The reason for a lost deal is usually written down as “price” and the case is closed. Yet a regular review of losses is the cheapest source of information on which product, which competitor and which sales step is costing you revenue.
1. Keep the reason list short and closed
Free text cannot be analysed. Prepare a fixed list of 6–8 reasons for reps to choose from:
- Price / insufficient budget
- Competitor chosen
- Project postponed or cancelled
- Product did not meet the need
- Delivery time not suitable
- Could not reach the decision maker
- No follow-up (the customer stopped responding)
If you add an “Other” option, read those records once a month and update the list; “Other” should stay below 10%.
2. Require three pieces of information when closing a loss
- Reason (from the list),
- Competitor (which company, if any),
- A short note (in the customer’s own words).
If this is not captured at the moment of loss, nobody remembers it a week later.
3. Ask the same four questions every month
| Question | What to look at | Possible action |
|---|---|---|
| What is the most common reason? | Reason distribution (count and value) | If “price” leads, review the discount policy and value story |
| Which competitor do we lose to? | Lost value by competitor | Comparison sheet, competitor-specific objection handling |
| At which stage do we lose? | Last stage of lost deals | Early losses → qualification issue; late losses → quote/negotiation issue |
| Who, which product? | Win rate by rep and product | Coaching, product packaging |
Look at value as well as count: a few large losses can matter more than many small ones.
4. “No follow-up” is the most valuable reason
Price and competitors are not always under your control, but unanswered quotes are a process problem. If this reason has a high share, apply the quote follow-up steps and estimate the revenue at stake with the Lost Quote Calculator.
In CRModular
Win and loss reasons (with categories) are defined under Settings → Win/Loss Reasons (Ayarlar → Kazan/Kaybet Nedenleri). When a deal is marked as lost, the reason, competitor and a note are recorded. The Win/Loss Analysis screen shows the win rate, reason distribution, the trend over time and results by competitor. For defining stages, see how to define sales pipeline stages. The application interface is currently in Turkish.