Who should your reps call first this week?

Ask most distributor reps how they decide who to call this week and the real answer is: whoever called them. Customers with a problem get attention. Customers who go quiet don't.

That's exactly backwards. The quiet ones are often the accounts a competitor is already working on. This guide lays out a simple weekly method for ranking accounts so reps spend their limited calls where they matter most.

Why reacting isn't enough

Contractors buy from more than one supplier. HARDI's 2025 research found 83% of HVAC contractors use three or more, and the main supplier gets about 68% of purchases. So when a customer stops calling, they haven't stopped buying. They're buying from someone else.

At the same time, contractors would rather consolidate. More than 80% of contractors in HARDI's Voice of Contractor survey said buying most materials from one supplier is somewhat or very appealing (ACHR News). Reps who reach out at the right moment are in a position to win more of the order, not just keep it.

The three questions that rank an account

Every account on a rep's list can be scored with three questions.

1. How far off their normal are they?

Compare each customer with their own history, not a fixed rule. A contractor who orders every 7 days and is now at day 15 is far off normal. A monthly buyer at day 15 is right on time.

Look at three kinds of drift:

• Timing: longer than usual since the last order.
• Size: recent orders well below their usual amount.
• Mix: a product line they used to buy has stopped.

2. What are they worth?

Use last year's spend, and margin if you have it. A small drift on a big account usually matters more than a big drift on a tiny one.

3. What changed recently?

Check your own records for anything that could explain the drift: a price increase on lines they buy, a backorder, a rep or territory change, a billing dispute or credit hold, or a competitor nearby changing hands. A clear likely cause makes the call easier, because the rep has something specific to talk about.

How to build the weekly call list

1. Every Monday, pull last week's orders from Prophet 21, Eclipse or QuickBooks, along with each customer's 12-month history.
2. Flag drift. Mark any account past its usual reorder cycle by half or more, or with its last three orders down 30% or more from normal.
3. Sort by value. Put the flagged accounts in order of last year's spend.
4. Add the likely cause. Next to each one, write the most likely reason from your records, or "unknown."
5. Cap the list. Give each rep their top 5 to 10. A list of 40 doesn't get worked.
6. Close the loop on Friday. Note who was called, what they said, and whether they ordered again.

The cutoffs above are starting points. Adjust them once you see which flags turn out to be real.

What a good prioritized call sounds like

The best calls are specific. Compare:

• "Just checking in, anything you need?"
• "I noticed your South shop hasn't ordered since we were short on PEX last month. Is that fixed for you now?"

The second one shows you're paying attention and gives the customer an easy reason to talk. It also gives the rep a natural next step.

Common mistakes

• Ranking only by size. The biggest account that's ordering normally doesn't need a call this week.
• Using one rule for every customer. A 90-day no-order cutoff flags a weekly buyer about 83 days late.
• Ignoring locations. A multi-shop customer can lose one location entirely while the account total barely moves.
• Never reviewing. If nobody checks which calls led to orders, the list never gets better.

Frequently asked questions

How many accounts should a distributor rep call each week? It depends on territory size and other duties. The key is a short, ranked list the rep can actually finish, so the most important calls always happen.

Should reps prioritize new customers or existing ones? Both matter, but existing customers who are drifting are usually the faster win. The relationship and account already exist, and the customer already knows your counter.

How do I know if a call worked? Track whether the customer ordered again within a few weeks of the call, and whether their order size or timing returned to normal.