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The Unintended Consequences of Your Team’s Pursuit of Efficiency over Execution

Accountability is the cornerstone of our team’s values, and we pride ourselves on delivering what we promise, when we promise. To ensure every team member embodies this value, we actively seek feedback from our own clients on their degree of satisfaction with Anova’s performance.  Our year-end employee evaluations are tied to client satisfaction and program success. Despite consistently ranking in the top-performing quadrant, our team often faces challenges in one area: deal flow (defined as the number of new business contacts clients provide for win/loss phone interviews).

In today’s data-driven world, with the rise of advanced CRM software and generative AI, customer data seems abundant. As a result, clients often express confidence in their ability to provide customer contact information during our initial discussions. However, Anova’s experience with leading B2B companies tells a different story:

Short-term Focus on Efficiency:

• For clients who choose to rely solely on their CRM data and implement an automated approach to deal flow collection, we often find that the data quality is more deficient than expected, resulting in response rates typically in the 10%-30% range. These programs also exhibit a longer ‘time to value’, with the two main drivers being (1) it can take a client upwards of six months to establish internal processes and obtain sign-off on the CRM integration, often to discover (2) the majority of CRM data is incomplete, inaccurate or outdated. So much for efficiency.

Short-term Focus on Execution:

• For clients who acknowledge that their CRM data is incomplete or error-prone, we advise that they directly contact their sales team to collect recent prospect information versus downloading inaccurate deal information from the database. Clients who engage and work directly with their sales team, on average, achieve a 60%+ response rate and a two-week turnaround for completed interviews.

Anova’s experience has repeatedly confirmed that when clients seek efficiency through automation, they tend to overcomplicate the short-term mandate and end up delaying ROI.  While automating deal flow submission should remain the long-term goal, if it’s going to delay getting into the field, our advice is simple: Focus on the most pragmatic short-term solution and just get started. Even if it’s only a couple of prospects from your top revenue opportunities to kick things off, the insights gained from these initial conversations will have measurable impact—certainly more impact than not executing at all.

This blog was written by Brendon Attridge, Engagement Manager.

At Anova Consulting Group, we understand that success in today’s competitive marketplace hinges on a deep understanding of your customers’ needs, preferences, and decision-making processes. This understanding, however, is not easy to come by. One of the most effective methods for collecting this information is a win / loss interview program.

Valuable lessons can be learned from every win and loss. The customer data that is unearthed is a goldmine, but for many businesses it remains a collection of raw, unrefined material. Data can tell a compelling story, but unless you have the right tools and expertise to decipher it, the valuable insights it holds will remain hidden.

This is where Anova Consulting Group steps in. Through our customized win/loss programs, we bridge the gap between raw data and actionable intelligence. Our customized win/loss interview guides and comprehensive research findings empower you to gain a competitive edge, strengthen your market position, and ultimately, achieve greater sales success.

At Anova, we understand that a “one-size-fits-all” approach doesn’t work for win/loss analysis. Each company has unique selling propositions and target audiences. That’s why we take the time to develop customized programs for every client. Our approach begins with Anova’s dedicated client engagement team working with you to get a thorough understanding of your company’s unique sales processes, products, and target markets. We collaborate closely with your team to identify the critical areas of inquiry and tailor our interview guides to address the specific challenges and opportunities you face. By leveraging our extensive experience and industry expertise, we ensure that every question is thoughtfully designed to elicit meaningful and actionable responses.

Our custom process begins with:

• Designing custom, targeted interview questions: Based on your specific needs, we craft interview questions that delve into the customer’s decision-making journey – from initial awareness to final selection. Each question is reviewed and approved by your team to ensure that we uncover the specific feedback that you care about.
• Identifying the right interview candidates: We work with you to identify customers in market segments most important to your company’s growth strategy. Targeting customers by region, vertical, size, competitors, or whatever segmentation gives you the most complete picture.
• Utilizing our dedicated, professional interview team: Our interviewers are career professionals with years or decades of experience in market research. At the start of each program, they receive comprehensive training to understand your company’s products, services, and go-to-market strategy.

From Anova’s in-depth, win / loss interviews you get a treasure trove of information, but it’s still in its raw form. By partnering with Anova, you gain access to an analytical team skilled in transforming raw data into actionable insights. We help you unlock the hidden treasures within your win/loss data, empowering you to make data-driven decisions that drive sales success.

Uncovering those insights starts with our in-depth data analysis. We leverage a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques, both human and AI powered, that allows us to not only identify trends within the data, but also understand the “why” behind those trends.

Through this process, we help you:

• Identify strengths and weaknesses: Pinpoint areas where your sales process excels and areas that need improvement.
• Refine your value proposition: Gain a clearer picture of how your offering aligns with customer needs and identify opportunities to strengthen your message.
• Differentiate from the competition: Understand how your competitors stack up and develop strategies to stand out.

• Develop a roadmap for improvement: Based on the analysis, we develop a customized roadmap with specific recommendations for improvement across various aspects of your sales process.
• Increase your win rates: By addressing the factors that led to past losses, you can significantly improve your chances of future success.

At Anova Consulting Group, we understand that in today’s fiercely competitive landscape, gaining a deep understanding of your customers’ needs and decision-making processes is paramount to success. Our customized win/loss programs provide you with the tools and expertise to transform raw customer data into actionable intelligence, empowering you to strengthen your market position and refine your value proposition. By harnessing the power of customer feedback, Anova helps you chart a data-driven course towards sustainable sales success.

To create and launch any successful product, you must understand the needs of your target customer. And to understand the needs of your target customer, you have to speak to them.

Market research, particularly voice-of-the-customer market research such as win / loss analysis, offers a structured approach to understanding customer needs, competition, and product performance, helping ensure the product meets market demands and stands out in a competitive landscape.

The Role of Market Research in Ideation

Market research plays a crucial role in shaping a product idea before development begins. Through methods like surveys, interviews, focus groups, and secondary data analysis, companies can gather information about the target audience’s needs, pain points, and behaviors. This step allows businesses to validate their ideas, ensuring that the product will solve a relevant problem and have a clear market opportunity.

Market research also helps segment the target audience, providing insight into which user groups are most likely to adopt the product. For example, research might reveal that a cloud-based tool is particularly attractive to small businesses or startups. This segmentation informs decisions about product design, feature prioritization, and marketing.

Refining Product Concepts with Market Research

Once the initial concept has been shaped, market research continues to refine and validate the product. Concept testing allows potential customers to engage with prototypes or mockups and provide feedback on design, usability, and appeal. This phase helps product teams decide which features to prioritize, how to adjust the design for better user experience, and what pricing models resonate best with the target audience.

In addition to feature refinement, research can uncover insights into customer preferences, willingness to pay, and market positioning. For instance, understanding which product features hold the most value for users can guide pricing strategies and help create a product that aligns with customer expectations without over-engineering.

Win-Loss Analysis: Learning from Competitors and Customers

As the product enters the market, win-loss analysis becomes an essential tool for understanding competitive dynamics and refining the product’s positioning. Win-loss analysis involves reviewing successful and unsuccessful deals to determine why certain customers chose the product and why others did not.

For tech companies, win-loss analysis offers critical insights into:

• Competitive positioning: It reveals why customers might favor a competitor’s product over theirs, helping the team refine the value proposition and focus on competitive strengths.
• Refining the value proposition: If customers are choosing other products because they don’t understand the value of your product, this could highlight messaging gaps. It can also reveal the features or benefits driving successful deals, helping the company highlight them further.
• Product development: Win-loss analysis often uncovers missing features or shortcomings that deter potential customers. These insights help inform product updates and future iterations.

By maintaining an ongoing feedback loop, companies can continue evolving the product to stay relevant and competitive, addressing customer concerns and building on the product’s initial success in real time.

The Integrated Approach: Data-Driven Decision-Making for Product Success

Integrating market research and win-loss analysis throughout the product lifecycle ensures that decisions are guided by accurate, relevant insights rather than assumptions. Market research validates and informs the product at every development stage, while win-loss analysis provides real-world feedback on how the product performs in the market.

This integrated approach to data-driven decision-making reduces risk, enhances product quality, and aligns the product with market needs. It enables companies to build products that not only meet customer expectations but also adapt to a competitive and evolving industry landscape.

In today’s fast-paced tech industry, successful product development requires more than innovation—it demands strategic planning and constant refinement. Leveraging market research and win-loss analysis empowers tech companies to create products that resonate with customers, adapt to change, and thrive in a competitive market.

Zach Golden is the Director of Client Management at Anova

The podcast episode with Zach Golden, “Unlocking the Power of Win-Loss Analysis in Product Management,” delves into how win-loss analysis enhances product decision-making.

Golden explains strategies for product teams to leverage feedback from lost deals, the benefits of understanding competitive positioning, and ways to align product features with market needs.

He also highlights the importance of collaboration between product, sales, and marketing to refine customer value propositions and maintain a competitive edge.

For full insights, you can view the podcast here.

Comparison is the thief of joy…

…unless you’re running a business.

Competitive intelligence is a vital part of running and growing a business, particularly in today’s complex B2B sales environment. While there are many ways to gather it, one often overlooked method is Win / Loss analysis. This involves interviewing clients you’ve won and prospects you’ve lost to understand why they chose—or didn’t choose—to work with you. In doing so, this research also gathers valuable insights into why these prospects did or did not go into business with your competitor.

Speaking to decision-makers soon after buying decisions have been made helps you develop a deeper and more nuanced understanding of your customer, your competition, and your organization’s competencies and areas for opportunity.

Through our experience with interviewing and assessing thousands of competitive situations, here are some key ways Win / Loss research can enhance and improve your competitive advantage:

• Understanding Customer Goals: Win / Loss research gives insight into the problems prospects wanted to solve, their partner expectations, and what ultimately drove their decision. This helps you align your offerings better with customer needs.
• Understanding Perceptions: Win / Loss research highlights how your company is perceived compared to competitors, including strengths and areas for improvement.

Using These Insights to Improve

• Enhance Competitive Positioning: Understanding customer perceptions helps you capitalize on your strengths and address any perceived disadvantages.
• Refine Sales & Marketing Strategies: Knowing what worked or didn’t work for your competitors allows you to adapt your approach.
• Innovate Offerings: Gaining insight into customer needs and gaps in your offerings lets you innovate where it matters most.
• Strengthen Customer Relationships: Addressing areas for improvement builds stronger relationships with existing customers.

Keep these best practices in mind

• Ask Open-Ended Questions: Focus on customer priorities and decision drivers.
• Compare Against Competitors: Prompt for direct comparisons to uncover competitive strengths and weaknesses.
• Include Quantitative Benchmarking: Have customers rank your offerings against competitors to gather measurable insights.

Win / Loss analysis is an invaluable tool that helps you understand your customers’ needs, innovate, and improve your positioning—all from the customer’s perspective. If you’re looking to implement a successful Win / Loss program, check out our guides on “Running an Effective Win/Loss Program in 2024” and “How to Get Win/Loss Right.”

Keeping a plant alive seems simple: water it, give it sunlight, and watch it grow. But whether you are a hobby gardener just starting out or an experienced horticulturalist trying something new, the reality can often be different. The leaves start browning, stems wilt, and before you know it, you’re left with a pot of withered remains. The problem? Most of us are left guessing what went wrong.

Much like a fledgling plant enthusiast trying to keep their potted basil plant alive, businesses often struggle with client retention. When a customer leaves, the natural reaction is to ask, “Why?” Without clear feedback, you’re left with a mix of generic advice: “Maybe you’re offering too little value,” “Maybe your product needs more features,” or “Perhaps the customer service isn’t up to par.” These are all valid points, but none provide specific answers tailored to your business. This begs the question, what can we do to get clearer answers and take effective action? How can we learn the right way to cultivate our basil plants (and customers) to ensure they are thriving, not dying?

The Power of Direct Feedback: Asking the Basil

Instead of guessing, imagine if you could ask your basil directly: “What’s wrong?” Maybe it would tell you it needs more sunlight, or less water, or perhaps a different kind of soil. The same principle applies to understanding why customers churn. Direct feedback from the customer—right at the point of their departure—is invaluable. It eliminates the guesswork and lets you address the real reasons clients are leaving.

To do this effectively, companies need to implement a structured feedback process. Here are a few steps to consider:

1. Ask Immediately: Don’t wait to collect feedback. The sooner you ask, the fresher the experience is in the client’s mind, and the more accurate their feedback will be. Use exit surveys, follow-up emails, or personal outreach to capture their reasons for leaving.
2. Make It Easy: Provide a simple and straightforward way for clients to share their feedback. Keep surveys short and focused on the most important questions. The goal is to get honest and actionable insights, not overwhelm them with a lengthy questionnaire.
3. Listen and Analyze: Look for patterns in the feedback. Are multiple clients mentioning the same pain point? Is there a recurring complaint about a particular feature or service? Use this data to identify common causes of churn.
4. Act Quickly and Transparently: Once you identify the issues, take immediate action. Make necessary adjustments to your offerings, improve communication, or enhance customer support. And let your clients know you’ve heard them. Communicate the changes you’re making based on their feedback, which not only shows that you value their opinion but also encourages loyalty from your remaining customers.
5. Close the Loop: Follow up with clients who provided feedback, especially if they remain with you. Thank them for their input, share the actions you’ve taken, and invite them to stay engaged. This turns a potentially negative experience into an opportunity to build trust and loyalty.

The Lesson? Ask, Don’t Assume

Churn analysis, at its core, is about listening to your clients and responding to their needs. Just as asking the basil would save time and energy (and maybe save the plant), asking your clients why they left can prevent future churn. Instead of guessing and wasting resources on trial and error, direct feedback provides a clear path to actionable insights.

Take the guesswork out of your business. Ask the basil—and more importantly, ask your clients.

This blog was written by Bredon Attridge, Engagement Manager at Anova.

The Hidden Power in Win / Loss Research

You’ve meticulously crafted your sales strategy, honed your team’s skills, and implemented the latest CRM technology. The problem? Your competition has followed the same playbook. So, how do you take your sales approach to the next level? How can you give your team the edge over the competition?

The answers lie in a powerful, yet often ignored, approach: Win / Loss Voice-of-the-Customer (VoC) research. Currently, less than 30% of companies include this uniquely insightful program as part of their sales process. By systematically capturing candid feedback from both your winning and losing deals, you gain invaluable insights into the factors that differentiate success from defeat.

Why It Matters

Traditionally, sales performance analysis focuses heavily on win rates and activity metrics. And while valuable, this data paints an incomplete picture. Win / Loss VoC research goes beyond the numbers, providing a qualitative dimension that unveils the “why” behind your sales outcomes.

Win / Loss research empowers your sales organization in invaluable ways:

• Identify Strengths and Weaknesses: By analyzing the themes emerging from win and loss interviews, you pinpoint areas where your sales team excels or needs improvement. Did your winning deals hinge on exceptional product demonstrations or a deep understanding of customer needs? Conversely, were there recurring themes in lost deals, such as a slow response time or a lack of value proposition clarity?
• Empower Coaching and Training: With Win / Loss insights, you can tailor coaching programs to address specific skill gaps. Did the win interviews reveal a need for more effective objection handling techniques? Loss interviews might highlight a knowledge deficiency regarding a particular product feature. By focusing coaching efforts on specific areas, you can equip your team with the tools and knowledge they need to consistently convert leads.
• Refine Your Sales Strategy: Win / Loss research exposes potential blind spots in your overall sales strategy. You might discover that a key differentiator for your competitors is a more streamlined onboarding process. This insight allows you to refine your strategy to address these competitive advantages and strengthen your value proposition.
• Boost Sales Productivity: Understanding the decision-making criteria of your target audience can optimize your sales messaging and outreach efforts. Win / Loss research reveals the specific content and communication styles that resonate most with your ideal customers.

Anova is passionate about helping businesses unlock the transformative power of Win / Loss. Our highly customized approach is designed to help guide you through every stage of the process and return insights that are truly actionable.

Why Partner with a Third-Party for Win/Loss Research?

External partners provide insights that internal teams often miss. By regularly collecting feedback and adapting your approach, Anova’s clients create a dynamic sales engine that improves quarter by quarter.

Key Benefits of Anova’s Customized Win/Loss Solution

• Tailored Research Design: Our experienced consultants work with you to develop interview guides that capture insights aligned with your sales goals.
• In-Depth Customer Interviews: We conduct comprehensive interviews with decision-makers from both winning and losing deals, gathering nuanced feedback beyond what scripted surveys can capture.
• Thorough Data Analysis and Reporting: We analyze interview transcripts to uncover key themes and actionable insights, presented in clear reports that drive impactful strategies.
• Actionable Recommendations: We don’t just provide data; we deliver customized recommendations based on research findings and industry expertise, helping you refine your sales approach for maximum impact.

By integrating Win / Loss VoC research into your sales strategy, you can turn customer insights into powerful tools that help your team get ahead of the competition.

This blog was written by Brian McMahon, a Consultant at Anova.

Client Satisfaction Ratings, Net Promoter Scores, and Customer Listening Programs – companies employ many strategies to understand the perceptions of their client base and boost client retention. A key strategy that often goes underutilized in this pursuit is a comprehensive win/loss program. This program, focused on analyzing why deals are won or lost, can be a goldmine of insights for organizations looking to strengthen their client relationships and improve retention rates. Let’s delve into how a win/loss program can be a game-changer in client retention:

Illuminate Your Competitive Advantages and Disadvantages

A win/loss program acts as a spotlight on your organization’s strengths and weaknesses in the eyes of clients. By dissecting why you win deals, you uncover your key competitive advantages, be it product superiority, pricing strategies, or exceptional customer service. Conversely, understanding why you lose deals reveals areas that need improvement, whether it’s gaps in your offerings, ineffective sales tactics, or shortcomings in delivery. This illumination empowers you to fortify your strengths and address weaknesses proactively, enhancing client satisfaction and loyalty.

Gain Insights into Client Strategies

Beyond self-analysis, a win/loss program provides invaluable insights into your clients’ strategies. It uncovers how they approach winning business, the value propositions they emphasize, and the tactics they employ. This knowledge not only helps you better understand your clients’ needs and preferences but also equips you to anticipate their moves and align your offerings accordingly. Furthermore, it unveils potential threats from competitors who may be targeting your clients, enabling you to preemptively counter such challenges and solidify your relationships.

Identify Areas for Relationship Strengthening

Winning deals doesn’t always mean a flawless relationship. A win/loss program reveals the cracks in your client relationships by highlighting what you are winning despite and the weaknesses that new clients bring to the table. This insight is crucial in mitigating issues before they escalate, fostering stronger partnerships, and ensuring long-term client retention. By addressing these vulnerabilities early on, you demonstrate proactive engagement and commitment to client success, earning their trust and loyalty in the process.

Understand Client Defections

One of the most valuable aspects of a win/loss program is its ability to uncover why clients leave and seek services elsewhere. Whether it’s dissatisfaction with your offerings, better deals from competitors, or unmet expectations, understanding the root causes of client defections arms you with actionable intelligence. This knowledge enables you to tailor retention strategies, address pain points, and implement corrective measures to prevent future defections. It also offers an opportunity to win back lost clients by addressing their concerns and showcasing improvements.

In Conclusion

A well-executed win/loss program goes beyond analyzing wins and losses; it serves as a strategic tool for enhancing client retention. By shedding light on competitive advantages, understanding client strategies, identifying areas for improvement, and learning from client defections, organizations can strengthen their client relationships, boost retention rates, and drive long-term business success. Embracing a proactive approach to client insights through a win/loss program is not just a competitive advantage but a cornerstone of sustainable growth and profitability in today’s dynamic business environment.

Collin Stewart from Predictable Revenue interviews Zach Golden, Director of Client Management at Anova Consulting Group, to explore the value of win / loss analysis in sales. Despite its significant potential to boost revenue—up to 50% according to Gartner—win-loss analysis is underutilized by most companies. Zach explains how this analysis provides critical insights into why deals are won or lost, helping companies refine their sales strategies and better understand customer needs.

Effective win-loss analysis involves careful timing, unbiased feedback collection, and continuous iteration. While technology can assist with data processing, the human element remains crucial for gaining deeper insights through empathy and shared experiences. Ultimately, win / loss analysis is a strategic tool that can drive business growth, enhance customer-centricity, and provide a competitive edge. By embracing win / loss, companies can unlock valuable insights that drive growth and outsmart the competition.

The podcast is available on the Predictable Revenue website as well as on Youtube.

This blog was written by Brian McMahon, Consultant at Anova.

It’s not just you. Anyone involved in B2B sales over the past couple of years has experienced the frustration of deals that simply never seem to close.

Sales cycles are certainly lengthening, and the data backs it up. Below are just some of the statistics that demonstrate this unfortunate shift in how buying decisions are being made.

Purchase Process Stalls: According to Forrester, nearly 90% of global B2B buyers indicated a purchase process stall in 2023, underscoring the complexities and delays inherent in today’s sales environments.

Deal Stagnation: In 2023, approximately 60% of deals ended up in no decision, highlighting the growing trend of prolonged decision-making processes and the hurdles faced by sales teams in closing deals.

Information Overload: 63% of buyers feel overwhelmed with information, while 74% express that there are too many options to consider, creating barriers to swift decision-making and contributing to sales cycle extensions.

Buying Team Dynamics: The average buying team size ranges between approximately 7 individuals, as reported by HBR, to a substantial 14 – 23 people, according to Gartner, emphasizing the intricate dynamics and diverse stakeholders involved in B2B purchasing decisions.

This reticence to buy is a roadblock to closing and developing business, and with this challenge, client retention and expansion of course becomes a major focus. Listed here are some of the key reasons why client retention is increasingly vital in the face of these lengthy sales cycles:

Stable Revenue Streams: Retaining existing clients ensures a consistent flow of revenue, mitigating the impact of deal stagnation and purchase process stalls on overall business performance.

Cost-Effectiveness: The cost of acquiring new customers is significantly higher than retaining current ones, making client retention a cost-effective strategy, especially in environments characterized by prolonged sales cycles.

Cross-Sell and Upsell Opportunities: Satisfied clients are more receptive to cross-selling and upselling efforts, presenting lucrative opportunities to expand product / service offerings and increase customer lifetime value.

To retain clients an organization has to keep them satisfied as well as continually deliver value. Over the thousands of client satisfaction, renewal, and pre-RFP interviews Anova has done, the most effective strategies in doing so are:

Proactive Engagement: Foster regular communication, personalized interactions, and proactive problem-solving to strengthen client relationships and enhance loyalty.

Collaborative, Partnership-Oriented Approach: Adopt a collaborative mindset by aligning with clients’ goals, providing strategic guidance, and co-creating solutions to build trust and empower your clients, which enhances client loyalty.

Implement a Feedback Collection Mechanism: Ensure you catch developing pain points as quickly as possible and identify areas for opportunity within existing clients by continuously providing them avenues to provide feedback on the relationship.

If you demonstrate to your client you are a true partner looking to grow with them and empower and enable them along the way, it puts you in an ideal position to sell additional, value-added services that are closely aligned with their needs and goals.

As B2B sales cycles continue to lengthen and challenges such as purchase process stalls, prioritizing client retention emerges as a strategic imperative for sustained business success. By leveraging client retention strategies, businesses can expand from outside the complexities of extended sales cycles, capitalize on cross-sell and upsell opportunities, and cultivate enduring partnerships that drive growth and resilience in today’s competitive landscape.