Win / Loss Reviews

An effective framework for strengthening competitiveness by learning from past deals and applying insights derived from them. Every sales opportunity, whether won or lost, has useful nuggets of information that can be harvested and used to improve performance. When those pieces of information are aggregated, analyzed and made available for all to use, the organization s competitive position is greatly enhanced. Reveals how to turn field sales teams, a mostly underutilized resource, into net producers of competitive intelligence Exposes new and unconventional approaches for gathering and democratizing sales insights for a broad stakeholder audience Presents a proven knowledge sharing model that is being adopted by major companies worldwide Win/Loss Reviews shows how every company can improve top and bottom line performance by systematically capturing the key insights from deals that have been won, lost or delayed. While the book talks to decision makers and business strategists, the principles and disciplines explored are aimed at bridging the flow of competitive intelligence between sales and marketing, simultaneously providing insights and line-of-site to the dynamics affecting business performance.

An effective framework for strengthening competitiveness bylearning from past deals and applying insights derived fromthem.Every sales opportunity, whether won or lost, has useful nuggetsof information that can be harvested and used to improveperformance. When those pieces of information are aggregatedanalyzed and made available for all to use, theorganization's competitive position is greatly enhanced.* Reveals how to turn field sales teams, a mostly underutilizedresource, into net producers of competitive intelligence* Exposes new and unconventional approaches for gathering anddemocratizing sales insights for a broad stakeholder audience* Presents a proven knowledge sharing model that is being adoptedby major companies worldwideWin/Loss Reviews shows how every company can improve top andbottom line performance by systematically capturing the keyinsights from deals that have been won, lost or delayed.While the book talks to decision makers and businessstrategists, the principles and disciplines explored are aimed atbridging the flow of competitive intelligence between sales andmarketing, simultaneously providing insights and line-of-site tothe dynamics affecting business performance.

Preface xiiiAcknowledgments xixCHAPTER 1: Introduction 1Trusting Today's Seller 5Listen to the Customer, Too 7Driving Scale and Accuracy 8A New Approach 9Summary 16Notes 17CHAPTER 2: Win/Loss Reviews and Business Intelligence 19A New Knowledge Model 22BI Governance 25Providers of Self-Service BI 26Pocket BI: Intelligence to Go 27From BI to Competitive Intelligence 28Summary 30Notes 31CHAPTER 3: Why Do We Win or Lose? 33Factors Contributing to Wins and Losses 34Is a Win Always a Win? 37Narratives Provide Additional Context 38Factor Weighting 39Do We Learn More from Wins or Losses? 40Disengaged Opportunities: What's the Real Story? 41Delayed Deals Benefit from Win/Loss Reviews 43Summary 46Note 46CHAPTER 4: Capturing the Data 47Unlocking Tacit Knowledge 48Opportunity Details 50Outcome Factors 51The Narrative 59Accommodating Multiple Languages 62Summary 62Note 63CHAPTER 5: Surfacing the Insights 65Tactical Insights 67Strategic Insights 73Summarizing the Information 75Accountability for Surfacing Insights 77Trends and Statistical Evidence 80Summary 83Note 84CHAPTER 6: Beyond Competitive Insights 85Award Programs 88Recognition 89Marketing Case Studies 91Summary 93CHAPTER 7: Measuring Process and Outcome Performance 95Scale Drives Quantity 96Quality Drives Value 99Value, Expectations, and Policy 100Setting Expectations 103Policy Considerations 104Measuring Outcome Performance 105Summary 109CHAPTER 8: Stakeholder and Cultural Considerations 111Account Manager 113Sales Manager 115Product Manager 116Marketing Manager 118Corporate Leadership 119An Emerging Career Skill and Role Requirement 120Corporate and Leadership Culture 122Culture and Social Networks 124Social Media Paradigms 126Summary 128Notes 129CHAPTER 9: Implementing a Win/Loss Review Program 131Establishing Business Goals and Objectives 132Planning Phase 133Elicitation, Documentation, and Review Phase 134Gathering Insights from Current Tools, Processes, and Documents 140In-Person/Group Input 142Concerns and Issues 143Consolidation and Publication of Results 144Managing Phase 145Design, Develop, Implement, and Support 145Training and Guidance 148Summary 151Note 151CONCLUSION: A Look Forward 153APPENDIX A: Process Improvement: A Case Study 157Background 158Problem Statement 159Hypothesis 159Approach 160Define Phase 161Voice of the Customer 161Stakeholder Analysis 164Measure Phase 168Analyze Phase 169Improve Phase 170Control Phase 173Contents xiResults 174Note 176APPENDIX B: From the Blogosphere 177On Whether Sales Teams or Customer Interviews Provide Most Insights 178Effect of Social Networking on Win/Loss Reviews 179What Win/Loss Reviews May Reveal Beyond Pricing Issues 180Win/Loss Review Process Improvement 181APPENDIX C: Software and Services for Win/Loss Review 183Software Sloution 183Partner Profiles 184Glossary 187About the Author 195Index 197