Felber offered another solution. "Ask, 'Why do they prefer them?' he said. "What are they doing better? Is it price, is it quality, is it service?"
"I have a client that I've had for not quite three years," he said. "It took months and months to get in. Finally he saw me. We had a good thing. We started out doing small orders. I knew I had competition in there, and come the beginning of the year when it was time to do his annual purchase review, he goes, 'I wanted to let you know I fired your competitor. You're now my No. 1 guy.' I said, 'That's great!" But I said, "Can I ask why you got rid of the other guy? They're a reputable company. You liked the guy.' He said 'They stopped being creative, and they stopped responding. They weren't responsive enough,'" explained Felber. "I'm glad I asked, because if I don't answer their calls enough, or their quotes, or I don't give them my creativity, I'm going to be out also."