Why You Should Do Win Loss with Your Clients

Yesterday, I was interviewed by an intern who is studying at the University of Rochester. She was representing a company that wants to do win loss analysis in an effort to make itself more competitive “in the trenches.”

She told me that her client’s inclination was to simply use their CRM tool to administer and interview to the sales reps after they close a deal as a win or loss. The idea was that the company could ask the sales reps why they won or lost, compile some quick data and learn how to move forward. She wanted to know why our services at Primary Intelligence would provide extra value over the CRM system.

I was very happy to provide an answer.

Our experience at Primary Intelligence has shown us that the only perception that really matters is the one that evaluates the vendors and writes the checks. We have conducted dozens of thousands of post-purchase interviews, based on deal sizes from a thousand dollars up to hundreds of millions. The one thing that we have learned is that the customer is always right and that sales reps don't have the whole story, no matter how good the relationship is.

I’m not saying that the sales reps are full of hot air or that their perception is not valuable, but if you want to increase your win rate, market share and overall sales performance, you have to look to the opinions and perceptions of the prospects. And, there are limitations to their knowledge of a deal. Even if the rep knows everything about his interactions with the prospect, he likely doesn't know much at all about the competitions' pitch, value proposition or relationship with that same prospect.

Some of our clients have asked us to interview both the sales rep and the prospect. They want a 360 degree review of the sales opportunity. There is wisdom in this approach, but the exercise has to be approached very strategically.

In a couple of cases, our clients wanted to measure their performance on 1 to 10 scales. They asked the same questions of the prospects and sales reps. In the end, our client learned that the sales force has a different perspective than the prospect; individually and collectively.

Hardly earth shattering and fairly useless information.

Our smarter clients use a completely different tool called Sales Confidence Index to measure the engagement level and efficacy of the sales team. This is not done on a deal-by-deal basis, but rather is taken periodically as an overall measurement of the sales force.

The purpose of win loss is to:

a) Understand today’s performance in competitive sales situations
b) Leverage this information to create a plan for win rate improvement

And, the you can ask sales reps all day long any question you like, but you’ll never approach the effectiveness of a few expertly-administered interviews with your clients and prospects.

I’m here to talk about these ideas. Reach out and let me know how I can help (cdalley@primary-intel.com, 801-838-9600 x5050)