Dear SaaStr: What Can I Do To Increase My Win Rates?
Increasing win rates in sales is all about focus, discipline, and alignment across your team. Here’s how I’d approach it:
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Identify Your Top 3 Feature Gaps — And Just Start Closing Them: Start by figuring out why you’re losing deals. Are there specific features or capabilities your competitors have that you don’t? Closing just one or two of those gaps can make a big difference in win rates. Talk to your sales team and customers to pinpoint these gaps. Force them each week to force rank the gaps. If you don’t, you’ll get an endless stream of requests, based on why they won the very last deal. But everyone together can force rank the Top 3 feature gaps they want closed.
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Improve Sales Leadership: A great VP of Sales can increase close rates by 50% or more. If your win rates are low, it might be time to evaluate whether your sales leadership is strong enough. A great leader will coach the team, refine the pitch, and focus on the deals you can win. It really works. If your close rates haven’t improved at all under your head of sales, be honest about why.
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Be Hands-On During Trials: Are you losing deals during pilots or bake-offs? If your competitors are more hands-on during this phase—getting on calls, flying out to meet customers, or customizing solutions—you’ll lose. Make sure your team is fully engaged during trials and showing customers why you’re the best choice.
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Align Reps with the Right Deal Sizes: If your reps are chasing deals that are too big or too small for their experience level, your win rates will suffer. Match your reps to the deal sizes they’re best equipped to handle. This simple adjustment can have a big impact.
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Train on FUD and Competitive Advantages: Most sales teams aren’t great at handling Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) or articulating competitive advantages. Invest in training your team to address objections and position your product as the best solution. This is especially critical if you’re in a competitive market.
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Focus Marketing on Winning Segments: Look at where you’re already winning and double down. If you’re closing deals in a specific segment or vertical, focus your marketing and sales efforts there. It’s easier to win where you already have traction.
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Set Incremental Goals: Don’t try to go from a 7% win rate to 70% overnight. Focus on small, achievable improvements—like getting to 10% first. Even a small increase in win rates can have a massive impact on revenue. For example, going from 10% to 15% can drive 50% more growth.
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Leverage Customer Success Stories: Use case studies and testimonials from your happiest customers to build credibility and trust. Prospects want to see proof that you’ve solved similar problems for others.
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Review Lost Deals Religiously: Every lost deal is a learning opportunity. Conduct post-mortems to understand why you lost and what you could have done differently. Look for patterns and adjust your approach accordingly.
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Get Everyone Aligned: Winning more deals isn’t just about sales—it’s about the whole company. Marketing, product, and customer success all need to be aligned to support the sales team. Make sure everyone is working together to close gaps and win more deals.
The hardest part is often just getting into deals, so if you’re already getting leads and opportunities, you’re halfway there. Focus on these areas, and you’ll see your win rates start to climb. Step by step, you can turn a low win rate into a huge growth opportunity.
