The playbook
Deal Loss Analysis: Worked Examples
The following deal loss analysis examples illustrate how to move from an observed problem to a practical decision. They are hypothetical operating scenarios, not customer results or performance benchmarks. The central question is whether the work helps improve losses with useful documented reasons without losing the context needed to judge it.
Put the task in context
Ask what prevented the decision and retain the buyer's actual explanation where available. Separate confirmed reasons from the seller's inference. Review recurring problems in fit, timing, trust, scope, and delivery rather than collapsing everything into price.
Example 1: establish a usable starting point
A team begins working on deal loss analysis but cannot consistently describe deal and reason for the same item. The immediate task is record a consistent reason supported by the conversation. The team records the current state, identifies the source of each value, and resolves conflicting information before making a broader change.
The useful output is a customer or opportunity record that another person can interpret. This example does not require assuming an uplift. Success at this stage means the next decision can be made using a shared set of facts, with missing information explicitly identified.
Example 2: correct a specific failure
In a second situation, the team observes using a generic price reason for every lost deal. It proposes the correction: ask what specifically prevented the decision and retain uncertainty. Before applying that correction everywhere, the owner checks whether the same cause is present in other affected items. A common symptom alone does not prove that all items need the same repair.
| Decision | Illustrative reasoning |
|---|---|
| Observation | Using a generic price reason for every lost deal |
| Likely correction | Ask what specifically prevented the decision and retain uncertainty |
| Verification task | Separate fit timing competition and delivery concerns |
| Result to inspect | Review patterns by source offer and segment |
After the change, the owner repeats the relevant task and records what happened. If the condition remains, the team returns to the evidence rather than declaring the process complete. The example illustrates a repair cycle; it does not claim a particular commercial result.
Example 3: extend a process after it works
A third team already has reliable records for a small scope and wants to expand. It compares the next group with the first: are deal, reason, evidence defined in the same way, and does the intended outcome remain losses with useful documented reasons? Differences are written down before the earlier process is reused.
Expansion is appropriate when the assumptions still hold and an owner can review exceptions. Where the new group has different needs, the team adapts the process and tests again. Reusing the structure is useful; reusing a conclusion without checking its conditions is much less reliable.
Apply the examples to your own work
- Write the current problem in observable terms using deal.
- Choose which of the three examples matches the stage of the work.
- Complete this action first: record a consistent reason supported by the conversation.
- Keep the resulting evidence and review losses with useful documented reasons on a consistent basis.
Review a small sample of underlying records before trusting a summary. Duplicates, stale close dates, and missing outcomes can make a dashboard misleading even when the calculation is correct. Correct the record-level cause.
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