E-Growth Services

10/22/2026

One of the challenges of owning a small business is that there's always something that needs your attention right now.

An employee needs help, a customer has a problem, a bill needs to be paid, or there's another job to get out the door.

Meanwhile, some of the things that could really help the business grow keep getting pushed to tomorrow.

Maybe it's an estimate that nobody followed up on. Maybe it's been six months since you reached out to some of your best customers. Or maybe your costs have gone up and you haven't taken a serious look at your pricing in a while.

Most business owners don't need someone to tell them these things are important. They already know.

The problem is finding the time to step away from running the business long enough to really look at it.

There's an expression I like: the tyranny of the urgent. It describes what happens when everything that needs to be done today keeps us from working on the things that matter most over time.

If you own a business, here's a thought for this week.

Take 20 minutes and look at three things: outstanding opportunities that haven't been followed up on, customers you haven't connected with recently, and one important decision you've been putting off.

You might find something worth acting on.

Sometimes growing a business isn't about finding something new to do. It's about getting back to the things you already know you should be doing.

10/07/2026

A customer who isn't complaining isn't necessarily a happy customer.

Sometimes they're just not saying anything.

It's easy to assume everything is fine when the work gets done, the invoice gets paid and nobody calls with a problem. But that's probably not enough to really know how the customer feels about doing business with you.

Good customer management means checking in when there isn't a problem or something to sell.

Did we do what we said we would do? Is there anything we could have done better? Has anything changed since we last talked?

And if a customer does bring something up, following through matters. That's where trust is built.

There's a financial side to this too. Forrester reports that 61% of B2B revenue comes from existing customers through renewals and expansion.

We spend a lot of time trying to win new customers. Taking care of the ones who already chose us deserves just as much attention.

When was the last time you checked in with a good customer just to see how things were going?

Source: Forrester

09/29/2026

Sales organizations spend a lot of time talking about finding new business. We don't spend nearly as much time talking about how to find more opportunity with the customers we already have.

Everyone knows existing accounts are important. But too often account development amounts to, "See if there's anything else they need."

I learned this firsthand when I joined an organization as a new sales leader. I was visiting customers to learn the business and was told not to spend too much time on one particular account. They always bought the same thing and weren't going to buy anything else.

I went anyway.

While I was there, I saw what they were doing with our product after they received it and started asking questions about their process.

There were several steps they were doing themselves that we could eliminate by manufacturing the complete finished product for them.

We ended up saving them high double digits per unit and giving them a more reliable finished product.

Over time, that account grew to roughly 10 times what it had been.

I wasn't there looking for something else to sell them. I was there trying to understand their business.

Forrester reports that 61% of B2B revenue comes from existing customers through renewals and expansion. Gartner has also identified a lack of actionable customer insight as one of the things getting in the way of growth within existing accounts.

That makes sense to me.

We know these relationships are valuable. The question is whether we spend enough time really understanding where else we can provide value.

What are they buying somewhere else? What are they doing themselves? Where are they spending too much time or money? What problems could you help solve?

Sometimes the opportunity isn't another product you need to pitch.

It's something you haven't asked about yet.

Have you ever found a significant opportunity with an existing customer simply because you asked more of the right kinds of questions?

Sources: Forrester, Gartner

09/22/2026

**Follow-up needs to be a system, not a memory.**

The contractors I speak with know that follow-up is important. That's really not the problem.

The problem is doing it consistently when the week gets busy.

An estimate goes out Monday. Tuesday gets hectic. Wednesday is worse. By Friday, nobody has followed up and the customer may already be talking to someone else.

That's not necessarily a sales problem. It's what happens when follow-up depends on someone remembering to do it.

So what does good follow-up look like?

**1. Follow up on every open estimate.**
Silence doesn't necessarily mean no. ServiceTitan reports that only **37% of in-home sales close immediately.** There's still a lot to be decided after that first conversation.

**2. Don't give up after one try.**
People get busy. Calls get missed. Texts get overlooked. One attempt isn't much of a follow-up process.

**3. Use more than one way to reach people.**
Call, text, email. Different customers respond differently, so make it easy for them to get back to you.

**4. Don't forget about customers after the job.**
Jobber's 2026 research found that **59% of home service businesses say repeat customers are a top source of new work.** Staying in touch matters.

**5. Put a system behind all of it.**
This is probably the most important part.

Jobber also found that **40% of home service businesses say customer communication is one of their most time-consuming daily activities.**

That's the challenge. Knowing you should fo

08/24/2026

https://www.getjobber.com/home-service-trends-report/
More marketing isn’t always the first answer.

Jobber’s 2026 Home Service Trends Report found that 59% of home service professionals say repeat customers and referrals are among their top sources of new work.

That’s an important reminder for contractors.

A customer who already knows and trusts your company can be one of the most valuable assets in the business. They can call again when another need comes up, recommend you to a neighbor, or bring you into a completely different project down the road.

The job may be finished when the invoice is paid, but the customer relationship doesn’t have to be.

For most busy contractors, the challenge isn’t understanding that. It’s finding the time and consistency to stay connected after the job is done.

For home services pros, helping to maintain sustainable growth often comes from getting more value from the relationships you’ve already worked hard to earn.

See why 2026 is the year of blue collar.

07/09/2026

I read an interesting article this week in *Contracting Business* about customer loyalty in the home services industry.

One thing really stood out to me.

The survey found that many contractors rated their communication much higher than their customers did. It also found that 83% of consumers choose the business that responds first to an inquiry.

As I thought about it, I realized this isn't really just about speed.

Most contractors I know care about their customers. The problem is they're also trying to run a business.

They're on a jobsite.

They're managing employees.

They're ordering material.

They're putting out fires all day long.

The customer doesn't see any of that.

They only experience what it's like to do business with you.

That experience starts with the first phone call or website inquiry, but it doesn't end there.

It continues through scheduling, communication, follow-up, asking for a review, and hopefully earning the next job when that customer needs you again.

To me, that's the real opportunity.

Every customer costs time and money to acquire. The businesses that get the best return on that investment are the ones that don't just win the first job—they build an experience that leads to repeat business, referrals, and great reviews.

Marketing creates the opportunity.

The customer experience determines how much value you get from it.

Something to think about!

**Source:** *Contracting Business*, "Fast Response Times Drive Home Services Customer Loyalty, Survey Shows" (May 29, 2026). [Read the article](https://www.contractingbusiness.com/industry-news/news/55380706/fast-response-times-drive-home-services-customer-loyalty-survey-shows?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

06/24/2026

https://www.contractormag.com/management/best-practices/article/55385110/what-plumbing-and-hydronic-heating-contractors-get-wrong-about-the-cost-of-finding-new-customers

Interesting look at organic lead creation. Even if you are not spending money on an ad campaign, there are still significant costs to consider. Contractors often don't see the cost on a balance sheet, but every effort made to attract customers and book new jobs all have costs involved. A metric often not measured is what it costs to NOT capture the lead that was created. Depending on the opportunity, one missed call, text, web chat or contact form not responded to, can be thousands of dollars lost. Astute owners are narrowing the gap between leads created and leads lost from lack of response. Its the low hanging fruit and it can be the largest source of unrealized revenue.

For businesses operating on tight project margins, misreading the true cost of customer acquisition creates a compounding financial blind spot that limits growth.

06/19/2026

https://www.axios.com/2026/06/11/google-trade-worker-initiative-ai?

Interesting to see companies like Google and Meta investing millions of dollars into skilled trades training programs.

For years, contractors have been talking about the challenge of finding qualified people.

Now some of the largest companies in the world are saying the same thing.

The article discusses how labor shortages are becoming a constraint on major infrastructure and construction projects, leading companies to invest directly in workforce development.

It highlights something many contractors have known for a long time:

Growth isn't always limited by demand.

Sometimes it's limited by having enough good people to do the work.

Bodes well for the future of trade work!

The search giant's initiative follows similar efforts by Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and Meta.

06/05/2026

A question for contractors:

When was the last time you looked at how many jobs came from past customers?

Not referrals.

Not new leads.

Customers you've already worked with.

Most contractors spend a lot of time thinking about how to get the next customer.

But some of the easiest opportunities are often the people who already know, like, and trust you.

The challenge is that staying in touch tends to get pushed aside when things get busy.

Then months turn into years.

And customers who would have gladly called you again end up calling someone else.

The thing most business owners don't realize is that every time you have to replace a customer you already earned, you're making growth harder than it needs to be. You already paid for that customer and have earned their trust. Why not keep them?

Good businesses are built on relationships.

The contractors that seem to grow steadily year after year usually aren't just winning new customers—they're finding ways to stay top of mind with the ones they've already served.

05/28/2026

How many jobs do contractors lose simply because nobody got back to the customer fast enough?

Not because they do bad work.

Not because they don’t care.

Usually because everybody’s busy and things slip through the cracks.

A missed call.
A delayed callback.
An estimate that never gets followed up on.
A web inquiry sitting too long.

Meanwhile the homeowner just calls the next company.

A lot of small contractor businesses would grow faster by tightening up response and follow-up before spending more money chasing new leads.

Why not capture and close the ones you already get?😉