How Yale Appliance 5X’d Growth by Tackling Uncomfortable Questions [Endless Customers Podcast Ep. 133]

This transcript has been generated by AI and not checked for accuracy. 

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:06:02

Steve Sheinkopf

before the business, we have six stores instead of sort of one, and we're way more profitable than we were, because

00:00:06:02 - 00:00:07:10

Steve Sheinkopf

If you can navigate people

00:00:07:10 - 00:00:13:07

Steve Sheinkopf

through those issues, you create the only thing that you really need, which is trust

00:00:13:09 - 00:00:30:18

Bob Ruffolo

You're listening to the Endless Customers podcast, brought to you by the team at Impact. Ellis customers is the proven system to become the most known and trusted brand in your market. You want to start to learn the principles of endless customers and how you can implement them in your business. Pick up a copy of Endless Customers, the national bestseller.

00:00:30:18 - 00:00:52:11

Bob Ruffolo

Wherever books are sold. Ready to start implementing endless customers in your business? Talk to impact about how our coaching program can help you implement endless customers to success. And if you want experience endless customers in person, do not miss our upcoming conference! Endless Customers live in Chicago March 30th through April 1st, 2026. Registration is now open. And now onto the show.

00:00:52:11 - 00:00:54:07

Bob Ruffolo

Here's your host, Alex

00:00:54:09 - 00:01:17:04

Alex Winter

Today's episode demonstrates what's possible when a company stops doing what everyone else does, and starts providing buyers with exactly what they need to make informed decisions. We're joined by Steve Sheinkopf. He's the CEO of Yale Appliance. Steve transformed a single store, $37 million appliance retailer into a 100 plus million dollar, six location market leader by answering buyer questions.

00:01:17:06 - 00:01:23:06

Alex Winter

He and his team published hundreds of articles and videos that answered every buyer question, even the ones retailers wouldn't touch.

00:01:23:08 - 00:01:39:21

Alex Winter

In this conversation, we'll break down how Steve built a content driven approach that earned his market's trust. Why? Radical transparency can actually grow your business, and how taking bold risks in sharing information helped Yale become one of the most known and trusted brands in the appliance industry.

00:01:39:23 - 00:01:47:23

Alex Winter

So if you're trying to stand out in a crowded market, grow trust with buyers, or figure out how to turn your team's expertise into content that drives revenue.

00:01:48:01 - 00:01:52:15

Alex Winter

This episode is packed with lessons that you can use. Steve, welcome to the show.

00:01:52:17 - 00:01:53:20

Steve Sheinkopf

Thanks for having me, Alex.

00:01:54:01 - 00:01:57:20

Alex Winter

Thanks for thanks for being on here. We were just talking before we started recording. This is your first

00:01:57:22 - 00:01:59:22

Alex Winter

time on the podcast, is that right?

00:02:00:00 - 00:02:01:09

Steve Sheinkopf

First time. Man, I don't know.

00:02:01:09 - 00:02:21:14

Alex Winter

This time. I don't know how that's possible. I'm so glad you're here. You have such a long standing history with impact and with endless customers. Previously. They ask you. Answer. You have such an incredible story. It actually, a little Easter egg, one of my first real times filming with impact. And first, the first case study I ever filmed for impact was at Yellow Alliance with Steve.

00:02:21:14 - 00:02:24:03

Steve Sheinkopf

So it was, Really? Yeah, I think it was like.

00:02:24:04 - 00:02:25:00

Steve Sheinkopf

Oh, is that.

00:02:25:00 - 00:02:28:05

Steve Sheinkopf

Seven years ago? God, I know, right?

00:02:28:07 - 00:02:29:09

Steve Sheinkopf

And time flies on.

00:02:29:12 - 00:02:41:18

Alex Winter

Time is flying, especially when you're having fun, which we are. So before, before we talk shop, can you just set the stage for our, our audience, for our listeners and viewers? What is Yellow Appliance? Tell people a little bit about yourself in the company.

00:02:41:20 - 00:03:19:06

Steve Sheinkopf

Sure. Yale's been around for. It'll be going on 103 years. Yeah. 103 1923 has started. And, my grandfather actually bought into a 1932 look up your history books that probably not the best time to buy into, and and what was electrical supplies back then moved around a bunch. And, my dad, moved us in 1984 to, Dorchester, which at that time was probably, like, not the best place was, not yet gentrified, but politely.

00:03:19:08 - 00:03:37:22

Steve Sheinkopf

And, you know, we've grown the company. We have six locations now. We actually have the store, Nantucket, which is unbelievable to me. And, you know, a lot of some of it is certainly is what we're going to talk about today. And we've got a really good team, which is a lot of it as well.

00:03:38:00 - 00:03:42:12

Steve Sheinkopf

And, you know, we're looking to, to really grow in other markets.

00:03:42:14 - 00:04:08:08

Alex Winter

Absolutely. Wow. An incredible history to to buy into the company during the Great Depression, which you couldn't rub two pennies together to. Fast forward 100 plus years to today, it's, what a journey. That's incredible. So let's kick things off. Yeah, let's kick things. Can we talk a little bit about what was happening before reading the ask you answer, before learning about endless customers in the system and implementing everything that you've had.

00:04:08:14 - 00:04:17:18

Alex Winter

What struggles were you facing as a business owner? And, and just trying to drive Yale into new markets and to grow the business and scale.

00:04:17:20 - 00:04:38:21

Steve Sheinkopf

Or even grow the business? You know, we we started blogging in, in 2007. You know, I went to a, I went to a, convention called M planet, which was way ahead of its time. Nothing like impact, but, you know, talked about social media for the first time was the first time I heard those words 22 years ago.

00:04:38:23 - 00:05:13:05

Steve Sheinkopf

It's we. So we did it. But really beforehand, before then, you had to buy expensive media, whether it was radio or TV. And over time, you know, we had this, these quirky little radio commercials, but over time you just wouldn't get the ROI. Not that you could ever could. I mean, if you were advertising the radio or TV as a traditional kind of retail or anything, not like a Coca-Cola or something that's trying to get endless demand is, you know, for us, we're looking for someone who's looking for appliances at that particular time where advertising numbers just don't add up.

00:05:13:05 - 00:05:36:22

Steve Sheinkopf

And like everything else, we had a voice, an identity problem. How do we get out there as, as as a viable solution, as a viable alternative to back then with Sears, if you can believe it, or, Home Depot, Lowe's or any of the other 63 competitors we have in a 25 mile radius. So that's that was the problem.

00:05:36:22 - 00:05:57:02

Steve Sheinkopf

And I think that's a that's a if you're not into kind of like the whole the ask you answer, that's still a problem that you find today is like, if you don't do this then you then you've got a way big ad spend that you're not getting ROI on. And it still goes on today. It's the same.

00:05:57:04 - 00:06:04:14

Steve Sheinkopf

It's the same problem that face a small business even almost 20 years later from when we started.

00:06:04:16 - 00:06:32:06

Alex Winter

Yeah, it's so true. And I actually come out of traditional advertising before I got into digital marketing, in what I do today. And what you're saying resonates with me because that was the that was the way to do it. If you weren't sure your business owner and you're not really savvy with marketing or social or any of that stuff, it's like, let's buy some TV ads, let's do some billboards, and you spend a lot of money and you don't really have any proof or real data to see, like if it's working or how it's working or what the ROI is.

00:06:32:06 - 00:06:35:02

Alex Winter

And it's it can be super frustrating.

00:06:35:04 - 00:06:55:19

Steve Sheinkopf

And everything's rental. The answers you series as soon as the contract goes in the billboard, as soon as the ad. You know, we used to advertise in the globe when I first started. And they didn't think the ads were high end enough. So they put us into another section. But you could see, just like, you know, readership was down.

00:06:55:21 - 00:07:06:17

Steve Sheinkopf

Listenership is down, you know, and then you got to catch a person at the right moment. You know, we we always thought that if the path to purchase is online, that's what we wanted to be.

00:07:06:19 - 00:07:07:09

Alex Winter

That makes sense.

00:07:07:09 - 00:07:20:12

Steve Sheinkopf

And it hasn't changed. You know, I mean some of the some of the tactics have, whether you're doing LinkedIn or TikTok or Instagram, but but the tactics haven't changed from when? Two years ago.

00:07:20:17 - 00:07:36:03

Alex Winter

Yeah. So you said it was about 2007. You're starting to blog a little bit. What made you realize, because, you know, when you're purchasing appliances, most people, myself included, I want to go. It's tangible. I want to go open the ovens and play with the fridges like I it's I want to see these things and touch these things.

00:07:36:03 - 00:07:48:11

Alex Winter

So how did you bridge those gaps into like focusing on blogging and creating content that would help start to build trust and educate buyers so that they would come in and talk to your sales folks and start to have that experience.

00:07:48:13 - 00:08:11:22

Steve Sheinkopf

Well, it's really interesting. Because I looked at blogging as an art form, from like 2007 to 2011. So I, I wrote kind of stream of consciousness, but good start, but kind of and, and really the, the turning point for me was, another forget Pat, who’s still our CMO today. So you can write a blog article.

00:08:11:22 - 00:08:35:06

Steve Sheinkopf

We're we're missing one for this week. And, I was in the middle of something, and I wrote best Karen. Deep refrigerators. And the thing blew up right? You know, we were getting, you know, two, three, 400 views at one time. And this thing was in its tens of thousands, 50, 60,000. And I had no idea why.

00:08:35:08 - 00:09:10:19

Steve Sheinkopf

Because what I had touched upon was, was a long tail keyword, which at that time nobody owned. And everybody wanted to know what what was the best kind of refrigerator. So having no idea what I had just done, I, I, met a friend of hers, Marcus Sheridan and, I'll tell you, I thought I would teach him something because I had been blogging for four years, and he was some of the most uncomfortable kind of conversations I ever had.

00:09:10:19 - 00:09:29:07

Steve Sheinkopf

He said it's not an art form. It's a business. I go, he asked me all the questions like, why is your audience growing? And I said, well, you know, people, people, you know, people buy homes and they sell homes. There's no reason for us to be in the blog. And I gave really good answers. And he goes, look, I suppose for a living.

00:09:29:07 - 00:09:55:00

Steve Sheinkopf

And he showed me his, his charts. It was like a hockey stick. And I'm like, oh my God. And he put me through hell, man. I mean, the first, the first, activity was we, retailing 100 blog posts, and back then I know what I was doing. It took me. This is way before I or even before I know it, so took me almost seven hours to do 100.

00:09:55:02 - 00:09:58:13

Alex Winter

Wow. Yeah, that's a lot of blogs to go through.

00:09:58:15 - 00:10:05:15

Steve Sheinkopf

But, it took off. It really, it it really took off after that.

00:10:05:17 - 00:10:22:22

Alex Winter

What do you think the the conversation with Marcus. You said that it was tough. There were some hard truths in there. How did that shift your perspective on, like, okay, I have to retitle these things. I have to look at this as more of a business instead of an art form. Like, how did that shape your approach going forward for you and for Pat and the rest of the marketing team?

00:10:23:00 - 00:10:46:10

Steve Sheinkopf

Yeah. Great question. You have to I mean, we were always good at like looking our stories were set up to be customer friendly and customer focused, and that's kind of what you have to do when you blog. It's not about what you say, it's about what customers think. So. So basically you turn what you did and you do 180.

00:10:46:10 - 00:11:08:00

Steve Sheinkopf

So now you're talking about what their issues are, what their problems are. You know, what is the best? How do you compare? What are the problems. That's a really good one. When you talk about problems in your industry, then you become trust because everybody knows there's problems. It's like, you know, you're not going to be perfect in your Google reviews.

00:11:08:00 - 00:11:35:17

Steve Sheinkopf

You're not going to. Every industry has its issues. If you can navigate people through the, through those issues, you create the only thing that you really need, which is trust and an attempt in someone to give you a shot at their business that's really marketing thing is to basically hand that customer, who trusts you to a salesperson that knows what they're doing.

00:11:35:19 - 00:11:48:04

Steve Sheinkopf

Absolutely. And a lot of other stuff that nobody talks about, like shortening sales cycles. So I'm not here to like, shorten it where I'm just like, you walk in and, you know, we grab you by the ankles and take your money. It's like

00:11:48:06 - 00:12:07:13

Steve Sheinkopf

the more questions that I can answer for them out there, the less, problems in the last buyer remorse they may have when they walk into the store because they're now, instead of having three times it takes to, to, to to get someone to buy, it's maybe one.

00:12:07:15 - 00:12:21:12

Steve Sheinkopf

Right. And that changes everything. Shouldn't sales cycle. You know you don't have to staff up as much. You know, it's it it works on so many levels. Yeah. That nobody goes into. Really?

00:12:21:18 - 00:12:44:23

Alex Winter

Yeah. No, it really does. I think a lot of people think that sales, the more it's just numbers, it's like the more volume, the more numbers we can pull and the better chance we have of closing. And I really like what you're saying about shortening the sales cycle and getting strategic with building trust and building buyer education beforehand, so that when someone comes in, they feel confident and they don't feel like they're going to have buyer's remorse and listen.

00:12:45:01 - 00:13:01:14

Alex Winter

Everything doesn't always go to plan when you're buying and making purchases and interacting with when it comes to business, but it's how you handle that business. So even to have the reassurance of like, hey, we have these warranties or hey, we're here to take care of you. And we're not just going to sell you something and then kick you to the curb, you know, like that's that's so important.

00:13:01:14 - 00:13:16:04

Alex Winter

And you guys have mastered that and have really listened to your clients. So how does that affect your content engine? Like how many what does it look like today for you guys. How many blogs you're doing. How like what's the social media mix? How's that affect your content on a daily or weekly basis?

00:13:16:05 - 00:13:41:13

Steve Sheinkopf

Good question. We try to publish and it changes. It's changed. With the rise of the all alarms. We've kind of diversified, but typically we'll write three extensive blogs per week. We'll publish three videos a week, we'll do a couple short form videos. I don't know how Pat has that structure, whether it's 1 or 2.

00:13:41:13 - 00:14:04:06

Steve Sheinkopf

So we're going to be on YouTube at least 3 to 4 times. Blog three times. We'll take buyers guides. Last year we got into Tick Tock, which I thought was really interesting. All it is really short form video. And the thing with, with, with Tick Tock is in six months, we've gotten about 9 million views, but you're not sure.

00:14:04:07 - 00:14:34:17

Steve Sheinkopf

The other thing is the danger you have is, is falling vanity metrics mean, would you rather have 9 million viewers or 900 customers that come in from what it is you're doing? So we have to localize. We've done a much better job localizing content because for me, I don't really I don't ship out of my market. So it's not really important what people in Michigan and California think, although that's a you know, it's a Californian.

00:14:34:17 - 00:14:47:21

Steve Sheinkopf

We probably have as many readers in California as we do in Massachusetts. So if you're a local person, like a plumber, electrician, appliance store, you won't localize that content, then becomes even even comes better.

00:14:47:23 - 00:15:12:06

Alex Winter

Yeah. No, I totally agree. And I admire you. And this is again one of my first real stories capturing your your journey with this system and with the coaching program here at impact. It was eye opening for me because you had such success with it. But I also really admired that you you don't hold back in the sense that when you talk about brutal honesty and transparency, you don't mess around with that.

00:15:12:06 - 00:15:33:13

Alex Winter

Steve. Like, I would love for you to tell the story about how there was one blogger, one article that you did, and it talks about the most, the most service. And correct me if I'm wrong, but it's like the most serviced appliances that happen throughout the different manufacturers. And it had a huge impact, for, for the business and just for, for engagement with your, with your content.

00:15:33:15 - 00:16:01:07

Steve Sheinkopf

Well, the other thing is, you need to have good operations to have good marketing. Okay? Like, if you're a plumber that causes water leaks, probably. Blogging is not the first opera. It is is not the first thing you should do. We should probably figure out that first. Okay, so with that in mind, if you've got something unique, you talk about that and you want customers to understand that, right?

00:16:01:07 - 00:16:32:08

Steve Sheinkopf

So if you do something unique like a better delivery or better install or this is something you should look out for, would you absolutely should. But in terms of service, yeah, we talk about, how this stuff breaks down, what the percentage of it does which which brands break down less than the others. You know, we soften the blow a little bit over the years only because we only carry 19 brands, like the average appliance store will carry 75 because they don't service with themselves.

00:16:32:08 - 00:16:33:13

Steve Sheinkopf

What's the difference? Right.

00:16:33:17 - 00:16:39:07

Steve Sheinkopf

that's a rather tough article for some manufacturers to swallow, no question about it.

00:16:39:09 - 00:16:58:07

Alex Winter

Yeah, but I love it. And I think it's it's definitely a unique positioning for you. And I like what you said. No matter what industry or business or market that you're in, you have to find your unique selling proposition. And that's the best way to disrupt is to figure out what that is, clearly define it, and then lean into it hard and not be afraid to, stake your claim.

00:16:58:07 - 00:17:07:05

Steve Sheinkopf

Yeah, exactly. I mean, you want to. You want to, what's the pixie dust? You know, your,

00:17:07:07 - 00:17:08:12

Alex Winter

Sprinkle your fairy dust.

00:17:08:13 - 00:17:26:00

Steve Sheinkopf

Hey, you want to sprinkle a little bit of your USP and some of the things, like, we think service is important. Buyers think service is important. So you mentioned that as part of part of your, your articles and your videos that this is something you should look out for. Would you buy from us or somewhere else.

00:17:26:02 - 00:17:44:14

Steve Sheinkopf

Yeah. Of. Of what? The perils of not having it is and who has it. You know, I mentioned some of my competitors that have it, so that sort of thing, you want to intersperse some of us space throughout your content? Absolutely.

00:17:44:16 - 00:18:00:14

Alex Winter

Yeah. I just like how honest you are in that in those moments of like, people are looking for price, people are looking for the most service. Appliances because they don't want to buy. I don't want to buy a dishwasher that's going to break on me six months after I buy it, or it's going to cost me all this extra money.

00:18:00:14 - 00:18:16:19

Alex Winter

So when you pull the the veil back, what was it like having these manufacturers, like, did you hear from certain manufacturers that were like, hey, you're making us look bad? Or like, what was that story like for you? And, and kind of navigating that piece of it were you expecting that to happen?

00:18:16:21 - 00:18:35:18

Steve Sheinkopf

Somewhat. So we don't make them? Yeah, we don't make it. We we actually just report about what happens when it's in the field. Now, the good ones, we'll say, okay, this is what's happening. Maybe we can re-engineered back to the consumer. You know, but yeah, I mean, I think it's good for the industry. It creates trust.

00:18:35:20 - 00:18:55:03

Steve Sheinkopf

And, you know, when there's a story to tell, like, you know, a few years ago, there was a batch of frozen bounce from a meal, a dishwasher. This is like 5 or 6 ago you mentioned that is a one off. So you give them some, some of their dignity back, but, you you mentioned all that stuff.

00:18:55:06 - 00:19:17:22

Steve Sheinkopf

You know, you guys are really smart about these claims that people are so hesitant to say, right. You know, I'm if going to go and webinar and everyone is like saying we can't talk about our prices. And, you know, I remember Marcus Ross Bob saying, what do your competitors know already? And the answer is, yeah. So what are you worried about?

00:19:17:22 - 00:19:29:10

Steve Sheinkopf

The fact that they know if you explain it in such a way? I mean, you know, I think consumers want less friction, more trust. And that's what we're looking to do in marketing. Pretty much.

00:19:29:11 - 00:19:49:03

Alex Winter

Yeah, absolutely. I couldn't agree more. And you do you do that exceptionally well at, you know, so can you talk a little bit. You've mentioned Marcus, you mentioned the webinar there a little bit. What was it like working with impact? I know you're, you're you're, on a long, a long standing journey with endless customers, but back when you were in the coaching program, what was the value for you and your team?

00:19:49:03 - 00:20:01:12

Alex Winter

And then coming back to these webinars and we see you at the events every year. So why do you keep coming back and engaging and what does that do for you as far as carrying you through your journey and keeping consistent with the content you're putting out?

00:20:01:14 - 00:20:23:08

Steve Sheinkopf

Well, you know something nobody knows at all. And and you have to you know, I hate using these marketing terms like sharpening the saw and everything, but, you know, you got to get out of your head every once in a while, right? There's always another way. There's always something to try. I think you guys are good because you keep the fingers on the pulse of, like, what's happening everyone, what works everywhere.

00:20:23:13 - 00:20:48:01

Steve Sheinkopf

And I'm always finding like little tidbits of, you know, how to use AI and, and, you that was the last webinar, you know, back in the early days, I think Marcus was, was key in, in, in helping us, you know, with that first push into what we do now. I mean, you know, the big five hasn't changed with impact.

00:20:48:03 - 00:20:53:01

Steve Sheinkopf

Your tactics have. And we always trying to learn that next tactic to make us better.

00:20:53:03 - 00:21:13:16

Alex Winter

absolutely. It's, you just saying that really just reinforces for me that the big five, the selling seven, the fundamentals of endless customers, they haven't changed in 7 or 8 years. The market has changed, the technology has changed. And you do have to shift with those things to keep your finger on the pulse, as you say, of course, but but the fundamentals are there.

00:21:13:16 - 00:21:26:06

Alex Winter

Fundamentals for a reason. Those are their pillars. That's that's never going to change. So I think it's adapting and learning some of these new tech pieces, like how how is the AI journey been for you and how has that been shaping what you guys have been up to lately? Because.

00:21:26:06 - 00:21:39:05

Steve Sheinkopf

Oh, it's it's it's it's great. I think it's I think AI is a is a wonderful opportunity. And everyone says, well, I'm going to lose my job this and the other thing, I honestly believe you're going to lose your job to somebody who really knows how to do I.

00:21:39:07 - 00:21:40:09

Alex Winter

Right. Yep, I agree.

00:21:40:10 - 00:21:59:11

Steve Sheinkopf

I mean you get a true collaborative partner. But it's like it's like anything else. You get handed a guitar like the guitar I see right there. Don't make Eric Clapton and you play right until you play hours and hours and hours. I think that if you were to say, write me a blog about appliances, we'd all agree it'd be crap.

00:21:59:13 - 00:22:21:19

Steve Sheinkopf

So you're going to really work with AI? I mean, the fundamentals of who you are, you unique selling propositions, how you go to market and everything else is uniquely you. And you've got to infuse AI in that to save some more time. So you can do other things so you can create better content, create more content, whatever it have, be a creative person or create the same amount and have a life outside of work.

00:22:22:00 - 00:22:48:23

Steve Sheinkopf

Whatever it is, I can help you with it, but it is not going to replace humanity. That's that's I'm sure of. I mean, you look at if we each wrote a piece on on something, it all come out differently based on our perspective. And that's what AI needs, because without it, I is just some vanilla sounding robot that has got some pretty hackneyed cliches, right?

00:22:49:03 - 00:23:17:08

Steve Sheinkopf

Yeah. So you get to work with AI and make it better. You and I understand what projects are I'm getting like I'm a chatty Gavin and beginning of like Gemini a lot. A lot of stuff you can do. It's going to make the really great players even better, and it's going to make it's going to make a lot of really bad content that is going to, that's that people are going people aren't going to trust their contents can reverse what you actually should be doing.

00:23:17:10 - 00:23:37:20

Alex Winter

So that's an important piece that you just said there. And I think that's something to just focus on for a second, that you can't just use GPT, Gemini cloud, whatever tool you're using, because they're all varying degrees of similarity. But your unique selling proposition, your perspective, your experience, that's the differentiator. And it's it makes it not vanilla.

00:23:37:20 - 00:24:01:04

Steve Sheinkopf

It helps build that trust because you have that experience. So you have to lean into that. You can use these tools to make it faster or help you get there quicker, or leverage it in a certain way. But ultimately you're not going to build trust by just putting something in GPT, Leonard spit something out and posting it. You really have to put more time and effort into that and, you know, yeah, the ones that are going to win are the ones that are going to take advantage of AI and learn it.

00:24:01:04 - 00:24:03:21

Steve Sheinkopf

Just like like anything else. Practice, right?

00:24:03:23 - 00:24:23:13

Alex Winter

Yeah, it's practice in in in AI can help you get seeded better. I mean just ask Gemini how how will how would this title do on YouTube? Because they own YouTube. I think they'd give you a better idea, you know, how do I yeah, sure, TBD. How do I show up? How does the blog show up in search?

00:24:23:15 - 00:24:43:17

Steve Sheinkopf

Right. How does it show up with the labs? And then you can create content with anyone by asking, it's all sorts of stuff. You can do that. That's that's really, that'll make great content even better. And you'll be able to be found better. I mean, our blog is growing in a time when blogs are growing, right?

00:24:43:18 - 00:24:52:09

Steve Sheinkopf

You know, I mean, because we understand what the other lens want, we now understand what Google wants by asking right?

00:24:52:11 - 00:25:08:10

Steve Sheinkopf

Yeah, sometimes that's the beauty of this is people overthink it, myself included. All you have to do is ask, I forget sometimes that all you need to do is just say, hey, how's this going to. How's this going to work on YouTube? How's this? How's this title for SEO purposes? How is this going to work? It's it's fascinating.

00:25:08:10 - 00:25:16:11

Alex Winter

Sometimes you overlook those things and you get right into the like the weeds. And it's sometimes you need to step back. I definitely agree. Yeah, yeah.

00:25:16:13 - 00:25:31:02

Steve Sheinkopf

That. But you know what it is. It's like anything else you got to put the work in. And that's the hard part. Yeah, totally. You got to do the research going instrument projects are you know what ChatGPT is Google I'm is you know I'm, I'm trying to create images now using Midjourney.

00:25:31:04 - 00:25:33:05

Alex Winter

Midjourney is great. Yeah that's fun.

00:25:33:05 - 00:25:56:02

Steve Sheinkopf

Love love love I wish I had more time on it man. I create like, I create images, you know, every week we have I, you know, I was, we go to NRF every year. And last year Nvidia sponsored it and they really rolled out AI in a big way. So we said we're going to do an AI meeting every Friday optional.

00:25:56:04 - 00:26:05:01

Steve Sheinkopf

And me and a couple other guys lead it. So so you try all these different tools. It's kind of fun I wish I had more time.

00:26:05:03 - 00:26:23:21

Alex Winter

That's great. Yeah. And you know, that's something that Bob and Marcus and leadership here at impact really pushed upon us as well. It was it wasn't like a mandatory thing, but it was definitely a very openness and willingness to try learn about AI. Let's meet about it. Let's talk about it. It was it was welcomed with open arms.

00:26:23:21 - 00:26:31:11

Alex Winter

Here versus I think a lot of people try to shy away from it or are scared from it. And I think that's the wrong approach. So it's cool to hear that you're doing that.

00:26:31:13 - 00:26:51:06

Steve Sheinkopf

Yeah, I think it's I think it's I think it's really the wrong approach. You can't swim against history. That's right. You know, you can't swim against history. It's like the same thing in 1995, the internet came along and, you know, the people scoffed at that. I mean, where are they now? Right? Yeah. It's just it's just you either adapt or it's almost Darwinian.

00:26:51:08 - 00:26:58:15

Steve Sheinkopf

It is either adapt or die, you know, in a, in a, in a, in a mental sense, you know, basically.

00:26:58:15 - 00:27:19:21

Alex Winter

Yeah, basically. So let's talk a little bit. I want to, just kind of paint the picture for people who maybe don't know your story. Once you started the journey, you met Marcus, started working with impact or implementing this system. How did how did your company grow? Like you, I think you said it was around 2007, from 2007 to today.

00:27:19:23 - 00:27:23:23

Alex Winter

Like, can you just kind of paint that picture for people just so they can get inspired in here?

00:27:24:00 - 00:27:48:00

Steve Sheinkopf

Absolutely. First of all, marketing, you know, marketing is, you know, I call almost a three legged stool any good operations. Right. You need you need good sales and support and then you need good marketing. Without the other two I mean you know, marketing, you know, there's, there's a company that, that I know that has got great marketing and just awful operations.

00:27:48:02 - 00:28:13:13

Steve Sheinkopf

So basically it's like it's like launching a missile into your own base, you know, it's you need to get the first two straight and then marketing, you know, is an accelerant. Right. But do you have any idea when all three worked together, we had, let's say, 2011 because 2007 11, I was I was in the larval stages of the content, shall we say.

00:28:13:13 - 00:28:14:00

Alex Winter

Sure.

00:28:14:00 - 00:28:23:15

Alex Winter

And the economy, the economy two back then from oh seven to like ten was. Yeah, awful. Yeah. We want to talk about that. Let's just. Yeah. Go right over that part.

00:28:23:17 - 00:28:32:00

Steve Sheinkopf

Yeah. That was, that was, that was just crazy back then. It was just you couldn't buy a piece of product because the banks on but whatever anyway. But

00:28:32:00 - 00:28:49:16

Steve Sheinkopf

from 2011 to 2025 and 14 years before the business, we have six stores instead of sort of one, and we're way more profitable than we were, because guess what? The other, the other gem to content is you don't have to spend a lot of money marketing.

00:28:49:18 - 00:29:12:03

Steve Sheinkopf

So if you take 3% of sales, which is the normal appliance store spend, and you and you get it down to like less than 0.2 percent, you got a lot of money to do other things, whether it's, you know, you know, we do 41K matching and we do, you know, bonuses and all that other stuff that that would be basically non ROI marketing.

00:29:12:09 - 00:29:41:06

Steve Sheinkopf

This is what I like to call maybe some of that work but most of it wouldn't. So that's what it can do provided you have your organization together like a I mean this stuff would be great for startup you know videos and, and you know blog posts and sending targeted videos to, to prospects. I think it's, I think it's it's, it's, it's really the way to accelerate a great business forward.

00:29:41:07 - 00:30:01:15

Steve Sheinkopf

And again, we have 63 competitors in our fridges aren't any different than anybody else. So you know, we have online. We have you may have heard some of these brands Home Depot, Lowe's, Best Buy you know and we've got like the highest concentration of other dealers, the highest concentration appliance dealers I think in the country are in New England.

00:30:01:17 - 00:30:02:06

Steve Sheinkopf

So.

00:30:02:07 - 00:30:04:01

Alex Winter

Oh, I didn't know that okay.

00:30:04:03 - 00:30:05:00

Steve Sheinkopf

Yeah. Yeah.

00:30:05:02 - 00:30:21:23

Alex Winter

Well and you and you're still for increasing your business over that time period. That's that's incredible. And shortening sales cycles and having a lot of ROI in what you're doing. I'm just very impressed with all that. So I think my my last question for you here is where do you see this.

00:30:22:01 - 00:30:22:17

Steve Sheinkopf

It's five x.

00:30:22:17 - 00:30:25:03

Alex Winter

Oh it's five x. Oh wow. Excuse me.

00:30:25:03 - 00:30:28:04

Steve Sheinkopf

Count. Just calculated five x.

00:30:28:08 - 00:30:46:05

Alex Winter

5X and 6 stores, from one store to six stores. I mean that's that's the dream. And I couldn't be happening to better people. So so excited for you guys. Yeah. And just, I'm curious, where do you see this taking you in the future? So it's it's 2026. Where are you seeing this? Taking you and how is Endless.

00:30:46:09 - 00:30:49:20

Alex Winter

Customers going to continue to play into your journey as you move forward and into 2026.

00:30:49:22 - 00:31:14:08

Steve Sheinkopf

… most customers are going to morph the same way I am because things do change. You know where there will be new tactics that will both learn you first than me. I see us as, I see us growing out of Massachusetts, into New Hampshire first, maybe into Rhode Island.

00:31:14:10 - 00:31:40:02

Steve Sheinkopf

You know, perhaps into Maine, and then, maybe into Connecticut. In that time, I will have aged out probably most definitely. But for the next people, you know, it's the opportunity because, we have to acquire customers inexpensively, get people walking in, people giving us phone calls. That there are competitors aren't getting, because they don't embrace this philosophy.

00:31:40:04 - 00:31:58:23

Steve Sheinkopf

They ask, you answer and those customers or whatever the new brand will be. And I think it's a real problem for them. It's kind of like if you didn't start, if you're not starting, if you're not planning, then you're you're beholden to people that that will. It's that simple.

00:31:59:01 - 00:32:13:10

Alex Winter

Yeah. That's a great takeaway. If you if you don't do it, somebody else is going to. And I feel like I've heard Marcus say that time and time again. And it's so true. It's it's you. Either you either take the bull by the horns or you get left in the dust. And that's true for AI. That's true for Endless Customers.

00:32:13:11 - 00:32:14:23

Steve Sheinkopf

That's true for.

00:32:15:01 - 00:32:37:12

Steve Sheinkopf

Business. And in a lot of industries don't have a company that's doing that yet. And really, for the new people, that's the opportunity because most industries still don't do it right. I imagine I mean, you guys must bang your heads against the proverbial wall saying it can work. It just requires effort. And you've got new tools that can help you.

00:32:37:12 - 00:32:48:07

Steve Sheinkopf

So it's not like 2007. We're all struggling to figure it out. It's been figured out. Whether you do it or not, whether you put the effort into or not is is is really the only question.

00:32:48:09 - 00:33:07:11

Alex Winter

Absolutely. No, that's so true. And we do find that a struggle. But a lot of people are specialists. You know you're in the appliance game. We have a lot of people that are in like, a home, like home renovation and roofing, that type of stuff where they're exceptionally good at what they do, but then they almost kind of put the marketing piece in a bucket because they're like, I don't not shoot videos.

00:33:07:11 - 00:33:17:03

Alex Winter

And I know and it's not true. It's not true anymore. It's really it's easier than ever to do it. You just have to be open minded. And then I think also having a coach or a partner to help you stay accountable.

00:33:17:05 - 00:33:46:11

Steve Sheinkopf

Yeah. There's there's it's it's such a cheap investment. I mean, you have a choice of either buying expensive media or losing your business to, unqualified competitor. That's cheaper. And then it's a race to the bottom. And because customers don't know what it is you do. Right. If you don't tell them in a demonstrative way, you lose to lower to less qualified competitors, you lose them at box stores and you know horrible places to shop.

00:33:46:13 - 00:33:56:09

Steve Sheinkopf

I think box stores are just saying horrible places to shop because you didn't tell your story. That's the real problem.

00:33:56:11 - 00:34:02:06

Alex Winter

That's what I said. Yeah. All right. Well, this has been an amazing conversation. I love chatting with you. We always have such great things to discuss.

00:34:02:08 - 00:34:20:23

Steve Sheinkopf

Yes. It's always a lot of fun with you guys. You know, what you guys have done is you've put. It's not a slingshot anymore. You put a cannon into anybody's hands that want to light the fuze. So congratulations to you guys. And, you know, obviously, I'll be around and, you know, thanks for everything.

00:34:21:01 - 00:34:37:11

Alex Winter

Thank you for telling your story. Thank you for being on the show today. And also, congratulations on all of your success. I love you guys in the team and Pat and everybody over at Yellow Plants. And if you haven't heard about yellow plants or if you're looking for appliances, you got to go check them out. They're just a plus.

00:34:37:13 - 00:34:38:01

Steve Sheinkopf

Thank you.

00:34:38:01 - 00:34:45:11

Alex Winter

All right. Thank you to Steve. And for everyone out there watching and listening, I hope you enjoyed the show. This is Endless Customers. I'm your host, Alex Winter, and we will see you on the next episode.