The secret history of the Byrnes | Ft. Alex Byrne


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My family is a strange one.  Don’t get me wrong, I love all of them but – it’s complicated.  My brother hasn’t spoken to me in years. Now Kevin isn’t speaking with his daughter Alex because she’s working with me.  There’s a lot more to it than that, of course, and that’s what today’s episode is all about.

Together Alex and I try and excavate some of the stranger aspects of the Byrne clan.  We discuss our incredible talent for grudge holding. And we discuss why it’s so complicated when you try and mix business and family.

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timbyrnealmostlive

Twitter: https://twitter.com/timbyrnealmost

Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmostLive

Coworking is the future of office space | Season 4 Episode 21


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Change is the only thing you know for certain in business.  Everything is constantly shifting and you have to be keenly aware of those changes if you’re going to succeed.  Take office space for example. For decades we have been installing glass in some of the biggest offices in the country.  But that industry is in the midst of some serious disruption. The rise of the gig economy means there’s are literally hundreds of thousands of people who need office space.  It would be way too expensive for each person to rent on their own. That’s where co-working comes in. These ad hoc office spaces are now in every major city on the planet. And they are making things very uncomfortable for traditional management companies. 

My guest this week is Dale Hersowitz the VP of coworking for Yardi.  They are one of the biggest software companies for property managers and are making big waves in the coworking space.  Things are always changing but that doesn’t mean you have to be left behind!

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timbyrnealmostlive

Twitter: https://twitter.com/timbyrnealmost

Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmostLive

Day in the Life with Tim Byrne | Episode 1


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Chronicling the every day story of Tim Byrne, getting an insight on his life surrounding the Tim Byrne Almost Live Podcast, family life and friends, his companies ByrneOnDemand and Stadia Glass & Door. Catch the Day in the Life episodes released every other Wednesday opposite from the podcast episodes.

How to give your kids a killer instinct with Adam Bartman | Season 4 Episode 18


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“You’re never going to survive”.  Those were the words of encouragement I received at the young age of 20 years old.   I was broke. Like broke, broke. I had just recently left my Dad’s company to strike out on my own.  And things weren’t going well. I was on a job site early in the morning when a colleague of my Dad sidled up beside me.  

“Tim,” he said.  “You’re an idiot and you’re never going to survive.” 

I’d like to tell you that I told him to shove it but I didn’t.  I went back to my car and burst into tears. But looking back it was a good life lesson.  It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there and you have to be tough to survive.  

I’m joined this week by Adam Bartman, co-founder of ReedWater.io.  The company is on the bleeding edge of water management technology.  His products allow plumbers and building managers to be able to quickly identify leaks and other problems and shut them down.  Together we talk about our respective origin stories and how we’ve survived the many hardships of running a business.

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timbyrnealmostlive

Twitter: https://twitter.com/timbyrnealmost

Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmostLive

How to stop growth from eating your profits with Doug Macy | Season 4 Episode 17


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I’ve seen huge growth year over year. I’m incredibly fortunate but that growth comes at a cost. Any business that encounters explosive growth can begin to outgrow their cash flow. My rule of thumb is that once you start growing above 20% you run a real risk of hitting a cash crunch. Most sole proprietors make up for that deficit by cutting their own paycheque. I’m joined once again this week by Doug Macy, owner of Trust1 Security. Together we discuss the best strategies for dealing with growth. Doug and I discuss how to manage your accounts receivable to ensure that you don’t grow yourself out of business.

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INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timbyrnealmostlive

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How to bring positive energy into your business with Doug Macy


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You’ve done it before.  Everyone has. Someone has treated you badly so you do the same to someone else.  Maybe your wife yelled at you in the morning so you snap at a co-worker. Or you lose a client so you yell at your kid.  Here’s the question. Why do you have to take somebody else’s negative energy?

My old friend Doug Macy from Trust 1 Security joins me this week to answer that question.  We discuss why keeping a balance of negative and positive energy in your life and your business is so important.  

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timbyrnealmostlive

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FACEBOOK: http://www.Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmostLive

Marketing secrets that will unleash your business | Season 4 Episode 14


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Your company is your baby, it’s your child.  When you first start out you stress out about every little thing.  But what often gets missed is advertising and marketing. A lot of people will come to a big trade show like PM Expo and expect to make a ton of sales.  That’s a mistake. Trade shows are not about selling. They are about brand awareness. Full stop. Can you connect with another human in 10 seconds and make sure that they remember you?  That’s easier said than done.

Today on the show I’m joined once again by Anthony Vinzi owner of Promain Exterior Maintenance.  We break down the easy ways to make an impact for your company.

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timbyrnealmostlive

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Government doesn’t create jobs, stupid! | Season 4 Episode 12


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I think government is terrible at managing the economy. Despite politicians constantly rattling on about how many jobs they created the truth is they don’t. Businesses create jobs. As far as I’m concerned government should just get out of the way. Every time they try to interfere in the economy the results are underwhelming at best or straight-up catastrophic at worst. I’m joined once again this week by the mayor of Barrie, Ontario. Jeff Lehman doesn’t agree with me about everything. But we do get into a really powerful discussion about the proper role of government in the economy. The sparks start to fly in this one!

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TWITTER: https://twitter.com/timbyrnealmost

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CNN: Chuck Nervick Night | Season 4 Episode 10


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This going to be such an incredible event. MediaEdge Communications Inc. is hosting an evening of incredible food and drinks at Elephant & Castle. Just a short walk from Buildings Canada and #PMExpo. It starts at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, December 4th!

This night was built for The Canadian #RealEstateIndustry. I’m going to be hosting a special recording of the show featuring your comments, complaints and compliments. Hope to see you there! #CNN #ChuckNervickNight

Social Media meets the trade show floor | Season 4 Episode 9


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It’s time once again for another trade show!  I know what you’re thinking, oh god no.  Trade Show’s have become a part of life for most of us in building management and construction industries.  But most of us hate them.  Long hours and pricey registration fees leave many wondering why they even bother.  Especially, if you don’t get any business out if it!

But that’s the problem.  You shouldn’t be going to a trade show expecting to make millions in new business.  That’s not what they’re for.  This year at PM Expo I’m going to be podcasting live on the floor Dec 4-6 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.  I’m going to be talking a lot about the real reason why you need to be at major trade show’s like PM Expo.

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INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timbyrnealmostlive

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/timbyrnealmost

FACEBOOK: http://www.Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmostLive

Why insurance companies are like the mob | Season 4 Episode 7


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I know what you’re thinking.  Today’s title makes it sound like I’m going to be talking smack about the insurance industry.  Well, let me assure you.  I am.  Well, not exactly. 

You see when I was talking with Michael Morozov recently.  Michael owns Aurum Window Washing .  We started talking about using insurance companies in creative ways.  He revealed he insures all his bad debt with a French insurance giant.  He let’s them worry about any clients that have flaked on their invoices.  Its such a better use of his time.  Instead of chasing people around to pay their bills he lets one of the biggest insurance companies in the world take care of it.  And when people hear that a huge multinational owns their debt – they’re going to be much more likely to pay.

I love making the system work for my business!  I think you’ll get a lot out of this episode!

The one reason why you should never work with your wife | Season 4 Episode 6


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I had to learn this one the hard way.  Working with your partner can be extremely difficult.  To put it bluntly, it’s hard to be intimate with someone you’ve been arguing with all day.  That’s not to say it’s impossible.  My guest this week Michael Morozov from Aurum Window Cleaning disagrees with my assessment.  The two argue about what “work-life balance” really means.  It’s not always so cut and dry!

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INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timbyrnealmostlive

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/timbyrnealmost 

FACEBOOK: http://www.Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmostLive

Is Salesforce really worth 20k a month? | Season 4 Episode 5


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I love young entrepreneurs.  They inspire me.  I started my business when I was young.  But I made a ton of mistakes along the way.  It took my a long time to become a success.  That’s why I’m so impressed when I meet a young person who is already a success.  That’s why I wanted to invite Michael Morozov onto the show this week.  Michael founded his company when he was still in University.  By his second year he was making over six figures.  Now his business Aurum Property Care is one of the largest window cleaning companies in North America.

In this episode Michael and I talk about how he managed that explosive growth.  He reveals why he had to design his own software system to manage all the moving parts of his buisness.  That investment cost nearly $500 thousand.  Eventually his company outgrew that system.  So he decided to move to Salesforce instead.   That decision wasn’t easy.  And it wasn’t cheap.  So was switching to Salesforce worth the expense?  Find out more!

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INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timbyrnealmostlive

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/timbyrnealmost 

FACEBOOK: http://www.Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmostLive

Tim loses his mind while giving sales advice | Season 4 Episode 4


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It’s time for a little Timology!  Today I’m talking about preparing for the worst.  Every salesperson has heard the same things.  “Your price is too high” or  “I can’t understand your quote.”  There’s a laundry list of excuses that you have to contend with.  Instead of dreading those moments you need to come prepared!  I’ve developed some perfect comebacks to each and every one of those annoying excuses!

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INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timbyrnealmostlive

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/timbyrnealmost 

FACEBOOK: http://www.Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmostLive

Do you really need to go to school? | Season 4 Episode 3


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Friends, let me say it this clearly.  University is a giant waste of money!  Well, not always, of course.  If you’re a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer after spending $75 thousand that’s probably a wise investment.  But what I’m talking about is the BA in Lithuanian basket weaving that costs your parents more money than their first house.  It’s a degree in sweet fuck all as far as I’m concerned!

Today on the show we debate the merits of a post-secondary education.  We discuss why I think you learn way more in the real world than you ever could in a classroom.  Not everyone agrees with you, mind you.  I’d love to hear your opinions!

Guest: Dylan Gosine

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INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timbyrnealmostlive

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FACEBOOK: http://www.Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmostLive

 

Tim reveals his darkest secrets | Season 4 Episode 2


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Have you ever heard the term TMI?  As in, too much information?  TMI could be the subtitle of today’s episode.  I share some of the weirder stories from my childhood growing up in small town Ontario.  Have you ever wondered why they put those locks on the water coolers at the golf course?  I may be directly responsible.

I also share how my family ended up in the glass business.  The story is a pretty interesting one and involves Ireland, Egypt and a somewhat questionable relationship with government regulators.

The reason why I like to share the more unsightly parts of my history is simple.  I want people to know that it’s possible to be a massive screw-up and still make it.  It gives hope to everyone!

Guest: Dylan Gosine

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INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timbyrnealmostlive

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/timbyrnealmost 

FACEBOOK: http://www.Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmostLive

S03E31 – Tim vs. Corporate Bullshit – SEASON 3 FINALE!


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I have a serious allergy.  I’m allergic to bullshit.  BS is everywhere in business.  Most sales people talk like they have a PhD in bullshit. I couldn’t just release this episode without some kind of commentary.  I’ve peppered the interview with some reactions recorded after the fact.

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timbyrnealmostlive

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/timbyrnealmost 

FACEBOOK: http://www.Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmosLive

S03E30 – How to do all your business from your dock


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If your software doesn’t make my life easier than I don’t want it.  There are a ton of technology solutions out there.  But more often than not they are a HUGE pain in the ass!  Especially if you have multiple systems that don’t work with one another.  My goal is to do all my work from my phone.  On my dock preferably.  If your software doesn’t have a smartphone app I don’t want anything to do with it.

I talked with a lot of people with fancy new tech solutions at the REMI Show.  Very few impressed me.  That’s why I liked Jill Kegler so much.  Jill works with DoubleA Solutions.  They have a bunch of products under their umbrella – including sales software, phone auto-dialer and a VoIP software.   All of them are intended to make you work work less while producing more.

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timbyrnealmostlive

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/timbyrnealmost 

FACEBOOK: http://www.Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmosLive

Who left the damn lights on? with Peak Power


I don't know when it happened. But at some point saving the planet became all of our responsibilities. That's a big ask. But climate change is getting harder and harder to ignore. Becoming more energy efficient is a big piece of this puzzle. It's also a no-brainer for businesses. That's why I invited Lucy Fan from Peak Power onto the show this week. Her company provides battery storage solutions and real-time energy analytics for big commercial buildings. It's an easy solution to a big problem INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timbyrnealmostlive TWITTER: https://twitter.com/timbyrnealmost  FACEBOOK: http://www.Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmosLive

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I don’t know when it happened. But at some point saving the planet became all of our responsibilities. That’s a big ask. But climate change is getting harder and harder to ignore. Becoming more energy efficient is a big piece of this puzzle. It’s also a no-brainer for businesses. That’s why I invited Lucy Fan from Peak Power onto the show this week. Her company provides battery storage solutions and real-time energy analytics for big commercial buildings. It’s an easy solution to a big problem.

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timbyrnealmostlive

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/timbyrnealmost 

FACEBOOK: http://www.Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmosLive

S03E28 – “Why the f*ck would I want a smart bathroom?”


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If there was one common theme at this year’s REMI Show it was technology.  Tech vendors have every imaginable solution for building managers.  Some make sense.  Others…not so much.

One of the more interesting attempts is a joint effort by paper giant Kimberly-Clark and Gojo, the inventors of Purell.  They want to create a smart bathroom.  Yes, you heard me right.

The idea is to add internet connected sensors to things like paper and soap dispensers.  No more waiting for complaints from irritated clients to fix the shitter.  Not a bad idea.  But I was skeptical.  The guys from KC and Gojo tried to make the case for why the initial investment is worth it.

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INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timbyrnealmostlive

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/timbyrnealmost 

FACEBOOK: http://www.Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmosLive

S03E24 – The Oracle Speaks with John Mollenhauer


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When John Mollenhauer speaks, I listen.  And so should you.  John has been working in the Toronto construction industry for decades.  Since becoming CEO of the Toronto Construction Association 13 years ago he has become something of an oracle.  I invited him back on the show this week to hear his thoughts on the state of the economy.  I boldly predicted earlier this year that we were headed for a recession.   That hasn’t happened yet and John tells me why.  We also talk about:

  • The state of the Canadian and US construction industries
  • Why gold is topping $1400 an ounce
  • Whether Trump and Trudeau will get re-elected
  • Why construction companies are so terrified of new technology

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INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timbyrnealmostlive

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/timbyrnealmost 

FACEBOOK: http://www.Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmosLive

S03E23 – Cash Crunch – How to survive when your clients don’t pay


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It’s every contractors worst nightmare. Your client isn’t paying. So, what do you do? The practice of big companies delaying payment to their contractors has become so widespread that it’s threatening the survival of a lot of small businesses. In today’s episode I talk about the problem with Doug Macy from Trust 1 Security. I share some horror stories from my 35 years in business. Including the story of what happened when I put a lien in a building owned by one of the biggest developers in Toronto. It wasn’t pretty!

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INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timbyrnealmostlive

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/timbyrnealmost 

FACEBOOK: http://www.Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmosLive

S03E21 – Fake Savings, Fake News


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Work order management is a scam. There I said it. 3rd party work order management software has become standard in the construction and property management industries. I think it’s done nothing but cost companies money and slowed down the entire process. I’m joined this week by Ron Rau from Phoenix Energy technologies and Chris Blount from Filtrex. Together we discuss how to fix this broken system.

S03E20 – How to create a business that lasts


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One question I get asked all the time is: “How did you do it?” How was I able to create a business that has lasted for so long? My guest this week has some answers. Ted Mastrucci founded American Project & Repair in Detroit 20 years ago. Together we talk about all the mistakes we made building companies made to last.

INSTAGRAM: @TimByrneAlmostLive
TWITTER: @TimByrneAlmost
FACEBOOK: Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmostLive

S03E18 – If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it


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Chris Blount is one of the best people Tim has ever met.  He loves the big guy.  Chris owns a company called Filtrex Service Group, an HVAC company based out of Oklahoma.  The company is as the cutting edge of using software to better manage building heating and cooling.  Chris is incredibly excited about what they’ve developed.  But it took a long time and a huge investment to get there.  Chris tells Tim about what he’s learned about integrating new technology into a very old industry.  And he shares his personal story about how becoming a better man led him to becoming a better businessman.

INSTAGRAM: @TimByrneAlmostLive
TWITTER: @TimByrneAlmost
FACEBOOK: Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmostLive

S03E17 – No Collusion!


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I don’t like working with people I don’t like. Period. After more than 30 years in business it’s the one thing I know for sure. You have to build a friendship with the people you’re in business with. But these days that is absolutely frowned upon.

I’m joined by Rob Atkocaitis from OceanAire to talk about this problem.  Should bringing coffee to the work-site be banned?  Can I hang-out with the people I do business with?

INSTAGRAM: @TimByrneAlmostLive
TWITTER: @TimByrneAlmost
FACEBOOK: Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmostLive

s03e16 Secrets to managing your work orders


Managing work flow has become an obsession for most companies. For good reason. Getting high-quality information before you arrive at the job site can make a huge difference. Increasingly businesses are turning to third parties to manage their work orders. Today on the show Tim is joined by Patrick Griffith from CMI Mechaincal to talk about why that is a very bad idea. INSTAGRAM: @TimByrneAlmostLive TWITTER: @TimByrneAlmost FACEBOOK: Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmostLive

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Managing work flow has become an obsession for most companies.  For good reason.  Getting high-quality information before you arrive at the job site can make a huge difference.  Increasingly businesses are turning to third parties to manage their work orders.  Today on the show Tim is joined by Patrick Griffith from CMI Mechaincal to talk about why that is a very bad idea.

INSTAGRAM: @TimByrneAlmostLive

TWITTER: @TimByrneAlmost

FACEBOOK: Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmostLive

S03E10 – Unions, Carbon Tax and Lack of Labour


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I always get into trouble when I talk about politics. But this week I just couldn’t resist. There are big changes afoot in Canadian politics that I just had to comment on.

I invited Julie Kwiecinski, the Director of Provincial Affairs, Ontario at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business onto the show this week.

The new Ontario government is changing the way municipalities contract construction companies making it easier for non-union companies to get work. We talk about why that’s a good change for businesses like Stadia.

We also debate the effectiveness of a carbon tax. I argue that it’s manufactures not consumers that should have to bear the brunt of reducing our carbon footprint. Not everyone is going to like this conversation but it is going to get you thinking!

S03E09 – Tim’s Small Business Secrets


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My god, have I made mistakes.  It’s the one thing that should be crushingly obvious to any listener of this podcast.  I’ve blown up marriages, businesses and my relationship with my brothers.  But through it all I’ve built two multi-million dollar companies that have survived far longer than I ever expected.  I want to share some of the things that I’ve learned along the way.  It’s the whole reason this show exists.

In today’s episode I’m joined again by Nikki Pett.  We talk about the dangers of working with family, how to negotiate and why self-awareness is the only way to truly succeed.

 

INSTAGRAM: @TimByrneAlmostLive
TWITTER: @TimByrneAlmost
FACEBOOK: Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmostLive

S03E08 – The REMI Show: A fresh face for trade shows


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I love that the Real Estate Management Industry and ISSA are hosting a trade show in June.  Property managers know that it’s the spring and summer when they start to think about their year end purchases.  So gathering together some of the biggest players in the industry to sell their wares is going to be awesome.

This week I’m joined by Chuck Nervick from Media Edge, the company hosting the show.  Chuck has put the REMI Show together in a very short amount of time and has been doing an incredible job.  In this episode we talk about the future of marketing in the digital age and how the old trade show pitch just doesn’t work anymore.  We also talk about the best ways to prepare your business for an economic downturn. (HINT: It’s all about marketing!)

S03E07 – Work Hard, Play Hard: Work life balance


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I’m a firm believer in working hard and playing hard.  To illustrate that point I recorded this week’s episode while hiking near Mont Tremblant, Quebec.  I was joined by my two favourite girls, my wife Allie and “step-daughter” Alex Byrne.

As we snowshoed through the fresh snow we talked a lot about what mattered in life.  I don’t need my people to work 100 hours a week.  I need them to do a good job.  I run a task oriented business that emphasizes success over punching a clock.  Too many businesses are exactly the opposite.

S03E04 – Women Are Better


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Things are changing in the trades. It’s still rare to find women working in construction or as an electrician. But there are some and the numbers are growing.

This week Tim speaks with two of these trailblazers. Both Stephanie Brown and Trish Mickelson trained at Skills College Canada as electricians. That’s where Tim spoke with them about everything from sexism on the job site to the struggles of finding a clean bathroom. This one is not to be missed!

S03E03 – Skilled Trades College: Having the skills to pay the bills


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I hated school.  I was dyslexic and wrote backwards.  I was always made to feel like an idiot.  When I was 15 I left and never came back.  It took me years to realize that I wasn’t stupid.  I eventually came to realize that the problem was with the school – not me.  I was thinking about that recently while touring the Skilled Trades College campus in Vaughan, Ontario.  My friend Ralph Cerasulo founded STC a decade ago to provide a place for young people to get the skills they need to succeed.

When I was a kid there was a “trades” school for teenagers that was universally regarded as the place where the dumb kids went.  In some ways that perception of the trades has never really went away.  A university degree is the holy grail for many parents who push their kids into getting one no matter the cost.  But the irony is the best way to become one of the top income earners in this country is to enter the trades.  Kids with  four year bachelor degrees often find themselves unemployable and laden with debt.

In this episode Ralph and I talk about why the education system is letting kids down and why the trades are so important.  It’s one of the best conversations I’ve ever had.  And, I think, it’s one of the most important.  STC is an amazing place and I think you’re going to be as impressed with it as I am.

 

S02E27 – What the hell is a building consultant anyways?


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Of all the job titles Tim has heard thrown around over the years “building consultant” is definitely the most confusing. Stephen Emberley from Tri-Tech Pinnacle Group is here to explain. Together, Tim and Steve talk about why so many job sites are torn apart by internal bickering.  They also debate the importance of firing clients who aren’t working out.

INSTAGRAM: @TimByrneAlmostLive
TWITTER: @TimByrneAlmost
FACEBOOK: Facebook.com/TimByrneAlmostLive

 

S02E25 – Why being an asshole is bad for business


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Tim is joined this week by Doug Macy from Trust 1 Security. The pair talk about how to create a unique identity in a crowded marketplace. Tim has tried to center his business around his own personality. Making yourself the brand is a great way to generate some name recognition but it has it’s downsides too. Doug thinks Tim has succeeded because he is fiercely loyal and refuses to abandon his friends when time’s get tough. “If someone falls and your don’t offer a hand, you’re just an asshole.” Tim says.

SOCIAL: @TimByrneAlmostLive
WEBSITE: TimByrneAlmostLive.com

S02E23 – What Keeps Every Business Owner Up at Night with Sanj Patel


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Striking out on your own can be terrifying. It’s way easier just to stick with an employer and collect a cheque. Today on the show Tim talks with Sanj Patel, the owner of Ignis Building Solutions in Toronto. Tim and Sanj are on opposite ends of the entrepreneurial spectrum. Sanj is just starting out while Tim has been in the game for decades. Their conversation is going to be super-interesting to anyone thinking about starting their own business.

S02E22 – Cushman and Wakefield with David Anderson


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David Anderson has worked for decades in the property management and acquisition business. He’s the perfect bellwether to figure out the state of the economy. He and Tim debate the likelihood of a recession and where the industry is headed.

S02E21 – Death of a Salesman with Andy Rutledge


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Being a salesman sucks. Especially if you’ve just started in a new territory or with a new company. By month six you’re ready to quit. You’re depressed. You’re frazzled. You have no one to turn too. Now you do. On today’s episode Tim shares how you can get over the hump and really succeed.

He’s joined this week by Andy Rutledge, a relatively new salesman at Stadia.  He is in the midst of dealing with the desert that is month six at a new sales job.  Tim provides some counsel to his younger counterpart.

The problem is that success for a sales person is hard to see in the moment.  Success means money and even if you’ve been making some deals you won’t see the fruits of that labour for at least another three months.  That means you have to have a robust sense of self.  You have to believe that you’re succeeding.  Otherwise the voices in your head are going to take over an make your life miserable.

 

S02E20 – QuadReal with Cheryl Gray Part 2


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Cheryl Gray is a titan in the Toronto real estate industry. In the second part of our conversation we discuss the looming recession and about how to build real relationships in a digitized age.

I was also extremely eager to talk with Cheryl about how young companies can get a foothold in the industry. Cheryl is untouchable to the average trade or vendor. She explained how an up-and-coming company can get the attention of a big player like Quadreal. This is must have information for start-up companies!

S02E19 – QuadReal with Cheryl Gray – Part One and Two


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I actually got goosebumps when my guest this week agreed to appear on the show.  I’ve know Cheryl Gray for something like 30 years now.  Over that time she has become one of the most powerful women in Canadian real estate.  Cheryl is an Executive Vice President at QuadReal Property Group which manages a $24 billion portfolio spread over 17 countries.

Over the first part of our conversation Cheryl and I dig into her history in the industry.  She first started in the industry in recession-plagued 1980’s Calgary.  She and her husband relocated to Toronto in the late 80’s where she began her rise through the industry.

Cheryl and I also discuss the growth of QuadReal and she details what a property manager really does.  I, of course, try to get to the truth about what a vendor has to do to develop a relationship with a company as huge as QuadReal. (Hint: BE DEPENDABLE!)

S02E18 – The Avison Young Episode with Steve Ichelson


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I’ve been looking forward to this one for a long time.  Steve Ichelson is a major player at Avison Young, the world’s fastest growing real estate services firm.  Steve is also a very old and dear friend.  Together we shine a light into some of the lesser known parts of our business.  Vendors don’t have a clue how the big property management companies operate.  Today’s show is all about changing that.  You’re going to come away with a much better understanding of how the big real estate firms operate and why they are so hard on their vendors.

 

 

S02E17 – Kevin the Goat Live At PM Expo


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Tim and Anthony are joined by a very special guest this week.  Our famed mascot Kevin the Goat joins the pair live in studio.  Kevin was incredibly well behaved for his first recording session.  While he didn’t offer many opinions he did provide us with the unforgettable image of Anthony and Kevin cuddling live on camera.

We’re just a week away from PM Expo.  We’re doing something a little different for this years trade show.  We’re going to be doing live broadcasts every day from Nov 28-30.  We’re going to be talking to a huge variety of guests from across the industry.  And we’re still hoping to convince Doug Ford to stop by for a chat.  Be sure to stop by our booth where you can watch and listen to the show being created!

S02E15 – Close Canada Post FOREVER!


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Tim is joined by Anthony Vinzi to talk about a bunch of things affecting Canadians this week.  Canada Post is in the midst of a rotating strike across the country.  This raises the question:  What’s the point of Canada Post anyway?  Our heroes talk about why small business needs to get ready for a recession.  And the pair savage Trudeau’s plan to allow the census to access your tax records.

S02E14 – Sex, Lies and Videotape


 

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For the first time ever Tim Byrne Almost live is actually live!  We broadcast today’s episode on Facebook and Instagram in real time.  It was a bit of a disaster.  We haven’t really figured out all the equipment yet.  Luckily Anthony Vinzi from Promain Exterior joined me to soften the blow.

S02E13 – Season 2 Blooper Special


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Yes, it’s time once again for my favorite episode of the season.  The blooper special lets you peek behind the curtain and reveal what total madness this podcast really is.  You see, when I first started this show I really had no idea what I was doing.  Conversations didn’t get recorded or they got recorded wrong or I recorded myself saying stuff that should never have been on the record.  Today you get a chance to hear some of the more stupendous examples of my idiocy.  I asked my editor to collect only the choicest chunks of audio stupidity.  I think you’ll enjoy!

S02E12 – The only mayor worth voting for


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Faith Goldy might be the most controversial guest I’ve ever invited on the podcast.  She is a dark horse candidate for Toronto Mayor.  But it was while working for The Rebel that she really caught people’s attention.  She outrage many with her coverage of the Chancellorsville Protests.  That ended up getting her turfed from Ezra Levent’s website   Since then she has continued to advocate for this things she feels most passionately about.

Over this episode we discuss her views on the size and scope of government, Donald Trump and what she would do as Toronto’s mayor.

S02E11 – The Battle of the Sexes


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I always start the show by saying this is your Wednesday night drive home. But tonight that’s particularly accurate. My niece Alex Byrne and I recorded this week’s episode during an interminable four hour post-thanksgiving drive. We’ve edited this episode down to just the most offensive bits so I hope you enjoy it!

We start the episode by discussing the big controversy of the day. The Brett Kavanaugh confirmation battle had just concluded at the time of this recording. Alex took a somewhat dim view of the accusers. “I felt like there was a lot of hearsay,” she said. I personally think that when someone comes out as an accuser at the height of someone’s career it’s pretty suspect.

Alex and I then started to talk about the state of the family courts, something both of us have had way too much experience with. Family law is way out of date, in my opinion. Back when my Mom divorced my Dad her biggest fear was how she was going to live. Now that’s completely flipped. It’s especially bad if you’re a business owner because the courts tend to just make up what your net worth is.

I really liked this episode even if Alex needs to work on her conversational abilities. (She’d dispute that.) Recording an interview while driving with a microphone in my hand may not be the safest thing I’ve ever done. But it worked out in the end!

S02E10 – Hotel Confidential – Cut costs while travelling for business


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Hotels are strange places.  They insist on providing all the comforts of home but everything is a little…off.  Tiny shampoo bottles, tiny bottles of booze in tiny refrigerators. If your job is anything like mine you’ve probably spent way too much in time in those weird little rooms.  After a while they start to feel more like prison cells than a home away from home. That’s why it’s so enraging when you get slapped with a huge bill after a lengthy stay. It just doesn’t seem worth it.

That’s why I invited some experts on all things hotel on the show this week.  Sara Pezza and Eric Barber both work sales for Realstar Hospitality.  The company operates several hotel chains including Days Inn.  What does a salesperson do at a hotel company, you ask?  They get people into those rooms that what! In Sara and Eric’s case that means working with businesses that need a lot of rooms for a long time.  That means oil, paving and construction companies.

Eric and Sara deliver the straight goods when it comes to getting a real deal at a hotel.  They reveal that most of the online resale companies are owned by Expedia.  These so called “white label” sites look like different companies but almost always they are being operated by the online travel giant.  The best way to get a dea? Call the actual hotel that you want to stay at. This is especially important if you’re looking for a lot of rooms for your crew.  Hotels are more willing to negotiate price than you might think. According to Eric a hotel is much more interested in getting someone into that room.  The alternative is that they are going to lose that business to the competition.  So don’t be afraid to negotiate!

Connect

https://ca.linkedin.com/in/sara-pezza-csp-b24a162b

https://ca.linkedin.com/in/eric-barber-2612023

 

S02E09 – Tim vs. Sarah – Toronto Votes 2018


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The race to become Toronto’s next mayor is grinding towards it’s inevitable conclusion on October 22nd.  The race started with dozens of candidates. That number has been whittled down to just four viable candidates.  One of the more unexpected survivors in this political deathmatch is an unassuming house mom named Sarah Climenhaga.  Sarah doesn’t have the usual political credentials of most candidates.  That’s what made her so interesting to Tim who invited her onto this week’s episode.

Sarah is a community volunteer who is busy raising her three kids.  She worked previously with the World Wildlife Fund but wasn’t particularly political.  She decided to enter the race because she was unhappy with John Tory’s absentee governance of the city.  She is a strong believer in collaboration and doesn’t subscribe to any particular party platform.  “I agree with fair wages which is an NDP focus but I also believe in wisely spending tax money which is a Conservative principal,” she says.

Sarah’s down the middle approach flies in the face of Tim’s more libertarian ideas.  Tim is a strong proponent in reducing the size of government. He also thinks Toronto business is overtaxed, a proposition that Sarah doesn’t necessarily agree with.  She does say that the pace of decision making is far too slow at city hall.   

They say that it takes as much as $2 million to run for city hall in Toronto.  Sarah is running a campaign with far less money than that. She says her biggest strength is her ability to connect with regular voters and to actually work with people of wildly different political ideas.  We’ll find out if her platform will succeed Oct 22nd.  

S02E06 – Kicked to the Curb and Still Naked


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In the second part of Tim’s visit to the good folks at Curb Signs he takes questions from a thoroughly overwhelmed audience.  Tim’s truth bombs had left the group somewhat shaken but they were still in good spirits when the first brave member of the audience raised his hand.  

“What do you do if you have a client that obviously doesn’t like you,” they ask.  Tim loves this question because it’s one of the most common problems a salesperson has to deal with.  Tim refers to the book The Speed of Trust which he loves because it speaks directly to this issue.  People will not like. There’s no fixing it. Period. The best thing to do?  Phone your competitor and give them a heads up that there is some business for them at this company.  Your competitor will be flabbergasted but Tim believes strongly that you need to do as well with your competitors as you do with your clients.  The most important asset you have as a business is the level of trust you have in the industry.

The next question is about branding.  Years ago Tim advocated that Stadia change all their branding to pink.  They drive Pink trucks and wear pink camo shirts. Tim did this for a couple of reasons.  The first is that the colour stands out. But more importantly it makes Stadia’s workers more vulnerable in front of their clients.  Building intimacy with your clients is really hard and Tim believes the pink shirts are a simple way of doing that.

The one lesson Tim really wanted to impart to the crew at Curb Signs is that becoming a great salesperson is a lot like working out.  To get results you have to be consistent everyday. You have to setup a process that includes cold calls, appointments and social functions.  Set daily goals that will become a daily routine that will end up making shitpile of money for everyone!

S02E05 – The Naked Truth (On Being Too Expensive)


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There are few things more painful in life than being dragged into a corporate workshop.  That is until you go to a Tim Byrne corporate workshop. Instead of the usual droning on about sales projections and team building you get a Tasmanian Devil whirlwind of foul-mouthed truth speak.  The good folks at Curb Signs Inc. made the fateful decision to invite our hero to their office in Aurora to deliver a lecture on all things sales.  

“Everything you do is too expensive.”  Every sales person hears that every day.  But that’s bullshit, according to Tim. Well, most of the time anyways.  33% of the time you’re not too expensive compared to your competitor. You’re too expensive for their budget.  It’s all about how they build their budgets.  Property managers will always move numbers around to make it look like they’re saving their clients money.  Often times they will take money out of the budget for your work and stick it somewhere else – leaving you with nothing. So when they tell you you’re too expensive it has nothing to do with your estimate.  The other 33% of the time you lost the job because they don’t like you. It’s only that last 33% where you will actually lose a job because you were undercut by a competitor.

Building relationships is by far the hardest job a sales person has to master.  Sales people

will do anything to avoid having to go to yet another social function where they awkwardly stand in the corner talking to people they already know.  Those events are about building new relationships!  The easiest thing about the job is writing the purchase order or bidding the job.  Shaking hands and meeting people is fucking awful. Cold calling is the worst of the worst.  But it’s the only way you’re going to be successful so you better get good at it and quick.The only thing your organization is going to need in the next few decades is people that know how to talk to people.  Most of the jobs in big companies are going to be automated. Building relationships is the only thing matters.    

S02E04 – Two Girls and a Dog of Facilities


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Tim is outnumbered in this week’s episode.  He’s invited two superstar young women to join him for a conversation about the business of facilities management.  Kat Byrne is a familiar voice to regular listeners of the podcast.  She’s the General Manager of Byrne on Demand and has the far more difficult job of being Tim’s daughter.  Kat is joined by Angelica Levesque, a former Byne employee and now a Senior Project Manager with Promain Exteriors.   

The conversation starts with Tim marvelling at the driving habits of both his guests.  Angelica now has a company car which surprises Tim. “Haven’t both of you nearly lost your licenses?” he asks.  They have and Tim starts to say that men are better drivers than women but then stops himself. “I got stopped in Quebec last weekend going 140 in an 80 zone,” he says.  So that answers that.

Angel has mostly worked for small companies like Byrne and Promain but she does have some limited corporate experience.  A short stint pouring coffee at Tim Horton’s convinced her that there is no creativity working for a big business. Promain works with mostly with Ontario customers who often do business in Western Canada.  Angelica thinks that there isn’t the same kind of urgency in the West as there is in Ontario. Managing customer expectations is a big part of her job. All three agree that working with Canadians is way better than dealing with Americans.  It’s not because they are worse people. They just don’t understand Canada and treat their Northern stores as an afterthought.

Tim quickly becomes bored of this conversation about business and shifts the conversation to a far more interesting topic.  “Did you know that 47% of employees masterbate in the office?” he asks. The girls are astonished by that figure. It disturbing to think about in an office like BOD with 27 employees.  It’s gets far more disturbing when thinking about Promain’s office which has just 3 employees. “I don’t want to think about this,” Angelica says.

 

 

S02E03 – Touch my junk!


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Tim has an absolutely phenomenal guest in the studio this week. Not only because he’s a great guy but because the company he works for is absolutely trouncing the marketplace these days. William Stefancic is the commercial sales manager with 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Will started with the company when he was a student working in the trucks. He worked his way through the ranks and took over commercial sales when he was barely in his 30’s. The company grew quickly by focussing on the residential waste removal. Will has been tasked with putting a new emphasis on commercial customers. That’s where Tim comes in.

Tim is pretty interested in all the weird stuff William has come across during his decade with the company. The list William provides definitely meets the definition of “weird”. You can only imagine the stuff you find crawling through basements, backyards and storage spaces. “You meet a pretty wide spectrum of humanity in this job,” Will says. “Hoarders, abandoned buildings and overgrown yards are a normal part of the job.”

The Toronto franchise of 1-800-GOT-JUNK is by far the largest in the country. It was started by Paul Guy who after meeting founder Brian Scudamore became the company’s first franchisee. Unfortunately, he was in Vancouver at the time and had to drive a waste removal truck all the way to Toronto to start the business. Will finds that story particularly inspiring. When he was first starting with the company, spending his days bouncing around in a hot garbage truck, he made the decision to do his absolute best at a job that other might have found beneath them. That hard work and dedication has paid off.

If you have an office filled with old office furniture or a project manager with storage lockers filled with people’s abandoned stuff Will is your man. He and 1-800-GOT-JUNK are aggressively courting commercial customers. Tim thinks commercial leasing guys are particularly desperate for dependable waste removal. “The property manager has a huge problem finding the right labour source for waste removal,” Tim says. For one price, William says, 1-800-GOT-JUNK will sort you out.

Contact

William Stefancic
416-572-0067

https://www.1800gotjunk.com/ca_en/locations/junk-removal-toronto
https://ca.linkedin.com/in/william-stefancic-a5132aba

S02E02 – An architect’s nightmare on my street


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The relationship between architects and tradespeople is sometimes less than congenial. Today Tim tries to fix that. He’s invited Stephen Pollock, a Toronto-based architect with more than 20 years experience, onto the show. Tim asks all the questions every tradesperson has wanted to know about they guy behind the drawings.

First up is a discussion about how an architect figures out what to charge their customers. The rule of thumb is that an architect can expect to be paid between 5 to 7% of the total project cost. “I’ve never seen a project go under budget,” Tim says. People always want more than what they can afford. Stephen says the art of architecture is reconciling those differences. An honest architect will tell the client when they are not a right fit for a particular project.

Architects are expected to wear a lot of hats on any job. They need to be able to make a drawing that is on-budget and up to code Then they need to be able to work with every imaginable trade and act as advisor and therapist to the client. It’s not an easy gig.

Stephen dreams of building his firm and being able to mentor the next generation of architects. He has had plenty of bad bosses in his past and he wants to make sure that he doesn’t repeat the past.

S02E01 – We finally get paid!


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Things are about to change in the building trades. The Ontario government has decided to radically overhaul the Construction Lien Act. The first set of changes came into effect July 1st. Tim decided he needed a crash course and asked lawyer Olga Morozova to join him for a chat. Olga has worked for all levels of the construction business and knows what’s about to change.

One of the biggest changes is that, for the first time, the government mandates time frames for payment. Owners must pay within 28 days of receiving an invoice. Olga says the old days of contractors blaming the owner for lack of payment are over. Getting paid your holdback is another big issue in the trades. Because you can lien the holdback Olga is telling all her owner clients to pay that money within 60 days.

Tim wants to know why screwing over subcontractors has become so common. Tim thinks the big contractors and owners have systems in place to stop or slow payment. He once had someone inside an accounting department tell him that it was policy to reject 10% of all invoices. A lot of subcontractors are barely hanging on because giant firms aren’t paying their invoices on time. Olga says she sees this all too often. She says your first call should be to your lawyer.

Tim has only placed about three liens in 30 years of work. He’s one of the lucky ones. For a lot of companies liens are a common part of the business. The changes to the law allow subcontractors more time to “preserve” and “perfect” the lien. Olga explains those definitions to Tim and reveals why they are so important.

The changes to the act are long overdue. The last time the law was updated was over 35 years ago. Making it easier for subs to actually get paid on time will be a huge boon to the industry. Only time will tell if the law will really make those changes.

Timology 5 – The Psychology of Selling


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Selling is hard.  It’s exhausting physically.  It’s exhausting mentally. It’s not for the faint of heart.  Tim tries to drive that message home this week when he is once again joined by his sales guys Dylan and Andy.  It’s all about the psychology of selling and why the hardest part of the job is dealing with what’s going on in your own head.

The episode starts with a conversation about embarrassing yourself on the job.  You have to be prepared to do it. Tim shares just such a story. Earlier this year he met with the head of one of Stadia’s biggest clients.  The guy is a major power player in Ontario construction. He’s way too busy to be taking meetings with Tim. Yet Tim, somehow, managed to get just such a meeting.  It was a hot day. Really hot. And Tim decided to where one of his nicest shirts. It was a purple shirt. Arriving early Tim sat on the patio directly facing the scorching summer sun.  By the time the big shot arrived Tim’s purple shirt was soaking wet. The pit stains stretched down to belt. The big shot was clearly weirded out and he hasn’t taken Tim’s call since.

The point of that horror story is that you have to be prepared to look stupid.  “If you’re not putting yourself outside of your comfort zone every day you’re not going to make it,” Tim says.  It’s going to take a while to get comfortable with yourself in the job.  

 

Timology 4 – Tim’s Tips for Sales Guys


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Tim needed an audience for this week’s episode so he invited Stadia sales guys Dylan and Andy into the studio.  The three had just attended a sales seminar together.  There was plenty Tim liked about workshop but, naturally, there was also a lot he disagreed with.  So he invited the boys to join him for a post-mortem.

Tim says that a good salesman focuses on what the customer wants.  People in sales too often worry about what they want.  Dylan has been working sales for Stadia for 2 years while Andy has just started working for the company.  Tim says there are about 5 tiers of experience that a sales guy will move through during his career.  In the first 3 months of a sales career everyone is totally focused on making as much money as possible.  The problem is that creating new clients often means giving away free favours.  The problem is a new sales person has no favours to give away.  It’s all about who you know when it comes to favours.  It takes at least 2 or 3 years to get there.  Those first 3 months are a long haul.

Sales workshops always emphasize the importance of knowing everything about the product that you’re selling.  Tim thinks that’s a lot of horseshit.  You don’t need to know much about your product.  You do need to know a lot about people, the resources you have around you and how to make them fit together.  If you can put a sentence together and communicate an idea in 30 seconds or less, you’ll do just fine.  In the first level of a sales career you need to learn how to communicate, how to pick-up on social cues and begin to build your network.

As you go from level 1 to level 2 the most important thing you can do is try to gain knowledge.  That might sound easy but it’s harder than it sounds.  Most people are asking questions not to learn something but to defy authority.  Especially in a male dominated industry like construction there is a lot of bravado.  Try and shut-up and listen once and a while!  You’re going to have a meltdown around 9 months in when you realize you don’t know what you’re doing.  Read, listen to podcasts and watch YouTube videos constantly.  You have to be self-aware and be willing to recognize what you have to improve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Timology 3 – Tim’s Podcast About Podcasts


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“Why are you doing this?”  Tim gets asked that all the time.  Other business owners were totally mystified when Tim first launched the podcast.  They couldn’t understand why he would risk “offending” potential clients.  Today, Tim tried to explain.  The construction business is trapped in the past and the old methods of marketing are not working anymore.  Spending $10,000 for a booth at PRSM doesn’t make a lot of sense anymore.  If cold calling and RFPs are your only method of finding new business you’re hopelessly stuck in the past.

Podcasting offers something different.  A way to become friendly with potential client on their time.  They can listen to the show whenever is convenient for them.  So why invite other people to chat on the show?  Tim believes that a rising tide lifts all boats.  He wants to prove that this kind of marketing can work for all kinds of businesses.

In this episode Tim details the process of recording, editing and posting every podcast episode.  The cost is much less than traditional advertising methods and the potential rewards are much higher.  He urges his friends and colleagues to get out of their comfort zones and join him on an episode.  Every guest gets total control over the episode and can even scrap the episode if they don’t like it.  If the industry is ever going to join the 21st century it’s going to start with better digital marketing and podcasting is a big part of that revolution.

Timology 2 – Why selling is like dating


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In the first episode in this series Tim outlined the mathematical formula every great salesman needs to follow.  Marketing + relationships + accounting = a sale. Today he reveals the secret to building relationships. It’s a lot like dating.  Would you walk up to someone in the bar and say “Hi! I’m really good looking and I’m great in bed.”? It wouldn’t work. It’s the same in sales.  You need to form actual relationships with actual people before you can expect to sell anything.

Building a relationship starts by getting people to remember your name.  Then it’s learning the other person’s name and using it at least three times in a conversation.  You’re trying to build intimacy and that can’t happen if you don’t know the other person’s name. Tim uses all sorts of tricks to get people on the phone.  That isn’t easy these days. Try and avoid voicemail at all costs. But if you have to leave a message make sure your name and number are at the front  of the message.  Do anything you can think of to get a callback.  Tim will record happy birthday on a voicemail whether it’s the person’s birthday or not.

Long before you ever seal a deal you need to know your client.  It’s the same as dating. Most people don’t hop into bed on the first date.  And if they do it tends to be a little weird. You have to build an actual relationship before you get lucky!  At minimum you’re going to need at least four interactions with your client (lunch, phone calls, a meeting on-site) before you sign any contracts.  

Timology 1 – The Secret to Being a Great Sales Guy


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Tim is excited to launch a brand new series for the summer.  His “Timology” series will reveal the secrets of great salesman.  Tim came by this knowledge the hard way – years of failing. For over 20 years Tim scratched and crawled his way to building a successful business.  Along the way he developed a winning strategy for selling his products and services.

Tim says that three are three facets to being great in sales.  Those are relationship building, marketing and accounting. In today’s episode Tim talks about the importance of building a relationship with a client.  Tim likens building those relationships to being a successful political candidate. You have to shake one hundred hands to get one vote. The math is similar in sales.  You have to introduce yourself to one hundred people to get one sale.

Building a relationship with a client depends on personal contact.  Tim insists on taking a potential client out for a drink or a meal before taking them on.  If they don’t have time for that Tim isn’t interested in working with them. You need to become friends with your clients otherwise you won’t be able to depend on them for future business.

There is a lot of negativity around sales.  There is a common idea that sales people are scumbags who will say anything to get your money.  And to be sure there are plenty of guys like that out there. Tim takes an opposite approach. If you are the only one walking away happy you’re doing it wrong.  You don’t just bid jobs in order to bid jobs. You have a moral obligation to give the client a fair price.

Episode 21 – Blooper Special


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Tim celebrates Season 1 with a retrospective episode featuring some of the funniest, dumbest and most offensive clips from the last 20 episodes.

The episode features perhaps the most important conversation ever featured in the podcast.  Back in Episode 7 discussed where the best bathroom can be found in downtown Toronto.  Tim is immediately interested in this line of conversation having visited every public washroom in the GTA over the last 30 years. Tim excitedly describes Crown Property Management’s bathrooms near the airport which have alcohol wipes that can be used to wipe down the seat prior to use. The pair then debate which building has the best washrooms in the downtown core. For the longest time Tim used Atrium on the Bay because for years the loading dock manager would let him use the second floor washrooms. (This was before the age of the security guard, of course).

Next we return to one of the more disturbing tales ever spun on the podcast.  In Episode 8 Tim welcomed his old mentor Bill Stallon onto the podcast.  Together they recounted one of their more memorable adventures together at Beaver Valley. The group retired to a hot tub after a large steak dinner. Because no one had swim trunks that meant everyone was naked. Not having anything to drink one of the hosts offered a full bottle of XO Cognac.  After drinking the entire bottle Bill was now soundly asleep, happily bobbing in the tub.  What followed next was a heroic attempt to move the much larger Bill out of the Tim.  After dragging Bill like a corpse across a frozen threshold they left him in the laundry room. (Covered up for modesty’s sake.)

Along with these classic tales the blooper episode also features Anthony Vinzi noting that Tim looks like a vagrant and the story of Tim’s insane attempt to break the sound barrier in a brand new Porsche.  It’s been a great first season!  Hope to see you when season two gets underway in the fall!

 

Episode 18 – Suit The Hell Up! with 4 Men United


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It wasn’t so long ago that our hero wandered into a clothes shop in Woodbridge.  It’s called 4 Men United.  It’s run by four brothers born in Canada to an Italian family with a long history in the fashion industry.  Tim likes the place. It’s a much more comfortable place to shop than your average men’s store, usually populated by a hungry horde of ravenous salesman.  It’s different at 4 Men. But Tim, being Tim, quickly wore out his welcome. You see, one of the brothers sports a rather large, dark beard. The kind of beard that any Italian man might grow.  But for Tim something else came to mind.

“Hey!  Nice terrorist beard!”  He said one day while trying on a pair of slacks.

“Hey!” said the offended owner.  “I have friends who are Muslim!”

Unfazed, Tim retorted that the owner was, in point of fact, an idiot.  He was not referring to Muslims. He was referring to terrorists.

Tim recounts this story at the start of this week’s episode which features, by some miracle, two of the brothers who agreed, against their better judgement, to appear on the show.  

Alessandro and Marco are ridiculously young to be running a successful retail store.  Just 23 and 28 they learned at the foot of their father who worked in Canadian retail for decades.  After their dad’s retirement Ales and Marco, along with their older brothers Michael and Mario, struck out on their own.  The business has been operating for four years now. They’ve been incredibly successful. Just this last year alone they they did over 400 weddings.

The key to their success has been a focus on quality service.  That runs contrary to the rest of the industry which seems to focus on predatory sales tactics than actually giving the customer what they want.  All of this seems to completely bore Tim.

“Which one of the brothers has had sex in the store?” He asks.

Too professional to answer the brothers gently skirt the question.  Tim is undeterred.

“How many guys have you seen butt naked in the change room?”

Again, being professionals, neither Ales nor Marco will admit to bearing witness to any such thing.  They do, however, admit that there is a tendency among a certain kind of customer to strut around the store in their tighty whities while trying on clothes.  Most of those customers are named Tim Byrne.

Connect

https://www.4menunited.com/

 

Episode 17 – Susan Allen’s 1st Podcast featuring BOMA Toronto


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Tim is really excited for this week’s guest.  He somehow managed to convince the President of BOMA Toronto to join him on this edition.  Susan Allen has a ton of experience in building management, including a decade at Cadillac Fairview.  Tim’s been super-impressed with her work ethic for a long time and was thrilled when she agreed to appear on the show.

Susan has been in the industry for a little over twenty years.  She worked at TD Centre for about eight years and later was asked to move over to the retail side of the business.  Her first property was at Woodbine Centre which was a faltering shopping mall in Etobicoke.  She managed to turn the place around and learned a lot about retail in the process.  Moving from commercial to retail was very different. The commercial world is a lot more buttoned-down and corporate.  Woodbine depended on a lot of small businesses with very different expectations. Tim gets to brass tacks right away.

“Who pays their rent better?  Retail or commercial?” He asks point blank.

Susan is very diplomatic in her answer.  She says big corporate retailers are pretty easy to deal with because they are so stable.  The smaller mom and pop operations are often struggling and that meant Susan had to make accomodations for them.

Susan had already worked with BOMA for more than a decade before she came over to work as President.  She had left her position at Cadillac Fairview to get her MBA. Shortly after the President of BOMA left and she was asked to take over.

“Is BOMA an old boys club?” Tim asks.

When he was more involved with the organization he found it to be a pretty insular place.  Susan says they have worked very hard to change that. Every member can apply for any position now and they will all be guaranteed at least an interview.  BOMA has also been working hard to open the organization to younger professionals.

“Do women get paid less than men?”  Tim asks.

Susan says she hasn’t experienced that in her career, with the caveat that she has worked with two great companies over the years.  These days top talent is in such high demand that she would be shocked if it was pervasive practice.

“It just doesn’t make any business sense.” She says.

Tim wraps up the conversation by asking if she works more or less hours since moving to BOMA.  Her husband asked the same question. She says she’s just not wired that way. She’s always working to raise the bar higher.

“You’re a total powerhouse.” Tim says.

Connect

https://www.bomatoronto.org/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-allen-7a28a586

Episode 16 – The King Ron Rau


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TIm is coming to you one last time from the Gaylord Hotel in beautiful downtown Nashville.  The Gaylord is the site of this years PRSM conference but Tim just can’t get over that name.  

“I can’t even handle that name.” Tim says at the start of this week’s episode.

Tim’s co-host this week is Paint Chips otherwise known as Anthony Vinzi from Promain.  Paint Chips was awarded one of Tim’s famous nicknames after being interviewed on TBAL.  Anthony was so boring it was like eating paint chips thus earning his latest moniker.

Today Tim has invited Ron Rau to join him on the podcast.  Ron is an old friend and together he and Tim have been through a lot together.  Career changes and divorces are just two examples. Though Ron is quick to point out that he hasn’t been divorced yet.  Tim asks Ron how long he’s been married.

“37 years.” Ron says.

“Ugh.” Tim tastefully replies.

Tim invited Ron on the show to talk about something most of us will experience in our career.  Losing a job. Ron worked at the same company for nearly 20 years. They were in the middle of restructuring and Ron had been charged with laying-off many of his staff.  That was difficult. Then he was called into his bosses office and told he was being let go to.

Tim knows that Ron lived and breathed his job.  Getting the axe was incredibly difficult. Ron’s former company asked him to work for a few weeks more.  But then he found himself with no place to go. He was used to speed. Going fast all the time turned into very, very slow.  That took some getting used to.

Tim shifts the conversation to ethics in the retail business.  When Tim was doing work for Ron’s former company he says he worked harder than for any other client.  The reason for that was simple. It wasn’t for the money. It was because they were friends. The norm in the industry now is that vendors don’t have personal relationships with retailers.  Some retailers forbid contact at all. Companies have put in those rigid rules to prevent anyone being “on the take.” That has made the entire much more impersonal.

“I’m not sure if retailers know what they’re buying half the time!” He says.    

It’s become so extreme that showing up at a job site with a box of doughnuts is totally verboten.  Tim thinks it’s just about basic manners and politeness. Tim’s Mom taught him to show up at a friend’s house with a gift.  It’s basic human decency.

Episode 15 – Cold as Ice with Boston Rob


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Tim continues his adventures a the PRSM conference in Nashville this week.  This time he’s invited an old friend Boston Rob to join him. Oddly Rob is not from Boston originally but the nickname has stuck over the 15 years Tim has known him.  His real name is Rob Atkocaitis.

“I have a cream for that.” Tim says.

Rob has had a bunch of jobs over the last 15 years but he now works with Ocean Air AC.  They manufacture portable air conditioners and heaters.  The business has changes a lot over the last decade. In the past manufacturers would sell through a stocking distributor but now the middle man has been cut out.  Most manufacturers in the HVAC world sell direct to their customers now.

Ocean Air manufacturer makes everything in the United States making them the kind of business Donald Trump says he wants to defend.  Tariffs on foreign manufacturers would be a huge boon to their company. The HVAC market has been flooded with cheap products from Asia.  They won’t last as long as Ocean Air units but they cost less up front. That’s hard to compete with.

Rob says he is a big relationship sales guy.  He’s travelling at least three days a week to keep up his relationships with all his clients.  He’s been in the industry for so long he knows his stuff back and forth. Meeting new clients can be brutally hard and he says it keeps getting harder.  It used to be much more relationship based. Nowadays it’s all about cutting costs as much as possible. Unlike most manufacturers Ocean Air actually follows up with clients after their units are installed.  

“What’s the most embarrassing things you’ve ever done in front of a client?” Tim asks.

Rob recounts a story from early in his career.  Still in his mid 20’s went on a long day of golding with a client.  Needless to say the “golf game” was just code for a long day of drinking.  After the game he was invited back to his client’s place for a nightcap. Being a young cub he was still unaware of the dehydrating effects of alcohol.  Within minutes of arriving at the house Rob passed out. A team of paramedics arrived to cart him off to the hospital. The doctor took a battery of tests and asked how much he had to drink.  Despite being 15 or 16 beers deep he didn’t even register as legally drunk. His client was so impressed he stayed with Rob for years.

Contact Rob

http://www.oceanaire-inc.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-atkocaitis-8671a7156/

1-866-GET-AIRE

Episode 14 – The second coming of Big Chris


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It’s been a strange week in Nashville.  The PRSM conference is a lonely place for a Canadian boy like Tim Byrne.  Shunned by his American counterparts he’s been left to wander, listlessly through the dizzying array of display booths.  The PRSM crowd are a grim lot. Ashen-faced they stagger through the crowded hall with frozen smiles smashed across their dull faces. Tim starts to fear for his very soul.  Luckily, redemption is at hand. For there is one man that strides across this ocean of despair like the savior himself.

“Is that Fat Jesus?”  He asks.

Indeed it is.  Or rather it’s Christopher Blount.  President of Filtrex Services.  Chris is an old friend of Tim’s and agreed to appear on this edition of TBAL.  He earned his nickname because of his large stature and even larger beard. Being a generous soul he’s forgiven Tim for coining that hateful moniker.

Like any divine being Chris has been gifted with the power of prophecy.

“I can predict who what companies are going to make it and which ones won’t.” He says.

Everyone knows and likes Chris at PRSM but that sometimes doesn’t translate into sales.  

“Is it because your afraid to sell yourself?” Tim asks?

“Sometimes.” Chris answers.

At his first PRSM conference years ago Chris went all out.  He brought in Harley’s for prospective clients to ride. He hosted parties.  He shook every hand. And he didn’t get one piece of business. That was a big lesson for him.  He has since learned to let his technology speak for itself.

Unsurprisingly, Tim digresses from this important conversation about business.

“You’re one of the sweetest men I’ve ever met,” he says. “But you’re scary as shit from a distance.”

Chris is big and tough looking.  But it took a long time to try and portray himself in a more friendly way.  Stopping drinking was a big part of that. But so was not caring so much about what other people thought of him.

The conversation eventually drifts into politics.  Tennessee is deep Trump country and Chris is an avowed Republican.  He’s taken a lot of shit from his Democratic friends for voting for Trump but he now regrets it, admitting that he is a total embarrassment.  

The episode wraps up with a discussion about the horrors of Ron Jeremy the importance of choosing the right lane.

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http://stadia.ca/
http://www.byrneondemand.ca/

Episode 13 – Canada, what to do? Tim, Kat and Anthony in Nashville


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Tim is in Nashville this week. He’s there attending the PRSM conference. (That’s the Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association for the uninitiated.) The conference promised “The largest Multi-Site Retail & Restaurant FM Conference with best-in-class education sessions and networking events plus more than 300+ qualified exhibitors all under one roof!” But after the first full day Tim can’t figure out why he is there at all.

To get to the bottom of this he’s convened a secret late night taping of the podcast with his trusty sidekicks Kat Byrne and Anthony Vinzi. The conversation begins with a diagnosis of all that’s wrong with PRSM. For starters Tim and company feel being Canadian has put them at an extreme disadvantage. The conference is almost entirely geared to the American attendees.

“We’re like the orphaned child waiting for the scraps.” Tim says.

The other issue is that there are way more vendors than retailers. The rare retailer that does show up is quickly swarmed by twenty vendors. Kat thinks there is a much different atmosphere at IFMA events. They have a strict no selling policy and the events are much more geared to meeting new people in the industry.

“At PRSM it’s more like vultures.” She says.

Tim thinks the biggest issue is that the PRSM event is only once a year. It’s hard to build a community when you only see each other every twelve months. Tim shares the story of the early days of BOMA twenty years ago. They focused on suppliers and get them to collaborate on issues they shared in common. They also met twice a month religiously. There was only a few dozen members in those early days but that has since grown to thousands.

As the episode wraps up Kat is struggling to justify the $5000 annual fee to be a part of PRSM not to mention the $10 thousand expense of traveling to Nashville. Tim thinks that retailers should be given free memberships and the vendors should have to pay a little more.

“PRSM is dying.” Tim says.

Tim thinks they should take a step back. Meet every month. Get a drink somewhere and start slow.

“Get together the people you should. Make it regular so everyone is friend and it will evolve on it’s own.”

Episode 12 – Messed Up with Josh Stratton


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Las Vegas.  It’s a storied city.  The home of The Rat Pack, The Strip and The Bellagio.  But when Tim’s guest this week mentions that he recently returned from Las Vegas he focuses on something else entirely.

“Do you have any stories about hookers and blow?” Tim asks Josh Stratton.  

Josh is a pretty reserved member of the Stadia and Byrne on Demand team and politely declines to fuel Tim’s lascivious imagination.  Instead he shares the story of his recent divorce tour of Las Vegas. He and a friend went for dinner and drinks shortly after arriving in Sin City. They staggered back onto The Strip at the exact moment a group of parachuters landed right in front of them.  It seems a group of intrepid base jumpers took advantage of quiet Vegas night to jump off the top of a construction crane. Tim, unfortunately, is totally unimpressed by this story.

“I think you should have added some hookers, nudity and blow to that story.” He says.

Tim had to beg Josh to do this interview.  It seems that not only do Stadia’s customers think this podcast is a terrible idea, so do most of the staff.  It’s just another example of the loony owner with another dog shit idea that is likely going to sink the entire company.  Josh is used to this of course. He’s been with the company for five years.

Tim and Josh have known each other for longer than that, though.  They first met through a mutual friend named Fraser who worked at an electronics store.  Tim had done quite a bit of work for that store. But the owner was late paying the bill.  Tim rolled up on his Harley, hopped off the bike, stormed into the store and politely told Fraser that if he didn’t pay what was owed he was going to destroy every TV in the place.  Without missing a beat Fraser cut him a check and the two became fast friends. It was at Fraser’s wedding that Josh and Tim met each other. They were both getting trashed at the bar when Tim decided Josh would make a good addition to the company.  

Josh didn’t know a fucking thing about door and glass when he first joined Stadia.  Tim said not to worry about it and the he would learn on the fly. Josh did figure out the business eventually but only after more than a few mistakes.  The most famous example occurred while changing the giant windows at The TD Towers.  It was a frozen January weekend and they had to swap out a 20 foot piece of glass using the remote controlled suction gear.  The glass was out and set to be installed when the R/C unit stopped working. The glass sat hovering just a few inches off the ground for six hours as Josh desperately tried to figure out what was wrong.  In the end the solution was the same as with every piece of electronic gear. Just restart the fucking thing.

Sponsors
http://stadia.ca/
http://www.byrneondemand.ca/

 

 

 

Episode 11 – Engineering Gravity with Gord Bendus


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Tim is especially excited for this week’s guest. To be fair, he would have been excited to have any guest this week. The stunning list of people who have refused to appear on this podcast continues to grow daily. Luckily, Tim really fluked out when, for no apparent reason, wildly successful engineering wunderkind Gord Bendus agreed to be interviewed. Gord is one of the founding partners of Gravity Engineering in Toronto. The firm has racked up an impressive list of projects in just a few short years. It’s success if even more impressive when you realize that Gord is just 33 years old. He has made very few mistakes in his decade long career but appearing on this podcast is definitely one of them.

For reasons that remain unclear, however, Tim chooses to start this episode with something totally unrelated to Gord. The podcast begins with a five minute long story that some have called “shocking”. Others have denounced it as “disgusting”. The details of this story are too vile to commit to print but suffice it to say it will almost certainly end in a mass exodus of listeners and, very possibly, a major lawsuit. The story – which we will only refer to as “The Smart Car Shit Story” – is easily one of the most horrifying yet undeniably hilarious stories Tim has told yet.

The episode manages to recover after that horrifying interlude when Tim finally gets around to starting the interview. He does so in his usual tactful manner.

“I hear that most engineers are alcoholics,” he says.

“Where did you hear that?” Gord asks.

“From a bunch of engineers I know,” Tim replies

The conversation moves into the horrors of trying to recover money from clients. The engineering business is just like any trade. Having clients ghost on you happens for them too – though not nearly as often that contractors have to deal with. Tim shares a business near death experience from early in his career. After doing $140 thousand of work for a client they immediately went into receivership. Tim’s company faced insolvency and he was facing total bankruptcy. He got the money though.

“I know a guy that can collect money from anyone,” he says.

The episode ends with yet another shocking story. Tim reveals one of the few times he fired a client. Tim couldn’t stand working with the guy running the job. It was a constant battle. The guy wouldn’t stop screaming at Tim. He worked up the courage to march into his office and declare that he would no longer work for him. After leaving the office Tim realized he has left his tool belt in the office. He had to work up the courage to go back to the guys office to get his tools the following Monday. When he went back in the receptionist had a surprise. The guy had died on Friday. Needless to say Tim decided not the fire the client after all.

Connect with Gord
https://ca.linkedin.com/in/gord-bendus-p-eng-a7590355
https://www.gravityenginc.com/

Sponsors
http://stadia.ca/
http://www.byrneondemand.ca/

Episode 10 – Glass Canada Live!


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Tim travels through the heart of darkness along the 401 and finds himself in London, Ontario this week. There he meets up with the Editor of Glass Canada magazine which is the premier trade publication for the glass industry. Patrick Flannery is also the editor of Fenestration Review which puzzles Tim.

“What the fuck did you just say?” He politely inquires.

It turns out that fenestration is a fancy word for the arranging of doors and windows in a building. This comes as a big surprise for Tim. He has managed to work for over three decades in the glass and door business without ever hearing the word ‘fenestration.’

He doesn’t let that slow him down.. Soon Tim and Patrick are discussing the flood of cheap curtain walls from China. They also discuss why Chinese manufacturers have so many advantages over their less subsidized Canadian counterparts.

Soon the conversation shifts to Patrick. Tim is blunt with his questions.

“Do you know anything about the glass business?”

It turns out Patrick, unlike Tim, was spared growing up in the business. Instead, Patrick got a journalism degree which he quickly discovered was totally unusable in the mind 1990’s. He worked as a tool salesman for a number of years before inching back into writing through industry publications like Glass Canada.

Before long the pair start commiserating about the more frustrating aspects of the business. First and foremost is the difficulty of actually getting interviews.

“Do you have problems getting interviews?” Tim asks.

“It’s like pulling teeth,” Patrick says.

It seems there is a pervading culture of secrecy in the door and glass business which is utterly mystifying to both Tim and Patrick. Who told these people that never talking about your business is a good PR strategy? Patrick often encounters this when potential guests tell him they want to keep “a low profile.” A low profile from what? Are they spies?

Patrick wraps up the episode by talking about why trade print publications still have some life left in them in the age of digital media. You can’t leave an iPad on the back of the shitter at the factory. It’s as simple as that. Tim still thinks there is room for growth though. Especially if they start to include more porn in the magazine. Patrick takes that suggestion under advisement and they end the interview with a glass of scotch and a couple of cigars.

Episode 8 – Dead in the hot tub w/ Bill Stallon


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Tim was just a young pup when he met this week’s guest Bill Stallon. The BOMA lunch at the King Eddy was essential for hobnobbing back in the day. That’s where a scrappy new entrant into the construction trade first encountered a well-seasoned, construction veteran named Bill Stallin.

“I was 22 which means you were 42.” Tim tells Bill in this week’s episode.

Bill and Tim became fast friends. But Bill also became Tim’s mentor, a fact that he still doesn’t entirely understand.

“Why’d you let me hang around all the time?”

“Because I couldn’t get rid of you!”

Back then Tim had just struck out on his own and his day consisted of pounding on doors from 7 a.m. until noon, looking for new clients. Then he would find out where Bill was and the pair would commence drinking. The booze wasn’t entirely social. They both used those lunches to harangue old clients or get to know the new ones. One of their regular meeting places was the Matisse Restaurant in the Marriott Hotel. Because it was near the subway there was an open invitation for clients to meet up at 4 p.m. every Thursday. It was a great way to stay in touch with clients but it was also really fun.

“My bills for food and booze were 7 or 8 thousand a month back then,” Tim says.

Business schmoozing is nothing like it used to be. When Tim gets a request for a bid from a company that he doesn’t know he likes to call them up. He asks to take them to lunch and to fill our a credit application. Then they hang-up.

Tim uses the last portion of his conversation with Bill to talk about one of their more memorable adventures together. Tim was given a last minute invitation to join Bill and a group of other industry friends for a ski trip to Beaver Valley. The night consisted of a giant steak dinner followed by a card game. The card game went on until 2 in the morning at which point Tim found himself $10 thousand up. This despite not knowing how to play cards.

The group then retired to the hot tub. Because no one had swim trunks that meant everyone was naked. Not having anything to drink one of the hosts offered a full bottle of XO Cognac. It was 30 below that night so one has to imagine four pasty white construction guys bobbing naked in a steaming hot tub, toques on their heads while getting absolutely shit-faced on cognac.

“My dad used to spill more than I drank,” Bill says in an attempt to explain what happened next.

After drinking the entire bottle Bill was now soundly asleep, happily bobbing in the tub. Tim gently placed his knee under Bill’s head to prevent him from drowning. They also used his exposed stomach and chest as cup holders. It’s now 5 a.m. and Tim declares that it’s time to get Bill out of the hot tub. What followed next was a heroic attempt to move the much larger Bill out of the Tim.

After dragging Bill like a corpse across a frozen threshold they left him in the laundry room. (Covered up for modesty’s sake) The rest of the group made breakfast and went skiing for the day. It was only after returning at 4 p.m. that Bill finally woke up.

“That’s my favourite Bill Stallin story.” Tim declares.

Sponsors

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Stadia Glass & Door

Episode 6 – Secret Spies with Doug Macy


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In this edition of TBAL Tim welcomes the founder and managing director of Trust 1 Security in Toronto. Doug and Tim have been friends for many years which is evidenced by Doug being one of the few people left in T.O. willing to come on the podcast!

Doug first moved to the city in 1986 and worked as a security guard and later founded a security company with his brother. Five years ago he founded Trust 1 which offers security cameras, card access and alarm monitoring services. Tim find that business painfully boring which he was quick to emphasize during his conversation with Doug.

“That sounds wickedly boring,” he says to Doug.

“It’s not,” Doug replies. “It’s technology and I love technology.”

Unperturbed, Tim continues this line of offensive questioning.

“But aren’t you in an industry that’s dying because of companies like Ring and Nest?” he asks.

Doug calmly explains that there is a difference between a Mercedes and a Hyundai. If you manage the Eaton Centre and you install Ring as your security camera you’re being grossly incompetent. There’s a huge limitation to those entry-level systems. There’s really impressive new technology in the security sector, Doug continues. There are systems that will alert a guard when someone walks into a section of the building that’s been flagged. And there are also sophisticated facial recognition systems that will alert security guards when a banned person enters the building. The conversation quickly veers from professional concerns to (as is often the case) Tim talking about himself.

“I think my reputation proceeds me,” Tim tells Doug. “I think people think I’m rough around the edges and eccentric and brutal.”

Doug assures him that’s not the case but points out that Tim has been incredibly visible in the industry for a very long time. Tim recounts the difficulties of booking guests for this podcast. Everyone at Stadia and Byrne on Demand hates the podcast, he says. But it’s not just Tim’s staff that think this show is a bad idea. Many of Tim’s clients hate it too. Just the other days a major client threatened to pull all their business if Tim ever mentions his company again. What’s even more disturbing to Tim is the fact that the CEO of that company has never met Tim.

“You should go and meet with him,” Doug advises. “Tell them you are different for any number of reasons but you aren’t a threat to him.

The conversation suddenly snaps back to Doug’s business when Tim asks him if he has ever lied to a client. “Never!” Doug replies. Tim is unconvinced but Doug goes on to explain that the only way to run a business is to speak truth to power. He means that you have to tell the client what they need to hear even if it’s uncomfortable sometimes.

Tim and Doug wrap up their lively chat with a conversation about clients.

“Who do hate working for?” Tim asks.

Doug deftly dodges the question but does answer the follow-up about which companies he loves working for. For the answer you’ll have to listen to the end of the episode! Tim ends this episode by thanking Doug for taking a big risk by appearing on the most hated podcast in the industry.

“Gretzky says you can’t score if you don’t take a shot.”

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