How do you set up loss cause registration?

Required tools

• Dynamics 365 Sales — With access to edit electoral rolls.

Set up the field

1. 1.Create a short list of options

   Price, functionality, lost to a competitor, no decision, wrong timing, solution chosen internally. Six options cover most cases.

2. 2.Include “no decision”

   Many deals are lost because the customer took no action. Without that option, they end up under price, leading you to believe that your prices are too high.

3. 3.Make it mandatory in case of loss

   The field should be required when the status is set to lost. Add a free-text field next to it for anything that does not fit into the categories.

Use the data

1. 4.Create a chart for each cause

   Breakdown of reasons for losses in the last quarter, with the option to click through to the agreements. Without that link, it is just a bar chart.

2. 5.Review it quarterly

   Ten minutes in the sales meeting. When sales reps see that the figures are being used, they will enter more accurate data next quarter.

3. 6.Read the free-text field

   That’s where the useful information is. If the same wording is repeated, the list of options is missing a category.