The TomCast

Muff London, the Founder and President of Document Shredding & Storage (DSS) based in Amarillo, Texas joins Tom on this episode. Muff shares the early story of starting the shredding business in a most unusual way, leveraging other people's empty trucks and warehouse space before graduating to a F-250 and a trailer. She also shares two of her favorite "subtle" marketing tactics that created a...

On this episode Tom chats with Jay Burns of Crown Information Management based in Winter Haven, Florida. Jay shares how his own personal growth and development as well as the evolution of the business has been deeply impacted by an external coach. Jay talks about the early benefits and the evolving evidence of the impact of his coach on him personally, especially as it relates to his emotional int...

Jill Fasken, the former owner of Colorado Document Security located in Grand Junction, Colorado joins Tom on this episode. Jill describes how she and her husband Scott started the company in 2003, and the growth and development of it over the years. But, the focus of the conversation is how Jill responded and dealt with Scott's unexpected death in 2019, and the immediate and ongoing actions she to...

On this week's episode, Tom meets with Jim Beran, Director of Sales at Gilmore based in Pensacola, FL.  Jim is a long time sales leader in the shredding industry. He discusses the history of selling in the industry and some of the differences he sees between the early selling and today. Jim also shares some of his phone needs assessment process which can be really helpful to company positioning. T...

Liz Metts, Senior Director of Business Operations at Secure Shred & Opportunity Enterprises located in Valparaiso, Indiana joins Tom on this episode. Liz describes how they employ individuals with disabilities in the shredding and recycling operation. She shares the benefits the individual employees gain as result of their employment, but also the incredible business benefits that come from hi...

Jonas Rice, Owner of ShredPro Secure of Lenoir City, Tennessee explores the elements of the S.P.E.A.R. acronym that guides his shredding business. This framework gives his team a memorable and specific way to define and live their values every day in the business. Jonas gives us a deep dive into each element in order to understand how powerful this tool is in his business. +++++++++++++++ Jonas Ri...

On this week's episode, Tom meets with Gary Wright, Vice President of Operations at Williams Data Management & ShredMyFiles.com based in Los Angeles, California.  Three months ago Gary implemented a program called Bank the Box, which rewards drivers on purge jobs for the number of boxes they shred over and above the work-order expectation. Learn about how Gary has implemented this program with...

Heather Fitzanko, Vice President of AAA Certified Confidential Security Corp of Peoria, Illinois shares their unique small business service program with Tom on this episode. About four years ago, Heather launched the ShredSmart program, an annual billing program for select small business clients. Learn how she implemented the program, the benefits and challenges she's uncovered along the way, and...

On this week's episode, Tom converses with Chris Isabell of iSecure located in Grants Pass, Oregon. Chris shares how a core set of values he adopted from his years in the military have been integral to leading and running his shredding business. Chris also shares a simple model of "process" and "performance" which helps him to improve the business on a regular basis. There's a great story about a...

On this episode Tom chats with Grant DiGioia of Patriot Shredding based in Rockville, Maryland.  Grant shares how he used the early COVID crisis to dive deep into all the data they had about stops, time spent, factors on those stops, revenue and profitability. As a result, they built and continue to use a dynamic purge pricing calculator that came out of the data they uncovered. You'll hear all th...

On this episode, Tom converses with Jay Barwick, VP of Operations for River Mill Data Management, located in Columbus, Georgia.  Jay discusses practical ways they’ve implemented internal communication for improved team connection within the organization.  Jay shares about his regular driver meetings and how that’s given River Mill some of the best return on that investment.  He also shares about a...

Greg Miller, President of Altitude DocuShred located in the Denver, Colorado area joins Tom on this episode. Greg shares how 20% of his revenue comes from re-orienting large or complex service requests into high value projects to ultimately resolve the client's bigger problem. He shares his approach and examples of these types of projects. He also provides the unique type of thinking and perspecti...

On this round of the podcast Tom chats with Christopher Jones, Chief Problem Solver of Secure Records Solutions located in Thomasville, Georgia.  Christopher outlines five critical approaches he’s taken to respond to a sales problem he uncovered in the company, along with the implications and outcomes of that response.  That’s at least two major $10,000 insights in this episode that you won’t want...

On this episode of the podcast, Tom has a conversation with Lucy Shipley, Group Director of Shredall SDS Group based in Nottingham, England.  Lucy shares the reasons for their recent big software change decision, the process they went through before the implementation and the lessons learned along the way.  If you are considering a software change in your destruction business, do not miss what Luc...

On this episode of the show Tom talks with Nate Segall of AccuShred based in Toledo, Ohio. Nate shares how he employs a lot of little things in his business to ensure customer retention. You'll hear about the famous AccuShred cookie, GPS and Susan G Komen fundraising. There's so much good stuff on the podcast today, so keep listening. +++++++++++++++ Nate Segall Founder & President AccuShred Y...

On this episode of the show Tom talks with Cory Tomczyk of IROW.  Cory discusses how he prioritizes and hires to ensure his team over communicates with customers which is critical to success in the rural culture where he provides services. You'll also hear how Cory has leveraged his role on boards over the years to support him and the business. +++++++++++++++ Cory Tomczyk Owner IROW You can find...

On this episode Tom talks with Jim Dowse of Time Shred Services. Jim shares with Tom his very specific approach to direct mail marketing, including the steps in his process. If you want to learn how Jim gets lists for free and some of his best vendors, you're not going to want to miss this episode. +++++++++++++++ Jim Dowse COO Time Shred Services You can find Time Shred here: https://www.timeshre...

On this episode Tom chats with John Alford & Will Fountain of GreenServ.  John and Will share with Tom how they created a Shred Sales Specialist position in their business and the profound impact it had on shredding-related sales. You've got to hear this because you will definitely get a return on your listening investment today. +++++++++++++++ John Alford & Will Fountain Principals Green...

On this episode, Tom welcomes Brock Miller of Shred Northwest. Brock is going to talk about implementing a "stop and no" approach in his life and business. Intrigued by what that even means and how it may help you?  Settle in for some great insights on the show today. +++++++++++++++ Brock Miller President Shred Northwest You can find Shred Northwest here: https://shrednorthwest.com/

On this episode, Tom talks with Dave Bixler of Veteran Shredding. Dave shares with Tom how from the very beginning he focused on local shredding in his immediate backyard and has maintained that approach for the last 11 years.  Keep listening, and you'll hear why his local approach has provided an incredibly strong return on that strategy. +++++++++++++++ Dave Bixler Owner Veteran Shredding You ca...

On this episode, Tom's special guest is Josh Hartwell of Shred Boss.  Josh will discuss how he's implemented and evolved the development of process and procedures into internal policies for his team and his business.  If you're struggling with process and procedure documentation in your business, there's some amazing wisdom on the show today. +++++++++++++++ Josh Hartwell CEO Shred Boss Find Shred...