I am attempting to communicate with multiple companies on very pertinent issues. The lack of response is as bad as anything I have faced in 40 years in this business. Every company has a generic royalty owner email. I do tend to typically get a response from the very few small companies left, but the large companies have regressed to the point of total frustration. If you get a response at all, it seems to always be a generic email with no direct contact or phone number. It seems as if some of the the largest companies in the world have decided to live in a cave. The lack of respect for mineral owner issues is astounding.
I guess it is back to hard copies and certified mail.
My interests are widespread and with almost every company. I am a very experienced landman. I have dealt with almost every land and division order department. I like positive energy. I don’t ask stupid questions. It’s those companies at the top that are the problem and because of mergers and consolidation those will be the companies we will deal with in the future.
Many of the companies are outsourcing their owner relations and some of their division order work. This is just a change in the business that is not going away, so learn to work within the confines. Keep a record of contact information from someone when you get a direct response. I have started using Copper CRM as a part of my property management solution. This can be a little over the top for some owners, but it is a small add-on cost when I use it to assist in email management (Gmail) allowing me to see when and how many times an email is opened, file management (Google Drive) and revenue management (MineralWare). I built a connector app in Google AppSheet to help with link some of the management. You can get surprising results. As a note, hard copies and certified have a place but generally do nothing more than create more clogs in the system. Your hard copies are received, scanned, and then submitted in the appropriate Q for processing which just places the hard copies further back in the processing priority.
I’ve experienced the exact same problems. I’ve run on to companies who have a person whose sole purpose is to keep you from getting any further. They take the information and give you a case number and promise that they will have someone call you. With some companies it never ever happens. I currently have been waiting at least two months for calls from two companies. It doesn’t matter whether I call or email. Same result.
Chuck you have hit the new Owner Relations design. Trying to get past that to your actual goal is tough since they are deigned to be a first contact routing to a Q in order to increase efficiency. Although, the efficiency is not for your benefit.
I have been using various data scrapes to locate people within companies. It can take a bit of time, but I have been able to get contact information through this process. LinkedIn has been a bit helpful, but I would not suggest paying flor the service. Once I get an email contact that is generally close to my subject matter, I email that contact and ask that they forward it to the appropriate person. That works a little more than half of the time depending on the issue.
For large companies, royalty owner relations is a training ground and the responders have a superficial knowledge, such as how to change an address or how to read a check stub. They are not prepared for a complicated question. It is good to start with an email which is written in great detail, explaining the question and what all is needed. Think of this as writing a paper for English class (not a 2 sentence summary). Helps to have numbered questions to be answered and attach a spreadsheet. This proves you know what you are talking about. Then resend with any attachments at least every 3 weeks (so emails are on top of each other as a chain). After 3 attempts, send certified with a printed copy of email chain, addressing proper department such as accounting or division orders. If no response, send certified to company president and chief legal counsel and with a cover letter asking why there is no response. Someone will usually contact the department and tell them to do something.