Eight Rules of Win Loss Analysis

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Eight Rules of SuccessfulWin/Loss Anal sis

Roger W. [email protected]

Conference call: (641) 715-3222Access code: 226-056-833

Slides and ot her resources available at www.pragmaticmarketing.com/request

Win/Loss Analysis

Only 1 in 5 organizationsconduct a win/loss analysis initiative

with either discipline or regularity

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Sales Process Training

Defines the sales process

’Enables sales cycle focus

Reflects a probability of success

Enables common lan ua e articulation

No competitive differentiation

Results are not guaranteed

Updates a central reporting vehicle

No buyer perception monitoring

No messaging alignment

Keith Eades, Author of Solution Selling

“A good sales process should also bealigned with how buyers buy rather than

with how salespeople want to sell.”

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The Blame Game

Sales Management… hasn’t trained the sales

team to articulate competitive differentiation,

Marketing Management…

diagnose performance or align itself with buyingprocess

has not invested in

understanding prospective buyer’s perception norarticulated a consistent market message

Executive Team… lacks understanding of theevolving differentiation of company products or brand

You Are Misaligned With Your Buyer!

Instill a discipline to understandyour buyer’s perceptions and

e ecre o uccess …

cont nua y a gn t em w t yourcompany and solution!

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Post-Decision Interviews

Four Fallacies of Win/Loss Analysis

1. Viewed as discretionary

2. No actionable goal for outcomes

3. Non-existent tem late 

4. Sales-related focus and bias

Anatomy of a Post-Decision InterviewMust have been a competitive opportunity

Must have a centralized contact involved inall vendor events

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Rule #2

Conduct interviews within three months

with solution

Why?

Details forgotten each passing month

Employee turnover and transitional FTEs

Rule #3

Ensure a Non-Sales Environment

Why?

Sales Representative’s CYA

WINS – “The Hawthorne Effect”

LOSSES - “The significant problems wehave cannot be solved by the same level ofthinking with which created them.”----- Albert Einstein

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Rule #4

If a non-sales environment can’t be, -

How?

No conflicts of interest

oo n erv ew- o- n erv ewer ra o

Business familiarity

Actionable results

Rule #5

Compile, compare and present

How?

Quarter-to-quarter

Aggregate all competition

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Rule #6

Use metric-based and structured

Why?

Helps to structure emotional responses

uan a e ran , pr or ze, ra e

Serves as benchmark

Decision Process

Process PerformedY/N

WeightedImportance

Rank “Y”s inimportance

Notes: Finalists

, , -

Total researchedvendors?

On-site presentations

On-site demonstrations

Detailed RFP

Webcast demonstrations

Corporate visit

Site visit

Telephone references

Other

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Decision Criteria

Decision Criteria RelevantY/N

WeightedImportance

(H,M,L)

Best Vendor Performance(1-worst; 10-best)

NOTES

Winner Runner-up

RFI / RFP Response

User site visits

Vendor corporate visit

Phone References

# of vendor clientusers

Client satisfactionratings

Applicationfunctionality

Application ease-of-use

Sales PerformancePre-sales Rank Vendor Performance

(1-Bad; 10-Great)NOTES

Winner Runner-up

Sales Rep (SR) Professionalism

SR understood your needs

Flexibility to your decisionprocess

SR made you feel important

SR accessibility

SR knowledge

Overall relationship w/Sales RepQuality of the demonstrations

Quality of pre-sales supportFTEs

Clarity of corporate message

Clarity of product differentiation

Quality of RFP / proposal

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Rule #7

Make the interviews non-discretionary

Why?

Immediate misalignment with buyer

Cost of sales campaign worth effort

Continual diagnosis ensures process alignment

Brand performance

Rule #8

Understand that perception is reality

Why?

Not “live” or in production

Alignment with buyer process and needs

Requirement of competitive differentiation

Requires no proof statement

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The Reality of Perception

As important as a satisfied client base is to add-onu ure us ness an pos ve re erra s, no ng

improves new business greater thanunderstanding pre-client (prospect) perception!

Non-Discretionar Market-Based Resources

KnowledgeMarketAdvice

ProspectPerception

PositioningClient

Satisfaction

RequiredResources

IT-basedResearch

Pre-SalePerformance

Scorecard

CompetitivePositioning

Post-InstallPerformance

Rating

8 Rules of Conducting Successful

Post-Decision Interviews

1. Conduct equal interviews between all clientsand non-client com etitions 

2. Conduct interviews within three months of finaldecision or prior to going live with acquired solution

3. Ensure a non-sales environment

4. If a non-sales environment can’t be achieved,outsource to an un-biased third party

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8 Rules of Conducting SuccessfulPost-Decision Interviews

5. Compile, compare and present quarterly findings

6. Use metric-based and structured templates

7. Make the interviews non-discretionary

8. Understand that perception is reality

Roger Allison

[email protected]

Slides and other resources: w ww.pragmaticmarketing.com/request