By Connie Schlosberg, Primary Intelligence
Win loss programs are important at all levels of the organization because they help explain why buyers choose specific solutions and why they do not choose others. Win loss takes us beyond market research and competitive intelligence.
Win loss analysis is more than just gathering, analyzing, and interpreting information about a market. It’s more than just sizing a market and understanding the growth rate, competitors, and buying segments. Win loss research is a sales, product, and marketing enablement tool focused on improving sales, improving the product/service, and improving a company’s market presence as a result of listening to customers.
Here are six strategic recommendations you can apply to your win loss analysis.
Six Win Loss Strategic Recommendations
1. Get Sales and C-level leadership support: Getting Sales buy-in for Win Loss is critical.
C-level support is also important and can make or break your win loss program. Once senior executives see the value of the win loss information the company is getting, however, they are usually quick to provide their full endorsement. We often see C-level executives taking their win loss programs from one company to another, as they learn to rely on win loss findings.
2. View Win Loss as a learning tool.
It’s important to put forth the right message about the win loss program, stressing that win loss feedback will be used as a learning mechanism, helping the entire organization improve. This communication is especially important to ensure sales teams are fully on-board with the program, especially since buyer feedback that is most critical tends to focus on sales behavior.
3. Define program goals.
At the outset of the win loss program, it’s important to ensure there is organizational clarity about the goals for win loss analysis. Is the program in place to improve sales effectiveness? Better understand buyer behavior? Improve product features and functionality? Will the program be used strategically, tactically, or both? Make sure you have clarity on these issues because this will drive the questions you ask and the results you receive. Also make sure you have clarity around processes you’ll put in place, such as how customers will be contacted, how the information will be communicated back to internal constituents, and how deep structural changes will be made within the organization.
4. Share information broadly.
At Primary Intelligence, we feel strongly that wide distribution of win loss information is a best practice. Organizations that share buyer feedback from win loss interviews have better outcomes than those that limit the findings to a small group of executives or managers. Individuals in different parts of the organization can see the impact of their actions—even if they’re not interacting with the customer directly. Linkages can also be made between different geographic regions in terms of market conditions and competitive responses to specific offers or product initiatives. Companies that close off access to win loss information don’t get the benefits of win loss programs that organizations that share information widely experience.
5. Look at individual interviews and deal reports.
It’s important to look at individual interviews or deal reports, as well as program information in aggregate. A lot can be learned from specific buyer feedback reports, while over-arching trends can be seen from consolidated information. It’s important to do both. Now, the types of information you share may be different depending on the person or audience’s needs. For example, you may share individual deal report information with the sales team responsible for specific opportunities or product management, pricing, and support representatives when buyer feedback highlighted issues relevant to their domains. In contrast, executive summaries may be shared with C-level executives.
6. Conduct debrief/discovery sessions.
Debrief and discovery sessions are incredibly helpful to engage in because they allow key players to hear details of won and lost opportunities and strategize on next steps, both internally within their organizations and as they relate to the market, including competitive threats. While individual stakeholders can read reports and digest the information individually, discussing key wins and losses with other company executives helps to promote greater synergy and helps to “connect the dots.”