In 1984, Jim Longstreet opened a single barbershop in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Unlike his competitors chasing growth targets, he focused on one habit – calling three existing customers every evening to check on their satisfaction.
Those three daily calls grew into a systematic approach to customer service. While others set revenue goals, Longstreet made relationship-building automatic. His team developed scripts, tracking systems, and follow-up protocols that ran like clockwork.
The results defied conventional business wisdom. Without setting a single expansion target, his systematic approach attracted loyal customers who demanded more locations. By 2010, Longstreet’s chain had grown to 218 stores across 12 states, generating $145M in annual revenue.
“Systems beat goals every time,” Longstreet shared in a 2015 interview with Inc Magazine. “Goals are dreams with deadlines. Systems are dreams with legs.”
His story echoes findings from a 2019 University of Pennsylvania study showing companies focused on systematic approaches grew 3.2x faster than those fixated purely on growth targets.
Goals seduce us with their promise. But it’s the unglamorous routines, repeated daily, that create empires. Goals come and go, habits are eternal.
Your next breakthrough might not need a bigger target. It may just need a better system.
