You're Losing Sales Opportunities But Aren't Sure Why

It's no fun when you lose a deal. But when it happens, do you know why and at what stage in the process things went south? There are lessons to be learned from lost deals if you have the right tools and perspective. That's where a CRM system plays a huge role.

You win some, you lose some.

When it comes to sales, that’s the way it is.

It’s no fun when you lose a deal.  But when it happens, do you know why and at what stage in the process things went South? Off the top of your head, you probably remember the last couple of deals.

But if you’re managing a team, territory, or business, it’s more difficult to figure out whether a string of lost deals is an aberration or a trend to be concerned about.

There are lessons to be learned from lost deals if you have the tools and perspective.  That’s where the right CRM software can play a huge role.

Islands of Data are a Problem

CRM software is designed to track every stage of the sales and marketing process from lead generation and initial contact to quoting and order processing.  That means every activity – meetings, phone calls, follow up tasks, proposals – are captured in the CRM database.  

Why is that important?

Because the reports and analytics from a CRM system provide perspective on your collective sales process that you don’t get when your sales people are using sticky notes, spreadsheets, paper notebooks, and a Rolodex.

Analyzing Lost Deals

With everything stored in the CRM database, you have better visibility into the “touch points” in your sales process.  Most good CRM applications are designed to capture win-loss data in cases where the prospect is willing to explain why you lost the sale.  This extremely valuable information is then combined with the built-in Win-Loss reports to help you determine which stage you lost the deal and why. 

Are you losing sales in the last stage of the process?

Are you losing to a competitor or “no decision”?

Can your sales team benefit from better marketing materials and prospect deliverables?

Are there one or two sales people underperforming while the rest are doing fine?

Do you need to brush up on industry trends and adjust your target market or demographics?

You’ll quickly discover that analyzing lost sales is one of the best ways to improve your sales process.

Adjust and Measure

Now that you know what’s happening and why, you’re in a better position to implement new policies, procedures, and tactics.  You can then use your CRM software to track and measure whether the changes are improving your rate of success and, more importantly, your bottom line.

Tracking what’s NOT working is perhaps as important as tracking what IS.  The sooner you start analyzing deal flow and lost opportunities, the sooner you can improve.

Join us in a live discussion of best business practices of tracking lost sales.

What you will learn:

• How to enter in lost reasons
• A pick-list of the best practices reasons
• Insightful dashboards to use for reporting and monitoring

Date: Thursday, February 9, 2012

Time: 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM CST

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