Justin Starbird
Aebli Group
Beyond Fake It Till You Make It: Building an Unshakeable B2B Agency | Justin Starbird
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"resilience is a muscle that needs to be built. It's not something that just happens. And I think you sometimes don't realize you're walking into a a time of your life or a time in your business where it's actually gonna be really difficult because what happens is those paper cuts just, you know, compound or stack up.
Key Takeaways
- ◆Justin stopped following internet gurus selling forty-seven dollar classes that were just fluff, and instead looked in the mirror to ask what kind of professional and company he actually wanted to be.
- ◆Once Aebli Group started laser-focusing on B2B manufacturers, OEMs, and startups instead of chasing any traffic, the systems and processes they built became genuinely successful.
- ◆When Justin's manufacturing client dropped from 600k monthly sales to 50k in two months due to tariff uncertainty, he maintained the relationship by doing free website updates and process improvements, then downsized the engagement rather than cutting them off, positioning for a rebound six months later.
- ◆Justin makes decisions quickly with available information, then course-corrects when new data arrives, treating each decision as changeable rather than permanent, which he reinforces with his kids and applies to client contracts by seeing them through to completion before evaluating fit.
- ◆When inheriting a HubSpot implementation, the most common failure is over-customization: someone replicated their spreadsheet or one-off process instead of using HubSpot's out-of-the-box fields, which forces every team member to tick every custom checkbox every single time.
- ◆Map your actual sales process before implementing any CRM: ask ten salespeople how they work and you'll get ten different answers, which means the tool isn't broken, the process is, and leadership can't see that until they've documented how people really operate.
- ◆Justin launched the TAG Awards (Technology Achievement Growth) for med tech in 2025 in partnership with Informa's MD and East show, then extended it to B2B Innovation Awards so suppliers and components makers can publicly share how they help OEMs succeed without naming confidential clients.
Full transcript
Show
Chad Paris
You know that advice everyone gave us? Fake it until you make it. I like you've already arrived. Look the part, sound the part, never let them see you sweat. Justin Starbird brought it, built his first content around it, and now looking back, he calls it cringy. Because faking it works right up until the moment it does it, until the market shifts, until the capital dries up, until the client goes from three quarters of a million. a month to almost nothing in eight weeks, and you realize the only thing that matters is what you can actually deliver when the floor drops out. This is Process Over Pressure. I'm Chad Paris and today we're talking to a founder who has built more than once, who's watched entire business models evaporate overnight, and who's learned that the only competitive advantage that survives a recession, a divorce, or a trade war is one you didn't have to fake in the first place. What's up, everyone? Welcome back to Process Over pressure, the show where we skip the highlights, real, and go straight to the scars. I'm your host, Chad Paris, and I started this podcast because I got tired of hearing the sanitized version of entrepreneurship. The version where everything scales, everyone wins, and nobody talks about the month they couldn't make payroll or the pivot they had to make when the thing they built their whole identity around stopped working. This show is for the founders who are in there right now. The ones who are rebuilding, the ones who walked away from quarter of a million dollar salary and woke up at 3 a.m. wondering if they made the right call. If that's you, you're in the right place. So let's get into it. Today's guest is Justin Starbird founder of Able Aebli Group, a marketing content agency based just north of Portland, Maine. Justin started this version, this first version of tag back in 2011. Relaunched it in its current form in 2014, has spent the last decade plus helping B2B manufacturers, OEMs, and startups building the processes systems that get bought, get sold, or just get the CEO out of the rainmaker seat. His team produces 19 podcasts, 10 of them still active. So he knows what it's like to be on both sides of the mic. He's lived through the housing crisis while working in Timeshare, rebuilt his company after divorce and
Chad Paris
divorced in 2021 that cost him half of everything under main law. Watch his client base pivot hard when VC capital dried up in 2022 and just this year helped a client run the largest community crowdfunding campaign in the country, which turned into a whole new line of business he didn't see coming. If you want a masterclass and persistence pivots and what happens when the spreadsheet version of your business meets reality, Justin's your guy. Justin, welcome to the show.
Justin Starbird
Hey man, I I'm so happy to be here. Thank you so much. I don't know if I can live up to that intro. That was great.
Chad Paris
Well, I i it's a little lengthy, but I I'd love to give that because I think, you know, opportunity to talk to you and really understand what you do. It's it's pr or or have done is pretty remarkable. you know, I think about a word resilient. and I think about you and I think your story is is a true testament of resilience. Would you agree?
Justin Starbird
I I like to think so. I mean we've certainly worked to overcome a lot to get where we are and help our clients overcome a lot and even the people on the team. you know, everybody's everybody's dealing with something, right? And so try to try to make work fun, try to make the work that we do fun, and work with great people. So you know, with all those things, it's it's certainly been a journey. I I guess I'd never heard it all put together that way from somebody else. So A little taken back this morning thinking about all the all the stuff that's happened over the last, you know, fifteen years or so.
Chad Paris
Yeah. Well, let's let's let's let's talk into some of those things because I think for people listening that you know this is some important content that that we'll talk about today. so so you mentioned in our pre-call, one of the things that I I wrote down and I thought was was interesting is some of your early content makes makes you cringe a little bit. I I love that word used. I think you called it cringey. yeah, yeah. And
Justin Starbird
Can you tell I have three age daughters?
Chad Paris
And you're you know, so so let let's talk let's just go back to that time w when you, you know, you know, you talk about fake it till you make it. give us a little bit about about that time and and and what you meant by that.
Justin Starbird
Yeah.
Justin Starbird
I think we were in a spot, I I was in a spot where w I was trying to start a business, grow a business, and it was real it was always really tough to get going 'cause in Maine it's just a l it's in New England, northern New England for sure, Everybody has this like mentality where you're gonna do it yourself. And so it was always really hard to get local clients, especially to do any marketing or advertising, because generally speaking a lot of owners or founders wanted to would would just take it on themselves or or you know, tie their boots tighter or, you know, another notch in the belt, get up earlier, go to bed later, whatever that was, to get to get going. So we always had a hard time getting local clients to you know to work with and so as you grow and are starting to look at outside of your you know, local area, how are you how are you gonna do that? and at the time I was following some of the internet gurus and, you know, folks that were d you know, talking about funnels and those sorts of things. And it you know seemed like it would be really easy to set those things up and and they talked a big game and they said they could do a lot of these things. and and really the the what they were selling, the class that they were selling for forty-seven dollars or one hundred and ninety-seven dollars or nine hundred and ninety-seven whatever that was, it was really just you know they were selling the class, not the the content was just fluff. And so you watch those guys and I would I had an originally I had a partner who believed strong in that. So we tried to make that sort of content as well and and and replicate those things and it just
Justin Starbird
you know, fell flat 'cause it wasn't transparent and it wasn't it wasn't I don't know, useful. I think that those were the things that were more difficult. So you know, it was having a long look in the mirror and saying, What you know, what what kind of company do I wanna be or what kind of company do I wanna have? And then what kind of professional do I wanna be?
Chad Paris
Yeah, that's i you know, for for anybody, you know, this was early on in your career. This is not, you know, like you had been doing it for for a long time. And you know, that first of all, you know, it it it's tough to have to do that, right? Like look in the mirror and be like, okay, what am I doing wrong? What am I doing right? What who do I want to be? Like those those defining moments I think, you know, for an entrepreneur is they're not fun. But they're they're a necessity if you want to grow it and and really, really really change and and get in the right path of where you need to be. Would you you know?
Justin Starbird
Yeah, I I agree. so you know, in doing all that stuff, we I thought y you know, we'd be attracting, you know, internet traffic and that was something that i you know you'd you'd run Google ads at the time and and you know the hard part was that wasn't who we actually resonated with. That's not who you know, and as he and I went different ways and and you know decided that you know, he wanted to pursue other things and I and so did I. I realized that I was capable or our you know, the team I was starting to to to build was capable of really helping entrepreneurs and not just entrepreneurs but businesses you know scale and grow and that the systems and processes that we could put in place were were were really successful. So I share that first anecdote only to say that that wasn't who I was or who I wanted to be. But it took a while to to figure that out. And so you go back and you look at the content that you you know, especially I created or that's on YouTube about, you know, just getting out there and doing it, you know, trying to be inspirational. I'm a kid, you know, at the t you know, still I don't even think I was thirty. maybe maybe just over thirty. I don't know. And it was it You know, it's kind of painful to go back and and look at. and you know, today I think that's put us in a in a much better s spot because I got w you have to focus. I think one of the things as you're you know, creating your business or pivoting or wherever you're at, often it's it's being really laser focused on on on who your clients are and what you're trying to build or who your customers are and and what you're trying to to grow. And at the time I was willing to say yes to anything just to get paid. and so it became really difficult to understand like, all right, who actually is benefiting from this. And it probably probably took longer than it should have, if I'm gonna be perfectly honest. But it certainly got us to where we are today.
Chad Paris
Yeah, I like that because I I I think you are I I love that you just openly talk about it because I agree. I think you you know when you're when you're when you're a new entrepreneur and you're starting out, like every job you're just grateful for. It's just it's pay, right? Especially if you if you walked away from a a nice job where you're making a great salary and and so it sometimes you you end up taking things that is not probably what you're good at or what you really enjoy. But I think that's part of of the growing that takes. And, you know, there's there's two ways of looking at it, right? There's one way to say, well, I'm going to do it all, which I think every every entrepreneur is going to say, we yes, they're going to say yes to anything because it's being paid. But the the real, I think, part is when you realize what you're really good at and you start, I call it the niche, you're really diving into what
Justin Starbird
Right.
Chad Paris
what what you're what you're good and really defining those is when the success probably happens the most and and that's that sometimes that takes people longer than others. It's it it can it can be it can be very challenging is look nobody wants to, you know, I think everybody who goes into business is like, yeah, we can do everything. Like they they do. I mean you who who would say no to a to a somebody wanting to pay you, right? But it can cause a lot of stress because it's not you're not doing what you're fulfill to do.
Justin Starbird
Yeah, I I agree. That is absolutely where where I was you know, early on was working to take on anything just have something come in and and feed the family and do those sorts of things. So so what I it once once we started to really focus on on where we're at and who who we wanted to be, that made a big difference in terms of our
Chad Paris
Yeah.
Justin Starbird
our growth and s and success. so you know, I'm really thankful for for all those awkward things at the beginning and I always laugh when my daughters are on YouTube and they're like, Dad, look at this. Can you I you have a lot less gray hair, but yeah y you you sound stupid.
Chad Paris
You you know, that's the worst thing you can do. Like I you know, I I I do videos too and and try to put those out and I hate because I look at myself like, man, I look stupid, you know. And but it's but it's it's very important in in trying to to build your brand and build your your culture to to put yourself out there. And so I know for me, I'm doing things that I never thought I would do. but I come to find out that I'm I'm actually like it. It's kind of fun because you get to be you are the I mean, when you're an entrepreneur in your business, you're the face of the business. I mean, you are, right? and so sometimes you got to do things that's out of your comfort zone, I will say.
Justin Starbird
Yeah. Yeah.
Justin Starbird
Yeah, it was never that it was out of my comfort zone. It was more that I was I it no direction, right? And and some of that stuff was just I I felt I felt dumb afterwards. you know, and and but looking back, it it's also a lot of fun to to think about all that stuff that well you s shared in the introduction, stuff that's overcome and
Chad Paris
Yeah.
Chad Paris
Yeah.
Justin Starbird
And and think about those milestones that that have have gotten us to where we are. And you know, the the tag team here, I'm I'm so thankful for everybody that that I work with now because often you know, I think about our team, some I've known some since high school. Some have I my kids are the same age as as they are. I coach them. or you know, on the rec department together or, you know, those sorts of things. And you know, others are are just coming into into their career out of school and you know, have the opportunity to to teach them how to do a bunch of new stuff. I I think it's been a lot of fun.
Chad Paris
Yeah. You know, and and and you and you mentioned you know, kind of we talked about it. I I talked about it in the intro, but you know, I think every business owner is gonna go through some pivotal time in their business. I think there's you know, if you if you can sit here to say and you know, I don't think many people can say, I started a business and it's been smooth selling the whole time. Like that's not true. you know, you you you had you talked to me a little bit about, you know, you had gone through a divorce and I think you you had you'd kinda got a business going and then end up you know, kinda have you know, went through a divorce and then end up losing half and have to kind of restart. you know, sitting at that milestone moment for those that maybe it's not a divorce, maybe it's anything. I mean, i i there's a lot of things that can hurtle us in owning a business. Just not just one specific, but that moment when you probably for me is the moment when you what you what that what you was sitting there realizing like, everything I've built, I I'm I'm only getting half of this and I've got to restart this. Like what what was going through your head at that time?
Justin Starbird
Yeah, so a c a couple of things. One, it was it was really funny. I had to go through the evaluation, you know, the valuation of the business and go through the forensic audit and those sorts of things to figure out what the business was worth. And I know where we were in terms of like revenue and what I thought we'd built for a brand. And the irony was that the value of the business came in at like half of what I expected it to be, which in some ways was was great, right? That means I the I didn't have to give up as much. But on the other hand, it was actually like pretty ego crushing, because you know, they say that that men are tend to be more defined by their work and what they what they do. And so it was a weird this dichotomy of like what's it worth versus what I thought I was doing and all this. So there is that. and then
Chad Paris
Yeah.
Justin Starbird
what we ended up doing is you know speak it talking to a couple of the clients and and there was some really specific skill set work that we were doing that allowed my ex wife to to care carry on, which was fine. Then what was actually more difficult was that the let's say the divorce happened in March. in August we fired our biggest client afterwards. So that made that, you know, was probably 30% of the business that I had left was now gone, because we fired because they were just insufferable to work with. And then six months after that, so a year after the divorce, I got let go from one of I had a personal like consulting gig that was really big. and I you know, so that allowed me to invest more in the Aebli group and the team. Because I was able to take less out of it to support myself. And then that was gone almost a year afterwards. So it wasn't just the divorce that did that, it was also like the change in just the scale and economy of things. It was just really difficult. So now not only was I not making what I was personally, but now I had to take from the business for the f really the first time in two years. and or more. and that was that was really challenging because then I had to, you know, pull back on some things that we were wanting to invest in and all that stuff. So I share all that because it gave us a lot more clarity, if you will, on what we're actually going to be as a company moving forward and really honed in our skill sets and our services and what we were gonna do. how we were gonna help our clients. And then honestly, that probably gave us a really good eye. So that and we didn't know it at the time you mentioned the crowdfunding stuff and helping with helping new founders and owners go through the in gain getting investment in their business and that sort of thing and probably wouldn't have been nearly as well positioned if we hadn't been more
Justin Starbird
you know, gone through some of those trials. So, you know, looking back, it's it's been a you know, a weird benefit of you know, such a s huge like constriction to the business. on the other hand, it's it's allowed us to be much more focused and clear on roles and responsibilities. And then that gave us the ability to see that this was a real opportunity that we could dovetail into the business.
Chad Paris
Yeah, that's that's great. Thanks. Thank you for sharing that because I think, you know, the the important thing there's a lot of stuff there to unpack, but I think the one of the main important things is that listen, there's there's gonna be obstacles i in every business and there's gonna be setbacks and there's gonna be tough decisions that have to be made and and you can look at it you know, y two ways. You can look at it as is, you know, what I hear you say and what I what I admire is is that Going through that help make you stronger, help make you better, help define where you're probably better at. And and, you know, that's what that's what hiccups and things are supposed to do. They're supposed to teach us about how can we do it better, right? No one wants to go back and do that again. So how do you do it better? And that's that's the thing with it, that's resilience. That's being able to take bad situations and turn them into a positive. And Does it feel good going through And I and I think people that are business owners are listening and there's there's there's you know, I can tell you right now, talking to business owners all the time, that one of the fearful things they have is is admitting that something's wrong. Like that's that's a that's a very f I'm a guy, that's a tough thing to admit. But once they do, they start seeing things that can be improved and they can see improvement. And I see those scars and those wounds are what makes us better. And and that's the way we have to look at it because You know, we're we're we're not perfect and we're gonna make mistakes, so we can either continue to make them or go, All right, let's define this a little better. And and it sounds like that's what has happened with you. It's it's not made you weaker, it's made you stronger, if anything.
Justin Starbird
I like to think so. At the end of the day, resilience is a muscle that needs to be built. It's not something that just happens. And I think you sometimes don't realize you're walking into a a time of your life or a time in your business where it's actually gonna be really difficult because what happens is those paper cuts just, you know, compound or stack up. and it's not it's generally not one thing. It's usually a thousand little things. And and those and you never I mean, sometimes it's a big thing, you know, sometimes there are things that happen in illness or death, you know, that sort of thing. injury or something happens to you know to to you where it's outside forces that ha that rock you right away. But I mean thinking about like even going through like relationship stuff it you know, the divorce didn't happen in one day. It took a year to get there. I mean, there was lot of planning that went into it. It so you I c I kind of knew what it would look like on the other side. what was difficult was then you know reining in what what we were doing from the business standpoint now that it was basically new and then and then to have those other things sort of happen on the side you fortunately we had grown to a a spot like you know you're you're taking a clients now you're like man now this is getting good right now now and now you're you're at that spot but again those little those little things that that allow you to lean into the discomfort if you will that's what helps build resilience so you can you know quickly make a decision and and also adjust I think that's the other thing is
Chad Paris
Yeah, that's good.
Justin Starbird
You make you know, I heard this that you make the the best decision with the information you have available at the time you make that decision. That doesn't mean you can't change your mind later and and and kind of course correct. And I feel that's where I've probably improved the most is being able to make a quick decision in real time with the information that I have, but then course correcting to improve that position based on new information that becomes available. And realizing that's what I tell my kids too is that just because you make a decision today doesn't necessarily mean that you can't change your mind tomorrow. The the difference is is if you've committed to somebody or something or a sport or an activity Now you've got other people that are counting on you. So at least see it through to the end and then you can make a decision. And so that's what we try to do. you know, sometimes we get it we have a client that's, you know, not really working out. They whatever reason it's not a fit. We try to still maintain to see it through to the end of the of the contract and then make a decision from there. but like I think I shared with you before, we You also try to make sure that you're working with great people. So we have a pretty strict no asshole policy.
Chad Paris
No, I mean you you want to take on clients that's enjoyable to work for or and work with, right? you know, one of the clients that you had talked about was and I and I thought this was a very interesting because it's it's reality of what's happened with with the tariffs and things like that that's happened is you were you working with a j a German engineered manufacturing product. You know, they were, you know, making great money to to sales like under like fifty thousand, like in just a couple of months. And and due to the tariffs, like real things that that happened that sometimes we don't plan for, that just happens. and and I mean that's I wouldn't call that a dip. I'd say that's a that's a that's like whoa. Like what do you do, right? so so what what happened in that did that story, you know, what happened in in you know with that situation and and what did your engagement look like with them with that, right? Because you know, everybody wants to start looking at everything else.
Justin Starbird
Yeah, so it's not often that I can say that anything related to the economy or the administration or anything geopolitical has ever really affected our business. we've often been in regulated spaces. We specialize in you know, working with manufacturers, especially in in like med tech, biotech, pharma, that sort of thing. And then And then transportation logistics and heavy machinery and and and you know manufactured products. So often you don't see because the time you know lines and site you know business cycles are six, twelve, eighteen, thirty-six months for somebody to make a buying decision, they're you know, pretty capital intensive. So it doesn't necessarily affect us because if we're helping them with the objectives then they're still getting those leads and it's still working itself out over the course of whatever that sales cycle is. What happened last year was was crazy because the people were and I I can't imagine they were the only ones. They they were so close to us though it was you know, we're trying to help them see the forest through the trees and and and what what we saw was people pulling back their committed capital investments and it really affecting this particular client of ours who went from six hundred thousand a month in regular sales and that was you know twenty you know healthy percent margin, twenty percent or so margin. to dipping down within two months or three months to 50 because people were skittish about what the rates were going to be. How was it going to change pricing? And it affected their customers, right? So it was this this layered effect that I don't think anybody could have planned for. So we went from and being our maybe our close to our largest client in terms of a base retainer or engagement.
Justin Starbird
To going on pause for six months while they figured out what they were gonna do. Fortunately, in I will I call it the second new year after Labor Day last year, they were able to pick those things back up. And and we've come back as maybe a little bit smaller in terms of engagement, but no no less important. And you know, we look at it as a partnership because when you're investing in your clients and you're seeing their best interests first, then it really gives us at least it gives me the perspective to hear them see what they're going through and adjust what we what we can do. So we did a couple of things for them even for free just to help make sure that their website was updated and we weren't getting you know, it wasn't going down for any reason. Those sorts of things and and knew that we could get it back later. And so been fortunate to see them, you know, rebound, maybe not quite to the level they were, but it also helped them look internally to improve their processes, cut fat where it was, and those sorts of things. So I, you know, thankfully they're back to being pretty healthy.
Chad Paris
Yeah, that's y you know, looking circumstance and things like that that that happened, it's kind of out of our control. And I think, you know, the the thing that I admire is is people I don't think people maybe they don't realize, but you know, as a consultant, I am, you are, what we do, we're very invested in our companies that we work for. Like we it's not just a it's not just a transaction from us. I really and I I think you're a lot like this. I you know, I look as a as an extension of of who they are and and take a lot of pride in their company. And, you know, when you get a chance to meet these people and build a relationship with and as I think all good consultants do, they build a relationship with and they know I mean, they're they have a personal relationship with anytime they have an effect that hurts them, you feel it. and and it's not it I know everybody's gonna say, Well, sure you do, because it c you're losing money. It's it goes beyond that. Like I I don't think
Justin Starbird
Yeah, absolutely.
Chad Paris
when you when you sit on this side of it as a consultant, you you you you're yes, we get paid, but there's a lot of hours and time that we spend to try to help them be successful. So there's a lot of investment beyond monetary. And so when you see things like this that happen that's really not in their control. It it it stinks and it it's it hurts for
Justin Starbird
Right.
Justin Starbird
Yeah, and no no accountability on the other side, right? Like that's the thing that's so difficult is that so many people have been at f adversely affected by it and there's there's nowhere to go. No no accountability for that. That no one's no one's paying them back for for their for those troubles. So yeah.
Chad Paris
No. And and it yeah, and it and it it's tough, right? And it's tough to see them go through stuff like that and you just try to pour into and help as best you can to get through it.
Justin Starbird
Yeah. Yeah. So th that's where we sit today. you know, fortunate to to be in a in a good spot. We were able to also that maybe maybe it was fortuitous in a way because now we had less of an engagement with them, so we had to, you know, kind of divert attention elsewhere. And that was also when crowdfunding for us picked up and and and helping founders you know, that were having trouble acquiring, you know, venture capital dollars or private equity dollars or family office dollars into their company turn to their communities and ask them to invest. And so, you know, we were introduced to retail investing earlier in 2025 with one of our other clients and they asked us to run point on the execution of things. They'd actually brought in a consultant to help them with strategy. And so that you know that was great. We ran execution for them. So we worked in tandem, did a couple of things on the technical delivery side for the WeFunder platform and they asked us if we were interested in in in getting some deals passed our way and helping founders and and use some of the the tactics and the playbook that we had started to create and of course now we had capacity that we didn't have previous and so that opened it up for us to be able to to do a little bit more and and now here we are about a year into it, maybe 18 months into the you know, community round of of of investing. And that's been really interesting, you know, because it puts all of our existing skill sets to work, just just a little bit of a pivot difference. So so now I'd say that probably makes up, you know, forty to even fifty percent of our of our overall
Justin Starbird
you know, business, which has been really nice to go along with the you know, traditional more B2B marketing stuff that we've done for manufacturers and the med tech. So that's been great because we've also grown. So by the time that this interview goes live we'll have a new website up sort of making it more clear what our positioning is and and who we're helping. And then the third leg of our stool is is the tag awards, the technology achievement growth. So a little play on the Aebli group. But it's technology achievement growth and and we launched the tag awards for med tech in in twenty twenty five last year, in partnership with Informa and their MD and East show to recognize and honor MedTech companies. We did our second one this year in Charlotte, which was great. And then we actually just launched the business to business innovation awards to help those companies like our clients that are the secret s you know tool or product or piece of success for OEMs, but often can't talk about their the their who their clients or customers are. So this gives them the opportunity to share how they help other other companies succeed. So so that's been a lot of fun and and a little bit of a you know creative outlet in in different ways as well. And you know that's that's really where we are today now.
Chad Paris
Yeah, it's it's that's really cool 'cause it's again, it it it's always willing to pivot and and you you never know what the next opportunity brings and and how you you know you go down that. So that's that's really, really cool. one of the things that we talked about and I I kinda wanna talk a little bit about this as we as we kind of segment it in the in here toward the end, is is it's systems and and we talked a little bit about, you know, you're a hub spot
Justin Starbird
Yeah three things doesn't
Chad Paris
partner, you you use it. But oftentimes I find a lot of founders in company our companies, businesses that I that I work with, you know, one of the first things that very typically happens when you have a business is and you're starting to grow is people start buying tools or stacks or things like that they want to implement and then they never use them. and so you you use the analogy like you got a Ferrari, but you keep it in
Justin Starbird
Yeah.
Chad Paris
garods and I love that because it's true. It's true.
Justin Starbird
Yeah. Yeah, I I'm wearing orange just happenstance. But yes, we've been a HubSpot partner for five years or more now. And what we've learned is especially where we end up taking on clients, they even the larger manufacturers or or med tech companies often are tracking deals on spreadsheets. And what w you there's some grapes with HubSpot today and and maybe w how they they go about pricing stuff and and that's a probably a different podcast but but by and large what we try to do is is help help them move on to a CRM and and the positive of of HubSpot is that you have this visibility of a contact from introduction all the way through you know new new opportunity, new deal, then becoming a customer, creating customer service options and tickets for them, and helping them really it's almost like an ERP as well, if you'd like to build it out that way.
Chad Paris
Yeah.
Justin Starbird
And so there's a lot of flexibility there. What it and so what we try to do is help those founders, entrepreneurs, or even established companies really get a handle on their community so they get visibility and into knowing what their pipeline actually looks like so you can plan, right? What what do you have coming up? Where where are you potentially holding dollars that you you know you're not accounting for? and how can you improve some some system you know the system that you have for acquiring new new new leads. And you tie that into your website, you tie that into your messaging, you tie that into your marketing and even your advertising. And now you've got a in not such a long period of time, really good visibility into some of the darker corners that you've had in your business you know over the over the years. And so it's really exciting to be able to help customers see that and then feed the engine. And what I mean by that is like creating the strategy and then the campaigns and then the content and and make it all mean something so that you're continuing to attract the customers that are gonna help you grow your business. And and that's you know, that's been a lot of fun, whether it's on the startup side with the with fundraising and and in you know identifying investors or you know on the B to B long term sales cycle side in either case you know it's actually really similar. You're still you know trying to help them create a process so that it can be replicated and you can create a team around it.
Chad Paris
Yes. So what do you do and and this is kind of probe you here what what do you and 'cause I'm sure you get this. Probably often you get people who call you that let's say they let's say they have HubSpot. They're they they've had it, you know, and you're not the person who who implemented it, but you you've the person who I call who inherited it. you probably see that all the time. what are some very common things that you see when you walk in And you didn't implement it. They have HubSpot. It's using that as an example. You walk in and you see chaos or s or stress or frustration. and you usually hear something like, Yeah, I spent all this $35,000 for HubSpot. I can't even get it to do what I want to. Like you've heard that, right? I've heard it. You know, what what is the common reason why that is where they're sitting at?
Justin Starbird
Yeah.
Justin Starbird
Customization. it they've often they have created something to replicate their spreadsheet or some individu so often it's the whoever is the task manager of that or of the implementation does it a certain way and it's not necessarily how either the business itself does it or it's such a one-off of what Hubspot is doing. Now you have to make sure that the every check and balance that has been created is ticked every single time you do something. And because I called a contact a you know something else the first time now all of the fields tie back to a a customized you know check box or a customized text field that no one else is using. so that's one thing. Yeah, another thing is often where they keep the how they generate their lists and you know, use those contacts across stuff, especially on the marketing side. On the operations, you know, man, it's it's really hard to inherit something because often you've gotta go back and help them rebuild it. what we try to do, I mean honestly if I'm gonna be perfectly candid, we try to keep it so we try to try to Help customers see that what HubSpot has out of the box is really there for a reason and that there you know there are some things that you can customize, like if then you know what how the journey that you put customers on, but they have so many fields that are already created. If you just use what's there and adjust your process slightly, it just makes everything so much more smooth.
Chad Paris
Yeah. Not y listen, I've I've I've been in two companies, two, three companies, I've been a lot of companies, but prior to that, where we brought in HubSpot. And and this is where it always it all I've I've seen it happen is you it and this is why I talk about process over pressure so much is because typically what you're trying to do is you're trying to take a process that's been in play, which may not be a great process.
Justin Starbird
Right.
Chad Paris
Probably honestly, it's probably a broken process because there's no and when I say a process, I mean like, you know, let's use P let's use a point of sale entry. Let's just use that as an example. However, you bring in your information, let's say new customer, whatever that is, and you and you have it a certain way, let's say it's by email, let's say it's by name, whatever it is that you triggers that this is a new person. If you try to take that and change it. To work within HubSpot, you're gonna have problems. If you think about that whole process from start to finish of what you're trying to accomplish, then it's a whole lot easier to put that into HubSpot because you know where it starts and where it ends and what you want it to do. Very rarely do I see companies that can sit there and tell you, let me show you the flow from this to this. Like you you we don't we don't normally get those types of customers
Justin Starbird
Right. No one's calling and saying, Hey, you wanna take over this perfectly humming hub spot? Right.
Chad Paris
Yeah. Right. And so you're buying a product, just like you would buy, you know, anything. And you're trying to, you know, bicycle that you're that you're you're you got a street belt bike that you're trying to make into a mountain bike. Like it's just not gonna work. And so it's it's very important that, you know, I tell I tell people all the time, and I say this on this podcast, before you start implementing a CRM, have someone walk through the processes that you have today. to make sure that all this is prepared and ready. I don't care what CRM you use or any tool, if you don't know what that is and you start implementing things into your business, you're you're gonna you're gonna have some headache because it's a there there's a thousand tools out there and and and I think HubSpot's one of the most powerful tools. I I think it's a fantastic product. But I see so many times you said it, people start trying to customize because they're trying to put you know, this this square hole s you know, square hole you know, square peg into a round hole, and it's just not gonna work. And you gotta you gotta you gotta understand that going in.
Justin Starbird
And the the irony too is when you do make changes, it doesn't matter what sort of changes you're doing for the better, or you know, maybe hopefully for they're always for the better, but sometimes they don't. Your salespeople are your biggest complainers. They're generally also lazy. And I I'm a this is coming from a sales guy at heart. And and because salespeople tend to be more extroverted. you're gonna hear about it a whole lot more than you would something else. And so just because I mean so I always kinda take that with a grain of of salt a little bit and and do what you're talking about, which is map out that process and even use the this often we'll we'll bring in the sales team and ask them to map their process. And you have ten people on your sales team, ten people do it ten different ways. And
Chad Paris
yeah. yeah.
Chad Paris
Absolutely.
Justin Starbird
And so so then you then leadership tends to see that it's not the tool that's specifically broken. It's that whatever whoever set it up, and I'm not picking on that one person, often they're doing the best that they could. and that's one of the reasons why we also like HubSpot is generally you get a a a an account manager that's going to help walk you through those things too. So that they can gently point out that hey HubSpot can do that, but if you do that and and then you're not you know, writing down every checklist that you're gonna go through to do these things, inevitably it's gonna break somewhere and you're gonna you know, so fortunately we've had a lot of really great success managers or account success managers over the years that have you know, kind of been a voice of reason too betwe between the tool, our suggestions, and then what the customer wants. And and and so to your point about that process, be i i because if you don't get it right, it creates a whole lot more pressure later to to to talk about or share how you got to that spot. So yeah, it's it would be nice once to just come in and and they have like you know, humming humming system and and we're just plugging it in.
Chad Paris
Yeah. This doesn't happen. It's not reality. It's you know, and and and I and and yeah, it's it's it's it's it's just what it is. And so I'll tell you, you you you spend a little time in the front end to really walk through what you want it to do, like map that out. Spend I I tell people, you know, spend spend a month, spend two months. If you you kind of know you're probably going down needing a C R path. Spend that time before. And just just walk through mapping, like what what it is that you know, why are you wanna you know, ask the questions, why do you want to see our and what are you trying to accomplish with it? You know, what what is the purpose behind it? How do you do things today? How do you wanna do things? So how do you wanna make you know, and then people can help like yourself or me can walk you through some some questions that will help kind of guide you to think, yeah, that's a good idea. because we work in it all the time, like so we know like what the mistakes are, what happens and so
Justin Starbird
Yeah.
Chad Paris
You know, it's it's always good to engage and and get some of those before you go down that path, or you'll have a lot of frustration, I will promise you. So well, just thank you so much for for being on. What a great conversation with you today. if people are trying to they they want to talk to you or or have you look at their their business, how would they do that?
Justin Starbird
yeah, absolutely.
Justin Starbird
Yeah, so our new website this should be up by the time we hear this, aebligroup . com, A E B L I Group . com. There's a you know, great opportunity to either reach out to me directly via via one of the contact forums or to somebody on our team. Also I'm on LinkedIn at LinkedIn slash Justin Starbird so they can find me there and but you know, If we can help in any way, often I'll I'll take a thirty minute call to to to give some insight or or advice on on best practices. you know, just to just to keep my myself sharp, right? Yeah, hear about some other things. If there's an opportunity to work together, great. if not then then it's a great opportunity to to just share some hey, not everybody has to make the same mistakes I did.
Chad Paris
I love that. And and he and he he's he's a genuine guy. And Justin, thank you again for being on. Loved it. What a great show. Again, guys, my name is Chad Paris, Stonefly Consulting. this is my podcast process over pressure, where we really dive into those processes and and what's working and and hearing from entrepreneurs and building peop people building businesses that sometimes didn't always get it right, but
Justin Starbird
Yeah, too.
Chad Paris
have have worked it out and and are stronger now than ever. So thank you and until next time.
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