---
id: KB-CC-014
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/contacts-and-channels/reaching-the-right-person
idioma: en
categoria: contactos-canales
audiencia: usuario
nivel: basico
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-CC-010, KB-CC-012, KB-CC-009]
citadoPor: [KB-CC-015, KB-CC-019, KB-ET-020, KB-CC-020]
---

# Reaching the right person

_The document does not arrive because you are asking someone who does not have it. How to find who does._

**Responde a:** i do not know who to ask for the documents · who handles this at the supplier · generic mailbox does not reply · finding the right contact

When a request stalls, the cause looks like a lack of interest and is nearly always something else: you are asking someone who does not have that document and does not know who does. It is especially common with mid-sized companies, where the salesperson who sold to you never touches documentation.

## Who usually holds what

| Document | Who normally holds it | Who NOT to ask |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Insurance and policies | Administration or their broker | The salesperson |
| Quality certifications | Quality or technical management | Administration |
| Employment documentation | HR or their payroll adviser | The site manager |
| Product datasheets | Technical or production | The salesperson, who sends the old one |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The fourth row explains a problem that looks like bad faith and is not: the salesperson sends an outdated datasheet because it is the one in their folder. They are not deceiving you; they simply do not maintain that document.

## How to find out without going round in circles

1. **Ask directly who handles it** — "Who handles quality documentation at your company?" saves three weeks.
2. **Ask for that person's email rather than a forward** — A forward loses the link and the context, and nobody knows who answers.
3. **Save the right contact in their record** — With their role: it stops you repeating the search a year later.
4. **And note who it was NOT** — That is useful information too, especially in large companies.

> [!WARNING]
> Avoid generic mailboxes for anything with a deadline. An "info@" or "admin@" works for a sales enquiry and is where dated requests die: someone opens it, decides it is not for them, and that is the end.

## When the right person changes

**En corto**

- It is the number one cause of requests that stop being answered from one month to the next.
- It is spotted quickly: what used to be answered in two days stops for no reason.
- And it is fixed by asking, not by insisting.

Insisting to an address that no longer exists, or to someone who has left, generates reminders nobody reads and the impression that the supplier "is not cooperating".

> [!NOTE]
> When what you need is held by a third party of your supplier — their accountant, their insurance broker — it can be requested from that third party with the supplier's agreement. It is usually much faster and avoids the forwarding step.

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

Yes, and it helps: one commercial, one for documents, one technical.

**What if I only get the generic mailbox?**

Write there asking for the person's contact; that is the first request.

**How do I know they are still the right person?**

If they stop replying suddenly, they usually are not.

## Ejemplos

**A company has spent five weeks asking a supplier's salesperson for a certificate.**

- Asks who handles quality and requests the direct contact

→ Receives the certificate the next day and saves the right contact for next year.

**A generic mailbox is written to and nobody replies.**

- Asks for the name of whoever handles it

→ The request reaches a specific person.

**The contact on record is not the decision-maker.**

- Asks who can resolve it

→ You write to somebody who can act.

**Three people are written to and nobody takes it on.**

- Addresses the request to one and copies the rest

→ There is a clear owner.

**The right person is in another department.**

- Asks for a redirect and records the new contact

→ The next request already goes right.

**Nobody knows who handles that topic at the company.**

- Asks the usual contact

→ You reach the person in one hop.