Sellers are asked why they lost a deal all the time. Their answer is usually price. Buyers, when you actually ask them, tell a different story: fit, confidence, timing, or a competitor who understood their problem better.
Start small
Pick five recent decisions, a mix of wins and losses. Ask for 20 minutes with the buyer, ideally led by someone other than the seller who worked the deal. People are more candid with a neutral party.
Ask open questions
- What problem were you trying to solve, and why then?
- Who else did you consider?
- What made the final decision easy or hard?
- What almost changed your mind?
Look for patterns
After five to ten interviews, themes appear. You might learn that buyers loved your team but doubted your implementation plan, or that a competitor consistently wins on speed. Those insights feed directly into positioning, value props, and your sales process.
Make it a habit
Run a handful of interviews every quarter and share what you learn with sales, marketing, and delivery. It is one of the cheapest sources of competitive intelligence you will ever find.
We start by understanding where revenue is stuck, then scope the work to fit.
