As Paul Simon sings, “One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor.”

One man's ceiling is another man's floor.

One casualty of all the corporate downsizings, bankruptcies and restructurings are customers. Many are now being neglected by their vendors. Suppliers have cut staff, dropped service levels and assigned junior people to key accounts.

With so many companies focusing on fewer products, services and customers, why not make a home for another company’s cast-offs? What a great source of profitable growth for your company!

Here are five such ways to profitably grow your business.

1. Ask your customers which products and services their suppliers are ignoring.
2. Notice which competitors are increasing their outsourcing, online service or prices and offer their customers traditional services they prefer.
3. Sell your competitors on selling you their unprofitable customers.
4. Partner with your customers to meet their customers’ needs.
5. Work with your suppliers to service their other customers’ customers that they see being neglected.

Whenever companies are being bought, sold and closed, their customers are often innocent bystanders or unintended casualties. Swoop in with your great service and support and save them. They will never forget you for helping them in their time of need.

And you could have a brand new source of profitable growth!