The Top Three Benefits of Win-Loss Analysis: Benefit #3

I started a series on what I perceive to be the Top Three Benefits of Win-Loss Analysis. The first benefit I discussed was the Ability to Gather the Most Current Competitive Information and my second post was Shifting the Focus Away From Product Comparisons to Competitive Sales Strategies/Tactics. I saved the most impactful benefit for this posting.

Benefit #3: The Business Value of Win-Loss Analysis for the Entire Enterprise

The benefits of Win-Loss Analysis are normally equated with improving sales results. This post-sales diagnostic tool does provide Sales with valuable competitive intelligence (CI), however, progressive companies using a well designed Win-Loss program have discovered it impacts several other areas of their operations. I call this the Win-Loss Wheel of Fortune.

Here’s an example of how it worked for a major software company. They started their Win-Loss program focusing on one key competitor for their primary product. Initially, the intelligence gathered by the Competitive Team was used exclusively in support of the Sales organization with impressive results. As the company expanded their product offerings, they attracted new competitors, so the scope of their Win-Loss program broadened. Word spread throughout the company regarding the successes of the Win-Loss program and other department representatives wanted to attend internal calls and be copied on the Win-Loss forms. As momentum grew, departments throughout the company leveraged CI in a variety of ways:

• Sales Operations used CI in a series of Competitive Webinars and often used the information in Sales Newsletter articles.
• Sales Enablement made effective use of CI in all of their worldwide sales training programs (i.e. New Hire training, Sales Kickoff, Regional Sales meetings).
• Field Marketing used the information in various webinars and podcasts.
• Customer Marketing was better able to identify potential references resulting in powerful Case Studies, Press Releases and
one-on-one reference calls with prospects to help Sales close new business.
• When the company launched a new product platform to address an emerging market, Product Marketing and Product Management wanted the competitive team to focus Win-Loss interviews on these products to better understand how customers were evaluating and using the new solutions and what the competition was doing in this new market. Based upon feedback from the Win-Loss calls, changes were made regarding pricing and product bundling strategies to help Sales close more business.
• CI was shared with R&D/Engineering for future product enhancements and new releases of multiple products.
• Executive Management used the intelligence in Board of Directors presentations. CI was also used to help justify recommendations to make several strategic company acquisitions to strengthen their product offerings.

What started as a program focusing on one product and one competitor in support of the Sales organization matured into a strategic program impacting all aspects of their business.

The myopic view of Win-Loss Analysis as a Sales-only support tool robs companies of the true business value of the program. Both Sales teams and prospects have valuable information to share and, if used appropriately, Win-Loss intelligence can have a strategic impact on the entire enterprise.