With the business world the way it is these days and few expecting to work for the same employer for 35 years, it can come as no surprise – but with much dismay – when you find the marketing coordinator and director who loves you and has spent thousands of dollars with your company has moved on. Now what?
In the best of circumstances, he or she has left your name as the "go to" promotional products person for the organization for the incoming director or coordinator. He/she may extol the virtues of your company and the value you, yourself, bring to this long-term relationship.
In many circumstances, however, even if the outgoing person has left your name for the incoming marketer or purchaser, the new person often arrives with his/her own distributor contact(s) with whom there is a long-term relationship.
You find yourself suddenly shut out of the company: no one returns your phone calls, your emails go unanswered, and dropping in on the company to see how things are going finds the person with whom you want to speak is "unavailable."
Your $20,000 annual account is no longer yours.
Learning the hard way (that always seems to be the way for me), I found that I have to build a brand new relationship with someone who has no idea who I am and what value I bring to the organization to someone who already has an allegiance to another distributor. Do I really want to go through this lengthy process?
Well, dang it, yes! This is a significant account that I have relied on for contributing to my bottom line. I won’t give them up without a fight!
Since I already am someone the new replacement has learned to ignore, I have to engage this person who doesn't want to necessarily want to be engaged. Thinking aloud to myself (the best way), I start ticking off crazy ideas that can perhaps be whittled down to a plan of action that might see results:
Check the person out in LinkedIn. Who did she work for before? Is her distributor part of their LinkedIn network?
Connect with others in the company who know you (hopefully, you’ve done this before) and touch base with them to see what's new with the company and how you heard there’s a new marketing dude (or dudette) in town. Even if it's not using LinkedIn, email the administrative assistant to say hello. Ask what’s new and what challenges or programs they (and the company) may be working on.
Check the internet, yourself, to see what’s going on with the company. Is it a non-profit? Is it a member of the Fortune 500? Have you gone deep into its website? Have you set up Google alerts for your best customers so you know when something new is brewing?
If you do become aware of something new coming down the pike that marketing or purchasing may be working on, put on your thinking cap and come up with something that will blow their socks off! All those 2015 catalogs that have been arriving in the mail and you’ve been stacking on the floor in no particular order? Sort them out and find out what is new, something they may have never seen before and may work with their program. And don’t forget to read all the online magazines, like Identity Marketing, as well as others. Look through them carefully and check back issues to see if this company’s challenge has been addressed recently.
What next? This is where I ask you to help me determine what to do to reacquire my former customer. Do I stalk her to see where she attends networking events? Do I ask people I know in the company to report what’s going on and how I can save the day? Is there a more professional manner in which to reach out and touch that person? I’d love to hear from you, the reader, as to how you handle similar situations. Having to start over with someone new is common – and how you have handled it in your own way is likely uncommon. I'd love to learn and potentially share success stories in a future column.
Annette Kurman, an award-winning writer, holds bachelor degrees in journalism and nursing, an MBA, and Accreditation in Public Relations. She has been a newspaper reporter, director of public relations at several non-profits, a senior living administrator, and is a registered nurse. She recently joined Allstates Business Solutions and is learning – and living – the life of a distributor. She can be reached at akurman@allstatesbs.com.