Archive for the ‘win/loss analysis’ Category

Nov

Top five benefits to startups who talk to customers

written by Scott Olson

Top five benefits to startups from talking to customers Seems like a simple mantra, but it is amazing how often it doesn’t happen. Here’s a quick test. How many people on your leadership team, say director level and above, have communicated with a customer or prospect this week? If your answer is zero then you ought to be worried.

Customers are like high paid consultants with specialized knowledge and connections in the industry you sell into, deep familiarity with your own and likely your competitor’s products, and hands on experience with the problem you are trying to solve. To top it all off, they won’t charge you anything to help you make your product better. Why wouldn’t you talk to them? (more…)

Tags: marketing strategy, product management, product marketing, startup marketing, win/loss analysis
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Sep

Win/Loss Analysis – Strategies for Getting Participants When You Lose

written by Scott Olson

Win/Loss Analysis - Strategies For Getting Participants When You Lose Yesterday I posted the results from my recent win/loss analysis survey. Today I thought I would share a question I got from a client who is engaging me to conduct a number of win/loss surveys this quarter. The question they had was whether they should provide an incentive for the companies where they had lost the deal to participate in the interview. My answer was no, that it is best if this is simply worked in as the conclusion of a sales deal. I will explain more below.

The rational for the question was a good one. How can you get people who have elected not to use your company’s products or services to agree to commit 30 minutes or more of their time to engage and discuss the reasons they did not select your offering? Here are some suggestions for engaging with your losses. (more…)

Tags: marketing strategy, product management, win/loss analysis
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Aug

Win/Loss Analysis Survey Results

written by Scott Olson

I have compiled the results of the win/loss analysis survey, and while there weren’t enough respondents to be statistically significant, there was some interesting data in the results. Let’s begin with the most basic question, “Does your company perform win/loss analysis?” Of the 27 people who responded to this question 44% replied that they did and 56% did not.

For the people who did perform win/loss analysis, here are some of the highlights from the results:
Reasons for performing win/loss analysis (more…)

Tags: marketing strategy, win/loss analysis
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Aug

Early Win/Loss Analysis Poll Results – 46% Companies Surveyed Use Them

written by Scott Olson

Well, we are at the end of the week and I wanted to update the results for the win/loss poll that I launched on Monday.

Percentage of people who use win/loss analysis in their business who took the survey?

Yes – 46%
No – 54%

Results for the quick poll on the blog were Yes – 35%, No – 31% and What’s Win/Loss Analysis – 35%.

Top three reasons so far for performing win/loss analysis?

#1 Identifying product gaps
Tie for #2 Understanding why you lost a particular deal
Tie for #2 Understanding why you won a particular deal

Next week I will wrap up the survey and post the complete results. Thanks to everyone who participated in the survey.

Tags: marketing strategy, win/loss analysis
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Aug

Calling Tech Professionals: Launching Win/Loss Analysis Survey

written by Scott Olson

Over the next couple of weeks I am going to be focusing in on the use of win/loss analysis to further your business goals. To kick this effort off I have launched a short web survey that I ask you to participate in. The results will be tallied and reported on this blog and sent in their entirety to anyone that requests them to show industry best practices around this area. To participate in the survey click here.

For those of you who clicked “What’s win/loss analysis”, a quick description is that it is an interview conducted after a deal is either won or lost to gain business insights. This is an essential tool that provides a kind of product health check and can find weaknesses as well as opportunities for your company.

Win/Loss analysis, when done properly, can provide the above mentioned business insights that affect multiple organizations within your business. Here are just a few of the benefits that can be gained from direct interactions with prospects and customers at the conclusion of a sale or a lost deal: