Share
Run your sales report from two years ago (you choose the number). Line up all of the customers from the high to low dollars and review the top 10 or 20 customers. Who is now gone? Which customer accounts are gone? Who is missing from the lineup? Who is no longer sending in orders or calling on your company? There are reasons why companies go elsewhere and if they are only looking for the absolute cheapest price, that might not be bad, but chances are, they are gone for other reasons. This is what you need to find out.
Why did these customers leave? The reasons those customers from two years ago are now gone may be haunting your ability to get new sales orders. Start doing some research and be prepared to bring those lost customers up to date. Your firm may be changed by now. Your QC department may have been revamped and doing a great job. Your products may have changed, been updated, been streamlined, greatly improved, your product line broadened and your customer service enhanced. Your ex-customer does not know this. Be prepared to discuss these things regardless of the doubt displayed by the buyer two years later.
Did your employee ruin the relationship? Are the missing customers gone because of a certain person who is no longer with your firm? Were those sales tied to a specific non-performing sales person in the department? If that sales person is gone, send someone new into this previous customer’s office and try to start bidding on work for them.
Customers are fickle; give them a sales rep they will like. Not every customer will like your representatives so give them a different one. If they do not like the guy, send them a girl. If they do not like a young sales person, send them a 30-year veteran. Tell them you have changed and you are there to meet their needs. Companies change and personnel changes also.
Review old lists constantly; try to retrieve lost accounts. It is never too late to try to retrieve a lost client. Prepare this list and start calling. Send them new literature, drop it off at the desk if they will not see you, and be persistent. Demonstrate to them that you are different and worth a shot.
