Bpma scip-win-loss schwarz-

Win-Loss: A Closed-Loop System for Continuous Innovation

Boston Product Management AssociationSCIP Boston

Ken SchwarzMarketing DirectorProgress Software

November 15, 2012

© 2012 Ken Schwarz. All rights reserved.2

Getting StartedSetting up a Win-loss Program

1 of you50 sales reps

500 deals won or lost

Tonight’s Agenda:

• How can you do it all?

• How do you keep it from becominga colossal waste of time?


Win-lossA Product Management/Marketing Perspective

Pricing

Buy, Build or Partner

BusinessPlan

Product Profitability

Win/Loss Analysis

Distinctive Competence

Market Problems

MarketingPlan

Customer Acquisition

Customer Retention

Program Effectiveness

BuyingProcess

Buyer Personas

UserPersonas

Positioning

Product Portfolio

Market Definition

Distribution Strategy

InnovationCompetitive Landscape

Technology Assessment

Lead Generation

Thought Leadership

Referrals & References

LaunchPlan

UseScenarios

Requirements

Status Dashboard

Product Roadmap

Presentations & Demos

EventSupport

“Special”Calls

ChannelSupport

Channel Training

SalesProcess

Collateral

SalesTools

BusinessMarket ProgramsPlanningStrategy SupportReadiness

Stra

tegi

c Tactical


“Pragmatic Marketing Framework”© 1993-2012 Pragmatic Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved


Win-lossA Product Management/Marketing Perspective

Pricing

Buy, Build or Partner

BusinessPlan

Product Profitability

Win/Loss Analysis

Distinctive Competence

Market Problems

MarketingPlan

Customer Acquisition

Customer Retention

Program Effectiveness

BuyingProcess

Buyer Personas

UserPersonas

Positioning

Product Portfolio

Market Definition

Distribution Strategy

InnovationCompetitive Landscape

Technology Assessment

Lead Generation

Thought Leadership

Referrals & References

LaunchPlan

UseScenarios

Requirements

Status Dashboard

Product Roadmap

Presentations & Demos

EventSupport

“Special”Calls

ChannelSupport

Channel Training

SalesProcess

Collateral

SalesTools


Stra

tegi

c Tactical


“Pragmatic Marketing Framework”© 1993-2012 Pragmatic Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved


Getting StartedSetting up a Win-loss Program

Don’t just ask the field

They’re too busyThey seldom know why they lost


Getting StartedBlind and Anonymous Customer Interviews

Why blind & anonymous interviews?• Most objective source of intelligence• Customers & sales reps are more likely to

cooperate

Hire a consultant to call customers for you• Only ethical way to make blind calls• Only practical way to call many customers

Interview a representative sample• 10 starts to yield statistical significance• Even a few yield fascinating anecdotes• Biggest challenge was getting contacts to call


Getting StartedBlind and Anonymous Customer Interviews

Reading a blind interview transcript is like being a fly on the wall.

Use high-level interviewer who understands market and decision-making process.

Executives won’t take canned/scripted calls.

Our interviewer conducted calls using a standard method:

1. Discover or confirm those criteria that were important and helpful to making a decision.

2. Weight/prioritize the criteria.

3. Rate vendors for the criteria.

4. Ask why they rated vendors as they did.

Executive Summary

Score Summary

Verbatim transcript

.

.

.


Getting StartedInternal Win-loss Field Debriefs

Issues Questions

General background

How did you learn of the opportunity? Value proposition used? Partners used? Corporate executives used?

Competitors’ tactics

What did they do? How did they respond to your competitive tactics?

Your strategy What strengths did you emphasize and how did you show them? What worked or didn’t work?

Recommendations What should other field teams know? What should corporate do to support you better?

ALSO, do field debriefs to find out

what happened from the sales teams.


Getting StartedInternal Win-loss Field Debriefs

Field Debrief best practices:• Invite sales team, product management, product marketing,

industry marketing, etc.• Record call. Make a transcript for later reference and share with

those who couldn’t come.• Use customer win-loss interviewer – helps you scale and builds

trust with field.

No substitute for customer interview, but has many benefits:

100% response rate

Immediate access

Success story fodder

Creates credibility with field

Creates buy-in

Get customer contacts


Getting InsightWin-loss Analytics: Introducing “Plumbersoft”

“A leading pure-play provider of middleware, helping large organizations create new business applications by leveraging data and functionality trapped in their legacy environment…”

Founded 2001

Roughly $80m in revenue

Competitors: IBM, Oracle, TIBCO, Software AG, Progress, Ant Hill, etc.

You are entering a dimension of imagination…


Getting InsightWin-loss Analytics – “Wizard Chart”

Reasons you Lose

Impact on the

customers’ decision

High

LowUnfavorable Customer Opinion Favorable Customer Opinion

Reasons you win

Criteria in theupper right cornerare the key reasonsyou win over competitors.

Criteria in the upper left corner are the key reasons you lose to competitors.

Note: Wizard Chart is protected by U.S. Patent 5,734,890, Richard Case and PSP Enterprises


Getting InsightWin-loss Analytics – Plumbersoft

Reasons you Lose

Impact on the


High


22 Wins31 Losses Product Line Integration

Data Analysis

AdaptersScalability

Existing Skillset

Proof Of Concept

Product Line IntegrationVision

Vendor ViabilityOpenness

Adapters

Product Line Breadth

Scalability

Vision

References

Price


Ease of Use

Product Line Integration

Simulation

Proof of Concept

Customer Engagement

ReferencesProduct Line Breadth

Customer EngagementPrice

Reasons you win

< 80%

80%-84%

85%-89%

Losses Wins

90%-94%

95%-98%

99% and up

Fill Color is Statistical

Confidence Level

Ease of Use


Getting InsightWin-loss Analytics – Customer Engagement

Reasons you Lose

Impact on the


High



Data Analysis

AdaptersScalability

Existing Skillset

Proof Of Concept



Adapters


Scalability

Vision

References

Price


Ease of Use


Simulation

Proof of Concept

Customer Engagement



Reasons you win

< 80%

80%-84%

85%-89%

Losses Wins

90%-94%

95%-98%

99% and up


Confidence Level

Ease of Use

“Customer Engagement” – Typically tops the list• Listening and understanding is most important• Critical that demos empower, not bewilder the audience• Prove your support and responsiveness

Here, neither side “owns” this issue – It’s a tactical, not a strategic advantage

Voice of the Customer:

“Plumbersoft had people who were justice and public safety specialists, who were actually assigned to the project and

they stated that right from the get go. The depth of knowledge in the subject area was critically important to us.

We were very impressed and their technical people are good too. And they were nice. They weren’t arrogant. They

worked very closely with the team and you could see they would work as a team.”

Plumbersoft Win over Oracle at a law enforcement agency for $34M


Getting InsightWin-loss Analytics – Product Line Breadth

Reasons you Lose

Impact on the


High



Data Analysis

AdaptersScalability

Existing Skillset

Proof Of Concept



Adapters


Scalability

Vision

References

Price


Ease of Use


Simulation

Proof of Concept

Customer Engagement



Reasons you win

< 80%

80%-84%

85%-89%

Losses Wins

90%-94%

95%-98%

99% and up


Confidence Level

Ease of Use

Product Line Breadth is a strategic weakness for Plumbersoft.

Plumbersoft, a pure-play, can’t compete with IBM or Oracle in terms of breadth. It’s winning in this area when competing against smaller pure-plays. It’s losing sometimes against arch rival Ant Hill – PM needs to fill a hole in the lineup!


Getting InsightWin-loss Analytics – Simulation

Reasons you Lose

Impact on the


High



Data Analysis

AdaptersScalability

Existing Skillset

Proof Of Concept



Adapters


Scalability

Vision

References

Price


Ease of Use


Simulation

Proof of Concept

Customer Engagement



Reasons you win

< 80%

80%-84%

85%-89%

Losses Wins

90%-94%

95%-98%

99% and up


Confidence Level

Ease of Use

What can we do now? PUSH YOUR STRENGTHS, PLUMBERSOFT!

Simulation – A Strategic Advantage – Never lose with this one!• Do you market this front and center? You should!

• Does your sales process get the issue into the POC? It should!


Getting InsightWin-loss Analytics – Proof of Concept

Reasons you Lose

Impact on the


High



Data Analysis

AdaptersScalability

Existing Skillset

Proof Of Concept



Adapters


Scalability

Vision

References

Price


Ease of Use


Simulation

Proof of Concept

Customer Engagement



Reasons you win

< 80%

80%-84%

85%-89%

Losses Wins

90%-94%

95%-98%

99% and up


Confidence Level

Ease of Use

PoC – The manifestation of product in the customer engagement.• How much of your R&D is directed at PoC-visible functionality?• Is your field really trained and organized to win them?

Benchmark yourself against the toughest competitor


Getting InsightWin-loss Analytics – Vendor Viability

Reasons you Lose

Impact on the


High



Data Analysis

AdaptersScalability

Existing Skillset

Proof Of Concept



Adapters


Scalability

Vision

References

Price


Ease of Use


Simulation

Proof of Concept

Customer Engagement



Reasons you win

< 80%

80%-84%

85%-89%

Losses Wins

90%-94%

95%-98%

99% and up


Confidence Level

Ease of Use

For Plumbersoft, a strategic weakness. An issue to be COUNTERED, not won. Customer References and Corporate Marketing (AR/PR) are critical.


Getting InsightWin-loss Analytics – Customer References

Reasons you Lose

Impact on the


High



Data Analysis

AdaptersScalability

Existing Skillset

Proof Of Concept



Adapters


Scalability

Vision

References

Price


Ease of Use


Simulation

Proof of Concept

Customer Engagement



Reasons you win

< 80%

80%-84%

85%-89%

Losses Wins

90%-94%

95%-98%

99% and up


Confidence Level

Ease of Use

M“The project team went but the

feedback I got on that was that on Plumbersoft; they came back

with doubts.”

Plumbersoft Win over Ant Hill and IBM at a state government

department for $4M

D“They [Plumbersoft] actually had

some references that we talked to had a lot of problems.”

Plumbersoft Loss at an Airline

C“Plumbersoft gave better

testimonies as references. Their reference sites were excellent. It

gave us a lot of confidence.”

Plumbersoft Win over IBM at a bank for $5.5M in UK

Plumbersoft needs to create or strengthen its Customer Reference program Doing so should turn this from a reason for losing to a reason for winning. Weak references are endangering deals.


Getting InsightWin-loss Analytics – Price

Reasons you Lose

Impact on the


High



Data Analysis

AdaptersScalability

Existing Skillset

Proof Of Concept



Adapters


Scalability

Vision

References

Price


Ease of Use


Simulation

Proof of Concept

Customer Engagement



Reasons you win

< 80%

80%-84%

85%-89%

Losses Wins

90%-94%

95%-98%

99% and up


Confidence Level

Ease of Use

What about price?

When all else is equal, price becomes the ONLY issue. Plumbersoft has ample means to build a sale around issues other than price. Inconsistent performance across field can indicate a field training issue.


From Insight to ActionSummary

Issues Examples Recommendations

Strategic Strength

Simulation Find segments who care and market to these people. Build thought leadership and brand around this.

Strategic Weakness

Product line breadth, Vendor viability

Focus on segments that care more about strengths; close capability gaps

Tactical Weakness

Customer References Create or strengthen program

Tactical Parity Customer Engagement Look to transcripts for best practices, and train field with examples of what works.


ActionWin-loss and Competitive Sales Tools

Use your win-loss decision criteria to guide the field.

Show field how to control buyer’s agenda with strengths (win-factors)

Help field counter weaknesses (loss factors) well enough to prevent defeat


ActionGetting Buy-In

Executive Sponsor• Who has the money?• Who has a broad, cross-functional

view?

Sales Leadership• Ask for air-cover (letter to the field)• Expect little else

Product Management and Marketing• Invite to field debriefs• Regularly review win-loss insights

face-to-face• Win-loss quotes are great for sales

training

CEO

Engineering

Product Management

Marketing

Product Marketing

Sales

Field Enablement

Watch out for“Not Invented Here”


Summary

Plan and resource win-loss as on-going program• Become known in your company as the champion of win-loss• Find a sponsor willing to pay and interested in all facets of competition:

product, marketing, field effectiveness.

Interview customers and the field• Blind, anonymous customer interviews give you unique, objective

intelligence• Field interviews will enhance insight, win confidence, and get the customer

contacts needed for customer interviews

Invite others to participate – make this a cultural change• Invite functional executives to field interviews to broaden culture of

continuous learning enhance program visibility• Involve product management and marketing in analysis and preparation for

executive presentation – prevent “not invented here”• Present findings as high as you can. The CEO should be interested in what

you discover.


ActionWin-Loss for Continuous Innovation

Landscape Analysis

Competitive Positioning

Sales Tools

Field Training & Support

Field Debriefs

Win-loss

Strategy Planning

Tactical Support

Feedback


Panel Q & A

Ken Schwarz

Progress Software

Marketing Director

Richard Case

PSP EnterprisesWin-loss

Consultant

Eric Kuhnen

Focal PartnersBattlecard Consultant

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