Business growth can only come when you implement a winning strategy alongside accountability. How do you do that? Our guests from CEO Warrior will guide you. In this episode, Tersh Blissett & Josh Crouch talk with Mike Disney and Gregg Schonhorn, the company’s COO and Senior Growth Advisor, respectively. Mike and Gregg discuss CEO Warrior’s mission of providing thousands of service business owners around the globe with resources, training, tools, and more. They talk about growth and accountability and how you need accountability if you want growth. Tune in and learn from some of the best in the service industry today.
—
Listen to the podcast here:
Accountability And Strategy: Implementing Nine Pillars Of Business Growth With Mike Disney & Gregg Schonhorn Of CEO Warrior
What’s up everybody out there? I’m super excited to be here with a couple of my mentors. We’re going to talk about why you should have a mentor and what should you do for your business, figure it out on your own or school from the hard knocks? For me, it’s learning from others’ mistakes and implementing the things that work.
I absolutely love the small groups that we’re doing every Friday. I learned a ton of information from that group of guys and the team. There are certain times where you hoard your knowledge, you hear people that are like, “How did you do this?” They don’t want to tell you how to do it but having these guys here mentoring me and holding me accountable.
People seen that we’ve been successful and grown. We’re on track to do over 380% growth this year. It’s because of the guys from CEO Warrior that we’re able to do that. We’re here at the Service World Expo and there are some guys here that are buddies of ours that are in the power of proximity. I wanted to share that with you. Honestly, I invite you to join our world. Josh, what would you add to this?
I’ve been a part of the CEO Warrior world for a while. Nobody throws a live event like these guys. If you want to get deep into what it takes as a business owner to run your business, these guys are the ones to help you get that mindset right so you know why, the reason that you’re in business and what you’re trying to accomplish. I’m super excited to have these guys. They were the ones that allowed us to come here and do this stuff. I really appreciate you inviting us and letting us do this with you.
—
Who are you guys?
My name is Mike Disney. I’m the Chief Operating Officer at CEO Warrior. I’ve been with the company since the very beginning. I was operating as the Director of Sales at our service company that created the vision and took our founder’s vision to reality. That’s who I am and I’m doing it all day, every day.
Thanks, Tersh and Josh, for having us on. I am Gregg Schonhorn. I’m a Senior Growth Advisor here at CEO Warrior. I love to call myself the “Gatekeeper.” Everybody that comes to our world comes through a growth strategy session and that gives me the opportunity to meet new people. I’ve been with CEO Warriors and have had 2,000 free growth strategy sessions.
What’s the Growth Strategy Session?
Growth Strategy Sessions is a free opportunity for somebody to come to bring their struggles to the table. I share some systems, processes and strategies that are actionable items that they can literally change their business just from the 30-minute conversation that we have.
How long would you say your plan on your growth strategy? Are we talking about a year, 2 years, 10-year target? Is it more granular than that?
It’s much more granular than that. Our conversations are about giving them actionable items that they can implement in their business the second our call is over. I love teaching and building out 90-day plans which, as everybody knows, is a critical component of being in CEO Warrior. I give them pieces of nuggets that they can create momentum in their business and offer solutions immediately. Everything we do is by design, not by default. Almost all the people I talk to are running their business by default, not by design. I try to add some real granular stuff that they could take and immediately impact their business the second that they hang up the phone.
[bctt tweet=”You can go buy systems and processes all day, every day, but you need somebody who’s gone before who can really tell you the way.” username=””]
This is the thing for me, whenever I hear anyone complaining about anything in any group on Facebook or anywhere at all whether they are working with CEO Warrior or with BDR or anywhere else, I’m like, “Who are you again?” Especially in our world. You can’t just pay for a program and all of a sudden, automatically, everything should be fixed. If you’re going to buy policies and procedures from someone but you never implement those policies and procedures, it’s a paperweight or whatever. This 90-day plan, does it take 90 days? Is it something where we hang it on the wall and then it takes a year or six months?
Implementation is everything. We have to track and we have to course correct along the journey or it’s going to fail. The problem is people build too big and give too much to do. The way we teach it between our pebbles, rocks, molders and mountains is specific and we’ve done thousands of them. We’re good at getting it to it’s manageable, it’s going to be challenging and it’s going to push you. I had guys that built 90-day plans that got them done in 60 and the next one that just didn’t quite get but it’s the truth. If you get 80% of a 90-day plan done, how much will your business improve? It may be a failure, but you’re still going to grow and continue to get things done.
What would you guys say is the biggest difference between somebody who implements this stuff and gets it done versus the people who think they want to get it done but they end up paying for something and don’t use it?
Mostly, the people that implement have a desire. They already have this vision. That’s what we teach in a lot of our events in Service Business Live. The first thing we’re going to talk about is, what’s the vision? Where are you going? Where do you want to go? If we can’t establish that, it’s hard to get there. The biggest challenge I think is everybody is looking for a magic pill. Everybody is following what somebody else has done. Somebody says, “I had great results here.” The reality is you got to focus on your plan. Your plan should be specific for you. Even if you’re at the same revenue, they have a different trajectory.
Some people want to grow massively fast, increase profits and want to position for sale. Other people don’t want to have challenges with their clientele and they want to hire better. They want to have a better marketing process so it depends. Each and every person has to be hyper-focused on their needs. Our 90-day plan highlights that. The reality is you can go buy systems and processes all day, every day but you need somebody who’s gone before who can really tell you the way and the challenges.
I’ll tell you the best part about CEO Warrior is all the failures that I’ve had collectively as our founders have had, our experience in business, what that means and has dealt allows people to avoid those pitfalls that we know can be immensely painful. Everything is about implementation. If you’re not willing to put in the work, your success will be immensely delayed.
That speed to implementation is a big one for me. That’s one of the things that I get called on. Disney will call me on it or anybody especially in my group. We’re good about calling each other on it. Making plans are great but not following through with the plan. It’s worthless. You’ve wasted your time. You could have been in your business, making a couple of books or whatever.
There are so many people who put all these grand plans and designs out in front of them and they have no leverage so they don’t get it done. We talk about leverage and the pain that comes with not being successful because there’s a reality to that if you don’t make that pain strong enough, create that leverage and create the reward you’ll give yourself. Tersh, you’re talking about the aim group that you guys do on Friday. I’m watching you guys constantly throughout the week holding each other accountable, leveraging each other for insight and asking for suggestions on how do I get this done.
You know how important it is for Ron to get that done and how it impacts not only going to be for him but everybody who works for him and everybody in his world. That’s what CEO Warrior is. The community and the leverage that comes with it create ease of implementation.
That’s a great point about the word implementation. Everybody used to call a CEO Warrior or a coaching group. We changed that narrative because none of you guys need a coach. You don’t need anybody to slap you in the ass and make you feel good. You need somebody to help you get stuff done, implement it and move your business to whatever place you want it to go.
Papa T, Backyard Boy, Ted is the man, having him here and talk about the things that he says about us, we were just honored to be on the journey. Obviously, I feel as though our coaches, our founders and everybody has played an impact through the conversations and the training and all this stuff but having the story is really what we do it all for. It all comes down to implementation for sure.
You guys have another event coming up, Service Business Live. We talked a little bit about what you start. What are they going to encounter in a Service Business Live that is going to help them make a decision if they need a mentor or they want a mentor and who that’s going to be?
For you guys who may not know CEO Warrior or maybe heard a few things, Service Business Live is an event like no other. It’s high energy. We put you through day one and we work on you. It’s all about you. If you can’t change who you are, where you want to go will never change. What got you to where you are won’t get you to where you want to be.
The framework of day one is what are your challenges? What is your vision? Where do you want to go? What’s holding you back? What are those things you need to break through to make it possible? We empty out all the garbage on day one so we can fill you up on day 2 and day 3. The reality is every single person on here has the same opportunities in life. Everything is a choice. You’re the one who makes the choice so we work on you.
[bctt tweet=”When we put you through a process to be really comfortable with the uncomfortable, you become a better person.” username=””]
I know all of you guys. The feedback we get is I came for business strategies and I have completely transformed my life. That’s what our training is. Day one is I can. Day two is I must. Day three is I will. The first day is all the nine pillars. If you guys want to put it in here, we’ll make sure we mail out some 9 Pillar books to anybody that’s on here that wants them. That’s a huge part of what we are. It’s foundational.
Day two, we’re heavy into content, strategies and systems and it’s a fire hose. I’m surprised you didn’t say it but it’s a process. It’s not training. We end that process with you building an actionable 90-day plan so we’re taking you through the training. We’re giving you more content you can handle but what resonates with you is what will end up being on your plan. That’s what will create the momentum after the event to move forward. You fundamentally internally are going to change as a person over the three days with us.
Personally, I’m on social media all the time. I’m on all the platforms. I see stuff all the time. Years ago, I was talking to a buddy of mine, Adam, up in South Carolina. I had him on the show. I went to his house after one of my kids’ soccer games and we were talking about CEO Warrior. I was coming to an event the next week and I was like, “I’m joining it. I’m just going to go there. I’m going to experience it and check out stuff for the show and everything.” I’m also not the type to get out of my comfort zone.
First off, I’m an introvert. I want to sit in the corner and just observe. That’s why I like the show because I can ask questions but I don’t have to participate very much. To hell with that, I got there and my table leader, Dario, he was like, “You got to get up.” It’s like, “You’re taking me way out of my comfort zone.” I swore I was like, “I’m not doing this. I’m not doing that.”
The mindset just straight broke me all this internal stuff from years. I was like, “Holy cow.” I had no idea I had all this stuff pent up, stored up in me, releasing that negative energy and everything. It made a massive difference for me personally. Going back, I’ve attended that same event. Every time that event happens, I’m there. I still am releasing negative stuff from the past and constantly working on myself.
Fixing your personal mindset is something I never expect it to do. I expected to go to this event and say, “Here’s my checklist of things. I’m going to go back to the office. I’m going to tell everybody what to do and have them delegate it by application,” and then I come back. I get to the van at the end of day one I’m like, “This is wild.” All this information that I’ve just constantly changed just on day one.
Tersh, you’re not alone. We have a lot of people come to our world and they’re like, “I’m not going to be that person, get out of my comfort zone, share and ask questions. I’m going to dive into the content. I’m going to build it out.” My question for all of you to think that way is, where are you playing small in your life? Where are you playing small in your business?
When you come into our world, we make you get comfortable with the uncomfortable because your business, family, life demands a leader and none of you are coming to an event to play small ball. We recognize that you want growth in many ways, maybe personal growth, you want top-line revenue or one-profit growth, whatever it looks like for you. I guarantee you, when we put you through a process to be comfortable with the uncomfortable, you become a better person. That allows you to flourish in so many areas.
John appreciates me and is held accountable for the process and improvements.
Most people think accountability is a bad word. Quite frankly, all your employees desire accountability at a high level. The challenge they have is you don’t play at the high level of accountability they need. We roll through that through our nine pillars, our training on day one then leverage, reward and how you build it into your everyday process. That’s what we’re all about
I hope people didn’t miss it but you’ve been in our world just shy of two years. You got an opportunity to come to ten Service Business Lives and you’ve been to 7 or 8 of them. Each time you take away different things that talks about the amount of quality and quantity that we provide that you can literally come back seven times within two years and still keep taking things away from the training that you just didn’t hear the first time.
Keep in mind that this is seven times an event that some would see as an entry-level event. Once you’ve gotten in there, you’re starting to master some of these things and have gone through to specialty events as well. Take that knowledge and implement it. That’s the reason why we’re growing it 380% over the years.
A lot of guys roll through a lot of opportunities and they think about the fear. The fear of, “I don’t want to go there and play out of my comfort zone. I don’t want to do this.” I have a belief system that if you come to our event and you participate full out, you play full out, we will help you overcome fear in all areas of your life. We will propel your business in the right direction, whatever that might be for you.
It’s funny because my boss from my last job, I was his territory sales manager when he was starting with you guys. He was telling me about this program and I didn’t really know anything about it. Lo and behold, I joined him because he was looking to grow and he had the right mindset. He was struggling on that $700,000 to $1 million mark.
[bctt tweet=”All your employees desire accountability at the high level. The challenge is if you don’t play at the high level of accountability they need.” username=””]
Seeing the growth in him as a person and a leader, his business has just exploded. He’s got a brand-new shop and a whole new lease on life. The business is doing phenomenal. We’re just in a small little town. This isn’t something for someone in a big market. This can work for anyone. He was more of an introvert too.
Watching him in our company meetings and do things, I’d never see a boss do before, especially with your technicians and in the trades that we’re in. The guy I saw was cool like eating fire and stuff. They thought it was cool. He burned his mouth and stuff but he stepped out of his comfort zone. He had the mindset, training and realized what his desire was. He learned it from these guys and unpacked that.
Let me ask you a question, Josh. You’re no longer working with that particular individual. That’s because you started your marketing agency. You’re doing a kick-ass job at that. Outside of our industry, what have you found that is the same CEO Warrior?
There are a lot of organizations out there that do a good job with financials and some of the structural foundational things. I don’t find anywhere where they hold the power with events. Events and the mindset stuff that drives us, not just a business owner. That’s what I think the biggest difference is. There are a lot of places. They have all these charts and things you can do for financials and stuff. Any CPA could probably teach it some decent financials but getting the power behind that can lead other people is the biggest difference that I’ve seen.
Leslie and Ted is on here. Anybody who’s in the world, active in the world and has been in the world in the past knows what to experience here and what to expect out of this stuff.
I’m honored to I’ve Leslie in here. What a transformation she’s made in her life, her business and working with Ted, Steve and other backyard guy joins in Texas, honored to have him come on and join. We built a community at CEO Warrior and it’s not a community of connection. It’s a community of family. It’s about everybody’s success. In our world, there are no judgments. There’s only a love affair of growth and connection. We just love them. That’s what we live for. It’s all predicated on our vision, our founder’s vision to end the suffering for business owners. That’s what we try to do every day.
We all would go to battle for each other. It’s for real. As we wrap things up here, Disney and Greg, when could we get to this event again?
Service Business Live’s next event is November 9, 10 and 11, 2021. It is a full commitment. It’s 9:00 AM the first couple of days until 9:00 PM. I will promise you we will run over and there’s a reason. Everybody has got questions and we don’t leave until there’s clarity and alignment, which is 2 of our 9 pillars. The last day is 9:00 to 6:00. It’s three full days.
I will tell you everybody has 1 of the 2 results the first night. It’s either sleep the absolute best they’ve slept in years or sleep a wink but they can’t figure out why they’ve got more energy than they’ve ever had before that second day. You can go to ServiceBusinessLive.com and register. You could shoot me an email at Gregg@CEOWarrior.com. You can hit me up on my cell phone at (973) 919-5509. You can hit up Tersh and Disney. They know how to get ahold and we would love it.
One last thing, I’m sure there are people out there that are going to read this episode who may not have believed that we could be a source of support and help for you. We offer a $1 million promise. You come to Service Business Live, after day one, if you haven’t got $1 million and opportunity to improve your business, we will give you every ounce of your investment back. We’ll pay you for your flight. We’ll get you home and we’ll thank you for participating in our world. There is no reason you shouldn’t come to Service Business Live. We will change your life, I promise.
We’ve had 400 to 500 people that have gone through the didn’t join our world. Our training has changed. The things that we do are different. If you’re an alumnus and you want to come back, we’d almost do it for free just to give you our strategies and our opportunities. We love our alumni. You’re still considered our family. You’ve been through our training. You’ve been through it seven times. Have you been through it once? Come on, come back, join us again. We would love that and appreciate that.
This is a train that both Tersh and I have been out there a couple of times. This is the first time that we’re not face-to-face after all these years. It was some really good stuff. You owe yourself the opportunity to at least think about going to this event and what you can do for your business, your personal life and for your family. It will change the way you think and solve things and it will at least open you up to what you need to do in the future to be a better person.
I appreciate you all allowing us to come out here and hang out with you all. We had a great time. If anybody has any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to any of us. I look forward to seeing you at the next event. Thank you.
Important Links:
- CEO Warrior
- Service World Expo
- Mike Disney – LinkedIn
- Gregg Schonhorn – Instagram
- Service Business Live
- The 9 Pillar
- Adam Lean – past episode
- Gregg@CEOWarrior.com
About Mike Disney
Michael Disney joined Mike and Rob’s service company as a Lead Generator, and he quickly proved his skill at growing the business. Michael accelerated through the company to Director of Sales, where he managed outside sales teams, the outbound department, and relationships with national retail chains. Michael played a part in every function at the service company and had a key role in the sales successes, including their highest recorded sales month ever at $3.5 Million. After Mike and Rob exited their service company to focus exclusively on serving business owners at CEO Warrior, Michael joined them as the Director of CEO Warrior. Today, Michael leads the large and growing CEO Warrior team as the COO and a Co-Owner.
About Gregg Schonhorn
Gregg brings over two decades of professional experience to CEO Warrior. He’s a leader and mentor who brings cross-industry insight to the world of home service businesses, serving owners at the highest level. Gregg received his coaching certification from Columbia University; he also holds a B.A. in Business from the University of Arizona. Gregg’s target in life is to make a positive difference in the lives of other people, and it starts with his own daily focus on discipline, determination, energy, and personal growth. When he’s not serving CEO Warrior clients, he enjoys running, reading, and spending time with his son and two dogs.