Perform customer win-loss analysis
Paul Joseph is president and CEO of the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce and adjunct professor of marketing at the Robert A. Foisie Business School at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Buyers are liars!
As a former product marketer, I focused on helping salespeople sell. A colleague in sales would sometimes say, “Buyers are liars!” in response to a lost sale or prolonged sales cycle. While he wasn't criticizing the prospect for lacking integrity, he was expressing frustration about transactions veering off track. A win-loss interview or post mortem assessment by our team often revealed the prospect said they wanted X only to later buy from a competitor that didn't even have X in their product!
It's easy to assume the prospect simply wasn't well qualified, or that the salesperson suffered from happy ears – blind optimism because a meeting went well or the prospect really likes us – but, it's entirely possibly the prospect did, in fact, need what she/he thought was X at the time only to change her/his mind.
So, how do we know we can trust the intentions expressed by prospective customers? The secret is to not be fooled by polite, even sincere, communication and to trust, but verify, along the way.
By focusing on two key dimensions – the when and the why of the sale or loss – entrepreneurs, salespeople, marketers, and even product and brand managers can more effectively hone their approaches to creating, communicating about and delivering customer value.
Know when
Any credible win-loss analysis must probe the customer's experiences at each of the five basic stages of the buying process: awareness of need, exploration of options, interest in potential solutions, purchase and post-purchase experience.
1) Awareness – What prompted you to begin shopping for (category/type of) product or service?
2) Exploration – Where did you gather information about possible solutions (e.g., friends, online search, Facebook group, etc.)? Being specific here can help guide future marketing investments.
3) Interest – What top two or three features did you compare across different solution options?
4) Purchase – What was the primary deciding factor for making the purchase at that particular time? Again, gathering specific feedback here is vital – Was it more about urgent need and less about a specific vendor or price? Was it ease of working with the vendor? Was it product quality?
5) Post-purchase – How satisfied are you with your decision?
Know Why
Ultimately, asking thoughtful why and why-not follow-up questions is the key to unlocking actionable customer insights.
• Why do you use certain online resources to research options?
• Why did/didn't you speak with our salesperson?
• Why did you ultimately decide to go with product/service/vendor?
•Why would/wouldn't you make the same decision again?
Be prepared for, and open to, blunt feedback!
Your objectivity and thoughtful reflection are vital to the success of this process.
You can't win 'em all, but…
By taking an empathetic approach during the sales cycle – both before and after the potential transaction – businesses can gather intelligence and take specific actions to ensure future and sustainable revenue growth, all while maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction.
WBJ Web Partners
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