Why should the reason for loss be recorded, and how do we do it?

Won deals tell you what worked. Lost deals tell you why it didn’t work, and that’s often more useful.

Keep the list short

Five to seven reasons. Price, functionality, competitor, no decision, wrong timing, internal choice. Fifteen options lead to inconsistent data entry.

“No decision” belongs on the list

A large proportion of lost deals are not lost to a competitor—the customer did nothing. That is a very different challenge from losing on price, and it disappears if the option is missing.

Require it at closing

Make the field required when the status is set to lost. Any registration that is supposed to take place afterward will not occur.

Share the findings

Present the reasons for losses quarterly. If salespeople see that the figures are being used, they will record them more accurately. If they see that no one is looking at them, they will choose the first option.