The Drop In CEO™: Helping C-Suite Leaders Take Control of Their Careers and Get Promoted with Author, Speaker and Management Consultant Deb Coviello on Episode #0383

Deb Coviello [0:00]
Hey I am Deb Coviello. Dropinceo.com is my website and welcome to another episode of EA interviews.

Mario Fachini [0:08]
EA interviews episode 383 inspiration, transformation success stories and the imperfect action round seven days a week. Join Mario for tuning for today’s expert authority effect interview expert authority world. Have you ever gone through transitions in your life? Have things been going well and things but not going? Well, I’m sure that’s the case with you because you’re successful entrepreneur. And I know I’ve personally gone through it. And I can actually give you a real life example of this. And I might just do that. But that is why I’m excited to have Deb Coviello on the show. She is an author, speaker, management consultant. And she has her own podcast and she helps companies go through the transitions of growing and put more money in their pockets. She’s an exceptional woman. She’s super nice. I’m excited to bring her up right after we thank our sponsor. Every business needs a book, including yours. And that’s why I’m launching my new book to help you regardless of where you think your current writing abilities are. Visit EApublishingmethodbook.com today to learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction lead and profit generating business book in eight weeks. Once again, that’s EApublishingmethodbook.com. Here she is ladies and gentlemen, author of the CEOs compass Deb Coviello. Deb, how are you feeling today?

Deb Coviello [1:34]
I am feeling amazing Mario and just want to thank you for the opportunity for this conversation. And everybody else is going to be watching and listening in the background. So just it’s amazing here. It’s nice and sunny in Cincinnati, a little cold. But you know, a lot the season so we’ll get used to it. But, grateful for the sunshine.

Mario Fachini [1:52]
I was thinking the same thing, because some people are like, oh, I need the sun 24/7 I kind of like knowing life isn’t the same every single day. There’s definitely I think we can definitely say that there’s changes in the Midwest, and it’s sometimes unpredictable. But that’s what makes it fun.

Deb Coviello [2:10]
Yeah, I’ve always loved the four seasons went to Florida, thinking about going to Florida. But you know what, I love the changing of the leaves as well as the spring. So, I think I’ll stick around in the Midwest. It’s a great place.

Mario Fachini [2:21]
Good people too. And I noticed you’re not too far from me. And like I was introducing you and telling everyone. Well, I’m not telling everyone we’re talking to them right now. I wanna ask you what inspired you to write your book? And why did you decide to get in a business of helping people with the transitions? I mean, we even had an issue. I mean, I’ll tell everyone, and I did. I didn’t. I was thinking about how to preface this because I didn’t want to say she’s helped me in my business even though you have but not like in the client capacity. I wanted to be clear on that. So there’s not, just for transparency. And what’s that word? integrity, transparency, one of those good things. But you did help me because we had an issue on the last one, I was so excited to have you up. And then it just everything wasn’t going well, the this wasn’t working that wasn’t working, you know, technology, let’s just say and I was for everyone listening. I was telling her before the show, I was so excited to have her back here. I felt like we’ve known each other for years. And we knew some of the same people. But the reality is we had maybe a 10, 12 minute exchange, but she was one of the nicest people that just I remember her saying, let’s take things xiety out of it. Okay, what can we do? It’s not that big of a deal this and I was just like blown away. Because in business, I think we all know, not everyone. I have two examples in the last 24 hours. Not everyone treats people the same. Why did you choose this? And how can more people be like you, I guess?

Deb Coviello [3:57]
Well, first of all, thank you for that compliment. And I sincerely appreciate that. But I will say being calm amidst chaos is one of my superpowers. And I will tell you time and time again, in my corporate life, while I am a STEM professional, I know my craft, I’m a Lean Six Sigma, Black Belt Quality OP X, I can make it better, faster, cheaper and safer for you. But one of the things I’ve been faced with is crisis. Day after day, things go wrong, customers are complaining. And the best thing that I can do for my team is remain calm. Because while there is chaos in the room, somebody has to be the voice of reason to be able to hear what is the problem and then apply the proper treatment. So for instance, yes, we had technology issues last time, the ultimate outcome was to be here today and have a great conversation, not get the transaction done in the minute. So I read the situation and I was calm and said you know what, what’s more important is that we get through the technology you as a host, need to be calm and make, you know this a great conversation. So that was the more important thing. And so that is what I’m celebrated for CEOs of companies will come to me at a time of chaos, or pre chaos. And they know they need somebody to help them guide them. And so let’s go back to the book, the book is the playbook I didn’t have while going through all of those situations of transformation, the acquisition of another business unit, a loss of a leader, changing customer requirements, oh, my most leaders would panic, panic, panic, scurry kill people with meetings and emails. And I go in with a little bit more of a level head, I listen, and get the best information and level set the team to move forward. So that’s just a snippet of what is in the CEOs compass, I had to distill all of my lessons learned and create the playbook that I think CEOs need. They don’t necessarily need one of these amazing leadership books up here. And they’re all fantastic frameworks for building up businesses. But it’s meant for the CEO who has been very successful building businesses, and something changes and they feel off track. The book helps them to self reflect on what’s, what’s their leadership style, what do they maybe need to change. And then you can pick one of the seven compass points, and to make the changes you need. So it’s a how to manual to get you back to true north and peace of mind, which is what I aspire to what’s different, is leaders don’t need results, but in actuality, they’re in pursuit of peace of mind. And coming back to you, when we had that conversation. You calm down a little bit. You had peace of mind, okay? I can’t serve this guest today. But I know I can serve them in the future. And so we’re back here today. And we think we have some peace of mind. So that’s why I had to write the book. I help people through transformation. I keep things calm, so we can do the work we should be doing.

Mario Fachini [7:04]
You guys listen to this, because I’m like, enjoying this already and already calmer. But in that moment, like I was revealing before the show, I had four or five different episodes. Guest I was doing that day. And it just, it calmed me down not just for that one. But the other ones because I had more bad news. It wasn’t like, oh, there’s one problem. It was everything’s amplified. And in business, this happens from time to time. But I think I mean, everyone listening right now can just tell there’s something about you. That’s different. And it’s phenomenal. And I’m I noticed it last time, and it’s why is excited to have you here. And I will say even if you can resolve something in that moment, because I’ve done enough of these and even prior starting the show, I’ve done enough on camera stuff that the room next door could be on fire, and I could still have a good conversation. I’m confident of that. But there’s a point where if you’re doing something and forcing it too much, and for the example, I’ll say the episode, but in business, if you’re trying to force it, maybe you can get it done. But I loved what you said about why am I leaning? I, I’m so relaxed. I’m so comfortable right now I’m like kind of slop sided. So what I was saying is, the question is, should you there’s been times that happened had been like two years, but early early on, it was like, should we move forward with this in the guest was willing, I was willing and they know we still could have made it happen. I go, you know what I want to honor you and your time I want this to be the best it can be. And truly I want that with every episode. So there’s times I’m like, let’s just not do it. So we can both come in fresh. And we can have the energy up here instead of down here. Even though we’re gonna be saying similar stuff. It does make the everything goes into so I just want to say thank you again. And for anyone listening. If they don’t, can anyone hire you? And if they can’t, what are one or two things anyone listening right now can do to go okay, my life is in chaos. My business is in chaos, all these things. What can I do right now, to just calm it down and reframe this whole situation like you clearly have this innate ability to do so, so well.

Deb Coviello [9:27]
So one of the things that I will say to that leader that there’s a little bit of chaos, should I proceed forward and be the firefighter, pause and reflect. And the greatest power that you have in the courage is to pause and reflect and not move forward and run into the fire because what do you want to be known for? What legacy do you want to leave that person that runs into the fire and at the end of the day, you get that result? But what chaos did you create in that process of surging forward and driving the team towards an outcome? You’ve kind of I’m overwhelmed and burnt out the team. If a leader has personal accountability, and says, I need to pause, do I know what I need to do? Do I need to change my approach in this situation? Think about your leadership and why you lead. And only then do you proceed forward. And that’s hard for leaders, we are rewarded for action and activity and results. And it’s the courageous leader that can just pause and reflect, read the room and say, I need to pause. And let’s reschedule. Let’s do this in the future. It’s not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of strength. And so I have had too many times in my career, even when I left corporate, and started my own business, a lot of reflection. What was I good at? What was I passionate about? How who did I want to work with? Who did I want to serve? And I’m new now serving amazing clients, I don’t have a ton of business. But I have the right business. It’s a leader needs to pause before moving forward with their team, because then they need to lead their team not drive their team.

Mario Fachini [11:02]
Wow. So I know something else you’ve done. And what I love about you is not only that you’re helping people in this way, and you’re great at it, obviously. But you have the book, but you also have your show the Drop in CEO, what inspired you to start the podcast? And why are you making so much available for free, and also a free to a low stepping stone point, I should say, because I’m sure people realize that when you hire a high end consultant like yourself, it’s probably not free or 20 bucks or 30. Or, you know, whatever you’re selling, depending on what edition of the book you have. Why? Why do you, Why are you taking your time, energy and resources to make this available to people?

Deb Coviello [11:50]
So this is where the authenticity comes through. And I hate that word. But this is the real Deb, pull back the curtain here. Oh my I love to create, I love to speak, I love to share my thoughts. And I’ll tell stories about being a very talkative kid. And that didn’t fit into the educational system. Good to keep Debbie quiet. Okay, we’ll try. And then later, you know why? Asking, why always being inquisitive, and then being told to be quiet, asked me offline. So I have had a long career of being frustrated, a frustrated speaker, and not being able to have a platform. So when I started my own business, I said, Oh, podcasting, let me go on a show. And I loved it. I loved it. And then it was chasing, can it be on your podcast, I’d love to be on your podcast. And then I just realized, I was tired of chasing, I can speak on my own terms. So having my own platform to be able to invite insights and inspiration from industry leaders, have conversations, learn from them create content, for others, it is a joy, because I know whether I know the people listening or not, I am doing good work for them now. I believe in being of service and building that trust for free. Because that’s how we build relationships. And again, if it converts into some kind of collaboration, so be it and it has. But then I offer the book, the CEOs compass, because if you want more of my insights, and I do talk about the book, in my own podcast, you can go into that and get more details of how to do it yourself. If you’re faced with transition, or chaos, you can do it yourself. But ultimately, if you have the courage, you may not have the capacity, or the capability to do it alone. And that’s where I can come in. But I believe in giving first sharing these insights with you. That’s why I did the podcast. And I’ll do it for as long as I can. I just love this media, especially also being a guest on your show. It’s just a great platform. It is.

Mario Fachini [13:50]
It is and thank you for that. But more good Midwest here. I swear, it’s the people. I can tell you’re one of the right people. And I’m glad you’re here because this the whole reason I started my show is to bring more of the good people to the world because frankly, there’s enough bad out there and the news doesn’t shy away from airing it. And I don’t know if this is going to get me in more trouble because it already has. But I don’t feel like I should ever have to step down from saying what’s on my heart, especially if it’s something good.

Deb Coviello [14:28]
Amen to that because people may not agree with everything that I said. And I have had stories where people didn’t agree with what I had to say. But then the quiet ones off to the side say, Deb, can I talk to you? I really like what you said, we need more people like you. And so it’s for those people that, I think differently. My thoughts are different and it resonates with the people I can serve and quick fun fact I’m originally from New Jersey. I’m a Jersey girl. I could talk real fast and bust your chops but I’ve acclimated to the middle West, and there are great people out here as well.

Mario Fachini [15:04]
Well, here’s how I treat the Midwest. Anything from like, Chicago, East is kind of the Midwest if it’s north. And I’ve said for years when I’m speaking in LA and San Diego, I’m like, Yeah, I’m from the East Coast, the East Coast, the East Coast. They’re like, you’re not from the East Coast, you’re from the Midwest, I’m like, well, it’s close enough east, it’s furthering the California. So it’s, you know, round up, your round down, it all works out. Like you were saying, with the spellcheck beforehand. As long as you configure the beginning and the ending, everyone knows, it’ll make sense.

Deb Coviello [15:36]
Perfection is not what we’re after.

Mario Fachini [15:38]
Correct. So let’s talk about the type of businesses you do help and have helped. Is there a certain one, like, is there? Do they have to be at a certain size? Or does that not matter? Or can they only be a certain size? Or do they have to be at a certain size? Or does it not matter, you can help anyone, they just need to be in a certain threshold of chaos, basically.

Deb Coviello [16:02]
You know, this is life, on the fly, changing of my perspective. And while I have worked for Fortune 500 companies, I have that pedigree and expertise of that having all the resources and money and travel and support systems, while I have been attracted or people that have been attracted to my work, are the medium size businesses, because they have leaders that realize they’ve been successful with a good knit culture. But when things get ahead of them, they need external support. But you know, what, just a little while ago, a major major company reached out to me, and they’re much bigger than just a medium sized company. So I have to requalify it’s any leader that is going through some kind of transformation in their operations, that has the courage and the realization, they can’t do it alone. So, if you want to put me in a box, and I don’t prescribe to that five to $200 million worth of sales is the medium sized company, five people working with the business owner, up to about 100. Those are the best environments I have worked on. You can do great work, the people turn on a dime. And they sincerely appreciate you. And there’s usually follow on work because of the relationship. So box, but don’t box me.

Mario Fachini [17:23]
Well, I appreciate you’re narrowing it down. So we have some context. But I could make a joke about the screen here. Because I did put you in a box. Go ahead, go for it. No, I mean, literally, like with the way the screen looks, we’re both in boxes. So,

Deb Coviello [17:39]
Yeah, I don’t prescribe for that, you know, people often need to profile put you in a box, so that they can understand you and I’ll go there. But I don’t prescribe to be like everybody else. Somebody once asked me, Is it so, are you a fractional COO, fractional CEO. And I said, No, I’m the Drop in CEO, I will be whatever that C suite leader needs me to be leveraging my expertise, helping partner through that change, the downsizing loss of leadership, and I’ll either pull in my skills or other skills and be what they need. So don’t put me in a box, because then you limit my ability to serve others.

Mario Fachini [18:15]
What has been one of the biggest issues you’ve dealt with, you don’t need to say the company or anything if you don’t want to, but give us an example of like you dropped in somewhere. And it was just, you know, how much of a chaos thing was this? Just I don’t know how to deal with Debbie. And damn, they’re arguing or is it like, some M&A going on, and it was just dirty?

Deb Coviello [18:39]
I talked about this quite a bit. And thank you for that question. Even the best companies around have flaws. And while on paper, they can lead an initiative. They’ve got resources, spreadsheets, drumbeats and meetings on paper, it looks good. But they fail to look at the human perspective when they make these changes or go through transformation. And yeah, they say they respect the people. Everybody’s coming to the meetings, we keep everybody informed. But in one situation where we’re integrating another company into ours. On paper, we were doing tech, not all the right technology things. Tech, Tech is really important to make businesses run. They were laser focused on that they had the best technology. But what they didn’t spend time doing is understanding the customer requirements, and what they really needed. That was not negotiable. And the companies that we were integrating that had these customers, he didn’t take the time to understand what made them great. And why did they work so well with these new customers we acquired. And so on one side of the business when we flip the switch, that business failed because we couldn’t supply, the customer data was wrong and we had a hard time servicing that customer. But on my side where I spent time getting to know the people even though we had problems they knew who they could ask for help within the network to be able to be able to ship cut product to the customer. And we never had a quality issue. That is chaos. These sometimes larger companies get so complex that they forget their roots when they were small. When people had everybody’s back and just made things happen, even when the computers and the phones go down, they could still make things happen. Unfortunately, that cut company suffered a lot of heartache, they eventually became home. But think of how much money they lost. Had they not started with the fundamentals and slowed down a little bit. Get the technology, right, understand the intellectual property, the people and the relationships with customers, and the new relationships are forming. Big fail. That was a big failure.

Mario Fachini [20:48]
Yeah, and not just the technology. But even if I’m glad they became whole and recovered in everything, but at the same time, you’re letting the people go. Well, is this how we do it, you You cast a little seed of doubt, maybe depending on the person little doubt, big doubt. You know, in the ripple effects of that, I mean, you can always recover. And I would say in most cases, unless it’s just astronomical, but we’ll use have the same team moving forward, you may have had some star players that, you know, I know for a fact that there’s people who go, I only like to work with the best and deal with the best and be the best, you know, it’s how I get to be the best. And I’ve seen some really cool people just transition, because they’re like, You know what, I feel like I could do a better job than the leader when the leader you know, law of the lid.

Deb Coviello [21:38]
Yeah, and I have seen it done well, I have actually seen a leader who had to close a plant down and keep the people whole still shipping product to the customer, even though their job was in jeopardy. But ultimately, we provided, we’d have relationships with everybody and provided them the unique services and support they needed to while they were still with us. And then even afterwards, we left people whole, we respected them, and they gave it their all, despite any problems we had, we kept the customer service throughout the change. Those are the leaders, I love to work with, that understand, let’s start with the humans, and how we can help them. And then the technology and everything else is an enabler. It’s not the core thing. It’s the enabler of humans doing the business and the transactions.

Mario Fachini [22:26]
So what I’m hearing a lot of is no matter what the industry is size of the business, this that the other thing as long as you’re doing the right thing, being honest and treat people with respect, that’s gonna work out.

Deb Coviello [22:39]
Yeah, people have missed this. Because we have gotten into better, faster, cheaper, we have devices that can help us do things so much more efficiently. But then we forget about the people. And again, people in the human still run the world. We, it is all about the relationship building. It’s about you and I having a conversation that hopefully doesn’t stop here. It continues on afterwards. Because you never know, someday. Hey, Deb, can you help me out? And I’ll be there because we know each other. So again, it’s not about the transaction. It’s not about us postponing this conversation from a couple months ago. But it’s we’re having the conversation now and people get to enjoy our insights.

Mario Fachini [23:17]
I’m really enjoying it. I gotta be honest, I, I am like one of my favorite ones. I I always like most of them. But there’s been a few people who I’m like, it just felt like there was an undertone. Yeah, I feel you’re completely genuine. So, not trying to hide anything or skirt anything. So everything I’ve asked you, you’ve had a great answer for you’re not like dodging anything.

Deb Coviello [23:42]
And I appreciate that. I mean, I have a few mentors in my life that I can thank for that. Because as we’re trained, I was trained as a geeky engineer, you dot your i’s, you cross your t’s, you give the PowerPoint, you answer every question before they even ask it. And you’re celebrated because you gave them good information for them to make a decision. And so when I started my own business, I showed up on video exactly like that. And it wasn’t resonating. And so as soon as I embrace the lock of hair that’s a little bit off the side, maybe my lipsticks not perfect. But you know what, I have myself here. And I think a lot of people can learn a lesson and just just enjoy each other’s interactions and just be yourself.

Mario Fachini [24:23]
Yeah, it’s a lot more calm and relaxed. And I can relate to the spreadsheets. I was trying not to smile or smirk too much when you said it 10 minutes ago or wherever. But one of the things I do get ready if you didn’t see it, but I have on one of my other screens over here I see the tab right now I have a whole spreadsheet of every episode, the guest the like, it’s 165 columns wide of everything that went on and there’s a column I look forward getting ready. It’s literally the color of my ties. And it depends on which episode it is and this and that and I just have, I can do the data thing just as much as I can converse, And sometimes I have to pull myself back also from out of that going, okay, this isn’t a rocket ship, just don’t worry about it, it’s gonna be fine. So, that leads me to this question of, Is there a point do you feel where you can be too efficient was something, too efficient? In the context, I’m thinking of is what we were talking about with the people side of stuff, you, you held up your phone saying, you know, that we can do transactions better, quicker, faster. But then we’re also talking about the conversation and the, you know, we’re actually getting a chance to talk here, like human beings. So kind of in that context of, you know, you could say, well, maybe I’m not gonna I saw someone the other day, as a matter of fact, they said, we don’t offer phone support. I think that’s a missed opportunity, I get that it’s better and more efficient. But do you think that we can be too efficient nowadays?

Deb Coviello [25:57]
I can support that, because a couple things, I’ve been told I’m very efficient. I’ve got my spreadsheets, I’ve got my processes, and I can look busy, busy, busy. But then I had lunch with somebody someday. And I said, you just give me some feedback. What do you say? They said, you’re great. You’re doing a lot of stuff. You’re killing it. But you’re not present. Present. So there’s the sense of, I’m always thinking I’m always on and I’m not in the moment. And it’s hard. If you’re a high achiever, you want to get a lot done, you need those spreadsheets to keep going, going, not forget anything, but you miss an opportunity to say, Okay, I’m not ready for this interview. I’m just going to be in the moment, and we’re going to wing it here. That’s okay. One other story about being too efficient. And I’ll say it was a recent project, we were very efficient at getting to a point where we could have an external auditor and certify us for achieving a certain subject matter. And we’re so efficient, we got everything in place. And yes, we did really well. We didn’t pass the audit on the first try. We were so efficient, putting the spreadsheets and the books and the binders and the procedures and the training in place. And then we forgot to communicate why it was so important to complete one piece of paper. And it was that one piece of paper that they said, Wait a second, I was trying to get product out the door, they’re yelling at me, I gotta hurry, hurry, hurry. And we didn’t give the people the time and space to know that it was so important to make sure we complete that record. And we put them in a situation where they made a poor decision. So in that moment of being so efficient, and working so hard to get across the finish line, we missed some connections, dotting some eyes and T’s etc, and making the mental connection with people on why are we doing this, and then they would have made a better decision. That’s the pitfall of being too efficient, sometimes.

Mario Fachini [27:52]
I, I can relate to that. There’s one of the things I’ve had to do. Because I can process a lot and handle a lot and get a lot done. But I’ve actually started putting in my calendar years ago, be present with family be present here like block off time to just especially holidays, you know, Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year’s, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, in the irony is, this wasn’t me growing up, I’m, like, all over the place. So for business, I had to learn to be more disciplined, and I got so good at it. It was like, you know, two minutes like variances like, I don’t like this. But at the same time, it’s like, you have two hours free, the two minutes is not making or breaking anything. You’re running red lights, you’re, you know what I mean? It’s like, you know, in business, all you you know, you’re so efficient, because you’re ultimately cutting something out to get it done quicker. But I think the, to the point of the question, Is it something you should be cutting out, like the phone support, you know how many people I don’t even want to say a certain generation, but I think people like to connect with people. And I think customer service is a lost art. I feel like the last few years 5, 10 all it’s just gotten worse with few exceptions.

Deb Coviello [29:10]
And the one time that somebody calls you up and say, Hey, I’d like to talk to you about your policy talk through a couple of options like oh, well, I’ve personalized service. I’m going to get my questions answered the first time out or the assurance, they’re gonna call me back with the right information, in the, I know what you’re saying the efficiency of the menus, the texting, a lot is lost in translation. And people are stewing because they can’t get their questions or issues resolved because efficiency replaced the humans but as humans that still make decisions for the better.

Mario Fachini [29:43]
Absolutely. There was two examples of last 24 hours of horrible situations I could say. And then there was one that I thought I was gonna have to do later and they were so efficient. It took a minute and a half. And now it’s done and I’m excited for it. Yeah, and it was a personal thing. I’m taking my mom to see a concert of someone we’ve seen not traditionally, every year, and I was able to book it and do all of that in literally a minute and a half to two minutes. The two other things probably will be going on till next week. And they started a week and a half ago. And they both, all three scenarios are phone calls.

Deb Coviello [30:19]
I think what people are really looking for, and again, this is peace of mind and the outcome. And I can’t take credit for this, but it’s called frictionless customer service. Because when you’re engaging on Amazon, all you want to do is find what you want, click on what you want, push a button, and get out, get on. So, so that’s where you don’t want to talk to a person, I just want to point and click and get what I want. And so whether it’s on the phone, an automated system or talking to a human, ultimately, we want frictionless service, whether it’s a minute or three minutes, get what we want, versus feeling like we’re hitting a roadblock, or having to go through all these different loops to get what you need.

Mario Fachini [31:01]
Yeah, or it takes two hours and 54 minutes to even talk to someone. Really, really, you’re going to leave me on hold for three hours. So I’m so glad you’re doing the right things with the right people. I got a couple more questions. One of them is shabam. This is what I was hiding last time that I thought you saw but you didn’t. yellow or black?

Deb Coviello [31:24]
Black. You’re sure? I’m just saying black. You ask a question.

Mario Fachini [31:30]
Okay. I’m just teasing ya. Yeah, there’s no wrong answers. So we got black here, this is the wheel of whatever. My question for you is. What is something you would like to do that you haven’t done yet? And it doesn’t have to be business related. I didn’t want to pinpoint it to travel or something with your family. But what is something really out there? You’ve I was even, I’ll be honest, I was gonna ask you this one. But I didn’t know if it would make you uncomfortable. Tell me something. You’ve never told anyone.

Deb Coviello [32:02]
I can’t do that. Okay, that’s fair. I can’t do that one.

Mario Fachini [32:07]
What is it? What is something you love to do that you haven’t done yet?

Deb Coviello [32:11]
Well, I realized I love cruises. And I would love to take a cruise to Alaska. I just think there’s something about seeing a part of the world that is amazingly beautiful. That’s a little bit on my bucket list. We are going to go on a cruise to the, you know, the Bahamas and all of that. But going on a cruise to Alaska would be amazing. I’ve never been to Alaska. And I just think there’s some beauty there. That’s something I’ve been talking to my husband we need to think about doing. But something that I’ve never told anybody. I want to keep that at bay.

Mario Fachini [32:39]
Okay, that’s fair. I, I would agree. I’ve wanted to go on Alaska cruise. I’ve always loved photography and videography. And it really, I’ve seen pictures. I mean, I think we’ve all seen pictures. But there’s a lot of stuff. You know, like we learned our whole life. And now with computers and everything. It’s like you believe it’s real? Because you’ve seen it 100 time like alligators, animals, whatever, penguins, but like, really? How do you know all we have ever seen is pictures and videos? For the most part until you experience it live.

Deb Coviello [33:11]
Yeah, I mean, I’m not. I wish I could give you a more exciting answer. That’s a great answer, my needs are simple. I love to travel. I love going to Europe. My children are in Europe. I had a chance to go there in August. We’re going to go to the Caribbean. I love being on a cruise ship. I love beaches. Any place warm. But Alaska is intriguing. And I’d love to do that someday.

Mario Fachini [33:34]
Would you ever want to scuba dive in the elastic Alaskan Arctic?

Deb Coviello [33:38]
I’m gonna say that doesn’t interest me. On the other hand, unless I’ve extracted something I never know.

Mario Fachini [33:45]
Right, dry suit, is it, have you done that, or a submarine. Yeah. Those are two I would find interesting. I have all kinds of fun ideas. But thank you for playing along and answering. We’re gonna thank our sponsor real quick and come back for the imperfect action round. You’ve heard me say every business needs a book, including yours, and it’s true. And that’s why I’m launching my new book at EApublishingmethodbook.com. So you can learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction lead and profit generating business book in eight weeks. But you know what? Don’t take my word for it. Take it from a few of my authors like Lori

And I went from having an idea and the possibility to actually getting my book published

or Katherine,

Katherine [34:29]
thank you for making my mom number one selling author

Mario Fachini [34:33]
or Mary Alice

Mary Alice [34:34]
what he got done for me in three days regarding my book launch, unmanageable

Mario Fachini [34:42]
John Cody

John Cody [34:43]
I’ve worked with Mario over the phone and online and he’s been very helpful in getting me where I needed to go with promoting my books

Mario Fachini [34:50]
Rosio

Bill Benner [34:51]
there’s no way in the world I would have been able to do this with somebody else. Again, I’ve attempted in the past. It didn’t serve me. As a matter of fact, I ended up more frustrated than any thing. So this has been a very seamless process.

Mario Fachini [35:02]
Adelle

Adelle [35:03]
if you’re looking for an amazing business coach, I highly recommend Mario Fachini

Mario Fachini [35:08]
or Bill Benner

Bill Benner [35:09]
I can’t make a higher recommendation for America than to work with Mario Fachini. He has been great for for me and right now, I won’t work with anybody else except for Mario.

Mario Fachini [35:19]
Hey, their words, not mine. Visit EApublishingmethodbook.com To get your copy, and I look forward to hearing your transformation is our next video success story. Once again, that’s EApublishingmethodbook.com. And we are back with the imperfect action around Deb, are you ready to take imperfect action?

Deb Coviello [35:41]
I am gamed if you are at it. Yeah.

Mario Fachini [35:45]
60 Seconds or Less answers. Rapid fire. I got three of them. The first one is what is the fastest path to the profits?

Deb Coviello [35:54]
Fastest path to the profits. Look at where people are busy. Extra activity, taking a long time from going from A to B, Look at the time from starting a transaction to the end of a transaction. There’s a lot of waste in there. If we give people the tools to be more efficient, and not take so long to do their job and make it easier for them. There’s a lot of missed profit in there that people don’t realize.

Mario Fachini [36:21]
Excellent. Number two, what is the biggest problem you see your prospects making and the fastest way for them to fix it.

Deb Coviello [36:28]
You’re not asking for help. All my business leaders think that they got all the resources in the four walls in their box. But you got to think differently focus on your core competency. You may not need full time people. Think about focusing on your core competency and leverage external experts for when you need them for what you need them. Make it a new business model that 80% of your resources might be there, but enhance it with 20% experts at all times. That’s what’s going to get you ahead.

Mario Fachini [37:00]
Excellent. Three, what is the best way to maximize customer lifetime value?

Deb Coviello [37:10]
See ’em as humans and not a transaction. I remember being with a client and they were deer in a headlight, they had no idea how they were to get to the end. But as soon as you give them a map, and you take them on that journey and then held have them start doing things in that journey. As soon as you see the switch flip and they say, Deb, come on along on our journey. Let us show you what we’re doing. Let us know if we’re still on the right track. When you change the deer in the headlight to having confidence, you build loyalty, you build trust, and you’re going to be the person they think about next time to bring you back to solve the next issue in their business.

Mario Fachini [37:49]
Love that.

Deb Coviello [37:50]
Thank you.

Mario Fachini [37:51]
Alright, as a publisher myself, I love talking about books. What are a couple that have made a big, big, big business? It’s not like I haven’t done this hundreds of times. Can you tell me some books that have helped you? In business or life.

Deb Coviello [38:08]
So there’s a few books I’m just gonna say I love Dorie Clark. She was a guest on my podcast. She’s written three books, Standout, Entrepreneurial You and Reinventing You those books were so invaluable as I was looking at who I had been for about 25, 30 years, and who I was going to be in terms of standing out and the value I was going to bring to others, an amazing resource. She’s a very kind person that those three books stand out reinventing you, an entrepreneurial you those have been amazing. And I will tell you Jeffrey Shaw, he’s on my shelf as well. The Entrepreneurial Life. Oh my. He understands small and medium sized businesses and that ecosystem of what we need to be successful. Those have been invaluable to me.

Mario Fachini [38:55]
Great resources. Thank you for mentioning those. Where would you like people to learn more,

Deb Coviello [39:00]
Just visit my website Dropin ceo.com DROPIN ceo.com. You’ll learn more about myself and had access to my book, the podcast, my blog, and more resources coming so I would love for you to come and let’s start a conversation.

Mario Fachini [39:17]
The drop in CEO herself and author of the CEOs compass Deb, Deb Coviello. Thank you so much, Deb.

Deb Coviello [39:24]
It’s been a pleasure. Mario, thank you so much.

Mario Fachini [39:26]
Alright, expert authority world. We have another great episode here today. I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a great day. And God bless. You’re already the expert. But have you transformed your expertise into a tangible asset that will generate qualified leads while increasing profit for you, 24/7? And if so, how well are you promoting it? With my new book The expert authority effect publishing method I take you through my process step by step. Visit EApublishingmethod book.com today to learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction lead and profit generating business book in eight weeks. Visit EApublishingmethodbook.com to get started now. Once again, that’s EApublishing method book.com. Hey, thanks for listening to today’s episode. I hope you got a lot out of it. I know, I sure did. If you haven’t done so already, I invite you to subscribe to the show. And also be sure to check out EAinterviews.com. For complete show notes, the full interview video experience, links to the resources we mentioned and more. Have a blessed day and I’ll see you tomorrow