Log the real reason on every lost deal

What it does

“Went dark” and “price” are where most loss reasons stop, and neither tells you much. A short, fixed list of real reasons, filled in on every lost deal, tells you what to fix: your aim, your pitch, your follow-up or your product. It also tells you which lost deals to reopen when something changes.

What you need

• Your CRM, with a field you can make required
• Your last 20 lost deals, to test the list on

How it works

1. 1

   Write a short list of reasons

   Six to eight reasons, each pointing at something you could fix. Test it on your last 20 lost deals: if more than a couple don’t fit any reason, the list is missing one.

   Loss reasons, with what each one points at

   Not a fit: they were never going to buy (aim)
   No budget this year (timing)
   Not a priority right now (timing)
   Chose a competitor: [WHICH ONE] (pitch or product)
   Chose to do it themselves (pitch)
   Missing feature: [WHICH ONE] (product)
   Price: too high for the value they saw (pitch or price)
   Went quiet after [STAGE] (follow-up)

2. 2

   Make it required when a deal is lost

   Most CRMs can make a field required when a deal moves to a stage. Make the reason a dropdown, with a short text box beside it for the detail.

3. 3

   Ask the buyer

   Their reason beats your guess. One short email after a no:

   Email after a no

   Subject: one question
   
   [FIRST NAME] - thanks for being straight with me.
   
   So I get better at this: what was the main reason it wasn't the right fit? One line is plenty.
   
   [YOUR NAME]

4. 4

   Count them every quarter

   By reason, by segment and by the stage where the deal died. Lots of “not a fit” means fix your aim. Lots of “went quiet” means fix your follow-up. “Price” at the pitch usually means the buyer never said what doing nothing costs them: see get the buyer to say it.

5. 5

   Date the ones worth reopening

   Anything lost to timing, budget or a missing feature gets a date to check again. When the date comes, reopen it.

What good looks like

Every lost deal has a reason from the list, and every quarter the count points at the one thing to fix next.

Mistakes to skip

• A free-text field only. Nobody can count free text.
• Thirty reasons to pick from. Nobody picks the right one.
• Logging your guess when the buyer would have told you.