Patbate profile picture
Patbate profile picture

Patbate

Product Advisor

Politicker
Executive
Catalyst
+6

Asking who you lost against

Do you think it’s in bad taste to ask a prospect who decided to go with a competitor, who the competitor was that they chose?

Is it ok to ask prospect who they went with when you lose a deal?

Attached poll
*Voting in this poll no longer yields commission.
🧠 Advice
11

19 comments

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Justatitle
Big Shot
2
Account Executive
1,000,000 Percent if you have taken them through the evaluation and built up the relationship you have every right to ask what competitor you lost to and if it was feature related or if they were more confident in their solution for some reason or if it was a price point you simply could not match 
CoorsKing
WR Officer
2
Retired King of the Coors Knights
Always ask who and why.
funcoupons
WR Officer
2
👑
Absolutely - you should ALWAYS ask to help understand where you may have fallen short and to improve your chances next time.
Patbate
Politicker
1
Product Advisor
Awesome! This is exactly how I positioned it and didn’t get a response from the prospect. It had me second guessing should I have even asked.
funcoupons
WR Officer
2
👑
It's about 50/50 whether they answer or not in my line of work as well so don't feel discouraged. 
thatseoulguy
2
Inside Account Executive
^^this

I don't always expect an answer, but when I do receive one, it's leveraging the closed lost opp to make me a better seller.

GDO
Politicker
1
BDM
Just say you want to understand potential customers better. They won’t mind. 
CuriousFox
WR Officer
1
🦊
Why wouldn't you ask? They'll tell you.
Patbate
Politicker
1
Product Advisor
I do but I often wonder if it’s ok. And some people won’t tell me but it’s all good.
slaydie
Big Shot
1
Account Executive
Yeah, I always ask too. Sometimes they just ignore me which is fine but other times they provide really great feedback that helps me for my next deals
looper1010
Celebrated Contributor
1
Solutions Specialist
I do this ALL the time.  It is not weird at all and provides great feedback!
Blackwargreymon
Politicker
1
MDR
Just say you want to understand potential customers better.
USMCvet
Opinionated
0
Key Accounts Manager
In my industry its fairly common to ask for a debrief of your proposal if you werent selected. I actually had one earlier this week. I frame it as asking for their help to makenus better so we can be a better partner for them in the future. Ask good questions about where you came up short, what you could have done better. I think they appreciate the effort of trying to understand what you could do better.
Patbate
Politicker
0
Product Advisor
Love this and this is similar to what I do. Tell them I want to know so we can better serve them and our clients in the future.
AnchorPoint
Politicker
0
Business Coach
Not only is it OK... It should be mandatory!  On more than one occasion I have won the account after that conversation.  Who, why, what could I have done better... 
NorthernSalesGuru
Politicker
0
Manager, Outbound Sales
Always. Always ask. You should know who you’re losing deals to
Stardust
WR Officer
0
President
what's the best email you've used to get a reluctant lost account to re-engage for the sole purpose of understanding what you could have done better? 
Error32
Politicker
0
ISR
Win is a win brother. New client signing is a win.
Clashingsoulsspell
Politicker
0
ISR
Win is a win brother. New client signing is a win.

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