We recently released a great new feature to HindSite, called the HindSite Sales Manager. It enables our customers to sell faster and smarter by delivering sales funnel tracking and analysis. Customers can see who’s a prospect (someone who hasn’t received an estimate) what outstanding estimates they have (and their value), and which opportunities were won or lost.
Essentially, it’s a field service sales CRM (customer relationship manager) for your business that’s tightly integrated with our field service software. Not only does it help you track your field service sales, but it also helps you seamlessly hand off new sales from your sales unit to your operations team.
But as we started to really analyze the solution, another thing became obvious: You can leverage the data to perform win/loss calls. Simply filter a list of losses and wins, take a look at the data, and perform your win/loss call.
Why perform a win/loss call? If you’re really interested in understanding why people buy from you and why they don’t, win/loss calls are essential. The concept is simple: Prepare a list of questions and then simply call the prospect or customer and ask them why they did or didn’t choose you.
Need a head start on some questions to ask? You’re in luck! Here are five of our favorite questions to ask in a win/loss call:
How did you hear about us?
During win/loss calls, I like to walk the buyer through the buying process. The first step is to learn how they heard about your business. Was it through a friend? An Internet search? A trade show? Angie’s List? Houzz? A door hanger? Direct mail? Social media?
It’s important to understand how prospects first find your company to determine which marketing practices work, and which don’t. If you find that you aren’t getting referrals - or that you aren’t selling to your referral prospects - you may want to consider running a referral program that rewards your current and prospective customers.
Did you consider other service providers? If yes, how did you arrive at a list of vendors?
I heard a great quote the other day: Don’t obsess about the competition, obsess about your customers. So true. But it’s also important to recognize your competitors and who you are commonly being evaluated against.
If you find that a prospect did consider other service providers, asking how they arrived at a vendor list can also help you understand where your buyers are going to find and evaluate competitors. Using that information, you may uncover additional websites, trade shows or marketing tactics that can help you be found by more prospects.
What was the #1 criteria you based your decision on?
This might be the most important question you can ask. If you understand what criteria your buyers are using to make purchasing decisions, you can reinvent your marketing to highlight your capabilities.
That is, unless price is the primary criteria people are using to judge your business. You never want to compete solely on price. If you become a commodity, it’ll be a mad rush to the bottom. If calls frequently cite price as the #1 criteria, you may want to examine how you’ve proven the value of your service. It’s very easy to differentiate on value, but hard to differentiate on price.
For example, if you’re performing commercial lawn maintenance services, try to find things you do that no one else can do. It can be as simple as sending a photo of problem areas after a service. Whatever it is, find examples of ways you prove the value of your service.
Did you talk to anyone about our services? What did they tell you?
According to our 2016 Green Industry Benchmark Report and our 2016 Snow Industry Benchmark Report, word of mouth is the driving force behind most green industry sales. Which probably isn’t dissimilar to other field service businesses.
So it’s important to ask not only if they heard about you from a friend, but also what that friend told them about your business. This is great fodder for your marketing messaging, too. Try to use words that buyers use in your messaging to attract similar buyers.
What was your experience with our team like?
You want the prospect experience to be flawless during the sales process. So be sure to ask what the experience with your team was like.
A mistake many businesses make during the win/loss call is asking specifically about the sales rep. Don’t limit your question to include just feedback on your sales rep. If a prospect’s initial phone call with your office was negative or, worse yet, you failed to answer the phone or return a call, you want to uncover that fact in your win/loss call.
Win/loss calls can really help you discover information about your business that can improve your marketing and sales. Want information on how your customers feel about your business? Then you need to conduct customer satisfaction surveys. Learn how to do just that in our free eBook, Measuring Customer Satisfaction: A Guide for Service Businesses.
