6 Ways to Overcome (and Win Back) Lost Sales Opportunities

Rebecca Matias

Losing a sales opportunity – no matter how long you’ve been in the business – is always a little dismaying, even for professional salespeople. However, one might say that there is a lot of good that comes out from a lost sale.

Sometimes losing a sale can be a great thing for your sales pipeline. From how we can use it as a barometer for our performance to how it can lead to more sales, you’ll have the best bounce back in no time!

Understand the Numbers Game

This is where you start pulling out the data from your CRM and your other feedback systems to find out how you can improve. The great thing about data is that it doesn’t lie and it should give you a clear indicator of where to focus on, and which prospects haven’t been fruitful towards your sales goals.

Also, don’t be in a rush, according to Implisit, it takes 84 days to convert a lead into an opportunity. So, you never know, the other leads that you’ve talked to three months ago should be ripe for the picking.

Call Your Prospect Again

This might sound like bad advice but it works.

Calling your prospect again is one of the best things that you can do because you will be able to find out directly from the prospect what went wrong and how you can do better in the future. Usually, B2B businesses have a team that deals with transactions of this sort and they will understand your professionalism and your drive.

Another reason why this is a good idea is that it also builds rapport and respect within the industry that you are in. You want to be able to make connections in sales!

Here are some tips for you to keep in mind:

• Make it clear that you are not trying to sell anything this time around
• Ask them to be honest with their assessment and be honest as well about your opinions
• Keep it short, friendly and cordial

Analyze What Went Down During the Transaction …With Your Team

In the world of professional sports, athletes usually sit down with their teams – other players and/or coaches – to review what went down in a game that was either a win or a loss. This is so that they constantly hone their skills for each game that comes by. There is a constant effort to make each play – good or bad – an opportunity for learning and growth.

Instead of just focusing on what you did wrong, you should instead try these other methods out:

• Sit down with your team – it isn’t just the closer who’s doing all the work and in complicated sales pipelines. You need to be able to sit down with everybody and find out what their thoughts are on making things better in the future, this includes everyone that was involved with the deal. This improves camaraderie and effaces development within the organization.
• Analyze the good and the bad – just because a deal was lost doesn’t mean that it was all bad from the get-go. You need to be able to identify what were the goods thing that transpired and how you could improve on those points.
• Don’t just analyze what happened when things go south – just like the picture of professional athletes in the dugout postgame, you need to still be able to provide feedback even when the outcome was a done deal.

This Is an Indicator That You Can Find Similar Deals

Here’s some great news: this particular lead profile that was lost has the propensity to buy your goods or services.

It’s time for you to start looking at other similar leads. If this particular organization was able to sit down with you and talk business, it just means that other organizations are willing to as well. Provided that you did your market segmentation well and you have profiles ABM-style, this should be an easy process.

Related: Outdated SaaS Sales Tactics and What You Should be Doing Instead

Stay Consistent

Good, bad, or even ugly, you have to stay consistent in setting your mind on the goals of your organization. You have to be able to make sure that you are always in the right mindset, whether it is a good day or a bad one.

Don’t Burn the Bridge

Sometimes organizations are not yet ready for the services that you will be able to provide for them and this is something you have to keep in mind. You can always revisit an old loss sale in the future, and the connections that you made in these deals could lead you to referrals if you keep it professional (remember our first point on giving them a call?)

As you can see, there is a lot of good that can come out of a botched deal, even though it is dismaying, to say the least. Proper feedback channels and pipeline systems can go a long way in turning even bad deals into a potential jumping board to better ones. You just have to stay focused.

Read the full article at Callbox - The Savvy Marketer