Case Study
Win Loss Analysis delivers stronger sales process and 58% increase in wins for healthcare software company
Why not disclose the company name?
Many of our clients request anonymity since they find Primary Intelligence’s services to be such a competitive advantage. They are hesitant to publicly disclose to its competitors of the partnership. However, the contents of this report and the outcome the client realized are true.
In a nutshell
When this healthcare software company first began working with Primary Intelligence, it was clear they had built a strong product. And yet, the company couldn’t move its win rate. The sales leaders had some anecdotal information from the sales reps, but were unsure what needed to change.
The company implemented Win Loss Analysis with Primary Intelligence. Through the program, the leadership learned they needed to demonstrate the value of their product to users instead of the financial decision-maker. Once changes were implemented, the wins and revenue followed.
36% of lost deals could have been won. Download a free copy of our industry report, “Changing Your Sales Outcomes.”
The problem: Losing 60% of sales opportunities
The company had a stagnant win rate, sitting around 40% to 41% for two years. It was unclear how to make meaningful changes to improve the win rate. Anecdotal feedback trickled in from the sales force, but there was no sustained mechanism to understand deal outcomes or listen to customers. The two key sales leaders (the Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing and the Vice President of Market Opportunities) needed more information.
The solution: Implement Win Loss Analysis
The company partnered with Primary Intelligence to implement a Win Loss program. The goal was to teach the company more about the needs of their target buyer, what the evaluation and selection process was like, and the competitive environment as a whole. By understanding those areas, Primary Intelligence could help the company uncover what to change to improve the win rate.
Chris, the Vice President of Market Opportunities, appreciated the objectivity of the program.
“The thing that Primary Intelligence gives us is that it takes the sales rep’s opinion out of the conversation,” Chris said. “The real importance of the Primary Intelligence data is that it would validate, with actual data, any assumptions that we might have had as to why we were winning or losing.”
The program began with a limited number of interviews with buyers from opportunities from the previous year to gain a benchmark. “This initial set of data gave us some great information to begin planning changes and improvements in our sales, support, and product management strategy,” said Angie, the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
Soon after, win loss interviewing was integrated into current deals. “We built a process to make win loss analysis part of our everyday activities. When we won or lost a deal, we always sent the deal to Primary Intelligence for a formal interview,” said Angie.
The program also included an internal communication plan. Buyer interviews were read as soon as available, sales leaders discussed the findings monthly, and several times a year the results were discussed with the entire sales team.
“The real importance of the Primary Intelligence data is that it would validate, with actual data, any assumptions that we might have had as to why we were winning or losing.”
—Chris, Vice President of Market Opportunities
Insights: Decision makers and demonstrations
Primary Intelligence’s buyer interviews helped the company uncover a number key insights about their buyers, which in turn uncovered issues with some areas of the sales process.
Pitching to the Wrong Decision Maker
To start, the current sales process focused primarily on the financial buyer, the Hospital Administrator, rather than the technical buyer, the Director of Nursing. The data showed that if the sales team did not include the Director of Nursing in the process, or if they failed to gather support from this stakeholder, they had very little chance of winning the opportunity.
While the financial buyer would always be an important element of the decision, the company needed to target the Director of Nursing first to gain momentum for the final decision.
Demonstrations were Lackluster
Discussions with buyers also revealed a perception that the company's product was more complicated than competing solutions. “This was a total surprise to us,” said Angie. “This is not the case, but this was the perception based on the demo.”
“This was a total surprise to us."
—Angie, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Actions: Early visits, better targeted messaging
The company's senior leaders began implementing changes based on the revealed insights.
Starting with the approach for demonstrations, the team recognized a more tailored approach would help buyers see how the product could be used within their own workflow. “Now, we go on-site two to three weeks prior to the demo,” said Angie. “We see and understand their business process and tailor our demo to that specific hospital and their issues.”
The early visits also allowed the company to begin targeting the Director of Nursing. The sales team made a focused effort to gather the needs and potential roadblocks to earning the support from the Director of Nursing. Marketing materials and sales language was also adjusted to better appeal to the needs of someone in that role.
Chris noticed a big shift in sales effectiveness with this change. “We learned there’s a direct correlation to how well we do in our ‘discovery survey’ and our win rates,” he said. “We win more when we do an effective discovery survey, which is understanding the business issues that are driving the purchase decision, and then aligning the entire sale around how we can address those business issues.”
“We learned there’s a direct correlation to how well we do in our ‘discovery survey’ and our win rates.”
—Chris, Vice President of Market Opportunities
The Outcome: 58% increase in win rate
After a year of Win Loss Analysis with Primary Intelligence, the company boosted its win rate from 40% to 63%, which is an increase of 58%. The company credits the change with the insights and action taken.
“The win loss program is the primary tool for us to build strategies to improve our win rate in the market,” said Angie. “We launched many initiatives this year based on the data from Primary Intelligence. I find the program from Primary Intelligence invaluable.”
Chris added the program’s ability to refine their sales process as a key outcome. “The win loss program has allowed us to take things that we’re doing well and try to ensure that all the reps are doing those same things,” he said. “Then we try to find things that we’re not doing well and improve them.”
“The win loss program is the primary tool for us to build strategies to improve our win rate in the market.”
—Angie, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing