Win / Loss Analysis: It's about winning more new clients and keeping the ones you have
Why Win-Loss?
Across industries, management teams are asking the same questions:
"Why aren't we winning more new business?"
"If we knew the truth about why we are winning some deals and losing others, what would we do about it?"
"When customers leave, do we really know why?"
For companies whose leadership is prepared to take decisive steps toward improving their sales win rate, 1st Resource has flexible Win-Loss Analysis programs that can help.
Win-Loss Analysis (WLA) is a way for firms who compete for large-dollar opportunities to understand how they can win more often. Win-Loss Analysis methods vary, but one thing is clear: To be effective, it must be done by a knowledgeable third party �?one who knows how to get the customer to be candid about the things that matter.
What makes this process compelling - and actionable?
Even the most successful, customer-centric sales and marketing organizations have a "batting average" for sales success and, like any major league hitter, that average is always less than 1000. Improving your sales batting average starts with getting to the underlying dynamics of how finalist decisions are made by the customer, and how your offering, brand and sales presence actually measured up for that customer.
At its core, WLA is a highly structured, in-depth interview process with lots of probing that gets to some very important factors, including:
- �?What factors, other than price, really matter?
-
- �?How does the customer make selection decisions about solutions like yours?
-
- �?What were the ultimate selection criteria in a recent deal, and how did those criteria change over the course of the process?
-
- �?Which competitors does the customer consider to be qualified?
-
- �?Who does the customer trust �?and why?
-
- �?How does the customer think about your stated points of differentiation?
-
- �?What opportunities are lost and relationships damaged because of very small matters of courtesy and communications?
-
Knowledge is Power
There is another, equally compelling benefit from WLA: You not only want to win more often; you also want to maintain your margins and not simply compete on price. Gaining a deeper understanding of the customer values that drive decisions enables you to increase the value you offer. Increased differentiation translates to greater pricing power for your offering.
Getting to the "Why"
Win-Loss Analysis is all about the "why's" �?why you won, why a deal didn't close that should have and why you might lose a current customer. Whatever metrics you feed into your dashboard, you also want to consider the insights. Together they provide the roadmap toward improving your "win rate."
WLA sweeps away the myths about key deals that were lost and provides a deeper assessment of what really happened from the customer's perspective. Viewed across multiple, recent sales events, this narrative points to crucial trends you didn't know existed. These trends and themes that surface in WLA provide clues about specific needed changes and improvements in process. The 1st Resource WLA process provides an analytical baseline from which you can devise and implement a winning strategy.
1st Resource specializes in Win-Loss Analysis and has an established but flexible methodology for implementing WLA programs. For more than 15 years, 1st Resource has focused on delivering unique customer and market insights to support managers in crafting winning strategies, developing fact-based actionable plans and creating value across the organization.
Win-Loss Analysis Case Studies
A Fortune 500 healthcare provider that contracts with large
employers and health plans has an ongoing WLA program that has been in place
for over a dozen years. In 2008, the incumbent provider was not delivering
results either qualitatively or quantitatively. 1st Resource was hired to take
over implementation of the program.
We implemented rigorous management, a total rework of the
program and assigned a senior team of analysts to operate the program.
Intensive interaction on a weekly basis with the client team aimed at high
performance communications and adapting to shifting corporate priorities
enabled a goal of functionally integrating with the client team.
The client continues to be pleased with the results, both in
terms of conversion of sales opportunities to actual interviews completed.
Project reports have been highly interactive, saving precious time on the
client side in terms of reporting results internally.
A specialty software provider (ISV) was concerned about
their sales conversion rate as well as the attrition rate for customers not
renewing their license upon expiration.
1st Resource implemented a balanced program where the effort
was split between sales Win-Loss and Customer Loyalty research. Knowing why customers didn't renew was as critical as knowing why sales opportunities did not close.
Results were surprising and counter intuitive. The issues
that mattered upon initial purchase selection turned out to be quite different
when it came to use, support and decisions to further engage with the product
after a period of time. Management was able to change their sales and customer
support programs substantially based on these findings.
|