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Thursday, May 23, 2019

The Do’s and Don’ts of Starting and Running a Win / Loss Program

In the most recent issue of The Pragmatic Magazine, published by The Pragmatic Institute, Anova Engagement Manager Zach Golden authored an article providing guidance for organizations just beginning to beginning a win / loss program. Below is an excerpt from the article:

Do: Institutionalize the research. Getting buy-in throughout the organization won’t happen overnight. Share program goals up front to establish realistic expectations. Be sure to note that short-term goals are to figure out how to run a program (see above operational goals), while long-term goals include using the aggregate data for strategic planning. Also, be sure to communicate to your organization that the program is meant to be a learning and coaching tool, and there’s no reason to be opposed to the feedback. Make it clear that the program isn’t meant to point out people’s mistakes. Be thoughtful about who accesses the initial interviews and encourage those people to read the transcripts with open minds. As more interviews are completed, people will become more accustomed to the research and begin to want more.

Don’t: Expect Immediate Results. Expecting win/loss research to immediately deliver transformational insights is a simple way to put unnecessary pressure on the program. The early stages of a win/loss program are about gaining operational efficiencies and trusting that the value of the research will be revealed as time goes on and more feedback is captured. A significant part of win/loss value comes from seeing how results change and improve over time.

To read the full article, click here and to read the whole magazine for even more insights on a wider range of topics click here.