TGIM!

Comfort is a scary trap!  That favorite chair or couch of yours is a trap; it’s a death sentence.  God did not create you to be a sloth.  Your current customer base and current role here is a trap!  \

While balance is important and at times you need to put the race car in the shop, doing it too often can cause you to stall and never get back in the race!

You must keep grinding and change and grow OR ELSE!

It is easy to assume our customers will be around forever and we can always ride our “horses.” We might even complain about them, or get sick of them, you know those darn top customers are so “needy.” (Oh my gosh do I cringe at that last sentence.)

The top 20 accounts in each location make up 80% of our business.

We should never take them for granted.  We need to be grateful for them and thank them as often as we can.  Our job is to watch out for them, protect them, and take care of them.

In fact, we might even be friends with these top customers; we might get super comfortable… THAT’S THE TRAP!

***

However..  no matter how busy we are, you can never stop looking for new customers! Customers die, go out of business, shrink, change their business model, or sometimes we lose all or portions of their business to our competition if we get lazy.  (Thankfully that happens about as much as a Democrat agreeing with a Republican).

Stay with me here…

I will PROVE IT TO YOU.

This is the TURNOVER OF CUSTOMERS on our TOP 20 ACCOUNTS from 2008 until now. That’s only 6 years:

Campbellsport has 12 new accounts out of 20 since 2008

Berlin has 12 new.

Kiel has 15.

Brookfield has 17 NEW and that is from 2010!

70% of our TOP 20 ACCOUNTS WERE NOT IN THAT GROUP IN 2008!

If we would of got comfortable in 2008 until now, we would all be working for someone else… Drexel wouldn’t exist.  Even if it’s not comfortable … it is necessary to always be on the lookout for new customers.

How will we survive and thrive in 6 years?  Good chance it will be from finding new customers and staying uncomfortable.

– Joel Fleischman.  Joel is Head Coach of the solution providers for Drexel Building Supply.  (drexelteam).   You can follow him on twitter:  @JoelmFleischman.  He has provided solutions for builders and their clients since 1996 and a whole bunch of other stuff that you probably don’t care about.