5/22/2024-What “Closed-Lost” can do for you

A healthy balance of fear of failure and desire to succeed are important for all who strive to be in the TOP 10%. Don’t be afraid to lose; just fight harder next time.

If your compensation doesn’t change when you designate a deal as "closed lost," why aren’t you more willing to tick the box?

Think about marking an opp dead in your CRM as a motivating trigger, not a blemish. What can you learn from losing that deal? What can you do differently next time? …not just on that account, but on others too?

Losing deals is part of the sales life. Don’t focus on your "closing" percentage; instead, concentrate on learning from your losses that will help you win next time.

The "closed-lost" reasons that are listed in your CRM probably look like this:

> Fit: prospect doesn’t need your offering. (E.g. you don’t have a "flux capacitor.")
> Timing: you missed the cycle.
> Competition: you got beat. (ugh)
> Price?? (eeeech!)

NEVER mark price as the reason you lost – that’s a self-incriminating selection suggesting you didn’t effectively communicate value or differentiate your offering.

Losing must drive learning, and the best way to learn is to be honest and face the mirror.

You’ll get ’em next time.

You make the big bucks as a stud seller not only because of how you win but also because of what you do when you lose.

When you lose, very important things happen to you:
1. You get smarter. You learn about the buyers and the situation that informs how you play it the next time.

2. You get callouses…and from callouses, grit and determination grow. As does your desire to avoid losing. In other words, you learn how to fight.

3. You grow pride. "To hell with losing," you say. "I could have easily won that account." Great. With that kind of attitude, you will win next time.

Theories on human behavior suggest that positive actualization occurs when you are motivated by success. Yet for sellers, it’s almost as motivating to be spurred on not to lose. A healthy balance of fear of failure and desire to succeed are important for all who strive to be in the TOP 10%.

All sellers lose deals. So what?

The key is to keep learning and keep fighting.

And that’s what you’re gonna see in this Short watching two volleyball players who refuse to quit.

Their fight is epic…let it inspire you.