Agri-Fresh Client Interview

Well, thanks a lot, Kevin, for sitting down with me and having a little discussion about our business relationship together. As you know, going back into early last year, we were introduced through one of our clients and someone that you know quite well actually, that serves on a board that you're on. That was how we crossed paths. But I just wanted to take a few moments, Kevin, just to be able to talk a little bit about our performance and the impact that we've had on your business. And I thought one place that we could start off would be just where you were at before we even came in contact with each other and, you know, really what the situation was with your business and what you were looking for. So, to really look at a first question, you know, before we started working together, how would you describe your current environment in your company relating to what we were working on? You know, what were some of the struggles and opportunities that you'd had identified at the time? You know, the one thing that keeps coming to mind is I just keep hearing a hope and pray, you know, when it came to the marketing side. So, you know, we engaged specifically, you know, we were looking to get leads on drivers and our revenue department. And, you know, the current situation was, you know, the guys were placing an ad and it was me always asking, you know, how many applications you get, you know, what's going on, what's moving forward, you know, and yeah, and not, and that was the extent of it, you know. So it was a situation when it's like when we look at everything else that we do in the company, we really look to engineer things, create systems we can later, you know, analyze and look at data and make adjustments, make changes, look to optimize things. Our marketing efforts to drive leads was just, which is non-existent really, was poor. Yeah, no, there's one thing, Kevin, I was really impressed with when we first started talking, just how well many areas of your business, like how well dialed they, how well dialed in they were, right? That you knew your metrics all along the way in the different places and so on. So yeah, that was really impressive. And, you know, sounds like, you know, and even looking back that you were just really hoping to, you're hoping to build that same situation but on the marketing for it for drivers, correct? Yeah, no, and it was kind of one of those things, you know, when we started getting into it, I couldn't help but have a few moments where, you know, I just sat back and I'm just like, oh my God, you know, I can't believe we've been doing this all these years and this, you know, one component of the business has been left so untouched and it's, and it's so critical. No, so it's been very, I feel really good and it's, it's empowering to kind of fill in that last piece and, you know, I feel good that we're in a position now that we can have that last piece bolted on and drive the business forward from here. Yeah, that's great. So I know we had some interesting conversations in the early days, Kevin, and especially right at the very end when you had agreed to work with us but you were looking at a couple different companies and you commented how we all have a little different perspective on what the problem was and how to fix it. So, you know, when we started working together, was there anything that you had noticed that was, you know, different or maybe surprising compared to what you were expecting? I mean, at dinner day, you know, we had a couple, you know, fit meetings, you know, like with yourself and a few other people, I know, you know, and I think as we went through some of those meetings, you know, and as I pushed out questions and challenges to you, you always seemed to come back, you know, and if you didn't have an answer, you went to work on it and you come back. And I appreciated the way that you were just very responsive and assertive throughout the basically as we are doing the qualifying and interviewing. And I think when it was all said and done, I just, I felt the most comfortable that you were someone that I was going to be able to work with. And I know things don't always go smooth and there's always rough patches, you know, and stuff, but I thought that, you know, you had a bit of a gritty side to you there that I kind of liked, that I thought that you're just a person I could go shoulder-to-shoulder with and get this piece of the business fixed. All right, well, that's great to know. It was a good opportunity for me to get to know your business a lot better. And as you've noticed, you know, every discussion we had in those early days, we got to know each other better and were able to feel if we were the right fit for each other. So, you know, moving into actually getting into the deliverables and obviously we don't want to share too much in terms of what's actually happening and the types of results and so on that you're getting, of course, but was there a certain time that you can remember, you know, in the early days where you're like, hey, things are actually working, you know, what I had hoped was going to happen is happening? Do you recall anything like that? You know, early on, you know, there just seemed, I understood the concept bitterly when you described the concept to me and we looked at a customer buying journey and how we were gonna choose channels and hook up tags and track that and stuff. Conceptually understood it very well. I was, and I knew there would be work to drive it to something that started to produce results and then ultimately something we could optimize. And it actually wasn't that long ago, I think, when we kind of had that first conversation when we were a couple months into our budget for marketing and the first time we sat down and looked at the data and the flow and could see which channels were producing for us, which channels weren't, and we intelligently just made decisions to allocate extra funds here and there to drive more traffic and then go into the following week and then watch the outcomes of those decisions and get that data. That I knew that, that is what I'm familiar with now, having a system making decisions based on data and watching the results after and then looping back and then doing it all over again. So then, you know, that was, yeah, it was kind of like, all right, this is where we need to be and we'll build from here and make it better, you know. Yeah, well, no, that's good to hear and definitely, you know, your numbers and like to see, you know, like to see that in front of you. So it's nice that we're able to put that system in place, that we're able to see that, you know. And one of the challenges in marketing is you can get results but because that's not a place, you don't actually know if where the results are coming from. So, so thanks that we were able to deliver that. And I remember it was fairly early on when we had the first time that Facebook Ads really hit and you called me on a Monday morning like, what's going on here? What are we gonna do with all of these? That was a fun discussion looking back. And, and you know, even nice recently where, you know, you called and asked to dial back the ads because, you know, you've got some success with a bunch of new drivers being on board. So that definitely is great. So, so now that you, you know, as you've described, you have a system in place, you know, getting some results, you know, as the CEO of the business, what is life like for you now, you know, that this piece is not that it's completely solved and we can just leave it forever, but now that there's some success coming out of it and you get any results, what it was like for you, like as a CEO over there? Well, I think, you know, you look forward to the future with just more, you know, I guess more optimism, you know, one and with more clarity because I'm not... [Music] I'm trying to think of the way to say it. You know, I'm not like really like a big hype person, you know, I like to look and intelligently set a target of a place where...

quite well actually the that serves on a board that you're on that was how how we crossed paths but I just wanted to take a few moments Kevin just to be able to talk a little bit about our performance

and the impact that we've had on your business and I thought one place that we could start off would be just where you were at before we even came in contact with each other and and you know really

what the situation was with your business and what you're looking for so to really look at a first question you know before we started working together how would you describe your current environment in your company relating to what we were working on you know what

were some of the struggles and opportunities that you'd had identified at the time you know the the one thing that keeps coming to mind is I just keep hearing a hope and pray you know when it came to the marketing site so you know

we engaged specifically you know we were looking to get leads on on drivers and our revenue department and you know that the current situation was you know the guys were placing an ad and it was me always asking you know how many

applications you get you know what's going on what's moving forward you know and yeah and not and that was the extent of it you know so it was a situation when it's like when we look at everything else that we do in the

company we really look to engineer things create systems we can later you know analyze and and and look at data and make adjustments make changes look to optimize things or our marketing efforts to drive leads was just uh which

is non-existent really was poured yeah no there's one thing Kevin I was really impressed with when we first started talking just how well many areas of your business like how well dialed they how well dialed in they were right that you

knew your metrics all along the way in the different place blinds and and so on so yeah that was really impressive and you know sounds like you know and even looking back that you were just really hoping to you're

hoping to build that same situation but on the the marketing for it for drivers correct yeah no and it was kind of one of those things you know when we started getting into it I couldn't help but have

a few moments where you know I just sat back and I'm just like oh my god you know I can't believe we've been doing this all these years and this you know one component of the business has been

left so untouched and it's uh and it's so critical no so it's it's been very I feel really good and it's it's empowering to kind of fill in that last piece and you know I feel good that we're in a position now that we can have

that last piece bolted on and drive the business forward from here yeah that's great so I know we had some interesting conversations in the early days Kevin and especially right at the very end when you've had agreed to work with us

but you're looking at a couple different companies and you commented how we all have a little different perspective on what the problem was and how to fix it so you know when we started working together was there anything that you had

noticed that was you know different or maybe surprising compared to what you were expecting I mean at dinner day you know we we had a couple you know fit meetings you know like with yourself and a few other people I know you know and

and I think as we went through some of those meetings you know and as I pushed out questions and challenges to you you always seemed to come back you know and if you didn't have an answer you you

went to work on it and you come back and but I appreciated the way that you were just very responsive and assertive throughout the basically as we are doing the qualifying and interviewing and I think when it was all said and done I

just I felt the most comfortable that you were someone that I was going to be able to work with and I know things don't always go smooth and there's always rough patches you know and stuff but I thought that you know he had a bit

of a gritty side to you there that I kind of liked that I thought that you're just a person I could go shoulder-to-shoulder with and and get this piece of the business fixed all right well that's great to know it was

it was a good opportunity for me to get to know your business a lot better and as you've noticed you know every discussion we had in those early days we got to know each other better and were able to feel if we were the right fit

for each other so you know moving into actually getting into the deliverables and obviously we don't want to share too much in terms of what's actually happening and the types of results and so on that you're getting of course but was there a certain time

that you can remember you know in the early days where you're like hey things are actually working you know what I had hoped was going to happen is happening do you recall anything like that you know the early on you know there just

seemed I understood the concept bitterly when you describe the concept to me and we looked at a customer buying journey and and how we were gonna choose channels and and hook up tags and track that and stuff conceptually understood

it very well I was and I knew there would be work to drive it to something that started to produce results and then ultimately something we could optimize and it actually wasn't that long ago I think when we kind of had that first

conversation when we were a couple months into our budget for marketing and the first time we sat down and looked at the data and the flow and could see which which channels were producing for us which channels weren't and we

intelligently just made decision decisions to allocate extra funds here and there to drive more traffic and then go into the following week and then watch the the outcomes of those decisions and get that data that I knew that that is what I'm familiar with now

having a system making decisions based on data and watching the results after and then looping back and then doing it all over again so then you know that was yeah it was kind of like all right this is where we need to be and we'll build

from here and make it better you know yeah well no that's that's good to hear and definitely you know your numbers and like to see you know like to see that in front of you so it's nice that we're

able to put that system in place that we're able to see that you know and one of the challenges in marketing is you can get results but because that's not a place you don't actually know if where the results are coming from so so thanks

that we were able to deliver that and I remember it was fairly early on when we had the first time that Facebook Ads really hit and you called me on a Monday morning like what's going on here what

are we gonna do with all of these that was a fun discussion looking back and and you know even nice recently were you know you're called and asked to dial back the ads because you know you've got some success with a bunch of new drivers

being on board it so that definitely is great so so now that you you know as you've described you have a system in place you know getting some results you know as the CEO of the business what is

life like for you now you know that this piece is not that it's completely solved and we can just leave it forever but but now that there's some success coming out of it and you get any results what it

was like for you like as a CEO over there well I think you know it you look forward to the future with just more you know I guess more optimism you know one and with more clarity because I'm not

[Music] I'm trying to think of the way to say it you know I'm not like really like a big hype person you know I like to look and intelligently set a target of a place where you know I want to drive the

company and where I want to go and I just feel again now like as we kind of fix that last missed missing component I think with a lot more confidence and accuracy that you know we can write those business plans to to move us from

from here to there and you know and that we can just do it much more predictably you know so yeah it's just just a higher level of confidence and and again you know just confidence and optimism it's good

all right that's that's great time I'm glad that we were able to play a small role in helping deliver that for you and for your business and you know I would be remiss if I didn't mention this you

know of course in the early stages you're feeling s oh and we're feeling you out and having that fit is really important but that goes both ways as well and and one thing that I've really found working with you and your team is

that you're very easy to work with and very responsive and also you're open to trying new things you know and some people when they don't necessarily understand maybe how modern marketing works they question it and and they aren't open to trying things or that

that wasn't the case for you you just wanted to see the structure and get the data but one thing that really struck me early in our relationship was your that time you did the rounder to California then I talked to you about doing a

Facebook live and you had never done that before and and I don't I can't speak for you but I don't think you were super comfortable with it and you turned into a Facebook live machine you know and I was just like this guy has got it

going on and and I was just really proud of what you did there and that you took charge and did something that you didn't have experience with and we're comfortable with but really had great results from it and I think he caught

the bug for it by the end of the trip because I know you mentioned you had missed doing excuse me you had missed doing the Facebook lives as well but hey I want to recognize you for that as well

cos now you definitely have been a pleasure to work with and it's great being able to make an impact on your business that's good some it's some interesting feedback on on a couple aspects like I mean I think especially to like there

were some times early on and I know you know I'm a direct person as well and a few having a hard time kind of communicating you know like you know what I was trying to achieve and stuff and there was a few times that I thought

like after conversations and different things I thought man that guy you know I think he's gonna fire me you know I just thought a few times just say you know it's not worth it I'm just I thought maybe I'd get an email you know

what Kevin like I'm not sure if this is working because like I said I know sometimes I was pretty uh yeah I'm pretty direct that can be sometimes doing and anyway so I was thankful you know I I get you get those points in a

relationship and that's where I kind of noticed early on like I said some of those qualities I think I saw in you and I would challenge you with some things or or ask about this gap or why is that

you always would kind of come up swinging you know it and so I always found that through those difficult times and I was you know demanding direct you know you always kind of just seemed to bounce back and come back and this what

you're thinking is this what you're you know you just I really appreciate that and then the in regards to the video life stuff you know like yeah that was definitely outside my comfort zone you know I'm pretty social media wise like

you know I've never had a Facebook account you know I'm quite content to just grind in the business and do my thing and but you know in the same hand you know I could fully appreciate you know when you had that idea and I you

know I just I get it you know like I get you know that people would value seeing you know like the you know the CEO of a company what I'm thinking what I'm doing you know can you can you do the job of

what your drivers do out there and stuff and that I knew that that would be valuable to the business and anytime I can connect something that's gonna help the business or be valuable to the business it really doesn't matter if I'm

comfortable or not I will if I believe that that will make sense and be successful so yeah and like I said it I did by the end of trip I got pretty used to just like okay let's share this with

with people grab the phone video and stuff and so and I have to admit you know we watch it a bit with the kids sometimes you know after the trip and we have some pretty good good laughs about

it because you know we've always you know both my that the team here my family when we do things it go pretty hard at a lot of things you know I like to work hard we're playing it like complete heart but

I liked a lot I like to have fun you know and so and and that trip was pretty typical where it was like when it came to doing the job and making sure the load got done and got delivered and

we're you know very serious we make sure we do that but in between you know we're we're cracking jokes and having fun and so it was this combinational memory we created though it was it turned out really good yeah yeah right on yeah that

was a real special moment and one quick thing just to add about our tense discussions in the past one is you know as a leader of your business and trucking like it there's a lot of pressure right there's a very fine line

right between having you know not enough work or too many drivers and different combinations and you have a lot of assets in the game if they're not working you know it's stressful so I you know any conversations that came up I

knew that there was an incredible amount of pressure on you and the team so you know I could you know take different comments and stride but one thing that also really respected is after a fairly intense the meeting that our whole team

had you know you took a moment to say hey as much as this is like serious I appreciate what you're doing and don't think that I don't appreciate that but we need to get things going so that was

something that you know helped me along you know with with understanding and how you and your company thinks and and what needs to be delivered so you know when we see things like that that just adds extra importance for us knowing that we

have a great responsibility to deliver big results for your company so anyway I just wanted to say that and really thank you for giving us the opportunity to play a role in your company and help you you know with your your success so far

and help take you into the future yeah no I appreciate why malinka said I think we're we're early like we got a nice start and we're early in the journey but no I I look forward to keeping to work

together and making things happen and I think we can do a lot you know but I appreciate it glad we connected and and looking forward to what we're gonna do right now okay thanks again Kevin Kevin I appreciate it

yeah no problem thank you [Music] you [Music]