Fail Less or Win More

If you were given a choice, looking at the effectiveness of sales organization, would you rather lose less or win more? The word “both” was likely just echoing in your head. What we know to be true from both external data sources and the work we do with clients [large or small] is that there are challenges with both of these key sales metrics. The number of “no decisions” has increased sharply because of risk aversion and the rise of the status quo. If you have 100 deals in your funnel, more than half may result in the client doing nothing. This has a material impact on Cost of Sale as we are chasing deals that never materialize. Depending on how you track deals this may also impact Win Rates.

The desire to Fail or Lose Less will lead to a different set of disciplines. Regardless of what you sell, there is a sweet spot of characteristics that define an ideal customer. Your value proposition will line up more favorably against clients with these traits. The trick or discipline is to determine the opportunities where you are best positioned to compete. This requires detailed understanding of many deal elements and the ability to remove emotion as you make decisions. For most organizations, this can create a challenge. The challenges come from a lack of consistent processes or tools to determine deal viability, positioning and you ability to differentiate and win. You will fail or lose less and reduce your cost of sale with a more disciplined approach to determining the deals you should pursue.

If you have made the decision to pursue, then assuming you are now chasing less deals, it frees up both time and resources to double down your sales efforts on the right deals. By default, more time and resources will help you be more successful and win more. It does not just happen, but it should give you the opportunity to be more strategic, have more conversations with your client, learn more and thus build better plans. This will help you be more successful.

The answer to the question is “both”, but the actions to achieve two better outcomes come in two separate steps. The skills, processes and tools are different if you want to lose less or win more, but do come together as part of a more effective sales strategy.