PP 071: Using the Right Tools

Quick Show Notes: Using the Right Tools

Upgrading to a higher level of tool just because others are using it doesn’t guarantee success in our own business. In this episode, I share how using the right tools – often our own heart and head – can allow us to be successful.

Episode Transcription

Using the Right Tools

Today’s episode is inspired by something that we went through in my house just yesterday, actually.

We had a windstorm go through our area of Ohio this past week, and the wind blew down a major segment of fence in our back yard. My husband Dave was out there fixing it yesterday — in very cold weather — and while trying to get his hand out of his coat sleeve he accidentally flung his wedding band off his finger. He and I and our two older boys searched for a while to find the ring. And by a while I mean well over an hour. We couldn’t find it.

Not knowing of any other options, I put a call out on our local nextdoor.com site for anybody who had a metal detector that we could borrow. I’ll circle back around to what happened with Dave’s wedding band in just a moment.

Using the Right Tools

I’ve noticed that a lot of people in the small business space sometimes think that if they have this tool or that tool or any of the tools that the people that they see reaching high income levels have, they believe that they will also reach that same level of success. From personal experience, just having the tool is not going to make a world of difference in your business. It’s everything else that you have going on in the background.

What are your products? What are your services. Are you connecting with your ideal audience? Sometimes, yes, these tools will help you connect and will help you build out everything you are trying to offer, but upgrading a tool that you already have just to upgrade it because other people have is not always the best reason.

Using the Right Tools

I’m going to use an example that’s really pertinent in my business. I am an Infusionsoft™ Certified Partner. For those of you who are not familiar with Infusionsoft™ is a CRM that allows subscribers to maintain records on all of their contacts to process sales and invoices, to build a sales team, and also to set up elaborate email campaigns — whether just one broadcast which is a single email or a continuous flow of emails — based upon activities that the subscribers take.

I’ve come across a lot of people who think that purchasing Infusionsoft and upgrading from a less expensive model like Constant Contact or MailChimp is going to make a world of difference in their business. In full disclosure, I love when people purchase Infusionsoft through me because I do receive a recurring monthly commission off their subscription. And I also charge for Kickstart which is the mandatory training that all new subscribers have to have to ensure success.

However, the last thing I want to do is sign up somebody who really is not ready for the system and can’t afford it. Just because you upgrade from a tool like MailChimp to a tool like Infusionsoft™ doesn’t mean you’re gonna skyrocket your business today or tomorrow. Using the right tools can often mean using what you already have to the best of your ability.

Using the Right Tools

Circling back around to Dave and his wedding band, we did have an awesome neighbor in our neighborhood have a metal detector and respond to my post, and we were able to borrow it without any charge. I thought that was fantastic considering we didn’t even know the person.

Dave and my son Robert went into the backyard and used the metal detector for maybe 15 minutes. Using the metal detector, they did find a matchbox car, however they did not find Dave’s wedding band. Amazingly enough, Dave found it with his eyes after the sun made it reflect back up to him.

The metal detector was nowhere close.

Using the Right Tools

Whether in life or business sometimes we just have to use our heart and our head without any additional tools to propel ourselves forward. If you’re contemplating renting or borrowing or upgrading a tool that you currently have, think about it with your heart and head before you make any purchase decisions. Are you ready for that next level of tool or are you getting it just because everybody else has it?

Remember, using the right tools doesn’t always require additional money. YOU are often the only tool you need (no offense).

Until the next episode, I hope you have a positive and productive day.