When a 10-Year Export Veteran Quits, Does the Buyer Follow?
Buyers trust people, not just companies—and this reality is undeniable. I was discussing this with an export manager today: it is common to see a significant portion of a buyer base follow a seasoned sales pro when they move to a new company. While companies claim these are 'company relationships,' buyers see it differently.
I was discussing this with an export manager today. A long-term buyer of over 10 years suddenly stopped replying after the account manager switched jobs. It was a case of a transition without a proper handover—the company was left with nothing but a list of phone numbers, while all the context vanished.
Honestly, from the buyer's perspective, they trusted 'the person,' not the 'company.' Seeing this issue repeatedly is exactly what led me to build Rinda. We are now working to ensure that conversation context and negotiation histories with buyers are stored at the team level, rather than being locked away with individual managers. It is not perfect yet, but it at least prevents us from having to say 'we are starting from scratch' every time.
In your company, do buyer relationships survive when the point of contact changes?
#Export #InternationalSales #BuyerSourcing #Rinda
