In my experience, companies who invest in win/loss research are typically in the B2B world. I imagine that is driven by some of the following factors:
- B2B accounts are typically associated with more ongoing revenue, especially when you are talking about software licenses
- Vendors always have contact information for key people at the prospective account, making it easier to get input from the right person
- The B2B sales process is usually pretty long and has a lot of points in the process which could either meet or exceed the prospect’s expectations
Even though there are a lot of factors that make win/loss research more difficult in the B2C world, there are good reasons to overcome those issues and learn from the consumer sales experience. Any win/loss research effort will provide input that can help a vendor finetune their approach to new prospects which will increase their close rates and improve sales.
I recently had an experience with a vendor who was selling me shutters for our new home and although she was very expert at her product and at helping us choose the right configuration for our home, she was WAY too talkative and just could not STOP talking!! As a result, our sales appointment took an hour longer than she had estimated: a full THREE hours. Ugh…I felt the need to reach out to someone I had referred her to so I could warn them about what to expect. And sure enough, she did it again…they were about faint from hunger at the end of their 3 hour sales meeting.
I would have loved the opportunity to provide an objective person with some feedback so the saleswoman could be coached a bit to ensure that other prospects don’t walk away from the sale due to being put off by her style.
That experience reminded me that all types of businesses and industries can benefit from win/loss research and the insights that prospects can provide into the sales process.