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Thursday, July 11, 2024

Benefits of Win / Loss third party: How Anova’s Win / Loss program is different from typical home-grown solutions

This blog was written by Harriet Peabody, Research Analyst at Anova.

There are several advantages to using a third-party for your win/loss program compared to running it in-house:

Increased Objectivity and Candid Feedback

Reduced Bias: A key benefit is reduced bias. Customers may be hesitant to give completely honest feedback to your own sales team, fearing it might hurt their chances in future deals or damage relationships. A neutral third-party interviewer can create a safe space for customers to provide frank and open feedback. Using a third-party also allows for confidentiality, should the respondent wish for it, meaning you can still receive honest feedback from those who would be unwilling to provide it without anonymity.

Unfiltered Insights: Third-party interviewers are unlikely to have preconceived notions or try to downplay negative feedback. This can lead to a more objective and unfiltered view of your strengths and weaknesses. Having access to candid feedback on won and lost deals allows you to adjust accordingly and perform better going forward with the confidence that you are not acting on misinformation.

Expertise and Best Practices

Win / Loss Interviewing Skills: Third-party providers specialize in win / loss analysis and have trained interviewers experienced in conducting effective and insightful customer conversations. They know the right questions to ask and techniques to draw out valuable information. Anova’s interviewers are all experienced industry experts and are well versed in the Win / Loss space as well as the client’s area of business. This expertise shows through in the interviews and is clear to the contacts they are reaching out to as well, boosting Anova’s response rate, which is around 50-60%, well above the industry average.

Consultative approach: Anova has expertise in all aspects of program best practices, as we have been in the business for over 20 years. We will help you set up the logistics of the program, including the selection of deals to include in the program, tailoring the interview guide to your business’ needs, and staying in touch with updates and suggestions for success over the course of the program.

Benchmarking and Industry Insights: Third-party providers have experience across various industries. They can compare your findings to industry benchmarks and provide insights into how your performance stacks up against competitors. Anova has a broad client base and can provide competitive insights and benchmarking for numerous verticals, such as financial services, enterprise technology, healthcare, and more, helping you to remain competitive in your environment.

Efficiency and Scalability

Reduced Time Commitment: Running a Win / Loss program internally requires time and resources from your sales team and other departments. A third-party handles the entire process, freeing up your team to focus on core business activities. With Anova, you will have a designated client team running your program and available for any day-to-day needs.

Scalability: Third-party solutions can easily scale your win / loss program to accommodate a growing number of deals and interviews. This is particularly beneficial for companies with a high sales volume.

In summary, not only is using a third-party easier and timesaving for you, but it boosts program success by getting to the root of any issue through thorough and objective feedback, promoting win / loss best practices, and offering competitive intelligence and industry benchmarking.