Getting to the Root of Your Sales Success (Win Loss Analysis)

Many companies want to know the best way to collect win loss information from their recent completed sales opportunities. While Primary Intelligence is happy to do this work for you, feel free to take away the following information and use it in your organization. These ideas (along with the past few posts) have provided information that should help anyone to successfully organize their first sales intelligence campaign:

Which accounts and how many accounts will be targeted for Win Loss analysis?
The accounts to be targeted for Win Loss review will be determined by you. Some companies choose to select specific key accounts for review, while most others elect to review a percentage of all their opportunities within a given time period.

Typically the number of accounts analyzed for a company in a given quarter range from a low of 10 to a high of 500. Ultimately the number selected should be based on your available budget or available resources for Win Loss and the goals you’re hoping to accomplish with this program.

How is the information collected?
For most Win Loss projects, the information is primarily collected via telephone interviews. We find this method to be the most effective. In some cases, a web-administered interview may be implemented, but the level of qualitative data ends up being almost nonexistent.

How many wins versus losses do we include?
Most companies use an equal number of wins and losses. The actual number of interviews will vary based on your specific project goals and your available data. While a few companies have chosen to focus on their losses, our experience has shown that it is very difficult to uncover best practices and seperate them from the weaknesses if you don't have quantitative proof of what is working well.

Can we get every account we win or lose to participate?
In some cases all opportunities targeted for review have participated, but in other projects it has proven impossible. The actual participation in every project varies based on a number of factors including, your sales relationship with the prospect, the amount of lapsed time since the decision was made, turnover and relocation of key persons in the accounts, types of questions asked, and the actual time to complete the interview.

Therefore, we have determined that a 50% response rate is a fair expectation. The final participation rate could be much higher or lower. The participation rate generally increases over time as your prospects and customers free up time on their schedule.

(And now, the plug for using Primary Intelligence...)

Why select Primary Intelligence to perform the Win Loss Analyses?
We understand the unique challenges faced by companies in today’s economy. Business as usual is no longer an option. Primary Intelligence solutions are based on structured, systematic, repeatable methodologies. Our extensive experience in performing Win Loss Analyses, execution ability and the quality of our work ensure the success of every program.

A few of our happy sales intelligence clients include companies such as Avaya, Microsoft, and Symantec among many others. The data collection methodologies and analytical tools used by Primary Intelligence provide a solid foundation upon which to conduct Win Loss Analyses in any industry. Additional references can be provided upon request.

We're here to help you be more successful. If you have any ideas, thoughts or a specific need, talk to me. (cdalley@primary-intel.com, 801-838-9600 x5050)