Editor’s note: Greg Clendenin, longtime leader of Middleton Lawn and Pest Control and current CEO of the Clendenin Consulting Group, shares provides his thoughts on what it takes to experience exponential growth during the pandemic.
On my web site, I am quoted as making this statement: “You cannot yield to circumstances. You cannot operate under the circumstances. You must be on top of the circumstances. You have to perform above them and do so on a level of sustained excellence. Being able to do so requires an aligned strategy that involves all business disciplines: finance, operations, HR and marketing. In addition, it is just as important to have a corporate culture that holds the entire company together.”
For example, one of those clients is up 41% in Q1, 2020 over Q1, 2019. Even after the news of COVID-19 had hit the streets in March, this company had a 35% increase over March 2019. This increase this year is on top of a good year in 2019 and this is not a small pest control company. In addition, April is going to be another stellar month. Another client of The Clendenin Consulting Group had a 52% increase in March 2020 and April is going to be another great month. As of April 20, 2020, he was already at the total month's result of April 2019, so they are going to have another great month in April, 2020. By the way, these companies are doing it in a safe and compliant manner. Their new sales are good and, in addition, very few of their customers are refusing service so the expected recurring revenue continues.
Too many times during the most challenging times, owners and leaders look where they don't want to go and then plan on going down that road. During 911, some companies across many industries had leaders who thought business was going to get bad and then they planned on it getting bad instead of planning, implementing and executing plans for significant revenue growth and margin increase. This is happening today during this pandemic. We, in our industry, do not have to yield to these circumstances. We can continue to be prosperous, growing and profitable. Our industry is not recession proof. However, it is recession resistant. We are an essential service/business. Leaders, continue to pull your team forward with your own work performance and level of confidence. Focus on results and on those activities that drive results.