Operate as if You'll be in Business Tomorrow

I read a great quote this morning that just came to mind again, triggered by an email I just received.

It was from a Fort Collins landscape maintenance company that we’ve used for a couple of years. Back in March we received a flyer from them about spring cleanup specials. I called and spoke to someone in the office and waited for someone to call me back about an appointment, but no one ever did. 

Later in the spring I called and emailed them asking for an appointment for aeration and weed help. I couldn’t get an answer by phone, and never got a reply to email either. I assumed they must either be out of business or too busy to get back to me.

The email I just received was very congenial, letting me know they were ready to schedule me for a sprinkler blowout on October 14th between 1 and 2:00 pm. I asked them to remove me from their mailing list.

The quote this morning was from Richard Branson and is right on the mark: “Let’s do business like there is a tomorrow.”

Even if you’re so busy you can’t think, always remember that nurturing an existing client relationship is much easier than building a new one. Even an email or call that takes 30 seconds can make the difference between a happy client and one who’s left for a competitor.