Learn From Your Losses

We lose business. We get depressed. We get angry. These losses (and our negative reactions to them) are par for the course in sales but take heart: you can learn from your lows and bounce back with wisdom and resolve.

Here are a few simple ways to gain productive insights after a disappointment…

1. Ask for a debrief call (or at least an email).

See if you can schedule five minutes with the prospect to learn who they chose and why, any feedback on what was missing from your conversations, and why they didn’t decide to move forward with you. If they won’t agree to a call, send a few questions via email. Go into fact-finding mode to obtain information that will help you grow.

2. Have a postmortem meeting.

Gather with your team or set aside time for individual reflection. Looking back at your process, did you skip a step? Did you make any flawed assumptions? Where did you lose control? Were they really an ideal client for you to begin with? Create space to address these tough questions, even if it feels like you’re being hard on yourself; identify what you missed and what you can do differently.

3. Commit to one area of improvement.

Gather feedback from steps 1 and 2, then pick one action to be more vigilant and disciplined about going forward. Set a goal and stick to it every time you run through your sales process. Learn from your losses and do better next time.

Onward.
Tom

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