Written by Jonnie Anderson, Marketing Manager at Primary Intelligence

In company circles, win-loss analysis tends to be regarded as a Marketing department initiative. When brought up to other departments, many tend to ignore win-loss insights. They may not see how such a program can benefit their area.

However, win-loss analysis is a treasure trove of insights that can benefit many parts of the company beyond marketing. Win-loss analysis gathers a buyer’s feedback on what resonates with them as they search for a solution.

C-Level

If there is anything a corporate-level employee needs, it is insight into what the buyer is not only thinking, but what they are willing to pay for.

Win-loss insights reveal trends in buyer thinking, expectations in purchase solutions, and future needs. With this information in hand, a CEO or VP can align the direction of the company according to the known desires of the market rather than being influenced solely by internal opinions.

One of the best strategies for a c-level employee is to be involved in the program from the outset. By specifying the “burning questions” they want answered by the buyers, they are able to get real-world information on the questions that keep them up at night.

Win-loss analysis keeps corporate heads from inadvertently steering the company away from the root causes for which buyers select them over the competition.

Sales

Sales is usually the least interested in a competitive intelligence program like win-loss analysis, and it can be easy to see why. No one enjoys having their work performance evaluated on a daily basis, and win-loss analysis can be perceived as a review process that could lead to disciplinary action for poor performance.

But if Sales treats win-loss analysis as a learning and training tool, it is an invaluable repository of information on how buyers perceive the efforts of the sales team. In reviewing buyer feedback, the sales team can fine-tune messaging that strikes a chord with the buyer and helps them focus on the areas of their solution that the buyer is most interested in. Ultimately, win-loss analysis helps sales win more deals.

Product development

What information would be more valuable to the development team than feedback on what the buyers are looking for and what they perceive their company’s product delivers? It can be aggravating to a user of a product to receive an update to the offering that either doesn’t fix perceived issues or introduces new features that have no interest to the buyer.

By mining the responses regarding product qualities that are most important to the buyer, the team can improve products and offerings in direct relation to the needs of existing and potential buyers. This keeps any service or product directly aligned to what buyers in their market are looking for.

Delivery and fulfillment

Delivery is usually the first line of interaction with the customer post-sale. They are the ones who are hopefully providing the results buyers are expecting. Win-loss analysis and customer experience analysis help the delivery team understand the results the buyer is asking for and how they expect to receive it. Otherwise, Delivery is flying blind in providing what the customer wants. And if this repeats with several customers, churn begins to set in.

If Delivery is able to see not only how successful their efforts are, but also why they are successful, they can see best practices to satisfy customer needs and increase loyalty.

Marketing

And of course, Marketing. We said at the beginning of this article that Marketing is usually where win-loss analysis starts, and that may be common, but it’s not always the case.
Marketing receives tremendous buying indicators, such as:

• The compelling event that led to them searching for an outside solution.
• What are the primary criteria that are most important to the buyer.
• How the company, solutions, and sales team are perceived in the marketplace.

Those, along with a host of other stats, can steer Marketing’s efforts to be better aligned with what the buyer is looking for.

Win-Loss: Inclusive not exclusive

Above all, it is important that whichever department instigates a win-loss program shares the insights liberally with all departments in the company. All sections of a company can benefit from the true voice of the buyer in regards to their efforts.