Win / Loss Studies

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Conducting win / loss studies with current and prospective clients is the single most powerful way to diagnose sales and marketing strengths and weaknesses.  

At the end of the day, what your customers experience and believe is really all that matters!

Research shows organizations that conduct win / loss studies have:

• 5% higher team attainment
• 12% higher customer retention rates
• Double YoY corporate revenue improvement
• 1.6% YoY improvement in lead conversion versus a -0.6% drop among non-users

                                                                                                              CSO Insights

Business Drivers for Conducting Win / Loss Studies

• Increase revenue
• Increase market share
• Increase productivity
• Launch new products
• Improve company image & reputation
• Improve customer retention
• Improve workforce engagement & retention

Goals for Conducting Win / Loss Studies

• Improve individual / team selling skills 
• Establish / refine sales processes
• Uncover customers' decision criteria / buying process
• Enhance brand recognition 
• Capture / share best practices
• Improve product / service offerings
• Strengthen customer service / client relationships
• Develop messaging
• Inform strategy
• Establish benchmarks for performance
• Create a culture of continuous improvement
• Gather competitive intelligence 

There are many things that can be learned through win / loss studies.  

However, time is of the essence when asking for your customers' feedback. Smart organizations will narrow and prioritize interview questions to ensure time-sensitive discussions lead to valuable insights. 

Example Areas of Discovery

• Customer buying processes and decision criteria 
• Roles and responsibilities of buying team members 
• Salesperson / team efficacy
• Why business was won / lost
• Product attributes 
• Competitor strengths and vulnerabilities
• Service levels
• Reputation in the marketplace

Skillfully executed, win / loss discussions will leave customers feeling appreciably more positive about the selling organization, whether it was a win or a loss. 

This is why many sales organizations use third-party professionals to conduct these high-payoff, often sensitive discussions.  

Additional reasons:

• Clients tend to open up more to a neutral third-party
• Non-skilled interviewers will not elicit the customer's complete and thorough response