I had lunch recently with someone I have known for a long time. He runs a business, has for decades, and honestly I have never seen him have a bad year. So when I sat down with him and could tell something was off, I asked what was going on.
He said, “David, I don’t know what it is, but something is different—people everywhere seem to be cutting back and my business is down 37% this year. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
This is a guy who kept his business growing through the dot-com crash, the 2008 housing collapse, and COVID. None of those touched him. But this time was different, and he could not explain it.
We talked through it for a while. The economy came up, sure. Inflation is real and budgets are tighter. But that alone was not the answer, because plenty of businesses are doing fine right now. The real problem was simpler and harder to hear: he had stopped paying attention to his relationships. He got comfortable, figured his clients would keep coming back the way they always had, and quietly fell off their radar. New vendors came in, paid those clients some attention, made them feel seen. And they moved on.
That conversation has stayed with me, because I watch the same thing happen in the drug and alcohol testing industry on a regular basis.
Clients do not leave for price alone
When a testing company loses a client, the first assumption is usually that somebody beat them on price. Sometimes that is true. But a lot of the time, if you actually look into it, the client is not paying less with their new provider. They are paying about the same, maybe even a little more.
What changed was attention. The new provider called them. Checked in. Sent something helpful once in a while. Made them feel like they were more than just a recurring invoice. That is exactly what my friend’s clients were getting from their new vendors, and it was what they stopped getting from him.
In the testing world, this is pretty concrete. An HR manager at a trucking company is juggling DOT compliance questions, a supervisor who just got a positive result, and a random pool that needs updating. If you are the person they think to call when that happens, you keep the account. If they have to track you down or wait two days for a response, somebody else starts looking a lot more appealing.
Think about it like dating. You have to assume someone else is always trying to court your partner, and they’re probably willing to put in the necessary effort to persuade them that they’ll treat them better. Especially in the beginning. If you’ve ever taken a partner for granted, you already know the likely outcome in a situation like this, and it’s not good.
Business works exactly the same way.
It is not just your clients you need to think about
Here is something that does not come up often enough. The relationships that matter in your network are not limited to your clients. Referral partners, labs, MROs, collectors you contract with, software vendors. All of it. You need those people in your corner, and they need a reason to stay there.
I learned this one personally. My largest competitor went after one of my key service providers and came in with a budget offer that was more than double what I was paying. More than 200 percent of mine. That provider turned them down. Not because of price, but because of the relationship we had built over time. They knew me, trusted me, and did not want to walk away from that.
Think about what the other outcome would have looked like. This person already knew my industry, knew how my business ran, and would have been running a much bigger campaign for my direct competitor. That is not a small thing. That could have done real damage. The only reason it did not was a relationship, not a contract.
I get that this is easy to let slide. Running a testing operation keeps you busy. Collections, reporting, compliance questions, client calls, billing issues. It is easy to look up one day and realize you have not reached out to half the people in your network in six months. I have been there. But letting it go is a slow leak that eventually becomes a flood.
What keeping up with your network actually looks like
You do not need a complicated system for this. A phone call. An email. Stopping by a client’s office when you are in the area. Sending along a resource that is actually useful to them, a regulatory update, a compliance tip, something that shows you are thinking about their business and not just your invoice.
Look for ways to help people beyond the service you sell. Make an introduction. Share a contact. Pass along a referral. When people feel like you are genuinely invested in them doing well, they tend to stick around and they tend to send other people your way.
That said, staying in touch with existing contacts is only half of it. You also need to keep adding to the network. In this industry, a lot of new business comes through word of mouth and referrals, which means the size and quality of your network has a direct effect on your growth ceiling.
Growing the network takes more effort but it is worth it
Social media is one piece of this, both posting content that is actually helpful and doing direct outreach to people you want to connect with. Industry associations are another one. Speaking at a Florida Trucking Association event or an Associated Builders and Contractors meeting puts you in front of exactly the kind of people who need what you offer. Trade groups like these exist across just about every industry.
BNI chapters, chambers of commerce, and local networking events are worth the time too, especially if you are trying to build a presence in a specific market. The Tampa Bay Business and Wealth community, for example, regularly brings together some of the more active business owners in the region. Mastermind groups are another channel that does not get enough credit.
The common thread in all of this is showing up in person. Email and social media are useful, but there is still nothing quite like sitting across from someone, having a real conversation, and letting them get a read on who you are. That is how trust gets built, and trust is what turns a contact into a client or a referral source.
The businesses that grow right now are the ones paying attention
A tighter economy does not have to mean a smaller business. Some testing companies are growing right now. The ones that are not tend to have one thing in common with my friend at lunch: they got comfortable and stopped working the relationships.
When other operators drop that ball, and plenty of them will, that is your window. A client who feels ignored by their current provider is open to a conversation. A referral partner who has not heard from their contact in a year will notice when you reach out. Those opportunities do not announce themselves. You find them by staying active.
I am putting more into this right now, not less. More outreach, more showing up, more looking for ways to be useful to the people in my network. You can do the same, or you can wait and watch someone else pick up the accounts you let go cold.
The choice is pretty straightforward.
