When growth slows, the instinctive response is almost always the same: Find more customers. Hire another salesperson. Increase marketing. Generate more leads. Enter a new market.

Sometimes that's exactly what a company needs to do.

But before investing heavily in acquiring new customers, leadership teams should answer a different question:

How much growth is already sitting inside the customers we have?

For many middle-market companies, the answer can be substantial.

Most leadership teams invest significant time defining strategy.

Far fewer spend time examining whether their culture can actually support it.