Read Time:  1 1/2 Minutes

I was delivering my Winning the Six-Figure Sale leadership training program to a group of senior salespeople recently, and one of the senior reps asked;

After I lose a big deal, should I try to get the customer to schedule a debriefing session to help me understand why I lost?

My fast answer was NO! 

While you might feel a bit better about yourself, prospects rarely give you the real reasons you weren’t successful, so nine times out of ten, you’re wasting your time…

Sorry, you just are! 

But during the conversation, one of the sales leaders offered up a much better alternative I had never considered.

He said, why not run an internal “Simulated Loss Review” before you lose to explore ways to improve your sales campaign and make sure you cover all your bases?

Brilliant!

He said he used to run them all the time on his most critical sales opportunities at IBM.

So, here are the Top 8 Questions you should be prepared to answer in the review.

Remember, this is an internal meeting (without the prospect) where you and your sales team kick around these eight critical questions before it’s too late.

1. If the prospect was to notify you today that you lost the deal, what fatal flaws in your campaign do you think they discovered that led to the loss?
   
   

   How will you address the flaws now… before you get the bad news? 

2. What Business Outcomes (not technical feeds and speeds) was the customer expecting from your solution?  
   
   
3. Did you miss any critical decision-makers in your campaign? 
   
   
4. Did you cultivate a Coach who was helping steer you in the right direction?

   
   Someone who was attending internal customer meetings you’d never get invited to? 
   
   

5. What was your strategy to win, other than low price? 
   
   
6. Who was your primary competitor, and what was their strategy to beat you? 
   
   
7. What was your strategy to ensure customer success before you got your PO? 
   
   
8. What was your negotiating strategy, and how did the customer negotiate with you?

Can you imagine the impact on your sales campaign if you asked yourself these eight questions before you lost?

Simulated Loss Review

Try it and see if it isn’t the best 30 minutes you could spend on sales strategy while you still have time to impact the outcome of your deal!

• See you next week when I ask: How can you help your team win more BIG Deals by making One Simple change to your sales process?

See you next Saturday.

Great Selling – Jeff@SalesLeadersOnly.com