What we cover on Episode 32
For high-growth companies, it's easy to become fixated on growth at all costs. You obsess over the number of new customers you're acquiring each month and start to forget about the quality of work or service you're delivering.
In this episode of the GrowthTLDR, we talk to Garrett Mehrguth who is CEO and founder of fast-growing B2B search agency Directive Consulting, on why growth at all costs never results in long-term success.
We talk about why the quality of your customer experience needs to scale as the business does. We also talk about the pitfalls of growth at all costs and why growing better will result in better long-term success.
Happy Growing!
1. Your Customer Experience Needs to be Scalable
A common challenge high growth companies have is their customer experience suffers as they grow. You become so fixated on acquiring new customers; you forget to ask if you can provide exceptional service to each one.
"You start growing, and you think - I want to get fifteen new clients this month, but you don't ask yourself could I provide exceptional service to those fifteen clients, could I make a case study out of all fifteen."
Being able to provide exceptional service for customers in a software company is dependent on both the product and resources you have. In an agency, the responsibility for providing excellent service is primarily down to having the right talent to deliver on your promises.
"You have to be able to develop A+ talent to service A+ accounts to generate A+ results, and if you're generating A+ clients and you're putting B+ talent on it, you're not gonna get A+ results. You can't be a three-star Michelin restaurant and bring out Cheetos."
Investing in a great customer experience shouldn't be undervalued; it's a critical part of how you become a successful brand.
"You have to go back to, are we honoring the people that give us money? Because if you're truly honoring the people that give you money and you're creating value for them, now you can build a brand."
2. Growth at all costs is never a good option for long term success
It's easy to become motivated by growth at all costs. You obsess over the number of new clients being acquired each month instead of the quality of work you're delivering.
"You instead start to focus on more and more clients; you want more clients no matter what. Then you realize - oh my gosh, we stopped doing good work eight months ago. We stopped doing good work two years ago. For some, they don't even realize it."
You might be able to grow like that for a while, but eventually, it's the thing that will kill your business. Companies who manage to grow in the long-term are the ones you figure out how to grow better, how to grow at a pace that ensures they keep delivering high-quality work.
"I want to do everything I can to accomplish my dreams and goals. But I'm not willing to do it at all costs because I know I won't be able to do it. I know numerically, ethically, joy, gratitude, like you can't have any of those things the second you start getting emails from people, and you realize that you were screwing people, cause your team wasn't doing the right work, and nobody was checking."
The companies who figure out how to grow better understand their success will be the result of both their employees and customers. In the agency world, you're always better to prioritize employees over difficult customers who don't share the same values as your company and are having a negative effect on your team's morale.
"It's so much more important to keep your employees than to keep your clients. It's something you learn in the agency world. If you churn people, you're also going to churn clients."
The companies who grow better know they need to sell the value of their work to the clients continually. You don't only sell the value of your work when pitching for the account. Once you've brought on a new customer and have started to do good work for them, you need to sell the value of the work your doing.
"I think the reason why you lose accounts, even when you do good work, is because individuals and agencies and teams, they forget that they always have to sell. They have to sell the value of their work. You forget to sell and explain the value of what you're doing, and then you're surprised that you get fired, even though you did great work. Like, you never took the time to explain the value."
The podcast provides a more in-depth look at these topics, so if you enjoyed reading the above, please do give it a listen.
Happy Growing!
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