“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” Henry Ford
Salespeople enjoy reliving their victories play by play; in fact, it’s hard to contain their enthusiasm when they get going. However, when talking about a lost deal, the story tends to get abbreviated. I’ve been guilty of this! 😉
Losing is tough, and one could lose twice if no time is spent learning how and why it happened. As such, it’s important to be deliberate about your next moves following a lost deal. Here are three common actions I’ve observed successful salespeople take after losing a deal:
1. They Reflect: Taking a few minutes to reflect and process the events that led up to the loss allows them to draw insights while the event is fresh in their minds. The process of reflection is two-fold:
- Self-reflection: The key is to not sulk in the loss. Rather, with self-compassion as guard rails, they jot down their mistakes, trace every step, and commit to refining their approach the next time.
This simple act of self-reflection can be the difference between winning sporadically versus winning consistently. An example of the power of self-reflection occurred with a top salesperson I interviewed. After losing a deal she worked hard to win, she felt defeated and decided to do some self-reflection. After reflecting, she realized she didn’t spend as much time as she should have on enabling a key influencer who at the last-minute swayed the decision in favor of her competitor. Following this realization, she committed to creating stakeholder maps to ensure she invested adequate time with all the key decision makers and influencers.
- Team reflection: According to research by Alison Reynolds and David Lewis published on HBR, the best problem-solving teams treat mistakes with curiosity and share responsibility for the outcomes. The idea is to be solution-oriented in the reflection instead of pointing fingers. Successful salespeople realize that one should never lose a deal alone. And if a loss does occur, the team collectively comes up with ideas to improve and hold each other accountable.
2. They Research: Successful salespeople connect with customers to understand their decision to go with an alternative solution. These top salespeople are diplomatic in their request and make it a point to understand the perspectives of all the key stakeholders involved in the decision. This process is difficult, but it’s also rewarding, especially when the customer is candid with their feedback. If it’s a product, service, or pricing issue, the salesperson can route the feedback directly to the team responsible which could be the catalyst for change within their organization. Research is especially valuable in technology sales because if a customer decides not to select your solution because of a missing critical feature, the salesperson can work with the product team to influence the product roadmap which could help win back the deal.
“Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers (and salespeople) ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer represents a huge opportunity for more business.” – Zig Ziglar
3. They Re-engage: Change is the only constant in business, and if the customer chooses a solution to solve a problem they have today, the successful salesperson anticipates problems the customer could face tomorrow. They re-engage the customer with new business models, industry insights, case studies, and innovative ideas to improve the customer’s business. They add value in their follow-up and follow-through, which often leads to them winning back the business. A good example of this was a Sales Leader who always followed up at least once a month to ask how things were going with the vendor the customer selected. He asked questions such as: are you achieving the goals you intended, is the vendor delivering on what they promised, are you achieving the right business results, is your team happy with the decision, and where / what are the gaps in the current solution. This Sales Leader has won back multiple deals by being persistent and consistent in delivering value even after losing the initial deal. He encourages salespeople not to assume everything is okay with the customer; instead, focus on anticipating challenges and positioning your solution to solve those challenges.
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is to try just one more time.” – Thomas Edison
When next you lose a deal, don’t fret, just remember the three R’s: Reflect, Research, and Re-engage!
I bade thee Godspeed selling! 🙂