IDEA: Approach lost or dropping customers and ask what you did wrong for them?

Schedule a meeting with your customer’s purchasing agent who issues you sales orders and ask what your firm did to lose business.  Tell them about your new equipment, facilities, laboratory, warehouses and other company assets they may not know about.  Maybe they prefer a new salesperson?  Maybe they received bad service, substandard product or too many late shipments?  Do they know about your new products or services, your increased credit limit for them or maybe they do not like your lousy customer service?  All these things can be repaired if your firm wishes to do so, but you must know what is the primary problem is to address and correct it.  Schedule a meeting and go talk to all of those customers whose sales year over year have dropped.  Talk to them.