Was thinking about this today and thought I’d share…:) How come we don’t have a closed lost reason code that says “I fucked up” ? Our closed lost deal data is usually shit because we likely don’t even realize it was our fault and if we do, we wont often own our mistakes in the data like that. Unfortunately sales reps are often the reason we lost. Not trying to insult anyone - it’s just the truth. We didn’t - do great discovery - we talked more than we listened - we never crated urgency - didn’t help the champion create an effective business case for the CFO - didn’t multi-thread properly and never understood that Sally loved the competitor and was influential to others All of these things are fixable The first step is admitting this is true The second step is ensuing the process is right The third step is coaching on it. And if you are a CRO / sales leader and you aren’t coaching on it - then its your fault 🙂
It's generally difficult for people to look inward and turn the spotlight on themselves, it's just naturally human nature and learned behavior to attribute external sources.
For sure you are right - but doesnt change the facts of the data. We need to remember your point when we look at the data.
I’ll make sure to add a field named “Neil fu**ed up” asap. 😂
I f it up sometimes too :)
I gotta "yes, and" you on this. It would be amazing if candor was a CRM object and performance was measured through the lens of failure and learning. and every Closed/Lost deal has a little personal fuckup-ery mixed into it. Every lost deal, even the Ghosted, Bad Timing, and Lack of Budget can have a little lesson lurking. Deal Spotlights and Deal Retros, as an organizational cultural practice, should be the spaces to acknowledge this reality.
They can help for sure…. not everyone uses these and they are definitely not close to perfect
Because it is simply not in human nature and not how the human brain functions. Imagine how much better the world we live in would be if humans would admit and own their own mistakes.
