An Approach to lost Sales Bid Analysis-Raking through the ashes to find that Phoenix

The cinders from the failure of the English bid for the 2018 World Cup Bid are still being picked over by the press. The post mortem will continue for a little while yet. Let’s look at an approach to analysing lost sales which can help us on future pitches.

The sales process starts with a “lead” which may include any prospective client (suspect) regardless of their strength of interest. A conversion of such a lead to “qualified prospect” involves tentatively reserving dates, establishing seriousness of enquiry.

A definition of lost business is the failure to convert a tentative enquiry to a sale. This is not to ignore the analysis of lost leads at the initial phases, but rather to focus on the decisions of qualified potential buyers. A sale should be considered complete or “definite business” once a contract is signed.
The Five Key Lost Business Questions
What? Who? When? Where? And Why?

1. What Type of Bid?
The answer to this question—what type of the business was lost?—could be divided into five components. Sales managers should classify lost business using a uniform classification system[i] that indicates:
a) the type of organization (end user, distributor, specifier, association, corporate, government, etc.),
b) the size of the bid as measured order value, volume,
c) the geographic origin (international, national, regional, state, or local),
d) the industry classification of the event (manufacturing, professional services, etc.), and
e) the types of product / service

Each of these five classifications should include a standardized set of mutually exclusive categories that capture a meaningful distribution of event types.
For example, if nearly all group business is corporate, then a more refined breakdown of the types of corporate business may be appropriate (e.g. training sessions, shareholder meetings, product introductions).
2. Who Decides?
Who made the decision not to go ahead with you? The decision making process is not always apparent to sales.
Purchasing decisions may be made by the decision maker who they may have had no access or contact with, a selection committee, a board of directors, a senior executive, or a combination of the above. Understanding the source of the decision and the process by which that decision is made is essential to the ability to influence potential clients.
3. When Did the Loss Occur?
The question of when the lost business occurs has two necessary answers for each bid:
a) the date on which notification of lost business occurred (if any) and
b) beginning and end dates on which the project the bid covered occurred or would have occurred had it not been lost.
c) This data is particularly useful in measuring positive and negative trends in sales efforts. An increase in the amounts of lost business may indicate a stronger sales effort if it is associated with a higher volume of tentative business. Increases in lost business may also indicate a declining conversion rate of tentative to definite business. Unfortunately, most lost business databases don’t include successful conversions and therefore do not allow for the calculation of conversion rates, which is a key measure of the effectiveness of a sales force.

4. Where Did the Bid Go to?
The answer to the question—“Where was business placed?—identifies the winning bidder. Information on the identity of the successful competitor combined with data on their bid offering characteristics, lost business types, conversion rates, and the reasons for lost business, can yield valuable information on the strengths and weakness of the primary competitors.

Sometimes lost business databases use “lost to a competitor” as a reason for lost business which it is not. Most lost business databases identify multiple competitors for a single event, but they often fail to identify the successful bidder. Frequently bidders are unwilling to identify the property they ultimately selected so it may be necessary to rely on reader board services to identify the specific property in which the event was located.
5. Why Was the Bid Really Lost?
Understanding the reasons for lost business is perhaps the most important information in a lost business database, yet the most elusive. First of all, obtaining honest and accurate information is difficult. Event planners may give the most convenient excuse rather than a more brutally honest answer.

For example, it is easier to say

“your price is too high”

than to say

“your sales presentation was confusing and disorganized.

Secondly, causes for lost business are usually complicated and involve many explanations. A complete lost business database should prioritize the importance of multiple reasons for lost business and measure whether any individual factors are “deal breakers.”
Some of the reasons will be critical and bid determining ‘must haves’ and other will be desirable ‘likes’ only.

The categories of reasons for lost business are likely to be unique to each bidding project but they should provide a meaningful breakdown of the lost business so that any single reason such as “other” does not constitute a majority of events.

The first level of explanation should distinguish the three following categories:
1. Cancellations
2. Turned-down business—includes possible concerns about the ability of the bidder to adhere to the terms of the contract, or other reasons.
3. Rejections—this category should be reserved for tentative business that was lost to a competitor due to a decision by the Buyer.

The reasons for lost business may apply to all three of the above categories of lost business. Often lost business reports summarize free form and unaided answers to the open ended question of

“Why didn’t you choose us?”

While free form answers may contain some of the needed information, that information can only be aggregated and properly analysed if the reasons are categorized and prioritized in a meaningful way.

Categories of reasons for lost business may include:
• Capacity—lack of appropriate
• Services—the quality and availability of required services
• Price—may include the costs
• Appeal of the Bidder’s Offer
• Responsiveness—involves the relationship between the sales staff and the Buyer. Was the response to an RFP complete and well done? Did sales team respond to calls in a timely manner? Did the sales team understand the needs of the Buyer?
• Date Conflicts—preferred dates are not available for the project

The influence of each of these reasons could be ranked:
1) Extremely negative (“deal breaker”),
2) Negative influence,
3) Neutral,
4) Positive influence,
5) Extremely positive or
6) Not a consideration.
Click for free executive summary of the Buyers Views of salespeople research study
The next Post will consider how we might collect such lost business data.

Lost 2018 FIFA World Cup Bid - Lessons for Selling ?

The UK’s Media tends not to be all that sympathetic to the Selling Profession. But we have had a momentary change of heart over the national disappointment of the failed £15 million pound bid to host the FIFA World Cup Soccer tournament for 2018.

Our national press has been debating whether the ‘slick’ bid of the English bid with its heavyweight personalities and national representatives (Prince William, Prime Minister David Cameron and Super brand and professional soccer player David Beckham) really answered FIFA’s brief. They have argued whether the Sunday Times and Panorama stories of alleged misdoings caused offense with the FIFA committee. Some pundits have suggested that FIFA's decisions had been made well beforehand and the result was a foregone conclusion.

Those in Sales who have lost sales pitches recently and are probably having similar analysis of what went ‘wrong’ in a lost pitch. Hopefully their analysis is not quite the "Blame fest-bloodbath" our media are undertaking.



Today more and more Salespeople are invited to jump through the hoops of RFQ/P ( request for Quotes Proposals) , shortlisting & attending a beauty parade type presentation which is not unlike appearing in the Dragons’ den or before X factor’s Svengali, Simon Cowell.

A salesperson's company may not have invested £15 million pounds or had a project whose duration was some three years yet the disappointment of a lost bid will echo David Beckham's sentiments yesterday .

" When you work so hard at something and don't get anything it is disappointing and crushing"

Beckham will bounce back and so sales people should adopt a positive mental attitude.

Sales teams occasionally conduct debrief sessions with prospective or former customers by phoning to request a meeting about the circumstances related to losing business.

Unfortunately, for many reasons, the information they're given is often flimsy and uninformative, and is frequently "sanitised" by the interviewee to avoid ill-feeling or uncomfortable conversations, making it essentially useless.

Yet Sales managers can gain a wealth of information through a complete understanding of the reasons for lost business. Knowledge about the losses can lead to new sales strategies and product improvements that can increase the rate of success. A thorough understanding of failures can also help sale managers avoid unsuccessful strategies and better develop sales leads.

Failure to Understand the Reasons for Lost Business
Sifting through lost business reports , we can often find that these reports generate an incomplete understanding of the reasons for lost business and this may create inaccurate perceptions that are unhelpful in improving sales strategies.



For example, a singular focus on poor capacity / limited resources reasons for lost business may lead to a strategy of expansion that does not address important secondary reasons for lost business. Lack of capacity or client's perception of our capacity may just be the easiest and most comfortable excuse offered by customers, when in fact, lack of choice / product range or poor service quality may ultimately cause Buyers to choose other offerings from competitors.



Click for free executive summary of the Buyers Views of salespeople research study
Sales managers need the feedback that hard data on lost business provides. Sales managers often rely on anecdotal information about the success or failure of particular sales initiatives—usually the most recent experience—rather than analysis of accumulated data.



Even good sales strategies are not always successful and a short-term and narrow focus on failures may lead to unnecessary changes in sales strategies.


Accumulated information and long-term trends provide the best guides to understanding the reasons for success and failure.

In the next post we will look at a different approach to lost business.

It's not the brand in your life but the life in your brand - 10 ideas to extend the life of your brand.

I have just returned from running a Marketing programme at Radcliffe House, Warwick Conferences. This facility is a market development of the Warwick University Campus just across the road from the world renowned Warwick Business School.

Working with talented marketers from the lighting, electronic power and high value medical equipment industries we worked on a number of challenges the delegates were currently meeting.

One of the problems we tackled was a challenge submitted by a talented Business Development Manager whose issue was this:-

“What is the best way to re-energise our Company Brand and image and prepare the team and customers for the new generation of products from across the pond (USA)?”

She added “This must work in harmony to ensure minimal cannibalisation of existing lines with a clear strategy on how to position the brand.”

Stretching the growth and maturation stages of the product life cycle is a good trick is you can pull it of it.

To misquote the American Film actress,Mae West , who knew a thing or two about what is now known as personal branding " It's not the brand in your life but the life in your brand!"

Here are 10 ideas to extend the life of your brand.

1. Engage with your clients in their specification process, to help ease their load and, at the same time, create specifications that provide your solutions an edge. You can even charge for these services for some clients, and perhaps credit back the cost should they select your solution.

2. Offer thorough supporting information on your quotes, leveraging your marketing communications material where possible to reinforce your value proposition and overall corporate message.

3. When you receive the order from your client, send an acknowledgement with thanks, should the project involve engineering time or project management, keep in contact with steady communication with them on its progress.

4. Present a branded token of your appreciation after completion of a successful project, something of nominal value but meaningful (and creative, if possible).


5.Stihl GB the leading power tool business for forestry and horticulture have branded fleeces, jackets, overalls and safety hats are a common sight worn outside by staff, dealers and customers on building sites, parks and at country shows.

Make sure your representatives on exhibition stands wear clothing that present an image of visible and quality company attire.

6. Invite your customers to meet with you at trade shows, and employ other minimally intrusive ways to keep your brand in front of them on a timely basis.

7. Offer to create and share a success story – often client companies need content for in house newsletters and magazines, and if you have provided them something that helps fulfil a corporate mission (like sustainability, continuous improvement, new protocols etc.) they will be happy to promote the success internally.

8.Offer complimentary periodic maintenance inspections of your installed equipment, perhaps in conjunction with other service visits you are making to the area to cut down on costs; this provides an opportunity to generate revenue through spare parts and accessories as well as identify other opportunities to provide solutions to the account.

9. Act as a trusted advisor and Offer to do a consultative review of the customer’s operations and where your solutions may help, along with an analysis of the payback and ROI on such solutions building credibility from providing a successful first solution).

10.And, perhaps the most common solution – develop a blog, newsletter, company magazine, or other method of communicating more regularly with your clients even when they are not in the buying cycle, so that you are front-of-mind when they are.

Have you implemented or observed other practices for extending a brand presence at industrial accounts? Please leave a comment.

The Art of Christmas Window Dressing-Fortnam and Mason's , Piccadilly London Christmas Windows

Attracting customers to your store is a traditional discipline that retail has employed ever since the first shop window.

Fortnum’s designers have interpreted some of the masterpieces from the collection of the National Gallery in their Christmas window displays for this year.

Winter scenes, still lives, and views of Venice are represented, with subtle additions that remind us of the season’s special qualities.

The windows have the magical drawing power of a Children’s Toy Theatre – Do Pollock’s Toy Theatres still exist? The windows have an eye catching 3D effect.

As you scroll down and look at the photos remember that they are photos of models not the paintings. (I doubt you can take photos of the original paintings at the National Gallery in any case)


Even better why not go and see them in Piccadilly.

Click for Fortnum and Mason’s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related Link

 

West End Shop Windows  Advent - Christmas season 2011

http://fruitsofsuccesswithhugh.blogspot.com/2011/11/london-west-end-stores-christmas-lights.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

All Sales is a stage and one salesperson in their time plays many parts - Selling Styles

The rise of Selling 2.0 has meant that the use of communication media offered by the Internet such as email, social networking, twitter, conferencing and the like provides many more communication possibilities to the salesperson.

Yet beneath this ‘makeover’ of communication choices that selling has undergone, deep down the anatomy of professional salespeople has not changed much.

Google's home page logo recently reminded us that some 115 years ago a new kind of ray ( the X ray) was discovered by Wilhelm Rontgen. He produced the first X ray photograph of part of the human body - his wife's hand.

So let's study the 'anatomy '21st Century salesperson with a quasi X ray analysis and study the various parts.

Salespeople combine many roles and satisfy many needs. To understand your full responsibility you need to look at your job and from three different perspectives.


• Your customers’ perspective
• Your company’s
• Your own













The Customers’ perspective:


To be fully effective in opening, building, maintaining and servicing an account there are four different roles as a customer will expect to see demonstrated. Selling style is often a balance between building relationships and obtaining commitments from customers.


1. Overseer Part: ( Passive and reactive sales style likely to be low on building commitment and low on building relationships) This profile is likely to be expressed by being
Efficient
Well Organised
Keeps promises
Utilises resources

2. Diplomat Part: ( a more ‘political’ sales style high on building relationships but lower on getting commitment) This aspect is likely to be seen in action by a salesperson who


develops relationships
active listener
trustworthy
credible

3. Promoter Part ( Proactive sales style high on obtaining commitments low on building relationships) This style is likely to express skills in a salesperson who is


persuasive
confident
able to motivate
builds commitment
believes in their offer


The Professional Sales Consultant Part (4) is able to blend the Overseer, Promoter and Diplomat roles where they are best suited. You will need to spend most of your time in a sales consultant role as trusted advisor, need satisfier and problem solver.













There will be times when you need to use the other parts to carry out a particular role of the total sales function. The true professional has the sensitivity and flexibility to be able to utilise the right part at the right time for the right person.

But remember that you must always aim to move back into the full sales consultant role as soon as one of the others has served its purpose.

Your Company’s viewpoint:

If your customers are happy then your manager is likely to be happy also. But there are other roles you need to complete your responsibility to your own organisation:

These are if you like the aspects of the role which could be described as being a Professional Business Manager. There are three further parts to consider here.


Your Researcher Part
Obtains feedback information on
Market
Customers
Competitors
Public relations Officer
Projects:
Image of company
Network market
Network relationships

Planner Part
Organises:
The development of territory and accounts
Strategy in Place
Goals Task Prioritisation

( Slide of First choice ( out of top 5) of what buyers like in salespeople with whom they do business- from 2010 Buyers' Views of salespeople Click for free summary of the TACK Buyers' Views Research 2010 research.)

The final part of the jigsaw skeleton has to be your role as a responsible Self Manager. Your personal success depends largely on your own efforts. To ensure success you will need to be a:











Hard Worker Part
Effort and ability
Goal focused
Honest
Self directed

Optimist Part
Positive
Enthusiastic
Expect success
Relish challenges

Realist Part
Assess
Review
Do right tasks
Eliminate Weakness

The intermixing of the 'parts'- Hard worker, Optimist and Realist can be summed up as having the right mental attitude to the job of selling.

What the above shows is that to keep the complex and wonderful 'machine' that is your sales anatomy in good working order you need to keep it fit for purpose and revitalised.

You might find this link useful from to help you keep your sales anatomy in good working order.

Click for Tack's Interactive Course selector.

Hurry to Harrods - Peter Pan Themed Christmas Shop Windows

Click for Harrods.

Advantages of Brand extension and risks of line extension -National Geographic, Ferrari and Aston Martin’s Cygnet 1.

The shopping district of London’s West End is now in full flow. Its Christmas Season started several weeks ahead of the official Christian season ahead of Advent next Sunday.

The Christmas street lights of Oxford Street and Regent Street take premier position in the capital’s lights. This year Regent street promotes the Narnia films.

The crowds are out in force looking for Christmas gifts for friends and family. Opposite the flagship toy store Hamley’s in Regent Street are two relative new kids on the block that have now established a very strong presence in the West End scene.

Both are examples of brand extensions where their brand name is placed on a variety of goods and gifts which themselves have become impressive revenue streams for their organisations.

The iconic yellow-framed National Geographic magazine has extended its brand in a store selling branded toys, clothing plus a coffee shop.
Click for on line for National Geographic if you can’t get to Regents Street.
















Just a few street numbers from the National Geographic’s store is the Ferrari store.
Ferrari’s branded products are described by the Modena HQ based luxury car manufacturer as “solde trovati” –found money.





This revenue stream represents allegedly some £ 1 billion from their retail and licensing operations. The Regent Street store is one of thirty Ferrari operate.





Just to put this second ‘found money’ revenue stream into perspective the sales of Ferrari cars is £1.5 billion.


On sale in the shop was a wide array of licensed goods watches, bath robes, golfing towels, a laptop, trainers, phones etc. Ferrari red goes well at this time of the year when red is a Yule-tide colour.

No doubt they might come up with an adapted bathrobe with white cuffs for an upmarket Santa Claus outfit. Click for on line Ferrari store if you can’t get to the Regents Street Store.

Not to be outdone by the stores of the West End the Top stores of the Knightsbridge district such as Harvey Nichols and Harrods are disporting their Christmas campaigns.

Harrods shop windows have taken theme of Peter Pan with one incongruent exception. Aston Martin has a window display of their eco responsible Cygnet car.

With models such as the Vantage V8 emits 320 g of CO2 per km they will fall foul of EU regulations new emission standards due to come into force in 2012.

For average car emissions those who exceed 130 kg of CO2 per km will be levied fines. Hence the Cygnet is being introduced into the Aston Martin’s stable.Click for on line Aston Martin if you can’t get to Harrods.
During 2011 Aston plans to produce 2000 of these young chicks.

Ferrari is able to ‘dilute’ their poor CO2 emissions under the balancing contribution of the volume of smaller cars in their parent Fiat Automotive group.

Aston Martin as a single brand organisation and does not have such a strategic option.

Aston has neither the funds, time , core specialism or production capacity to manufacture their own economy car to meet the 2012 emissions deadline. It has therefore chosen to import and adapt Toyota’s IQ mini car.


The risk to Aston Martin is whether the sales of the Cygnet 1 line extensions could damage the Aston Martin brand image as an elite, high performance hand-made British icon. Time will tell.
Click for details of TACK International‘s Marketing for Business Professionals.