4 Ways Sales Leaders Use Buyer Feedback to Drive Growth

During a recent Clozd webinar, Josh Ellars—former Head of Marketing & Sales Enablement for OpenGov and Founder of Patri—shared his playbook for turning lost deals into scalable sales strategies.

‍

Josh Ellars
Head of Marketing & Sales Enablement, OpenGov
Founder, Patri

At the time of the webinar Josh was serving as Head of Marketing & Sales Enablement for OpenGov, the leader in budgeting and performance technology for the public sector. Josh is also the founder of Patri, which provides sales technology and services for winning more business with the public sector. Prior to OpenGov Josh spent 10+ years building high-growth state and local government sales teams for Decision Lens, Qualtrics, and Metalogix.

In response to the question, “What tips or best practices would you give to other sales leaders as it relates to win-loss analysis?” Josh shared the following insights:

For sales leaders, relying on assumptions or internal CRM data to understand why deals fall through is a massive blind spot. Establishing a formal win-loss analysis program provides the objective, third-party intelligence required to actually diagnose pipeline leaks and build highly targeted coaching plans for your account executives.

Here are four best practices for sales leaders looking to leverage direct buyer feedback to win more business.

Why should sales leaders rely on third-party buyer research?

Sales leaders must recognize that buyers are rarely completely honest with the reps who just tried to sell to them. Leveraging an objective third party to conduct buyer interviews is critical for capturing the unfiltered truth about your market positioning and sales execution.

Oftentimes, sales leaders fall into the trap of thinking they already have all the answers. They believe they have a firm grasp on the market, their prospects, the pain points, and how their solution stacks up. However, sales teams should not finalize their go-to-market strategies without first conducting objective research. Using a third-party partner diversifies your outreach and uncovers the gap between how you see your product and how the market actually perceives it.

How can sales teams turn buyer insights into revenue?

Gathering buyer intelligence is only the first step; sales leaders must commit to actively changing their processes based on the data. It does absolutely no good to glean insights from closed opportunities if you do not attach tangible actions to them.

Once you receive objective feedback from your market, you must be willing to accept the critique and immediately implement process changes—whether that means adjusting your pricing presentation, refining your competitive battlecards, or overhauling your product demos.

How does direct buyer feedback improve sales coaching?

Every salesperson is at a different stage of development, and buyer feedback allows managers to build highly personalized, data-backed coaching plans tailored to a rep's specific weaknesses.

For example, an interview with a lost prospect might reveal that a specific Account Executive lacked the skills to properly navigate the procurement process. Instead of a manager guessing why the deal stalled, they can approach the rep with objective data: "We learned from your prospect that the procurement and contracting stage was a bit loose. Let’s work on that." This shifts the dynamic of the conversation. It removes the "big brother" feeling of sales management and replaces it with collaborative development. It becomes: "We have this opportunity to learn directly from our prospects; let's work together to build a plan to master these specific skills."

Why is prospect feedback more effective than manager feedback?

The most effective training material you can provide to a sales team is the actual, unvarnished feedback coming directly from their buyers.

When an Account Executive hears why a deal went sideways straight from the prospect's mouth, it carries ten times the weight of a manager's internal critique. Buyer-backed data removes ego and emotion from sales coaching, allowing reps to clearly see their blind spots and actively buy into their own improvement.

To hear the full interview with Josh Ellars, watch or listen to the webinar: ACCESS WEBINAR

Looking to capture direct buyer feedback for your sales team?

‍Conducting post-decision interviews is the most effective way for sales leaders to train individual reps, improve execution, and gather deal-specific intelligence. Learn more about starting your interview program today.