065: How to Offer Virtual VIP Days as a Service Provider with Jordan Gill

Kate Kordsmeier 0:00

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I don't know where that came from. I never know how to start these episodes. Hi there. It's me again. Welcome back. It's just getting a little boring, so I thought I'd switch it up. Welcome back to the Success with Soul podcast. I'm your host, Kate Kordsmeier. And today we are talking all about VIP days. Now of course, we couldn't talk about VIP days without having Jordan Gill here, I think she basically owns the space now she has an amazing program called done in a day, which we are proud affiliates of. And her business is all around replacing monthly retainers with one day virtual intensives. So if you are a service provider, or you're looking to add another revenue stream to your business model, whether your other revenue streams include courses or blogging or an agency model, this episode is so good, because we really get into like the nitty gritty strategy of what is a VIP day. How do you set it up? What does it look like? What are the things you need to know? Jordan and I are both very big fans of going deep, and giving people actionable, tangible advice that you can actually use. We're not just surface level fluff. As I'm sure you've come to know if you've been listening to Success with Soul for a while. Jordan has her own podcast called system save me, which is also the name of her entire business. And today's episode is really just getting into all of the step by step details of what you need to know about adding VIP days to your business model. So grab your pens and your notepad. This one's a good one. Buckle up. Here we go. You're listening to the Success with Soul podcast with Kate Kordsmeier x journalists turned CEO of a multi six figure blog and online business. But it wasn't that long ago that Kate was a struggling entrepreneur who lacked confidence, clarity, and let's be honest money. But all those failures, experiments and lessons learned helped Kay create a thriving business that impacts 1000s and brings freedom, flexibility and fulfillment to her life. If you're ready to do the same and make something happen with holistic, soulful, step by step strategies from Kate and other experts, you're in the right place. here's your host, writer, educator, Mom, recovering perfectionist, bookworm and sushi connoisseur, Kate Kordsmeier. Jordan, welcome to the show.

Jordan Gill 2:32

Hey, I'm so excited to be here and talk about two of my favorite topics, systems VIP days, it's like my birthday or something today.

Kate Kordsmeier 2:42

I love it. Well, I'm so excited to before we hit record, we were just talking about how it's kind of amazing that it took us this long to me because we run in very similar circles, no, lots of the same people. And we've just been like, I think circling each other. So here we are. Finally, and I think everyone listening, obviously, if you're listening, I assume you kind of resonate with what I'm talking about. So I know you're gonna love Jordan, because we are cut from the same cloth and ready to go. Yes, perfect. Awesome. Okay, so this is great, because we've had lots of people come on talking about courses and blogging and coaching and services and all kinds of things never talked about VIP days. So tell us what the heck is a VIP day.

Jordan Gill 3:24

Yes, I'm glad to be the first one to dip all of your toes in the VIP day pool. So VIP day, how I define it is it is a four figure offering, I started out with the money upfront, minimum four figure, mind you, offering that last three to eight hours within a 24 hour period, that helps your clients move through a three to five phase transformation. And the reason I use a lot of numbers is because it's very easy for you to like check off and know like, Okay, if it fits into these three areas, then it's a VIP day. Something that is not is like a one hour strategy session Power Hour asked me anything, pick my brain. That's not what a VIP day is. And that is a type of offer. But it's just not that the IPAs are like really a yellow brick road that you're taking those intentional steps strategic steps toward the end goal of the transformation. And so, I would say that for most people who are familiar with services, they usually do retainers or projects. Just imagine doing that monthly retainer or that project just in a single day. So like the most like injectable hours that are possible. Being able to create the actual day experience is really, it's really strategic because you have to make sure that your time is well spent versus you have some wiggle room like everybody creates a little bit of wiggle room and their monthly retainers and projects. It's very Basically like, take the wiggle room out, take the scope creep out, take the boundary pushing out delays out, nobody's taking vacations during the day. We're here, this is the day and we're going to get the most out of it.

Kate Kordsmeier 5:11

Okay, so cool. And I now have so many other questions. So. Okay, so to clarify, if you're providing a VIP day, is it like a done for you service that's happening in a day? Or is it like a day of coaching? I think maybe that's what you're saying of like, it's not coaching asked me anything, but maybe I misunderstood. So can you clarify?

Jordan Gill 5:33

Yeah, totally. So there's four types of transfer like tangible results that you can have for your VIP day. So the one that people most hear about is the service VIP days now, where it is, I'm building your website, in a day, I'm writing your sales page copy in a day, I'm building out your dubsado in a day, those sorts of VIPs as absolutely one of the tangible results that you can create. There's also a strategy VIP day, and that is a little bit different than like a one hour strategy session, because you're going a little more in depth than you would in just a single hour. So if you like launch strategy, you know, Instagram ads, strategy, etc, then you can create a strategy VIP day to plan and map and such, then you have suggestions VIP day, which is typically like an audit. So think if you are like an SEO strategist, and you want to audit somebody's website on how they can do better with SEO. So you find the gaps, you find the efficiencies you're analyzing, you're researching, creating the suggestions for each one of those gaps. And then the last one is a solutions VIP, and that one is a coaching VIP days. So for example, I have like a relationships coach who's my program, and she helped married couples with their communication. And so a solution really is like very, very tailored to who she's talking to. And their particular situation, while she has a framework she's still working from the solution at the end may look different depending on obviously who it is that she's working with. Gotcha. Okay.

Kate Kordsmeier 7:07

So COVID aside, do you recommend VIP days be in person or virtual, is it a preference?

Jordan Gill 7:16

Honestly, I've had the majority of my clients be virtual, because I live in Dallas, Texas. And I think I've had one or two VIP days that were actually in person here in Dallas, I did have a client where I did fly to San Diego and whatnot for a day. But because it is just a day, I would recommend, if you're you know, not for local people, if you're kind of doing the US or wherever you live like surrounding areas, then you're going to have to put some additional things into your pricing where it covers that right. So I do my VIP weekends in person, but that's because I'm there for two and a half days. And so that's a little bit different because it's a longer engagement. But you can totally do it either way. It's usually just like a preference of yours and do not underprice yourself if you are traveling, that would definitely be something I would say. Yeah, yeah. Okay, great. So

Kate Kordsmeier 8:18

you mentioned VIP weekend's and one of my next questions is going to be does it have to be just one day? Or have you seen like, it's called a VIP day, I'm doing air quotes. And but it actually is like a three day period or something?

Jordan Gill 8:31

Yeah. So the thing about it is, is a little bit dependent on what it is that you're doing. So the difference between my day and my weekend is that my day is all about building someone's CRM, usually Active Campaign dubsado, stuff like that. But my weekend absorbs that in the first day as far as we still do that setup. But then on the back end of it, we're looking at team management. And so what's interesting is, we build out, you know, the client relationship side, and then what happens is, obviously, who does what kind of comes out and so either it becomes a second VIP day after somebody does their CRM one with me, or we just attach them together and do it all in one in one swoop. And what's what's nice about that is that again, I can kind of qualify, who I work with that is as far as they must have a team. I don't work for solopreneurs. And I do also think that for the majority of people, that when you let somebody go off and like sleep, shower, do all sorts of stuff, talk to their friends. The issue that happens in retainers, and projects is like again, I'm talking to Kate all sudden Kate's like Girl, you need to be on this software, blah blah blah and then Next day, I'm like, actually, I don't want to do this software that you said, we, you know, decided on yesterday, I talked to Kate and she said, This is great. So we're gonna actually do this software. And you want to avoid that as much as possible. So like keeping them in your container. So what I like about VIP weekend's is your, which is, again, a two and a half day experience, I like those ones being more in person, because you're able to kind of contain that, like idea chasms and talking to other people stuff. So you can absolutely create like a multi day, you know, VIP weekend or intensive or something. But just being intentional about it's really tough to do virtually, from containing the ideas and, and research and things that they're going to bring to the table the next day. So I've seen people try to do like a little bit each week, each day have like a week or something. Usually, those tend to get off track, because you're doing a little bit each day, and it's not a full immersive experience. And so that's where I kind of like toe the line on that one.

Kate Kordsmeier 11:10

Okay. And so along the lines of then having this full, immersive experience. So when you do a VIP day, are you with the client the whole time? Or I know that like I asked this question, because I remember a few years ago, one of my friends was a copywriter, she started doing VIP days. I asked her like, Hey, I think I'd like to do one with you. How does it work? And she was like, oh, you'll come to me. And we'll have an hour call in the morning. And then I go and like do the work and come back to you. So I don't know if that's like a different model than what you're talking about. Or if it's like, no, you're with the client the whole time.

Jordan Gill 11:45

So there's there are ways that you can do it, what she was doing is what I call a bookend where you know, you kind of have a call in the morning, you know, you do your work, and then either a call or tutorial video send off of some sort at the end. And that's absolutely doable. Like if you're one of those people, again, that builds websites or like writes copy, like, you don't really want your client to just be like, watching you. Yeah, the whole time. I guess you're gonna awkward. Yeah. So yeah, yeah, we don't need that. So you can do book ends, if that's like how you prefer to work or the nature of your work. You know, it's kind of that type, there are days where you can do it all day together. And what's interesting and different. A lot of a lot of times with my VIP days around systems is my people want to see what I'm building like they want to be a part of the process, they are not like going to be able to regurgitate everything that I'm telling them or that they're seeing. But a lot of times, I'm putting them into a new software. And so they want to familiarize themselves, they want to see how I'm using it. And we can talk through things and, and so it basically becomes like a day full of tutorials for them or their teams venues moving forward, which is nice. And that's a blend of VIP day, or there's a backstage where you are not at all talking to the client at all the day of. And that's cool too. Like, if you don't feel like you need a call at the top of your day for copywriting or website or whatever. Like, you don't have to do that I probably have multiple website, people that are backstage and like we don't get on a call beforehand at all, like, their pre work is very well laid out. I make sure I get it to them, they go off, they do their stuff. And they let me know, if I have to like give feedback or revisions. Then like usually I'm in either a boxer or slack scenario where they ping me and say like, Hey, I'm done with the first page, go review it in the next 20 minutes. So I'm kind of on call per se. So I usually will choose a day that you know, I'm not on calls a ton. So I can kind of just like, log in and out and see what the work is and give them feedback. Gotcha. Okay.

Kate Kordsmeier 13:51

So before we get too much further into the specifics of VIP days, and how people could start implementing this now, how did you start? Like, what's your story and how you came to? I don't know, did you feel like you invented VIP days? You learned it from somebody else? Like what How did you decide this is a this could be a good idea, because I'm sure a lot of people are thinking like, well, I couldn't do this in a day or I couldn't be available 24 seven, you know, not 24 seven, but for the full 24 hours. So

Jordan Gill 14:18

tell us your story. Yeah, totally. I definitely did not invent heavy days. You know, VIP days are a a version of what typical consultants do so I'm not really from corporate but from my understanding and from working in like nonprofits. We had a lot of consultants that would come in for a day, teach us the process and then leave. So I didn't pay much attention to that at the time. But then I you know, kind of when I got into my own business about six months and I realized monthly retainers were not for Jordan at all. It was I had a month where three My four clients were launching, they were expecting six figures in their launch. They all were seven figure business owners. And your girl was like, no. So I was searching for what else I loved client work. Like I love working with people and being Connecting, Connecting with people and doing the system's. But just doing it over a long period of time was like super draining to me. And so what am i top strengths for Strength Finders is focus, which a lot of people are jealous of. And it is a blessing and a curse at some points, because you get a little too dialed in sometimes. But I worked with a sales coach who did VIP days. And I was like, I really liked this, and I want to do it. But I didn't see anybody else doing like systems or like building and setting stuff up in a day. So while people were like now, you know, years later, I can see that there were people but I wasn't aware of them at the time. So I just was like, all right, like, I'm gonna give it a go. And I had my first client who was a woman who actually, she helped train bodybuilders for competition season. And yeah, it was like so much fun. And it was awesome. And I tend to work with seasonal business owners like wedding planners, tax professionals, bodybuilder competition coaches, hail damage, folks, like, you know, I actually just spoke to a guy who teaches like grape harvesting for wine. So obviously, there's like a harvesting season for wine. And so he helps. Like it's, it's I've really interesting clients. But I just really honed in on the client relationship management side of things. And it's been so fun and so rewarding. And a lot of people were just like, I don't understand, like, I see you traveling all the time, I see you going to events, like do you even work like what's happening? Like, yeah, I just work four days a month with clients like and the rest of the months, I'm either talking to people or going to events, or whatever the case is. And that's like, was my life for like, a half years, I played around with like courses and stuff, but 90% of my revenue for a couple years was from VIP days. And I just was like, this is really great. And I don't understand why more people aren't doing this. And I guess it's because I'm not teaching them I suppose. So. Let me go ahead and teach these people the golden egg. And so yeah, I've been teaching it for a little over a year, like through my program, but I did a few like little masterminds and stuff like that beforehand, to kind of test it and yeah, it's just been VIP days ever since. Yeah, I love it.

Kate Kordsmeier 17:45

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I think one of the things that resonates with you about with about you to me, there we go. is we have were similar in that like we now teach what we did ourselves and I think there's a lot of coaches out there who haven't done themselves what they're teaching. And I just you know for me, I would feel so out of integrity. If I haven't already done something to be telling somebody else like how to do it. So I love that you have all this experience of doing your own VIP days. And now you have a program that teaches people if they want to do VIP days. Yeah. And like you said, You're I mean, so you're working like four days a month, because you mentioned the very beginning VIP days are generally a four figure investment at a minimum. So is there like an average that you see or is it totally vary just across different niches and, you know, industries, you know,

Jordan Gill 20:29

we take those out from our program, you so I have that lens, I would say average that people feel comfortable with is about three to 4k for a day. But that doesn't mean we definitely have people like I had a gal who specialized in UX design, user experience, and like coding for like, tech mobile apps. And hers was higher, because of, again, her industry that she was in the specialty nature of what she does. And so she started out, I believe, at 8k and got up to 12. So it really can range for sure. It really depends on who you're targeting, and what value you're bringing to the table, I'm not here to sell you a certain hour, you know, dollar per hour, you'll never hear that come out of my mouth. Because the value is really what you want to price for. It's not about, okay, so my hourly rate is 3535 times six hours, whatever that is, like, we're not doing that. These hours for VIP days are much different than hours that are hourly. And brain by that is they are intense. And again, like at the end of the day is like, I'm not talking to anybody. I'm, you know, sitting on my beanbag watching scandal, everyone's Okay, well, I am no good to anybody afterwards. And I'm so energized by the work. But it's also like, I'm putting my all into these four to six hours. And so then I can give myself a day or two to recover. And, you know, move on to the next one. But I think that, you know, with pricing, I definitely want to caution you, if you're trying to look at competitors and know what their pricing as far as their VIP is because you have pricing off based off of how other people in the industry do it is like, really tough, I think it's important for you to know what that pricing is so that, you know, when your clients come to you, where you land from a positioning standpoint, 110%. But as far as trying to like know, okay, like she's charging 3000, so maybe I should charge 3000 it's like apples and oranges to me, like, Yes, they're still building a website, but you have no idea like how deep of a level of a website they're building, if they're using templates, if you have no idea. So it's really important to stay in your lane know, your zone of genius, and like it said, you know, we will teach things that we've done, we've now for five years, Kate for longer not like, I just know that service providers, I feel like are the most qualified people for VIP days, because they understand it, and they're killing it, if they're, you know, stuck around for a while. So take what you're doing, and create a really juicy, jam packed quality offer for a day. And it's uh, you know, there's industries all over the place, I did not make up the value of speed being more expensive. Literally, the most expensive cars are the fastest ones. Like if you go to Disney World, like you can get the regular class. Yeah, like gonna take to, you know, hours, that's the regular line, that's one price. And then you can get the Fast Pass, skip the line, basically do 20 minutes of waiting. And you still get the same transformation, which in our case is like the teacups or Peter Pan. Right, right. So every industry is doing this, I'm just bringing it more to the forefront that we can do this too, in our industry a more viable option for service providers who do get burned out or exhausted by longer term work,

Kate Kordsmeier 24:05

right? I love that you differentiate between it like it's not taking your ideal hourly rate and multiplying it. And I'm sure that helps. Also, when you're talking to potential clients, and they might, you know, some people might be surprised if it's at the price tag or something like it's just one day of work, but you're not selling them the day you're selling them the result or the transformation or not even selling them, you're giving them that right. And so it's like, well, you're not paying $4,000 for one day of my time you're paying $4,000 for your website to be done. Yeah, exactly. Okay. So that's really helpful. I know, we already talked a lot about like different types of VIP days and some different niches. I'm curious. Well, I guess that's kind of what we covered too is I'm, I have a question here on my notes. Like how do you really price it? I don't know. We did just talk about like, well, it's not hourly. And then it's not looking at your competition, but how do you You decide, well, this

Jordan Gill 25:00

is what I think this transformation is worth totally. So again, when I work with source butters are usually looking at their monthly retainer or project rate. And when I first started out, and what I love to challenge people to do is take what you're doing for your project and just do the same price and see if you can get, and that's what I did. And I was able to get within about a month and a half, you know, that was pretty much my gauge that I was okay, if I can get it once, then I can get it again. So that's always my first test is because you're technically again, doing the same thing. But again, in a single day, so you should be able to offer at the same price and people take a bite. And then you just move up from there. Like it's just, that's, that's the lowest that you're ever going to have it priced at. And then let's make some increments and tiers to grow from there. It's not a perfect science. And again, obviously, as you know, it depends on industry and all of that. But that's always my like, first go to for people is just take your project, right and try it for your VIP day.

Kate Kordsmeier 25:59

Yeah, okay, cool. So I know you have a four part framework to that you kind of teach, like the essential ingredients to a VIP day. Can you walk us through that?

Jordan Gill 26:08

Yeah, totally. So the first part, my framework is clarifying, because people think that they're really clear, and they're not. So and listen, guys, I, I am here to say that I am not an idea person. So when I first spit out an idea, it is total trash. And people are like what's happening. So you're not alone in this. But clarifying that idea, you need to know both the tangible and intangible results that people are going to get. And it needs to be clear. And it needs to be concise. Because both are important when selling like I want to know when I'm going to get like tangibly, but I also want to know that like, in some way, I'm going to get feelings of clarity or peace of mind or confidence, or whatever the case is, I want to know that both are injected into this offer. So that's clarifying. And then from there, we do construct, and that's where we actually do the building of your framework. So you may hear the word framework method, process transformation. But it's essentially, like the steps or the, I guess, phases of the steps, that you're going to take somebody to that transformation or the goal at the end. And so we really work hard on that, which includes target audience reviews, and really being intentional about those phases, not only for like clarity sake, but also from a benchmarking state. So when you're on your VIP day, you're gonna start to know like, Okay, this one takes about 40 minutes, if I'm like an hour and a half, we got to rein it in, like, or I didn't ask enough questions, and I pre work to be set up for success for this, right. So that's what we do and construct and then care is about kind of the not fluffier stuff, but everything before and after the VIP day. So how are you onboarding your clients? How are you making sure that they get everything that they need from a pre work standpoint, you send them a gift before you send them a gift after? Are you doing lunch during the day, and doordash style, whatever that that is, we're talking about all of the stuff that makes the day really feel like VIP, right VIP stands for very important person. And so we want them to feel like very important people, that does not mean that you need champagne and Ritz Carlton. Everyone has their different versions of VIP like I'm totally usually in a T shirt on my VIP day. Like we're having lunch, I'm probably chick fil a in it, or whatever. And so it doesn't have to be sparkly when I say VIP. But what I mean is that there's intentional decisions and strategic decisions being made to make the day really awesome and really special. So that's care. And then the last one is connect. And that has to do all with the marketing and the sales and how you're going to debut your VIP day, how to overcome like the 20 biggest objections that you're going to come up with with VIP days. I've heard them all. So really being intentional about, again, the target client stuff we talked about and construct, where are they at like, what podcasts? Are they listening to? What events are they posting or that they're attending? And like, you know, are they a great referral partner? How do you create a referral partner program? Those sorts of things are in the Connect phase. So clarify, construct care and connect

Kate Kordsmeier 29:24

so smart. And this is what you teach inside your program done in a day, right?

Jordan Gill 29:29

Yes. All the details go into each of those phases for sure.

Kate Kordsmeier 29:34

Yeah, okay. So anything else you want to share about how done in a day works? And like if people are interested, like, Okay, I'm gonna sold on this VIP day idea, like what's next?

Jordan Gill 29:43

Yeah, totally. So definitely, we just do a really big curriculum revamp. And what's cool is we not only thought about the actual content, but we thought about how people can take this content and use it. So we have private podcast. Feed where you're able to listen while you're doing dishes or, you know, taking the kids to school and being able to process this information while you're doing other things. So you don't have to always be sitting down at your computer staring at, you know, my face or the slides or whatever. And moving through the content that way. We also have a welcome box that we created. And it has training materials. And they're like these giant post it that are like, if I could sleep with them at night, and they knock it crinkle like I would. It allows you to build your framework, like literally on your wall or your window or whatnot. And so we that's very interactive. It's very kinesthetic, I'm a kinesthetic person I like, you know, digital is great. And I like big giant white posts. It's everywhere, so I can really process and see everything myself. So we have thought about how people best learn. And taking that into account and how we have offered the actual curriculum, we have captions on all our videos for those who are deaf or hard of hearing. So we wanted to create the best end program we could for VIP days. And again, when it comes to the intentionality, one, there aren't really other good programs about VIP days. But secondly, there certainly aren't ones I have thought this level of depth and clarity to ensure that creme and zona VIP day is as simple and streamlined as possible. Yeah,

Kate Kordsmeier 31:23

I love it. Well, in part of the way that Jordan and I met is through a program that we're both in with Mariah cause, which is a group coaching program. I'm curious what for you resonated to make you make done in a day a group coaching program, rather than just like a self study course or one on one or a VIP day?

Jordan Gill 31:42

Totally? Oh, yeah, I definitely get the the ironic part about people today, but it's just one program to do. So I definitely get you have a VIP day about VIP if the answer's no. And super meta, yeah, no, right. And so the reason that I positioned it this way was because I really, I again, like I said, I had done a few different mastermind versions, which I did not have any content, but I was just kind of talking out and answering questions, and people were able to get a result in about three months. But when the mindset garbage hit, when like, again, you're fighting this one objection that you just aren't sure how to overcome. I wasn't there because they were out of the three month container. And so I was like, there has to be six months. And I knew that I wanted kind of a trifecta of what's in a group coaching program where there is the content, you know, there's the coaching, and there's a community because it's cool to see, like, I've tried a lot, but I haven't tried everything to market my VIP days. And so we'll have people come in and be like, Oh, I created a quiz that then brings me VIP clients, or I use LinkedIn to get my VIP clients. And if it was just you and me talking, I wouldn't be able to bring that value to you. Because that's not something that I've done, or I'm not gonna teach something that I haven't done myself. So right. That's really the benefit of group coaching programs I find is like, yes, I'm hearing from somebody who has been doing it for five plus years. But I'm also learning from other people who may be doing similar or different, actual VIP days, as well as different or similar marketing tactics for that.

Kate Kordsmeier 33:25

Yeah. Okay, cool. So what are a couple of the biggest mistakes you see people making with VIP days? Oh, goodness,

Jordan Gill 33:32

how much time do we have? So one mistake that I see that is semi small, but not at the same time is like the naming of the VIP day. Clarity over cuteness, y'all. Like if you're trying to be like, you know, rainbows and sprinkles VIP day. I know, it's super dramatic, but I see very similar things. I don't know what that means, like I that doesn't showcase the result that doesn't showcase if it's right for me, like, what are you really doing here. And so honestly, I still call mine just to VIP day as no sparkles or rainbows about it. And it's very straightforward. And because they're honest systems, they mean sight or like, they know that Mito sustainment system saved me then they're like, clearly it's about systems, right? So a little bit of that context can help so try not to get too cute with your VIP days. The other thing that I see is people doing this kind of like our cart situation with their VIP days where it's like, you get me for six hours. And you can either I can either set up your dubsado or I can set up your coca or I can do this other system and like you can choose two out of three for your day. And so it kind of is like I call it all carbs. I don't know how to express it but you know, I'm saying so, yeah. And that does not work very well in a lot of industries. Because especially in systems like people don't even really know what they need when it comes to systems. So you really have to lead and have command there. But it also puts work on your clients and the IPA, people just want to know what you're an expert in. And if you're an excellent air table, great, like, I need air table, so let me happy or great if you're an expert in, you know, group coaching program, like sales pages great, like, I'm going to go to you because I need a good coaching program sales when also instead of, you know, it's it's tricky for people who are good at a lot of things, and they enjoy a lot of things, because I'm going to tell you to pare it down for a hot second. And you can have multiple VIP days. Like I said, I have my client management that's upfront, but I have team management in the back if I need it or if they need it. And so you can do that. But there needs to be some sort of, like clarity in your VIP days. You can have multiple VIP days, but like don't do that all a cart thing where it's like choose this list of eight, like,

Kate Kordsmeier 36:01

we're not doing that. Like you can either have VIP day option one or VIP day option two. Exactly. But you can't mix and match. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, that's really good to no

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So I have a feeling that a lot of people listening are going to have some imposter syndrome II things come up and they're gonna say, Who am I to charge? $4,000 for one day of my time? How do you handle this kind of objection with people who are struggling?

Jordan Gill 38:22

Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's, it's, I'm not gonna lie. I was right there with you for a while. Because, again, my sales coach who I was working with at the time said, Well, how much do you want to, you know, sell your VIP days for and again, I was kind of like, oh, like, I make $3,000 a month now for clients. So up to $3,000. And she was like, great. I was like, oh, like I was expecting you to have some pushback I was not expecting you to. I was like, okay, you know, there's a few also a tactical way to kind of get through that. But also like honoring that if you have been able to deliver this to clients for a year, multiple clients within a year or two, then you are this isn't something that I say like right out the gate, you start offering VIP days, I think there's value and learning through monthly retainers and projects, that again, it's kind of hard to teach and know unless you've done it. So that's why I kind of put this like year or a couple of clients buffer there. And, you know, if you've been able to deliver on that, you know, across a couple months or six weeks or however long it is offering in a day is so dang valuable. like think about any problem that you have. And imagine somebody else being able to totally fix the problem in a single day. Talk about Amazing, right? It's um, I had a client to solo explain it like a coffee machine that like wasn't working and was driving her nuts. And she couldn't figure it out. The buttons weren't working as well. So she called this guy to come. And literally, you know, I'm the outlets where there's like that button that you have to push in order. Yeah, like the thing worked. Yeah, that was the issue. And what's interesting is he literally came in, and it took him point two seconds to recognize that button was not pushed and pushed it and said, Great, like, that's gonna be a couple $100. Right. And, you know, it's that it's that like meme that's going around about like, you're not paying for how long it takes this do to fix your coffee machine, and you just want him to fix the coffee machine. And right, like, if you can do an important two seconds, fantastic. Even better, right? We're paying for the knowledge that this person has, and understanding what you know, the solution should be and what the problem is, we're not paying for the amount of time like there's in that's really an employee that really thinking, I have to put this amount of time and to get paid this amount. And that's how we've been trained. And we got to really unwire that, because that's really where it can get dangerous. And so a tactical thing too, that I do, or that I did was same, I was worth $3,000. Before ours was a lot at first. And so I went around my house sounding you know, totally wackadoodle pain $3,000 for four hours, $3,000 for four hours, $3,000 for four hours. And just again, again and again and again. I didn't stumble on any of those words, now I get paid more. But I don't I didn't stumble on those words, because I've said it so many times. And it's clear, right? It's when you stutter or feel like it's like $3,000 and you're like cower in the corner, that people are like, it doesn't feel like you should do you believe

Kate Kordsmeier 41:51

in yourself. If you don't, how am I supposed to believe it?

Jordan Gill 41:55

Exactly. So a lot of it is the how the tone and and confidence that you exude when you state your price. But it's also again, thinking of breaking the thought process of More time equals more money. And right, that is a total employee mindset thing.

Kate Kordsmeier 42:16

Yeah, such a good way to think of it. And just I always think like, think about it from your own perspective. If you were the customer and you wanted this thing done, would you care that took the person one hour or 100 hours if the result was the same? And you wouldn't, because why? Especially if you if you would care, you'd be like better if they could get it to me in an hour. Because then I have it. You know, I mean, a lot of things like I'm having my website redone right now. It's like, yeah, it's an eight week project. And I'm like, Well, I wanted it yesterday. So this is really hard. And now if I'm like, Oh, I should have found a VIP, oh, I don't think I should have found somebody else. Because I really like who I found. But you know, I

Jordan Gill 42:56

see the benefit of like, you could get it tomorrow. And how great would that be? Exactly? Like I think of one of the sleep coaches for babies and stuff. Yeah. Like, what kind of get

Kate Kordsmeier 43:08

my child sleeping now? Yeah. I don't have eight weeks to not sleep anymore. Yeah, like

Jordan Gill 43:15

I want, like lovely rest to today, like tonight and possible. So like that pain, like, people have that same pain about their websites, about their systems about their, you know, sales page coffee being written about figuring out a nutrition plan, all of those things. I think we also have a bit of knowledge bias, like, well, it's so easy for me to do, like I don't understand, like, how it could be valued at that point. Like, if it's not in that person's inner genius, then they're gonna value it very highly because right, you know, they are starting, they maybe have you know, a to z is the spectrum of like, expert, like, they may be at A, B or C. And if you're at an F and m, q, like, whatever, that's a huge gap. And so they're going to value the fact that you've gone the extra steps and miles and expertise and experience to be able to bridge that gap for them and bring them the result ASAP.

Kate Kordsmeier 44:12

Yeah, for sure. Okay, so switching gears a little bit, your business, your company is called system save me. So talk to us. I love this name so much. And obviously, your VIP days that you offer are, as you said, about systems, what it like what is systems kind of mean to you? That's like a very broad question. But I'm curious to know more specifically about what kind of systems you work with. And yeah,

Jordan Gill 44:39

yeah. So funny enough, I've changed my business name three times. This is here to stay in Rosemont. Again, at this point, this is the best name out of all of them for sure. We were

Kate Kordsmeier 44:50

laughing in a boxer thread last week about everybody was kind of going through like, oh, here's the iterations of my business and what names have been and there were some good ones in there that were Like, how did that ever make it to the table? I

Jordan Gill 45:02

know how was that like the best idea you can come up with at the time? For sure. So you know, I, the name system, say me came from a friend Actually, I hired a friend to help with my content and actually named me my podcast. And so my podcast has always been named to some saved me. But I felt like, I couldn't have the word systems in my name, because it was too broad people hate systems. And they'll hate systems. Who are these people? Again, you think through these things, and they're like, why would I think that like, That's nonsense. And so what does those mean, to me is like, they're a source of support. And I think that a lot of people think of systems as suffocation, and that your creativity will be drained, and things like that. And when you actually experience systems at their like best is such a freeing experience. Because I'm able to be more present in my life, I'm able to be more present with my clients. And those things because I'm not having to worry about these tedious other items that are floating around. And so for me, client experience, systems are my favorite because they are, like, mutually beneficial to yourself and the client, like, I get so much joy, when my students in the program, get their welcome boxes, like, I spent three months on those welcome boxes, and I put so much intentionality and sweat equity into them. And they came out exactly how I wanted them to like to a tee. And it was like, I get joy when I see them opening their boxes. And like gifts are like my lowest love language, like if your love language person, but like client experience is just one of those things that is so overlooked in business. For some odd reason. Some people have it right. Like for me, I would say client experience case studies that and companies that I really love our little Starbucks for one, I go into Starbucks, they know my name. They know my order. They know my dog, Vivian. And like, yeah, we're basically family for crying out loud. If I don't come in for a few days, I like to do on vacation. Like are you sick, like what happened? And I love Starbucks. And Southwest Airlines is another one for me which again, some people have different experiences with each of these companies, right? So I understand that. But my experience with Southwest was like I was about to have to like sleep on the airport. And they were able to reroute me when I was in college during a snowstorm and it was like, all this stuff. And I was still able to get home in time for Christmas. And like that stays with me forever. And like, if Southwest doesn't fly there, I don't go there. Which, you know, with Europe and stuff, I do have to fly somebody else because Southwest can fly there. But everywhere else. Like literally I love Southwest Airlines so much that my parents lived about two hours from the near Southwest airport. You girl was flying Southwest. And then my parents were coming to drive two hours to get me like that's how hardcore I am love family. Yeah, y'all need to come get me because I'm on Southwest. So that's the kind of stuff that really fuels a business. Because if you treat your clients and your, you know, customers really well, then they will stay with you for life. Like they will make their parents you know, drive two hours back to pick them up. Because they want to fly that airline they want to drink that camo macchiato they want to, you know, be able to take anything and everything back to nordstroms. Like, it matters. And I think that especially being a small business owner, it can be tricky to feel like, okay, cool, like Starbucks and southwest Nordstrom have all the money in the world, they have 1000s of employees, how could I possibly compete and that's where you just have to be really intentional. And think about the experience that you're giving your clients, the thoughtfulness that you're putting into your services. That's really what makes a difference. So for me, I love all the systems like you know, I can geek out on all of them. And I would say that that client experience customer experience systems are my absolute favorite.

Kate Kordsmeier 49:21

Yeah, yeah. And I love what you said about some people feel like stifled by systems. But in my experience, I feel like when I have a good system in place, it's actually what like liberates me to be creative to do the things that I'm really passionate about. And that bring me joy and light me up. And because I'm not stuck in the details of like having to figure you know, it's like it's done. And especially like if you can get an automated system where I literally don't have to do anything like

Jordan Gill 49:48

Sign me up. Yeah, like that's the warm and cuddly right there. When you get automation. It's like oh man, like any better than this.

Kate Kordsmeier 50:00

Love. There's a few women in our group thread that will like geek out over like, Guys, I set up an automation for this. And now I don't have to do anything. It just happens in the background. We're all like, have a little mini. Yeah. I love it. Alright, so we're coming up on the end here, before we go tell everybody where they can find you.

Jordan Gill 50:20

Absolutely. So Instagram is my jam at some saved me. And that's plural systems, because it's just not one system that comes in. And then also, I have a podcast, obviously, your podcast listener, you can go listen as to some saved me on all the platforms. And then my website is just systems a me.com. And you can find quizzes, you can find freebies, you can find all sorts of goodies on the website. So I would say those three places are probably the best. Awesome. Okay, so

Kate Kordsmeier 50:53

we always finish the episode with a quick lightning round of questions. So just first thing that comes to your mind, what is your favorite way to make time for self care?

Jordan Gill 51:03

Oh, I do have a standing Monday massage. That is imperative to like, truly, and I know that like it's a cliche one or whatever, because people like massages, bubble baths, stuff like that. But massages for me are the reset that I need before I start my week, get rid of whatever happened the past seven days, reset and move forward for the next week. Yeah,

Kate Kordsmeier 51:31

so good. What is one tool or strategy that you use to help with time management?

Jordan Gill 51:36

Hmm. For time management, we talked about this before the call Cliff up is like if it isn't an clickup, or really Google Calendar, kind of a combo of both. You girls not gonna show up the rows not gonna check it off the list because I'm a very forgetful person. And that's another thing that I love about systems is I can rest easy and not have the anxious wheel of, you know, death. I'm trying to remember everything I have to do.

Kate Kordsmeier 52:05

Yeah, so true. I'm the same way and I am constantly like, my team and I communicate mostly with boxer. And so if they're telling me to do something, I'm always like, you know, you have to make me a click up task. Because if I'm not able to do it in this exact moment, I will never remember to do it. never remember agree. Yeah. Okay, what is one of the most powerful business mindset entrepreneurial books you've read? Could be ever or even just recently? Oh,

Jordan Gill 52:33

I really like radical candor. Don't remember who the author is. And friend,

Kate Kordsmeier 52:39

somebody something for something, Scott, Francis Scott, I don't know. I know, I know, the book you're talking about? Because this is one of my faves too.

Jordan Gill 52:46

Yeah, totally. It's, I think read. And I really like it because it promotes like, every new person that comes into my team, I send them that book because, like, I'm a very direct person. And, you know, that's something that we look at when we're hiring people is like, if you are really sensitive, you probably are not gonna like be on my team, because, and not because I'm saying something direct to be hurtful. That's my mode of communication. So radical candor is a great book, for those of you who are also very similar to that. And, you know, Tim Scott,

Kate Kordsmeier 53:22

that's the author, I just googled, yes, thank you.

Jordan Gill 53:25

And that will help you with creating a culture and creating a company where like, my team members, like, if they make a mistake, they raise their hand and say, I made a mistake. And here I'm about to fix it. And here's the solution I'm going to have. And that kind of ownership is really nice. I own up to the mistakes I make, because Lord knows I made them too. So that kind of culture is one that I always want to have. So that book is a favorite.

Kate Kordsmeier 53:47

Yeah, I totally agree. And I've done the same thing. Every time I hire somebody, I have a stack of books that I give my team, but that is one of them. And I've even had like, employees after a couple months of working and be like, yeah, you weren't kidding about like the direct the directness. And the thing is, the funny thing is, well, Bernie Brown says, clear is kind and unclear is unkind. And that is totally my motto because I would much rather you know, and I'm like, it's okay, if you make a mistake. I'm not mad. I'm not like upset, I'm just going to tell you or even if it's not a mistake, it's just like, Oh, I prefer the font to be this way or whatever, like, whatever it is. Just go I would much rather just tell you, like, Why waste everyone's time beating around the bush. You're not actually protecting anybody's feelings. You're just leaving them confused. Like Wait, so so what do you want? Right? So I'm just like, yeah, and when I when I hired one of my recent employees after a month or two, she's like, Yeah, sometimes I can't tell if you're mad, and I go, Oh, you would know if I was mad. Yeah, I would just come out and say, I'm freaking pissed. And let's resolve this. So if I'm just saying like, hey, thanks. But can we do it this way instead, like, my only thought is I have a vision. Let's do it that way.

Jordan Gill 55:00

Yeah, exactly. Keep it keep it very straightforward. I love that Bernie brown quote for sure. I'm gonna definitely explain that to my team. And seven. What's interesting is we did a disc profile team development session. And I was the only D, which is like the dominant decisive person. And I, it was interesting to get the feedback that my team, well, are less decisive as me, but that they actually appreciate my decisiveness, and that it actually makes them feel really safe and secure. And so I was Yeah. Oh, that's good. quite good.

Kate Kordsmeier 55:38

Yeah.

Okay, cool. So let's say, Okay, do you have a mantra, or an affirmation or anything you're telling yourself these days? Oh,

Jordan Gill 55:48

you know, one that I just continued to say, since the beginning of my business is just bet on yourself. Because, you know, oh, we're all doing stuff that we've never done before. A lot of times, and it can be like, you know, you can kind of start to be like, Oh, you know, that makes me a bad leader, or I'm not doing the best, you know, I'm not leading in the best way possible. And, for me, I have to just recognize that I am doing the best that I can. And I'm continuously learning and getting feedback. And that no matter what, like I can bet on myself to get things done to find the right hires to take care of our clients, and just know that I'm always going to figure it out. Like there is no plan B or C for me, when it comes to my business. And it's always been that way. Like are those those there are definitely days where it's like, it'd be nice to just bartend at Starbucks, and like, my venti, and just like, be chill. Yeah. But like, I, I know that my business was going to succeed, even when it didn't feel like it, or I didn't have the, the data to back that up. And so, for me, that's always something I'm telling myself as bet on yourself. Like, it's all you and, you know, if you don't know what right now, you will know it. And to not feel like, you know, you should know things or you have to know things before you do them. Yeah, you have to kind of kick your perfectionism to the curb, which is difficult for me as an enneagram. One. But I've gotten a lot better at it, for sure. Yeah.

Kate Kordsmeier 57:29

I love that. And the kind of what we tying back to what we said earlier, like, if you're not going to bet on yourself, then who else was going to And so again, so important. Okay, last question. Obviously, the podcast is called Success with Soul. What does Success with Soul mean to you?

Jordan Gill 57:46

Yes, I truly believe that if you are not getting joy out of your business, then you need to take a look. Because your business is not should not be the only thing that fulfills you in life. But it should absolutely benefit that side of things. Because, for me, I really think about like how much soul and energy and excitement that I put into my business. And success builds when you continuously do that over and over and over again. So I love your podcast. And that really what it. What it means to me is that if you're taking steps in your business that don't feel light to your soul and excite your soul, then you're not doing it wrong, but you're doing it you're doing yourself a disservice, honestly. So that's kind of what it says to me is always do a soul check. Always do a gut check. And if it doesn't feel good, then stop doing it.

Kate Kordsmeier 58:53

Yeah, so good. Thanks for being here. Jordan. Thank you so much for having me, Kate. This was awesome. Wait a minute. I know I know you're eager to get back to your life. But before you turn off this episode, I want to share something super quick with you. I know you're probably sick of hearing other podcasters ask you to leave reviews. But here's the deal. If you like a podcast, and you want them to be able to continue delivering you free episodes every week, we need your support. If you subscribe on the apple podcast, Google podcast, app, Spotify, or wherever you listen, it makes it possible for me to continue to provide free helpful content and bring you amazing guests. And if you take it one step further by giving us a rating and review with your honest feedback, we can improve better serve you in the future. And you could even be featured on a future episode during our listener spotlights. Because if we don't get the reviews, we don't get the rankings and it makes it a lot harder to continue justifying the cost and time expense of producing a podcast every week and convincing amazing guests to come on the show. And of course your Use are super helpful and motivating to me personally and I love hearing from you

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