Episode #409: Caring For Your Sales Orphans In Japan

Why is hunting for new clients so expensive compared to winning reorders?

Finding brand-new buyers costs real money and time. Marketing campaigns (ads, SEO, search keywords) and networking events often deliver a low success ratio, even when budgets are high. The smarter sales goal is the reorder: when a past client buys again, acquisition costs drop because you’re amortizing the original spend over multiple orders.

Mini-summary: New-client acquisition is costly and uncertain; reorders make customer acquisition efficient and profitable.

In Japan, relationships can pause for many reasons: internal cost crises, leadership changes, or a champion being rotated out as companies build generalists. Sometimes a supplier is dropped after one mistake. Because staff rotation is common in 日本企業 (Japanese companies), your original contacts may no longer be in place, and the relationship cools even if the product was strong.

Mini-summary: Cold clients usually aren’t lost forever—organizational change and rotation in Japan often explain the gap.

What makes re-entering a former client feel like a cold call?

After a break, the new decision-makers may have no memory of your past work. You’re effectively starting over, but with one advantage: if you can show clear records of previous supply, duration, and stakeholders, you regain credibility faster than a true cold approach. Prior supplier status removes many approval hurdles that first-time vendors face.

Mini-summary: Re-entry is tough, but solid history and records turn a “cold” return into a warmer restart.

How does Japanese record-keeping affect reconnecting with former buyers?

Japan is famous for precise corporate memory and documentation. Even years later, companies may reference detailed past meeting notes. If your history is positive, that works in your favor. If it was negative, the “blacklist” risk can be real. Never underestimate Japanese record-keeping prowess when planning a comeback strategy.

Mini-summary: In Japan, your past performance is rarely forgotten—so plan your reconnection with proof and care.

What’s the best “hook” to restart business with a former client?

A strong hook is something new or newly relevant:

• a new product or solution they haven’t seen,

• a broader range of services beyond what they previously chose,

• or a visible gap left by a rival supplier.

If your offering solves today’s problems better than before, curiosity opens the door to a meeting.

Mini-summary: New value—new solutions, expanded scope, or competitor weakness—is the fastest path back in.

As a training company, one powerful reconnection tool is offering free refresher sessions for past graduates. The price is right, the content is familiar, and participants often remember the value. Many are now in more senior roles, able to re-sponsor programs for their teams. This rekindles trust and naturally leads to new needs discussions such as:

• リーダーシップ研修 (leadership training)

• 営業研修 (sales training)

• プレゼンテーション研修 (presentation training)

• エグゼクティブ・コーチング (executive coaching)

• DEI研修 (DEI training)

Mini-summary: Free refreshers revive positive memory, upgrade old champions into new sponsors, and reopen a pipeline.

Every sales team has buyers who drifted away. Re-engaging them is worth the effort because the revenue is often “closer than you think.” Pull your records, map what changed on their side, and reach out with a credible, value-new conversation. Compared to chasing strangers, rekindling a former relationship is cheaper, faster, and more likely to succeed in Japan’s trust-based market.

Mini-summary: Systematic rekindling of past clients can uncover major hidden revenue with less cost than new hunting.

• Reorders are the most cost-efficient sales win because acquisition costs are already paid.

• Cold clients in Japan often result from rotation and internal change, not lack of value.

• Strong records and a fresh hook (new solutions or refreshed training) rebuild credibility quickly.

• Re-engaging past buyers can recover significant revenue you may be leaving on the table.

Founded in the U.S. in 1912, Dale Carnegie Training has supported individuals and companies worldwide for over a century in leadership, sales, presentation, executive coaching, and DEI. Our Tokyo office, established in 1963, has been empowering both 日本企業 (Japanese companies) and 外資系企業 (multinational companies in Japan) ever since.