4 Steps To Maximize Won/Lost Program ROI

Most companies have a Won/Lost program. While some operate from a ‘fault’ mentality, some operate from a ‘customer-led’ mentality. Leaders need to move from the former to the latter to maximize the ROI of these programs. Christine Crandell, president, New Business Strategies, provides four tips to maximize the ROI of these programs.

Every leader wants to know the ‘truth’ about why deals are lost or won. To that end, most organizations have a won/lost initiative. Programs vary from a few CRM fields to a robust Voice of the Customer (VoC) program. Robustness is dependent on company culture.

At one end of the culture continuum are brands focused on identifying product or Sales gaps — I call this the ‘fault’ mentality. On the other end, brands strive to build deep, data-rich symbiotic relationships — a ‘customer-led’ mentality. 

Primary Benefits to Tap Into

A program’s elements reveal where a company is on the continuum. The former relies on self-reporting, typically by Sales, and the occasional won accounts survey. These leaders want to know the two or three things their teams can do to increase win rates. 

The latter employs a multi-faceted, cross-functional program that includes several data sources ranging from NPS, surveys, and qualitative won/lost interviews to cross-functional touchpoint analytics and VoC/VoB. These organizations strive to understand how to win on customer experience. 

At a strategic level, Won/Loss will help you improve:

• Pipeline forecast accuracy 
• Messaging and positioning
• Product/market fit and ICP definition
• Early detection of target market and persona buying behavior shifts 

Tactically, the ROI includes:

• Clear, contextually relevant competitive differentiation 
• Increased BDR/SDR productivity through more relevant discussion topics 
• A consistent, smoother hand-off from Sales to Onboarding to Customer Success
• More effective ‘closing’ strategies by proactively addressing key ‘hidden’ concerns

Companies grow into their Won/Loss programs. Won/Loss usually starts as a small pilot program by Ops or product marketing focused on validating messaging, product/market fit, sales, or content strategy. The best-performing pilot programs are those that have a clear, simple objective.  

See More: How to Develop Customer Centric Messaging in Four Easy Steps

Key Obstacles 

Along the way, companies realize that to get beyond surface-level insights and low-hanging fruit improvements, they need to remove key obstacles:

• Feedback fear: The “fault” mindset creates a defensiveness where negative feedback is seen as a mistake instead of an opportunity. 
• Unchampioned processes: The lack of a visible and vocal executive champion — CRO, COO, CPO, or CEO — telegraphs to the rest of the organization that Won/Loss learnings are not a priority. 
• Action-less accountability: Customers and prospects provide feedback (and their time) with the implicit expectation that the brand will act. Brands that do not close the loop through visible changes become ignored by future buyers. 
• Dirty data: From the most basic to the most sophisticated program, Won/Loss heavily depends on current data. Dirty data negatively impacts the validity and credibility of findings, impact of actions, and ROI. 

Addressing these obstacles is more manageable than it may seem. 

Tips to Tackle Obstacles and Optimize ROI

Revenue growth directly results from institutionalized Won/Loss learnings and actions taken. Based on my experience managing Won/Loss and VoC/VoB programs for B2B vendors, here are four ways I have maximized the ROI of these programs.

Tip 1: Focus on future ICPs

Not all customers and prospects are equal; as businesses evolve, so do their ICPs (ideal customer profiles). Only include accounts representing future strategic markets and personas to ensure that the insights and action plans directly support the organization’s growth objectives. 

Tip 2: Journeys and personas

Won/loss interviews can easily capture information about personas and buyer journeys. Opening the interview with persona-related questions is a great way to get interviewees, especially lost accounts, to relax. It is natural to follow with a deconstruction of their journey, including the assets they sought and their perceptions about the product, brand, and pricing, without the awkwardness that typically accompanies these questions. 

Data collected over six months can be used to create persona profiles, journey maps, content maps, and touch point flows. The ROI is increased revenue in the near and long term without additional investment.

Tip 3: ABM and intent signal programs

One of the most overlooked insights from Won/Loss is the Trigger Event. What was the business event that created the realization there was a problem or opportunity? No one ever wakes up one morning and decides it is time to switch from on-prem to a hybrid data cloud infrastructure or to replace their HR system — there is always a trigger.

Regardless of company size, there are typically between two and four triggers classified as reactive, proactive, and curiosity-based. Knowing the trigger and the resulting ‘outside-in’ buyer journey provides a detailed foundation for designing and executing engagement programs.

You can deduce where the account is in its journey from the intent signal. Leveraging Won/Loss learnings, a brand will clearly understand what the buyer is trying to achieve, the content sought, emotions and language that resonates, and the next best action to build brand preference.  

See More: How to Use Intent Data to Maximize Marketing ROI Throughout the Customer LifecycleOpens a new window

Tip 4: Invest for success

It is a telltale sign that leadership needs to understand the benefits of a Won/Loss program when their expectations and investment are out of sync. Partnering with an experienced firm on the pilot enables internal teams to learn how (and why) to define the processes, timelines, and tools. That does not mean throwing it over the wall; these are skill sets that most organizations still need to be built or hired over time.

A Won/Loss program’s power lies in the depth and richness of data that provides a contextual understanding of why deals are won and lost and what is happening in target markets and accounts. Done right, ROI increases over time as insights are acted on and tracked. The key to maximizing ROI is to design the program to yield more than surface-level gaps in the product, marketing content, and sales approach. 

What steps have you taken to maximize the ROI of your Won/Lost program? Share with us on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window .

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