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By Steve KaPlan

But thanks for the past three years. Good luck!"

You feel hollow, and the words echo inside of you. You see everything you've built coming apart, and that 200-foot yacht you were dreaming of buying is sailing away. Since you had all of your eggs in that one Elephant's basket, it's now walking away with everything you've worked so hard to accomplish. You've been blindsided, and you wonder where it could have gone wrong.

There are a number of factors that could lead to an Elephant sprouting wings and flying away, but the best way to prevent losing one in the first place is by avoiding the "Five Killer Mistakes" of Elephant management:

l. Mismanaging client expectations

Be sure not to promise the farm if you can barely deliver some corn. Think before you speak throughout the entire sales process, and be sure that if you insinuate a particular standard of performance, or worse, make any verbal guarantees, your organization has the ability to back up your words with actions.

2. Fumbling a client crisis

Remember Murphy's Law? Well, it's true-whatever can go wrong, will. So do yourself a favor and be prepared when the inevitable occurs. Do whatever it takes to fix a problem, take full responsibility without assigning blame, take charge and act swiftly and effectively, stay calm, communicate and be sure to always keep your eye on the ball. Elephants know problems will spring up-they're interested in how you handle it.

3. Operational explosion

So your Elephant is about to sign on the dotted line, and just now you realize that your organization might not be able to handle the amount of attention they need without detracting form your other clients' service. Well, create a mock Elephant plan to ensure that all facets ofyour operation are on the same page.

Have a meeting with all parties involved-from production to accounting, review all of your operations and draft a flow chart for the new customer's service, anticipate all problems that might occur, be sure to communicate with your Elephant at all times, and, finally, be sure to include all operational costs in your quote so that you don't end up paying for them out of profits.

4. tralttng into the Elephant trap

Putting all of your eggs in one Elephant's basket is risky, at best. Always limit your dependency on a single customer, no matter how bottomless their pockets may seem when you approach them for new business.

If you are already dependent on one client, be sure to keep your ear to the ground and continue to gather information about your Elephant, so you can be prepared if they start changing directions on you. Use the information you obtain to understand your Elephant's future plans. What are senior managers thinking about your industry as they look to the next year and beyond? What are their new objectives? What are the new buzzwords they're using? Start steering your own company in those same directions so you can ride the same wave together.

Other good strategies to follow include seeking multi-year commitments from your Elephants and spreading your contracts capturing them from as many different departments as possible.

5. Losing sight of the numbers

Be sure that you're getting paid on time, because if you don't press the issue, your Elephant will be making money offofyour money. Keep your house in order, invoice correctly, and always be sure that the cash coming in from clients exceeds the amount being paid on overhead.

If you and your organization can avoid these killer mistakes, the relationship with your Elephant can continue to be a healthy, happy and productive one, while still allowing you the ability to hunt other Elephants to continue your growth.

- Steve Kaplan is author of Bag the Elephant! How to Win & Keep BIG Customers (Bard Press, Sept.2005) and fttunder of The Difference Maker, Inc., www.d iffe re nc e make r tom.

Ainsworth Petitions Potlatch

Ainsworth Lumber Co. has filed for reimbursement of repair costs-in excess of the $60 million indemnity provided in the purchase costs-for the three OSB mills it bought from Potlatch last year.

According to Ainsworth, equipment and buildings at the three Minnesota mills were not in the condition and state of repair warranted by Potlatch. Not so, said Potlatch, which will vigorously contest the claim.

Potlatch also disputes Ainsworth's claims that it didn't have enough time to inspect the plants because Potlatch was pushing for a quick sale. "It was Ainsworth that demanded the quick close," said Potlatch spokesperson Mike Sullivan. "We were not anxious to sell; we were very happy with the mills. They were generating a good deal ofprofit."