Start with the Customer, Stay with the Customer: The CORR Grain Growth Story

That’s what we unpacked in Episode 10 of the Driving Growth podcast with Brett Schmidt, CEO and co-founder of CORR Grain Systems. What began in 2014 as a startup with paint cans and Excel sheets has become a major force in Western Canadian agriculture.

This wasn’t luck.

It was leadership forged through humility, grit, and a relentless focus on one thing: the customer.

The CORR Grain Growth Story

In our conversation, Brett told me something simple but powerful:

“Once you establish that relationship, it’s yours to lose.”

That mindset shaped everything about how CORR Grain grew, and still grows today.

Let’s break down the key milestones that helped CORR go from a new name in ag storage to a trusted advisor on the prairies.

Highlights from Brett’s Journey

• Started with the basics: Painting offices, cold-calling farmers, and hacking together operations on Excel.
• Evolved into leadership: As VP of Finance, Brett learned how scale really happens, with inventory, budgeting, and working capital.
• Now CEO with a people-first focus: His main job today? HR. Aligning people, culture, and strategy to scale responsibly.

“Culture change doesn’t just happen. You work at it daily.”

From Vendor to Trusted Partner: The Customer Journey Shift

One of the most inspiring parts of Brett’s story is how CORR Grain earned its growth, not by pushing product, but by listening deeply to frustrations throughout the customer journey that most companies would have ignored.

That’s how they moved from being “just another vendor” to becoming a trusted partner in the farm ecosystem.

The big unlock?

• Forget CSATs. CORR did direct customer callouts — phone interviews with real nuance.
• They unearthed the quiet truth: things like delivery timing and leftover parts were eroding trust, even when surveys showed an “8 out of 10.”
• They acted fast, cleaned up their processes, and made sure every touchpoint felt like a handshake, not a hand-off.

Growth Lessons from the CORR Grain Playbook

Top 5 Strategies That Drove Scalable Growth:

1. Start with people, not product. CORR located their salespeople in the communities they served. Trust wasn’t an ad campaign; it was their neighbour showing up at the rink.
2. Hustle first, brand later. Their early reps didn’t have sales experience, but they had drive. They knocked on doors. They built customer relationships.
3. Referral networks over advertising. Grower events and trade shows were like “speed dating” with serious intent.
4. Retention is the new growth. Today, it’s not about flipping customers. It’s about earning the right to grow with them.
5. Technology as a culture shift, not just a tool. Getting the team to adopt a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategy and system took weekly “no dumb questions” meetings. But once it clicked, it became their central engine for insight.

A Remarkable CRM Moment

Brett shared a moment that perfectly illustrates their shift into a data-driven business:

“One month, we had 60 new contacts in HubSpot… during a season where there wasn’t much travel. Something wasn’t right.”

It turned out those leads came from their website. Calls driven by their digital presence, but never tracked before. So, they added unique numbers and can now quantify digital ROI.

That’s what maturity looks like: questioning data, digging deep, and iterating with intent.

What’s Next for CORR Grain?

Brett’s not chasing shiny objects. His focus is quiet, determined growth:

• Smarter systems to replace manual workflows
• Deeper customer relationships and partnerships that span generations
• More investment in people, culture, and process

It’s not flashy. But it’s real. And it works.

Key Takeaways for CEOs and Revenue Leaders

Want to build a company that lasts and grows?

Here’s what CORR Grain teaches us:

• Be obsessed with the customer experience. Not just the product install —  the whole customer journey.
• Make trust your brand. Every rep, every touchpoint, every action — builds or breaks your brand.
• Culture is your operating system. You can’t bolt on accountability — you have to live it.
• Data is only valuable when it’s used. Customer relationship management adoption wasn’t just tech — it was a leadership play.
• Retention is growth. The fastest path to revenue is through customers who already believe in you.

Final Reflection

In an industry often driven by transactions, Brett Schmidt reminds us that relationships still win. That culture eats strategy — but only if you lead it. And that if you want your company to grow, you need to grow first.

This is what building a revenue factory really looks like.

Want more insight like this? 

Listen to my full conversation with Brett Schmidt on Driving Growth or