that doesn't get paid to say one thing or the other, and that may be an expert in their field. Maybe they're a doctor, right? Or maybe they bring a unique and expert perspective. to the table, and they're not, um, they're not driven by an incentive to say things that they that they wouldn't otherwise say, depending on like what you're saying,
Jeremy Weisz 4:14
you're basically saying, you know, we should filter or intake of, you know what, what we're taking in based on, you know, different, almost like follow the money a little bit like, does this person have my best interests at heart or do they have ulterior motives? I guess,
Chris Snyder 4:29
I agree. Yeah, hundred percent. I think that, you know, whether you're talking about, you know, animals or whether you're talking about humans, or whether you're talking about anything that kind of lives and breathes and has a half of a brain. We're all kind of rewards and incentive driven. It's just the way it is. So, when I I started to unpack this a little bit as I've watched some of these things in my spectrum is broad. I try to stay Really objective about the things that I watch and how I interpret what I'm hearing. And at the end of the day, what I want to what I want to caution people about and what I want to encourage people to do, especially entrepreneurs, founders, executives, you know, even people who are, you know, at different levels of the organization, I would challenge you to seek out trusted and authoritative resources that are that are not driven by incentives. Right. That's what I would challenge you to do. And then what I want to talk about today based on that is, what that really means is that you need to take a leadership role. Because after you sift through all this information, someone actually has to make a decision. No one is going to make that decision for you. Right? So this is where I want to start to separate, you know, leadership in people that are really in charge of bringing us out of whatever situation we're in, which could be, you know, a health situation, it could be a layoff situation, it could be a growth situation at your company, it could be whatever situation it is, it's going to require some leadership skills. And depending on what kind of leader you are, and depending on how you filter this information, interpret this information. You are going to have to do your job and pick a path. And no matter how many new shows you watch, and no matter how many politicians you watch it no matter how many people you talk to hopefully you're talking to the right people and you're getting enough advice. to synthesize it into something that's meaningful for you, as a leader to make a decision, I just hope that you are authentic enough, brave enough indecisive enough to make those decisions and be the leader you're supposed to be. Right. It's not, I don't think it's a particularly easy thing to do. Although I think the last 10 years have made it a lot easier on some folks
Chris Snyder 7:29
rather than others, but if you're in a leadership position over the last 10 years, and your company's been growing, you know, 50% year over year, and your biggest issue is trying to figure out you know, whether you made a decision on you know, hiring some an engineer from, you know, Stanford or Harvard or, like, those don't really test leadership, in my opinion. Those are just things that I think They are out of the box, you should be doing well. What's really going to test your leadership is how are you handling this situation exactly right now? Are you making the necessary decisions, the hard decisions that are necessary to maintain your company and stay around for the foreseeable future because that's what leaders do. Right? And so I know that you know, depending on the industry you're in, maybe you're in travel maybe you're in hospitality, you know, whatever industry you're in. If you're a startup or you're a founder or even if you're a mature company, I saw that you know, Airbnb is had to take out, you know, at least a billion dollars in loans and there may be more coming they've they've taken, I believe a 20 to 30% hit to their valuation. So this isn't just for founders that have two or three folks working diligently on a new idea that's going to change the world. This is for people like Uber This is for people like Airbnb, this is for, you know, there's some real leadership opportunities for you right now. And if, if you're, if you're really just going to be pissed off that it's happening to you, or delaying necessary actions, or not really taking into account how bad it might be and having an action plan for look, have an action plan for best case scenario, have an action plan for second best case scenario and then What's the absolute worst case scenario? Right? I mean, the sources that I'm listening to are talking about, well, is it going to be a V shaped recovery? Is it going to be a U shaped recovery? You know, the V shaped would insinuate that this is going to happen relatively quickly through backups normally, yeah, I candidly, you know, I'll put my leadership hat on and say that's not going to happen, I just don't believe that's going to happen. So, right now, you better be preparing for the U shape. And in the trough of that you you should put some time constraints in there some some predictable kind of range of time constraints. Or the worst case scenario, you know, would be this this idea of kind of going into cockroach mode. And cockroach mode is that L shape which basically means we go into them Massive depression in this thing is going to last a couple years. So are you decisive enough as a leader to make the necessary changes? Are you being authentic enough with yourself? Are you? Are you being brave enough? Are you being thoughtful enough and smart enough to think through these scenarios? And, you know, ultimately, all of us who are in leadership positions, now is the perfect time to embrace what you thought this would be because this is what it is. This is exactly what being a leader is. Right. I think folks in the military are probably uniquely qualified to deal with scenarios like this because they get thrown into situations where if you make the wrong choice, you die and other people die around you As you know, small to medium and even large businesses i think you know the scenario planning the risk associated with your scenario planning you certainly can can mess up some some lives you can hurt people's feelings but I don't know if you know the you know, the late the leadership at you know I'll use Airbnb as an example only because I just read an article that said that, you know, their valuation is down and they had to take a whole bunch of money in loans and they had to lay a whole bunch of people off and there was a whole bunch of stuff going on. there only one, you know, microcosm of of a Silicon Valley funded startup that is all equally going to need to make these decisions away the luggage
Jeremy Weisz 12:54
or capital categories, you know, they're in hospitality and all Hotels and you know, is extending across that whole industry?
Chris Snyder 13:04
Yeah, well in what we don't understand yet is and this is what I'd really like for leaders to think about right now. And I'm happy to think about these things with you. I'm actually committed to doing that because that's what I do all day long. I sit here as a leader, myself and as a founder myself, and I too am making these decisions. But at the end of the day, what I also want people to start thinking about is the second and third order of of these of these impacts and these effects right, so it's one thing to say, oh, if you're in travel, Allah, Airbnb, or hospitality, Airbnb, whatever, or travel away the luggage company who had to literally they just cut a whole bunch of their staff yesterday, the day before. They have a brilliant product. They've got great, you know, leadership they've got everything was fine until this happened. But what we don't think about that's a first order effect. But what we don't think about is if you start peeling back the young in that that away layoff or that Airbnb layoff is not just impacting Airbnb. So one of my buddies has two Airbnb houses in Arizona. I have not spoken with him yet. He's due to be on the podcast, but that is a second order effect that's going to impact his family big time. He also happens to sell ecommerce stuff online. But he also happens to be a personal trainer to some executives. You know that he that he helps that he helps train a very limited number. have clients at a high level but as I think about the second and third order effects you're you know what about the the lady that cleans his Airbnb you know it's got this
Jeremy Weisz 15:12
ripple effect
Chris Snyder 15:14
yeah so so the first order effect is Airbnb the second order effect is my buddy john who owns the Airbnb now he's got mortgage to pay right? On the Airbnb that's not going to be rented and Airbnb is not going to pay his mortgage for sure. Right. And then the people that clean the Airbnb and then the grocery store or the the stands or the the Wendy's or the places that those people shop at, you really have to start thinking about the the, the magnitude of the effects that are happening and just as a leader really start to think it through. So So that's all the the challenge. Jean, I think, bad news and get serious and get your shit together. And now it's time to, you know, be a grown up and embrace the leadership role that you decided to have during good times. And now that it's bad Get your shit together. Right. So that's the first part of this message. So but the second part of this message, I think, is one have a bit more optimism, which means that this gives you the opportunity as a leader, to really do what you've been paid to do, which is be creative in your approach to getting us out of this. Right. And when I say us, I mean, if I worked for you, or I was on your team, you're getting paid or you own a majority share of the company or you're the person who's in that chair for a reason. This is what you're being paid for. And if I worked for you I would want you to bring me some confidence that, that your creativity in your skills will keep this team together and get us through it. And so the optimism around this is you can be angry, you can be mad this is happening to you. Or the optimism around it is you can say Holy shit. I will now on my resume. This is one way to look at it on my resume, I have the opportunity to show everyone that I can do this kind of work that no one else has ever had the opportunity to do under extreme pressure. And if I win, this will be that defining moment, not only in my life, but in others around me. That is the opportunity. So if you haven't thought about embracing that or you just haven't been through the stages that allow you to release all of this mental baggage from your mind whether you're depressed or feeling sorry for yourself or whether you're mad. If you haven't yet been through all those stages, and you're not into a stage where you're ready to get your shit together and go charging in and figure this out, then I suggest you get there really fast. Because my opinion is we're in for we're in this for a while. We're in this for a while. So,
Jeremy Weisz 18:32
Chris, I want to finish with one question. And yeah, thanks for giving me an all of us that kind of synopsis. And my last question, and I'll give you a second to think about it because there's three points that I kind of pulled out from what you were saying that I want to kind of emphasize. But the last question I know you're a very avid learner and reader, and so I'd love to hear maybe a few of the leadership books or resources, maybe you've read or that you recommend people check out. But what I see, before you answer that is you said kind of three things. One is, assess the source of info you're getting in, because we all need to get certain input and make decisions. And then two is really eating to manage your mindset in this whole situation. And from what I hear throughout everything you're saying is, you know, you need to feed yourself positive, you know, some positive stuff and not just crawl into a ball and because that will create inaction. And the third is have an action plan, create an action plan and create the different scenarios, have the action plan and prepare for the worst. And because other people are depending on you, many other people in your network and not in your network they don't even know will have a ripple effect from this. So those are three things I got out of what you said. So I'd love you to to maybe point people towards some obviously they can listen to more episodes of the podcast, as well and check out Joel comm what are some of the books or resources that people should check out?
Chris Snyder 20:06
Well, you know what, this all answer this question with just some of the podcasts that I listened to. And the reason why I listen to podcasts is because I just feel like their incentive is more aligned in the the style and the kind of people that I listened to our, I believe, just more aligned with our industry, I guess. Let's put it that way. And I feel like these folks, a lot of them have already made it. There's no ploy to be in political office. There's no ploy to make headlines in the popular media. That's not how they get paid. They get paid by having a podcast no different like we don't get paid to do this Jeremy, right. Like, we're not getting paid right now. So what is my incentive to give people This message so, I guess what I'll say is, you know, one of the podcasts I listened to is is an FX. They're a venture capital firm. They focus on seed stage and in up companies that are focused on marketplace dynamics. So those guys are excellent. I also listened to a podcast called This Week in Startups. Jason Calacanis is a well known seed angel investor that has made, you know, his success investing in startups and he has two or three or four guests every week, that are deep, deep in the shit and they're what I would consider to be true leaders. And I listen to what they say I listen to what he says and I listen to what they say you know, there's a couple other ones like I don't know if you know Scott Galloway ordered a new show. Yeah, I love I love his I love his stuff. I again, I feel like there isn't really any incentive on his part, but to tell the truth and speak the truth, and he certainly has his own point of view. So those are only a few of the podcasts. I listened to masters of scale with Reed Hoffman, he's excellent. And he's got a high quality product and he's a high quality human being. So there's a lot of things I read as well. I think what I'm going to do is start a probably start a resource page on my Snyder showdown podcast, with all the stuff that I'm reading currently, because the list is is long. I'm a Kindle, avid Kindle guy. So I basically just read everything. I get my hands on But I think if our audience could start with those resources, hopefully it'll help them. Obviously, I don't want people to avoid the popular media and media and I don't want folks to avoid, you know, political grandstanding. I think that stuff is important for our society. But what I would like for folks to do is is, is optimize that experience with other experiences that are equally meaningful and give you a different perspective. because that'll help you be a better leader,
Jeremy Weisz 23:36
Chris. Thank you, everyone. Check out more episodes of the podcast. You have some great guests and also check out Joule calm and I appreciate you having me.
Chris Snyder 23:45
Thanks, Jeremy. Have a good day.
Jeremy Weisz 23:48
Thanks for listening to Snyder showdown. We'll see you again next time and be sure to click subscribe to get future episodes.
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