What is actionable win/loss feedback?

Actionable win/loss feedback has specific details that makes it easier for your team to implement changes to product, messaging, or your sales process.

Where to start

Use specific reasons instead of a picklist

Beyond just stating "price was a factor," your team should identify the exact price points or pricing objections that led to a win or loss.

Understand decision-makers

Understand the key decision-makers' priorities throughout the buying process. Ask thorough discovery questions and dig deep into their pain points.

Competitor analysis

Know your core competitive value prop and how you differentiate. Ask buyers the most important decision factors when deciding between you or a competitor.

Sales process improvement

Think about areas where the sales process could be improved. This data may be biased if coming from your sales team. Having a separate department or third-party reach out to buyers is a good way to see how the prospect perceived your sales team’s process.

Product feedback

Combine data from customer support and buyer feedback to get a complete picture of how your product is received.

Examples of non-actionable vs actionable win-loss feedback

Brand Trust Example

• Not actionable: Brand Trust (Why exactly do they trust us?)

• Actionable: We won this deal because our brand was trusted, they mentioned our landing page seemed like an enterprise, and they had downloaded our free content. (We can prioritize marketing content and website design).

Competitor Example

• Not actionable: Lost to competitor X (Why did we lose?)

• Actionable: We lost this deal because competitor X’s price point was 30% lower and had a Teams integration (We can match/beat on price and offer, and prioritize the Teams integration on our product roadmap)

Sales Process Example

• Not actionable: Delivered a better sales process (What part of the sales process?)

• Actionable: We won because they immediately understood the value 5 minutes into our demo, and we followed up fast after each touch point. (Show this demo as an example to new AEs and emphasize the importance of timely follow ups

How to collect actionable win-loss feedback

Conduct post-sale interviews

Speak with both won and lost customers to understand their decision-making process and gather qualitative feedback. Prospects from closed lost deals may be less inclined to do an interview.

Post sale interviews can also be done with internal reps and other members of the opportunity team, such as sales engineers or AEs. These perspectives build an internal win/loss story that can be compared with buyer feedback.

Use structured questionnaires

Develop a standardized questionnaire or topic talk track that covers key areas of interest. If you follow the Challenger framework, you may want to frame the discussion around brand, product, price, and sales processes.

The impact of actionable feedback

With better feedback, your team will be able to justify making changes to marketing copy, product, and sales processes. Teams that incorporate these practices can improve their win rates by up to 5-10%. For more on win/loss best practices, check out our latest blog posts!