Typical success rates for closing major new proposals are typically less than 20% when several suppliers are asked to present. Companies often spend tens of thousands of Rands (if not hundreds of thousands) in an effort to win business. For those who failed in their bids, little feedback is offered for why a competitor was a better fit. As a result, the likelihood of winning the next major opportunity remains roughly the same.
Independently collected research data, gathered from interviewing supplier selection teams, offers surprisingly simple fixes that losing competitors could use to improve success rates. Yet, relatively few sales forces consistently gather quality data about their losses to permit a legitimate benchmarking, tracking, and management of their proposal and presentation process.
For example: The proposal team at a major software integrator lost a huge piece of business because it wrongly assumed that the customer was completely satisfied and offered the same "strong support process." it had touted previously. Had the proposal team been aware that the customer was unhappy with its customer support, a different tactic could have been used and the business saved.
To further complicate the challenges sellers face, customers’ expectation levels have risen dramatically. Today, 80% of customers who leave their previous supplier rate that supplier as "good." * It seems that good isn’t good enough. In order to succeed, to improve, or to defend success against competitors, very detailed information is needed. Most importantly, this information needs to be both consistent and comprehensive.
What is consistent among sales forces that achieve close rates above 40%?
1. They commit to accessing objective, quantitative, and independently collected measures and analyses of the reasons for wins, and especially losses, compared to their competitors.
2. They maintain active control of their own success rates by debriefing all concerned proposal team members with the results of each win/loss analysis.
3. They develop new techniques to address the two to four most serious deficiencies that affect success.
4. They reward salespeople for their rate of improvement instead of a single win or failure.
Why don't all sellers track, analyse, and change techniques to increase their wins?
1. Defensive resistance — members of the sales force may fear having anyone look over their shoulders or interfere with their relationship with a prospect or customer.
2. They don't believe prospects will give them in-depth, candid information, especially about competitors.
3. Things are going well and they don't have the time.
4. Things are going poorly and they can't afford it.
If your sales force is not beating the averages in winning major opportunities, then it is time to consider applying the same database-driven Total Quality Management (TQM) techniques that would be used in other aspects of business. Skilled executive-level interviews, done professionally, and scheduled to meet the convenience of the prospect or customer team who made the decision are not only respected, but often appreciated by customers.
The Power of the Win/Loss Analysis - To learn more about this author, visit Peter Gilbert's Website.
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Kim Castle
With nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation.
BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them?
If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Dave Kurlan
Dave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development.
Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit.
He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine.
He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball.
He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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George Ludwig
George Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance.
Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson.
His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more.
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Peter Gilbert
(Visit Peter's Website)
Peter began his sales career with Ecolab
Inc in South Africa.He spent 14 years with
the company in a variety of technical and
sales roles, with his final assignment
being as CEO of the South African
operation. He then founded the South
African affiliate of Philip Crosby
Associates, and fulfilled the role of
Sales Director for 7 years, during which
period the company became the largest TQM
consultancy in the southern hemisphere.
When the Company was bought by Proudfoot
Consulting, he assumed the role of Sales
Director for three years, before leaving
to establish Chally SA, specialising in
sales assessment and recruitment
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