Ellen Naylor

Aligning Sales and Marketing through Win/Loss Analysis

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Win/Loss analysis is more important than ever since sales people are brought into buyer’s decision-making quite late in the process. Previously most of the Win/Loss interview focused on sales performance and behavior, which is still part of Win/Loss. However, since 60% of the purchasing decision is done before buyers contact sales, you need to ask how they researched your company. So you are querying around how well your company is marketing to capture business as a major part of Win/Loss.

3 New Competitive Intelligence Books

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Enjoy three 2015 competitive intelligence books: Business and Competitive Analysis: Effective Applications of New and Classic Methods, 2nd Edition by Craig Fleisher and Babette Bensoussan; The Guide to Online Due Diligence Investigations: The Professional Approach on How to Use Traditional and Social Media Resources by Cynthia Hetherington; and Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Market the Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne.

Win/Loss Analysis: Outsourcing versus In-House

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Do you outsource or use in-house resources to conduct Win/Loss interviews and the analysis? This is a question I have been asked frequently in the 25 ypros and consears that I have done Win/Loss work. There are pros and cons to each approach, and your company’s and industry’s cultures will often dictate which approach will work better for you. Sometimes it’s a combination of in-house and consultant resources that works best.

Best Sales Intelligence Practices

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This article contains some best practices to engage sales to share competitive intelligence information. It is a timeless topic that I have been researching in my 30 years as a competitive intelligence professional.

Win Loss Interviews: Compensation and Recording

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While Win Loss is a relationship business, like all business processes, it continues to evolve. What are your best practices in there two areas: Monetary Compensation to those you interview for a win or loss AND Recording Win Loss Interviews. Please share with me in the comments section of this blog or email me at ellen at thebisource.com.

Recent Competitive Intelligence Insight

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Here are some insightful articles related to competitive intelligence and customer intelligence. Emotional Intelligence: Cult or Competitive Advantage? How to Build a Culture of Givers: 4 Tips; Employers Want Critical Thinkers, But Do They Know What It Means? 10 Great Questions Product Managers Should Ask Customers

How Culture Affects the Win Loss Process

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I have had the pleasure of interviewing two impressive Directors of Win Loss programs. Both work for large companies that have done win loss analysis for a long while. Both emphasized the importance of company culture in how they set up their win loss programs; how they conduct win loss interviews—both internally and with customers—and how they write up the win loss analysis.

Win Loss: A Cooperative Relationship Business

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Win Loss is a Cooperative Relationship Business: You need to treat people the way they like to be treated throughout the process. It starts with soliciting feedback for the win loss questions from multiple people in relevant departments such as sales, marketing, product management, PR and executives. The next touch point is the internal interviews you conduct before reaching out to customers. With the customer, you want to engage early and frequently throughout the sales process. Remember that the recommendations you make at the conclusion of your win loss report can impact people’s jobs. Be sensitive to company politics and face saving in your loss reports.

Win Loss: Indecision is Often Stress

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I have been conducting win loss analysis for 25 years, and have wondered how stress affects decision-making. According to Stephen W Martin, Sales’ biggest enemy is not the competition: it’s “no decision.” Customers are afraid to make decisions due to the stress of buying. They are seldom sure they are purchasing the right product or solution, and there are often naysayers in their organizations who are against moving forward. Customers increasingly don’t make a purchase even after a thorough evaluation. They feel too overwhelmed with information and contradicting evidence to make a decision, and it doesn’t help that there is little product differentiation around the basic features, functions and benefits among the competitors.

Templates for Win Loss Analysis

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The win loss analysis question I get asked the most often is: “Can you share your win loss templates?” I break down win loss questions into 4 buckets: relationship health; company reputation; product/service attributes and servicing issues.

© 2024 Ellen Naylor