The Door Isn't Closed Until You Close It!

Only you can close the client door. Your company can’t. Your boss can’t. A former rep or mistake can’t. You are the only one that can make that happen. The door closes the minute you decide it’s closed. Doing so is a mistake.

Years ago I lost my job. A coworker shared bad information, from a client. They decided I was scouting for a new position, and I got the axe. I wasn’t looking, never saw it coming and found myself on the street.

While I was looking for work the coworker changed jobs. She secured a senior position at what had been my largest client. We were never friends, so I assumed the door was closed. I was out of work, couldn’t care for the client anyway and had an unfriendly lady in the driver’s seat.

When I found work, I learned how to live without the former client (large soft drink company). It took some time, but I cobbled together a client portfolio and managed to pay the bills. Things were “good enough.”

Fast Forward 3 Years: A large commercial printer in Atlanta asked me to be VP of Sales. I took the job and buckled up for the road ahead. The owner wanted to double his size in 5 years.

My phone rang. It was the lady mentioned above. She asked about my move, what motivated it and whether I was ok. The she asked, “do we fit into things?”

I paused, reflected on her question and responded, “if you’re asking whether I would like to do business with (large soft drink company name) that might be the dumbest question I’ve ever heard. Doing business with you guys would make me a hero.”

We met for dinner. We doubled back to the plant for a walk through. When we finished, she explained, “when we get someone that knows how to do our business, is prepared to do our business at a place that can manage our business, we can’t ignore it. Your move offers all those things.” We wrote our first order the next morning.

I had decided that the door was closed. I had assumed, for three years, that there was no point in knocking on their door. I cost myself and my family a great deal in the process.

My boss was over the moon with excitement. I had only been an employee five days. Delivering the large soft drink company was totally unexpected. It was a 7-figure jump that validated my position immediately.

We did millions together. When we considered investing in digital printing, client representatives traveled with us and helped select a machine. They explored the technology with us and helped invent solutions. They became one of our best partners.

All of this from behind a door I assumed was closed.

I’ve written on this subject many times. Clients that left you can be reopened. Once upon a time they bought your stuff. Whatever went wrong can be addressed and solved. You have to step forward, but the door can be reopened.

Think about it. If you hired their favorite rep what would happen? They would decide to try again. They would trust the new rep to make things work. Make the call and ask how you can make things right.

One last anecdote. It involves the same soft drink company.

A rep was hired by a sign company in Ohio. He was assigned the soft drink company and moved to Atlanta. He showed up unaware that the “door was closed” due to a conflict.

As you can imagine, the rep was befuddled. He had moved his family to serve a hostile client. In frustration he asked, “when did this mistake/conflict happen? The contact replied, “nine or ten years ago.”

The rep exclaimed, “ten years ago? You can get off for murder faster in this country than you can for a printing conflict.” The door opened and the dude did more with the soft drink company than I did.

Only you can close the door. Make the call!