Selecting Buyers for Post-Decision Interviews

One of the most important tasks you will encounter during the process of setting up a formal win-loss analysis program is determining who you will interview and getting their contact information. It sounds easy, right?

Many program sponsors think so at first, but they quickly find that recruiting the right number and mix of interviewees is an uphill battle. In our experience partnering with enterprise organizations, preparing lists of interview contacts is consistently the biggest bottleneck to the execution of a feedback program. Internal departmental red tape, insufficient CRM data, and a lack of shared understanding can all pose massive challenges.

Despite this, investing time into curating a solid interviewee list pays immediate dividends. The people you interview are arguably more important than the questions you ask or the person conducting the interviews. Here is how to select the right buyers for your post-decision interviews.

Step 1: Clarify your learning objectives

Before going to your CRM to pull a list of accounts, take a step back and consider why you are conducting this program in the first place.

The overarching question you are trying to answer is “why do we win and lose?”, but the most effective programs are much more targeted. Some specific questions to consider are:

• Why are we winning and losing against a specific competitor?
• Why are we winning with companies in a specific vertical or geography?
• Why are we winning small deals, but failing to close enterprise deals?

Once you have a clear picture of the specific strategic questions you are trying to answer, filtering your CRM data becomes much easier.

Step 2: Determine which buyers to target

Now that you have a clear picture of what you want to know, the next step is determining which sample of your customer base is best equipped to provide you with the information you need.

Here are the variables you must consider when building your list:

Pipeline Volume and Deal AgeIf you have 1,000 deals come through your pipeline every quarter, randomly interviewing 20 deals won’t accurately represent your pipeline. Instead, target a specific sub-segment of those deals. Likewise, it is best not to interview buyers from deals that closed more than 3-4 months prior to the anticipated interview date, as their memory of the evaluation process will have faded.

Evaluating Wins, Losses, or ChurnThis question relates directly to your learning objectives. Ultimately, the mix of buyers you target depends on whether your organization is currently more concerned with improving top-of-funnel win rates or reducing post-sale churn rates.

Blind vs. Non-Blind InterviewsThere are pros and cons to each approach. Blind interviews (where the buyer does not know which vendor is sponsoring the research) typically provide highly objective competitive insights, whereas non-blind interviews are more targeted and generate concrete feedback about your specific sales process. For more on this topic, read our guide on blind vs. non-blind interviews.

Factoring in Participation RatesInterview participation rates will vary by industry, job title, and transaction size. Although participation rates vary widely, some general baseline guidelines are:

• Blind Interviews: 5% - 15% participation
• Non-Blind Wins: 30% - 40% participation
• Non-Blind Losses: 20% - 30% participation
• Churned Accounts: 25% - 35% participation

With these figures in mind, it is a strict rule of thumb to collect 3x to 5x as many names from your CRM as you will actually need. You can then prioritize those names according to which deals you believe will offer the most strategic insight.

Step 3: Coordinate internally to approve the list

The nuts and bolts of pulling a list from Salesforce or HubSpot usually isn't very hard. The challenge comes in navigating the roadblocks to getting the necessary permissions to actually contact those buyers.

The sales organization can be your biggest ally or your biggest detractor. If you have the sales team on your side, you will be on the fast track to execution. The last thing you want is to start conducting interviews and immediately get a flood of angry emails from sales reps asking why you are talking to their accounts without their knowledge.

When communicating with sales leadership, be proactive. Draft an email explaining that you are looking to conduct informational interviews to understand the core reasons deals are won or lost. Emphasize that rigorous feedback programs frequently drive at least a 10% improvement in sales win rates.

A Warning on Veto Power:When you send this communication, be incredibly careful not to give sales reps too much license to remove names from the list. Salespeople will naturally try to veto deals that went poorly or that might paint their execution in an unfavorable light.

If these concerns come up, reassure them that this program is not a performance witch-hunt. You might add a line saying, “We have pulled a list of names that contains a few of your recent deals. If there are any deals that are secretly still in process despite being marked closed, you have until Friday to let us know.” This approach allows them to remove active deals without giving them the power to hide their losses.

Lead with the benefits, and continually push the message that the program is meant to help the entire organization win more sales.

More Best Practices

For a comprehensive guide to best practices, templates, and strategies for building your program, download our free guide: The Definitive Win-Loss Analysis Playbook.

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