IAM2475 – The Art of Setting Expectations

In this special episode, Gresham Harkless reflects on the often underestimated challenge of managing the human side of business relationships, especially in roles involving sales or brokering.

Gresham explains that while processes and logistics matter, it’s the emotional and interpersonal dynamics that are hardest to navigate.

Through his experiences, Gresham realizes that success hinges less on leads or inventory and more on understanding each individual’s personal journey and emotional readiness.

Gresham notes that creating space for honest, consistent conversations helps uncover hidden concerns and builds deeper trust.

Moreover, he emphasizes the long-term value of authentic connections, where empathy and open dialogue drive better outcomes and lasting partnerships.

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Transcription:

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Intro 00:01

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:26

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast. And this is a special episode of our I AM CEO Podcast.

And this is actually going to be a snippet of a snippet, so to speak. I'm just doing an intro because I've been starting to document my journey into starting what is now called Blue Star Franchise.

We're also going to do a kind of sub site within CB Nation called Franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that.

But just wanted to give you a little bit more insight, give you a little bit more color in some of the aspects of why I'm actually doing this.

Because one of the things I was doing as I was going through training to start up this new business was realizing and hearing from the founder of FBA, the Franchise Brokers Association, that it'd be really cool to document your journey going through and building this out.

I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises.

But frankly, if you're starting anything, any type of business, I think it's really cool to kind of just even see the journey and how it's been going from there.

So I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the, from the first couple of videos that have been created.

But definitely, of course, subscribe to our YouTube, check out a lot more where I figure out exactly where we're going to post this.

So I'll have that information that's available to you. But regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing.

The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build and needs you to be your unique self.

So make sure to run your own race, because nobody can run your race like you. This is Gresh signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Managing the process managing the connections and all those things in relationships.

There's also the people side managing the people I think that's probably the hardest thing and so talked a little bit with the trainer on that what that looks like.

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And what that was going to be and one of the things that's really really You know shocking, I think, more than anything else is that you sometimes forget about that aspect.

And one of the things that he brought up was kind of setting that expectation. And I think one of the things that wasn't really talked about in training.

But I'm starting to see now and I remember from doing a lot of sales in the past is setting the expectation of like how you want to kind of be treated.

It doesn't necessarily mean that people follow that, but it does mean that you get to decide what this business is going to be.

So I think I very much went through a process where I, where you hear that it's a lot like being a realtor.

And I remember one of the times when I was going out looking for places, a realtor told me when I was thinking like, hey, maybe I should do this.

She was pretty much like, hey, you don't want to do this. She was pretty much saying you don't want to do this just because of how difficult it is in terms of like having someone respect you and respect your time.

And setting those expectations and kind of reading people and all those things. So there's a whole human part that is very, very challenging.

And probably, honestly, I was talking with one of my classmates and I was saying, he was saying, I mean, the inventory is the most challenging thing.

I said, probably getting leads is the most challenging thing. But I think a lot of it is probably the people part is probably the most challenging thing.

Because you can't manage you can't manage the process without managing the person. And I think one of the things that I heard about doing these weekly calls is touching base on how a person feels.

And I don't know if that was hammered home as much as it should be, but that's something that I feel like has really come in evident where life happens and life continues to life.

And I think that be able to kind of have that open communication, open dialogue on what that looks like is super helpful.

So I did, stop one of the weekly calls with one of the she mentioned that she was sick and then she was getting back to me.

She never got back to me. And I called and she, she pretty much said, she asked, do you, I think she brought it up more like, do you still want to do these meetings?

And I said, I'm completely open to whatever you want to do. If you want to have the meetings, we continue to do that.

But I also don't want to make you feel pressured. And that was very genuine. Cause I don't want to continue to hop on a call, and she's not ready.

And I thought that one of the opportunities that I showed to her, this was more of a business opportunity than franchise, although I did introduce her to a franchise, she was definitely ready.

But I think people approach things in a different way. And I know moving is a huge thing, and there's a lot of things.

Going back, I do understand how she was doing a lot of silent objecting and talking about all the things that were happening.

But I know she has a lot on her plate anyways. But she mentioned something that she still wants to do. It's just not the best time.

So a lot of times, you have to respect that. I have another candidate that disappeared and then came back and he texted me yesterday he said hey I was working on a deal so with that it's kind of like understanding and trying to get on the same page as far as I said it was expectations.

Because not only do you know I you know, I want to make sure that I make a good impression and that we build a solid relationship so that we are able to close this deal.

But frankly, are able to be referred to, to be able to reach out to me for like business information or if there's a person, just all those things.

I really want to build those long-term relationships because I think those end up being the best thing that help out businesses long-term.

I also believe strongly that, the trainer gave me a perspective I never thought about, whereas like the person, the candidate also wants to impress you as impress me as a broker.

And I never really thought about it like that. The financial side of talking about, hey, I have the finances or hey, I'm ready or hey, I'm this or I'm that.

But I want to be able to kind of break down those walls and have a deep human conversation on a weekly basis.

So that's something that I really, really want to do a lot more. And I just never thought about how powerful that is.

But when you start doing that, maybe those silent objections start to come out.

But you want to be able to have candid conversations. Even though people sometimes struggle with that, I think I want to at least set the expectation that I want that to happen on a weekly basis while having conversations.

Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help. And of course, looking forward to giving you more and more updates.

Outro 06:48

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.

Want to level up your business even more? Read blogs, listen to podcasts, and watch videos at CBNation.co. Also, check out our I AM CEO Facebook group. This has been the I AM CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.

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