---
id: KB-CC-010
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/contacts-and-channels/when-the-contact-person-changes
idioma: en
categoria: contactos-canales
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-CC-003, KB-CC-004]
citadoPor: [KB-CC-014, KB-CC-017]
---

# When the contact person changes

_The silent cause of half the cases that stall._

**Responde a:** the contact person no longer works there · change of contact at a supplier · notices going to someone who left · updating a company's contact

It is the cause nobody suspects and it explains a huge share of dead cases: the person you write to left that company months ago. Their email may still be active, may bounce, or may be read by someone with no idea what it is about.

## How to recognise it

| Sign | What it usually means |
| --- | --- |
| It suddenly bounces after months working | They left and the account was closed |
| It is delivered but never opened | Their mailbox is alive and nobody reads it |
| Someone else replies asking what it is about | Somebody inherited the mailbox without context |
| They reply from a different address | They have already changed and did not tell you |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The second row is the worst because it produces no error. The system says delivered, you assume it arrived, and the case waits for someone who no longer exists at that company.

## What to do when it happens

1. **Fix it on the record, not just on that send** — Fix it only there and the next case fails identically.
2. **Ask who replaced them rather than sending blind** — A one-minute call to their switchboard resolves months of silence.
3. **Keep both contacts if they coexist** — Many companies have one for paperwork and another for invoicing.

## How to catch it earlier

**En corto**

- Reviewing quarterly who has opened nothing in months.
- Asking for a mobile at onboarding: it survives job changes better than email.
- And updating the day a third party tells you it is changing, not when you need it.

> [!WARNING]
> When someone tells you they are leaving and gives you their replacement's details, update it that same day. It is the only moment you hold the right detail without hunting, and it vanishes the moment that mailbox closes.

> [!NOTE]
> If a contact has opened nothing in a year, it is not a contact: it is an address. Treat it as such before launching an important request at it.

**Can I have several contacts per company?**

Yes, and you should: it halves this problem.

**Is history lost when the person changes?**

No. History belongs to the company and the case.

**What if nobody at that company replies?**

The main phone number. It is slow, and still faster than three months of silence.

## Ejemplos

**A company has had no reply from a supplier in four months and assumes they are uncooperative.**

- Checks the log: delivered but never opened
- Phones the switchboard and gets the replacement

→ The supplier delivers in two days; the person they were writing to had left in the spring.

**The contact changes and notices keep going to their address.**

- Updates the contact on the files

→ The notice reaches somebody who exists.

**The new contact does not know what had been delivered.**

- Shows them the file's status

→ They catch up without phoning anyone.

**A new file is opened for the new person.**

- Continues the existing one, changing the contact

→ No history is lost.

**Nobody knows who replaces the previous contact.**

- Asks the company before chasing

→ The request reaches somebody who can act.

**The old contact keeps receiving information.**

- Revokes their access on updating

→ Information stops going to somebody it should not.