Account A
ACC-4318 Trade customer
- A predictable account
- A simple reorder need
NEXT
Reorder email
MARKETING-LEDYour best wholesale customers rarely tell you they’re drifting.
A good account usually changes before it disappears. The Reorder Engine reads each wholesale account against its own buying history, spots meaningful changes and decides what should happen next. Then Retaain runs it.
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- Reads
- Every account
- Compares
- Against its own normal
- Decides
- Email, your rep or nothing yet
- Repeats
- Every month
Is this customer actually late, or buying at its own pace?
Same time since last order
weeks
ACC-4127
Normally every 3 weeks
DROPPING2× normal windowACC-4583
Normally every 12 weeks
HEALTHYInside normal window
Every account has its own normal.
One reorder window for every account chases slow buyers too soon and notices fast ones too late. Retaain learns each customer’s own rhythm first, then acts on what has changed.
What happens when one of your customers starts buying differently?
It depends on the account. Here are six situations you’ll recognise, and how each one gets decided.
Reorder drift is the name for most of them: when a good account’s usual buying starts to change. Orders come later, smaller or less often, well before the relationship looks lost.
A dependable account starts ordering late.
A stockist who has ordered like clockwork for years. Nobody can quite remember the last order.
- What the order data shows
- Usually every six weeks. Then seven, then eight, and now well past its own normal.
- What’s easy to miss
- One late order looks like a busy month. The pattern only shows when you line the gaps up.
- What I check
- How far past its own rhythm it is, how much the account matters, and whether your team already knows why.
- What happens next
- A reorder email timed to the account, then a call from your rep if it doesn’t answer.
- Who acts
- Email first, then your rep
- When nothing is the right call
- If it’s only just past its usual point and the rhythm has been steady for years, a nudge or nothing at all.
A customer keeps ordering, but drops a range.
Orders still arrive on time. The account looks fine on every report you run.
- What the order data shows
- The same rhythm, but a product line it bought for years has stopped appearing on its orders.
- What’s easy to miss
- An account that is on time is never flagged as a problem, so a lost category can go unnoticed for months.
- What I check
- Whether the line was discontinued, seasonal or swapped for something else you sell before treating it as lost.
- What happens next
- An email that puts the range back in front of the buyer, in your name, with a reason to reorder it.
- Who acts
- Retaain handles the email
- When nothing is the right call
- If the range was discontinued or replaced, or the account told your rep it’s going elsewhere for good.
A seasonal account looks late, but isn’t.
A customer who goes quiet every winter and comes back in spring.
- What the order data shows
- A long gap that looks alarming against an average, and normal against its own history.
- What’s easy to miss
- A reorder timer chases it every year, and the customer learns to ignore your emails.
- What I check
- The account’s own pattern at this time of year, not the average across every account.
- What happens next
- Nothing. It stays on the watch list and carries on as normal.
- Who acts
- Nobody yet
- When nothing is the right call
- This is the case: nothing is due, so nothing is sent.
A new account never places its second order.
Your rep won the account, the first order went out, and then it went quiet.
- What the order data shows
- One order and nothing behind it. Too little history to call it late or early.
- What’s easy to miss
- The first order feels like the win. The second order is where the account is actually kept.
- What I check
- When the first order was, what it was, and whether a second one would usually follow by now.
- What happens next
- A short welcome series that earns the second order while the first is still recent.
- Who acts
- Retaain handles the email
- When nothing is the right call
- If the first order was a one-off for an event, or your rep says the next order is already agreed.
A relationship goes quiet after a rep moves on.
The rep who looked after the account has left or changed territory. Orders have thinned out since.
- What the order data shows
- A steady rhythm until the handover, then longer gaps and smaller orders.
- What’s easy to miss
- The new rep inherits a list of names, not the history, so nobody sees the account is slipping.
- What I check
- Who owns the account now, what the history shows, and whether a conversation is already under way.
- What happens next
- The account goes to the new rep with what changed and why it matters. Any email works around their conversation.
- Who acts
- Your rep leads
- When nothing is the right call
- If the new rep is already in conversation and asks for email to wait, it waits.
A growing account is ready for more.
An account that has quietly grown. It orders more often and more each time.
- What the order data shows
- Buying above the terms it is held on, or buying narrowly against similar accounts.
- What’s easy to miss
- Growing accounts don’t ask for attention, so the conversation about better terms or more of the range never happens.
- What I check
- How long the growth has held, what similar accounts buy, and what terms it is on today.
- What happens next
- Your rep gets the account with the case for a terms or range conversation.
- Who acts
- Your rep leads On Growth and Partner.
- When nothing is the right call
- If the growth is a one-off order rather than a sustained change.
Illustrative situations, not client results. Each one is read against that account’s own history and what your team knows.
How I decide who acts.
The order history says what changed. Context decides the move: before anything happens, I check what the order history can’t tell me, then one of four moves follows, and only four.
- How important is the account?
- What does your team already know?
- Is there an open proposal or rep conversation?
- Is there a reason not to automate?
Retaain sends the retention email, timed to the account.
A retention email first, then a person picks it up.
The rep leads, and any retention email works around their conversation.
Automated retention email is off for this account. A person can still act.
Same buying change. Different next move.
A reorder timer would email both, including the account your rep is already talking to.
What a simple reorder timer sees
Same numbers. Same state.
DROPPING13 weeks since the last order, normally every 6
13 wk · 7 wk past normalAccount B
ACC-4376 Independent retailer
- An important account
- A rep already involved
NEXT
Rep follow-up
REP-LEDWant the full read? Follow one account through it.
Normally orders
Every 6 weeks
A customer for
Five years
Usually buys
Consistently
Now
18 weeks since the last order
That doesn’t automatically mean “send an email”. It means the account deserves a closer look.
This is the system I use to read your customer base.
I run it every month, and every read ends in a next move. You get the decision and the reason, not another dashboard.
- State
- What is happening?
- Priority + confidence
- How much does it matter, and how strong is the evidence?
- Who acts
- Who should handle the next move?
05 steps Normal, change, importance, context, then the decision.
Normal. How does this customer usually buy?
About every 6 weeks, for five years. That is its benchmark, taken from its own history.
Change. What has moved away from that pattern?
Now 18 weeks without an order, three times its usual gap. The last two orders were already a little late.
Importance. Is this worth acting on now?
Two readings, never one score. Priority is how much it matters: high, a top-tier account. Confidence is how strong the evidence is: high, five years of orders.
Context. What can’t the order history tell me?
Why a top-tier account that buys across the full range has gone quiet. That is what your team adds before anything happens.
Decision. Who should act?
Retaain, your rep, both, or nothing automated. Here a valuable relationship needs a conversation, so it goes to your rep with what changed and why.
- ACC-4655, regional stockist, dropping, rep-led, high priority, next: Rep follow-up
ACC-4655, Regional stockist
NEXT
Rep follow-up
REP-LEDWHY
Buying has moved well beyond its normal window.
Weeks between orders Orders 1 to 2 6 weeks Orders 2 to 3 6 weeks Orders 3 to 4 6 weeks Orders 4 to 5 6 weeks Orders 5 to 6 7 weeks Orders 6 to 7 8 weeks Since order 7 18 weeks, still open FIG 4.2 Recent orders: every 6 weeks for four, then 7 and 8. 18 weeks since the last order, 12 past its normal. All readings
- LIFECYCLE
- Established
- STATE
- DROPPING
- PRIORITY
- HighA large change on an established, top-tier account.
- CONFIDENCE
- HighFive years of consistent orders.
- OPPORTUNITY
- RECOVERRecovery
- ROUTE
- REP-LED
- NORMAL RHYTHM
- 6 weeks
- CURRENT GAP
- 18 weeks
- ACCOUNT VALUE
- Top tier
- COMMERCIAL CONTEXT
- Buys across the full range
- ACC-4240, independent retailer, approaching, marketing-led, low priority, next: Reorder reminder
- ACC-4910, specialist store, healthy, no one yet, next: Keep watching, with no reorder intervention
| Orders 1 to 2 | 6 weeks |
|---|---|
| Orders 2 to 3 | 6 weeks |
| Orders 3 to 4 | 6 weeks |
| Orders 4 to 5 | 6 weeks |
| Orders 5 to 6 | 7 weeks |
| Orders 6 to 7 | 8 weeks |
| Since order 7 | 18 weeks, still open |
ACC-4655, Regional stockist
- LIFECYCLE
- Established
- STATE
- DROPPING
- PRIORITY
- HighA large change on an established, top-tier account.
- CONFIDENCE
- HighFive years of consistent orders.
- OPPORTUNITY
- RECOVERRecovery
- ROUTE
- REP-LED
NEXT
Rep follow-up
REP-LEDWHY
Buying has moved well beyond its normal window.
- NORMAL RHYTHM
- 6 weeks
- CURRENT GAP
- 18 weeks
- ACCOUNT VALUE
- Top tier
- COMMERCIAL CONTEXT
- Buys across the full range
ACC-4655, Regional stockist
- LIFECYCLE
- Established
- STATE
- DROPPING
- PRIORITY
- HighA large change on an established, top-tier account.
- CONFIDENCE
- HighFive years of consistent orders.
- OPPORTUNITY
- RECOVERRecovery
- ROUTE
- REP-LED
NEXT
Rep follow-up
REP-LEDWHY
Buying has moved well beyond its normal window.
- NORMAL RHYTHM
- 6 weeks
- CURRENT GAP
- 18 weeks
- ACCOUNT VALUE
- Top tier
- COMMERCIAL CONTEXT
- Buys across the full range
ACC-4240, Independent retailer
- LIFECYCLE
- Established
- STATE
- APPROACHING
- PRIORITY
- LowA small change on a predictable pattern.
- CONFIDENCE
- HighThree years of steady, regular orders.
- OPPORTUNITY
- RECOVERReorder
- ROUTE
- MARKETING-LED
NEXT
Reorder reminder
MARKETING-LEDWHY
It has just passed its normal reorder point.
- NORMAL RHYTHM
- 4 weeks
- CURRENT GAP
- 5 weeks
ACC-4910, Specialist store
- LIFECYCLE
- Established
- STATE
- HEALTHY
- PRIORITY
- Not set yet
- CONFIDENCE
- HighTwo years of regular orders.
- OPPORTUNITY
- None identified
- ROUTE
- No one yet
NEXT
Keep watching, with no reorder intervention
No one yetWHY
It is still ordering inside its normal window.
- NORMAL RHYTHM
- 10 weeks
- CURRENT GAP
- 7 weeks
Retaain tracks where every account stands.
A state says what is happening. I decide who acts, account by account.
- HEALTHY
Buying to its own pattern. Nothing signals a retention problem.
- APPROACHING
Around its usual reorder point, including just past it, before a slowdown is clear.
- DROPPING
Buying has moved well outside its normal.
- DORMANT
Quiet for far longer than its normal.
- REACTIVATED
A quiet account has ordered again.
No state yetToo few orders to read a pattern, as with a brand-new account. Nothing is invented to fill the gap.
Not every opportunity is about saving a slipping account.
- ESTABLISH
Help a new account become a repeat customer.
- RECOVER
Follow up where an account is buying below its own normal.
- GROW
On Growth and Partner, help a good account buy more, or more of your range.
Then I look across the whole customer base.
You get the few that need a move, and who makes it.
| State | Accounts | Movement |
|---|---|---|
| HEALTHY | 268 | |
| APPROACHING | 54 | |
| DROPPING | 31 | |
| DORMANT | 47 | |
| REACTIVATED | 20 |
Needs a decision this month
ACC-4655, regional stockist, dropping, rep-led, high priority, next: Rep follow-up
ACC-4376, independent retailer, dropping, rep-led, next: Rep follow-up
ACC-4318, trade customer, dropping, marketing-led, next: Reorder email
ACC-4240, independent retailer, approaching, marketing-led, low priority, next: Reorder reminder
ACC-4865, specialist store, reactivated, marketing-led, next: Lifecycle journey
Healthy accounts carry on as normal. They are counted, not chased.
Next month, every account gets read again.
New orders change the picture, so the work changes with it.
- Read every account
- Spot what changed
- Decide who should act
- Run the work
You don’t run this process. Retaain does.
I write the retention emails, and Retaain sends them in your name, inside the email platform you already use. Rep-led accounts go to your team with the reason they surfaced.
Before any email goes out
Tell me who to hold back, and I’ll hold them where the timing allows.
Segment
42
accounts qualify
Contacts
68
selected contacts
Suppressed
9
cannot be contacted
Eligible
59
eligible contacts
Held on request
5
held at your request
Held because your team asked me to.Sendable
54
contacts receive it
Illustrative counts.
What comes back to you
A short update every week. Each month, what changed, what I handled and what needs you, with time with me to talk it through.
Retaain.Monthly retention review · Illustrative
- Accounts that changed
- Accounts that need attention
- What Retaain handled
- What went to your reps
- Accounts that came back
- What happened next
- What changes next month
The right follow-up happens without anyone having to remember.
ACC-4655 normally orders every six weeks, about nine times a year. Read against its own normal, the change shows at week 7, not week 18.
- Fewer good accounts quietly slipping through the gaps
- More repeat-order opportunities acted on
- Your reps spending time where relationships matter
Kane Founder, Retaain
Send me one export and I’ll run this same reading across your customer base: the accounts past their own normal, named, with the move I’d make on each.
Free, within five working days. Yours to keep, whether we work together or not.