For product managers, lining up win/loss calls can be grueling work. We dial hundreds of numbers, only to be tossed into endless voicemail boxes. Still we press on, tracking down the 10 percent of evaluators who will actually engage in a meaningful dialog. Why? The feedback is invaluable; the interviewee’s words are manna. This is especially true of the people who determined your product was inadequate. The conversation might be painful, but they have critical data that you really need. And not every loss is a sad one. A Good Loss occurs when you are just in the wrong deal. How can you tell when your interviewee just didn’t need your product, when the loss really just isnt a fit? The answer is all right there, in what they say. You just have to ask them to clarify what they mean. By asking clarifying questions, you can determine: Are you “speaking different languages”? Did they actually need your product? Did you really lose their business because of price/feature/platform? Once you have determined that you are speaking to a Good Loss, use the opportunity to figure out where your website, collateral or process went wrong. While you won’t necessarily want to incorporate their product feedback into your next release, you do want to understand why the prospect didnt rule themselves out. Are You Speaking the Same Language? Key point: Their problem may sound like what you solve on the surface, but … Lets look at an example in the high availability products industry, made up of companies that provide the software, hardware and services to keep critical applications and machinery up and running. For a loss call, I typically start my interview with this question: >> Why did you try this product in the first place? As I specialize in a high-tech/IT product, I often get a very technical response. “I needed a high availability server,” a techy will answer. In my little world, that’s good news and I silently pat myself on the back and think: How cool, that looks a lot like what is written in the spec! But it’s only mildly useful, and my joy is short-lived as I follow up that question with: >> What problem were you trying to solve? Often there is a pause, as they are a bit annoyed. The technical person thinks this is redundant, and the business person chimes in: “We needed our employees to be able to take calls from customers and have their records available. We looked at you for high availability,” they answer. Notice the words: They are using the phrase high availability, which we use. But as Ive learned, we must not assume the words have the same meaning. As a product manager, I press on. >> What does your company consider high availability? “The office is open as early as 8 a.m. and closes at 6 p.m., five days a week, and we must be up and running,” the business person replies. >> What would happen if the office was down for an hour? “We would have to take names and call people back” is the answer. Aha! By asking clarifying questions, I now know that they are speaking an entirely different language. This prospect came to a website thinking, “I need my servers to be up during office hours so we don’t have to write down names if we are down for an hour.” That’s their definition of high availability. My company’s solution is designed to keep companies up and running 24x7 for mission-critical applications where five minutes down means a huge monetary loss. That’s my definition of high availability. >> What was the reason you did not purchase the product? “It was too expensive,” they say. Not surprising, given that we are solving a different problem—far beyond what they need. The information gathered during this example call is critical. We can analyze the consumer’s language to know that they are using the phrase “high availability” in a different way from us. Working with my sales team, I will now ensure that when they hear a prospect deliver this phrase, they will dig for clarification. If the prospect does not have a need for 24x7 high availability in the context of our corporation, we should discuss this and note the intended application of our solutions and price range. This will give the customer the up-front ability to opt out of pursuing our solution. This sounds counterintuitive, I know, but trying to sell your solution to every prospect you encounter is a mistake. If you are like most companies, you have a finite number of team members. Spending time chasing leads that do not require the solution your company provides results in wasted time and resources—both of which should be spent on meaningful customer acquisition. Identify Touch Points Key point: The customers first point of contact is likely from outside of your organization, so make sure your external messages are clear. By identifying what parts of your business and messaging this Good Loss consumed or interacted with, you will be better able to determine how to opt them out of the sale earlier in the process. Identify the prospects touch points by asking questions around how they found you, what information they accessed and how they utilized your sales team. I like to go back to the basics and have them tell me the story of their interactions. For instance, I ask: >> How did you initially find out about the solution? “Well, I am a member of XYZ Alliance, and you had a banner ad.” I hear this often. Take note, your banner ad is probably sending the wrong message, or the right message to the wrong audience. Figure out which it is and correct it, as you are likely wasting big money. Even more frequently, I hear: “I work with this reseller and they recommended you.” If their first contact is someone you can interact with, take note and reach out. You may be able to proactively train the reseller or partner who made the initial recommendation. Whatever their answer, the consumer must have followed up on the recommendation. Find that data next. >> Once you heard about us, what did you do next to find more information? “I went to your website.” Or “I read this white paper.” Once they finish answering this on their own, I follow up with prompts for where, what and how they got data on the solution. For example: >> Did you access website content or any of the product collateral? Ask if the website or collateral described the solution exactly as they wanted it. If so, you likely have a messaging problem. Are you being too inclusive? >> Did you see any direct marketing or social campaigns? Are your campaigns running in the most effective locations? Is this a relevant prospect base? >> Did any of our sales or resellers provide you with a presentation or demo? Do they know who? Is this someone you can help train? Is your presentation too vague? >> Did you attend a webinar? Did your webinar feature an analyst? Did they talk in generalizations, without a specific product pitch that would have provided key decision points? >> Did you participate in a product evaluation? Did they understand the products applications prior to participating in a free trial? If the evaluation took any effort on your team’s part, should you spend more time screening? Regardless of their answers, take the time to get specific. Try to figure out when and where in the process they did each and what their reaction was. From all of this, ask yourself: Do you need to clarify, refine or change the message? Act on What You Learn Key point: Once you get data points, act on them. Knowing a Good Loss’s website, collateral, tool usage and interaction with the sales team will help you pinpoint where to change, add or eliminate messaging to help attract better prospects. The Good Loss will provide you good insight into why they didn’t screen themselves out earlier. This has paid big dividends for me. In one instance, I determined that adding a simple diagram to product collateral could save our team hours of Good Loss interactions. Just by seeing the architecture, potential Good Loss prospects would have self-culled. Other solutions that might be identified include moving the marketing banner to a more effective site, updating a product description or retraining the team or resellers. A word of caution: When you identify a way to improve the process or messaging, do not point fingers at any person or team as failing. What worked yesterday may not work today. Product managers provide data points on the current prospect experience to help the company improve it. Never do this in a way that makes a team feel under attack. I have seen this, and it is bad—really, really, really bad. Your job is to move the product line forward and that requires collaboration and sharing what you have learned in a constructive, customer-focused manner. Use quotes from your calls to enable the right solutions to be implemented. Make the Good Loss Call Matter By listening and engaging to truly understand what the interviewee is really saying during the win/loss analysis, you can better classify the loss. Once classified, you can identify phrases that require clarification. You can also use this opportunity to figure out how to help prospects better qualify their needs through your messaging and tools. Listen very closely to the experience they had with the sales process, your website and collateral—then make changes accordingly. Changing or even halting an unclear campaign will save you time and money. All too often, we are quick to dismiss Good Losses. It is our obligation as product managers to learn from them, take advantage of their information and share their wisdom. By using these calls to better hone our outreach campaigns, outbound messaging and prospect interaction, we can attract more of the right kind of buyers and optimize company time and money for more successful product lines. - See more at: pragmaticmarketing//resources/the-good-loss-call?p=2#sthash.MoNLX1wO.dpuf
Posted on: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 10:47:35 +0000