In
November 2015, the seemingly unbeatable heavyweight champion of the world,
Wladimir Klitschko – who had not lost in over eleven years – was dethroned by
upstart British challenger, Tyson Fury. Klitschko was the second
longest-reigning heavyweight champion in history, and second in the list of
most wins in title bouts. I think there are lessons to be learnt here about one
of the most powerful market and competitive intelligence approaches: win/loss
analysis; and so, too, does Dr
Steelhammer himself.
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| Image source: Reuters / Kai Pfaffenbach |
A short
while after the defeat, Klitschko wrote an article on his LinkedIn page –
always interesting reading from a man who holds a PhD, has many business
interests outside of boxing, and who has a brother active in Ukrainian politics
(former heavyweight champion, Vitali). “You
have the power to turn defeat into victory”, he said, before going on to
demonstrate how he has done that – and plans to again – through comprehensive
analysis of his defeats. At this point, it is worth quoting from the article at
length:
“I hadn’t lost since my fight
against Lamon Brewster in the spring of 2004. And after that, I analyzed my
errors thoroughly and worked constantly to improve myself. With great success,
too: I was an undefeated world champion for more than eleven years…
“…This is
exactly the same thing I tell businessmen and managers: A defeat is painful, oh
yes it is, but it is something you learn from and keep going. To become better.
Eleven years ago I turned everything that characterized me as a sportsperson
upside-down. My training, my diet and my team. This was the result of a
thorough analysis of my defeat: What mistakes did I make? What conclusions did
I arrive at?”
What he’s talking about here is win/loss analysis (well,
loss analysis really, but more on that shortly) and it should be undertaken in
business – and particularly business-to-business (B2B) environments – just as
it is in sport. It is the process of collecting and collating data on your wins
and your losses, to begin with, and then objectively analysing it all to learn
lessons from both: how can you correct your defeats? How can you capitalise on
and accentuate your victories? “I
scrutinise everything”, Klitschko said, and that process has to start with
a data collection effort consisting, broadly, of three stages:
Quantitative
data: start by actually tracking and keeping a record of all
of your bids, through a CRM (customer relationship management) system, to
understand your win rates, including those with particular customer
segments, within particular product categories, and against particular
competitors. Is there a customer segment that you do particularly well in? Is
there a competitor that you always lose to? Compare the price you quoted with
that of your competitors, monitor these over time, but don’t believe that it’s
always just about price.
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| Source: Ellen Naylor |
Qualitative data, internal: seek information about every
bid/sale from your own salespeople who were involved, and why they think they
won or lost. Map out the customer journey for the particular bid, and get as
much detail as you can from your side of the story. How was initial contact
made? Was it a repeat purchase? How were the customer’s requirements specified?
Do you know who you were competing with?
Qualitative data, external: seek information from the
customer or prospect themselves, as to why they chose you or rejected you, and
their general experience of doing business with your organisation. Seek as much
information as they will give you about the competitors involved and what they
did better than you. Ask them what your competitors quoted or, if they won’t
tell you, ask them to bracket it (e.g. 5-10% less). Depending on the nature of
the relationship, this can be done through quick online surveys (we’re all
perfectly used to answering customer satisfaction-type surveys) or through
brief telephone interviews.
Now that
all seems very onerous – it is, but it’s worth it. The power of this analysis,
over time, is unparalleled in the world of market and competitive intelligence,
in my opinion. And there will be some scepticism about putting this burden on
your customers or prospects, but that is quite easily overcome in my
experience: it all boils down to the fact that you are trying to be more
competitive, and offer them a better deal or service the next time you come to
bid – therein lies the incentive for them.
All of
this must be objective, and should be carried out by an independent analyst.
Firstly, because it is complex; but, secondly, because both your own salespeople
and your customers/prospects are more likely to be frank and honest with a
third party – especially under conditions of anonymity – than they are directly
with someone inside your own organisation.
So, back to Klitschko, and I have to ask if there appears
to be a problem with his approach? It seems as though he is only returning to
this analysis now that he has been beaten – he did it 11 years ago after the
Brewster defeat, and now he’s back to the drawing board again. And we see this
in all spheres of business, politics, and life all of the time: there’s no need
to analyse too hard when everything’s hunky-dory, and we only end up doing so
when something goes wrong. This conclusion could easily be arrived at when
watching the fight with Fury, as Klitshcko barely landed a glove on him – with a
punch connection of 22% against his career average of 33% – and struggled
noticeably to cope with Fury’s awkward style. Had he done his homework
properly?
And that also tells us something interesting about the
Champion-Challenger dynamic: Champions can get complacent – perhaps Klitschko
did so, by not doing his research – and the likes of Blockbuster and Kodak give
good examples from the business world.[1] We must
guard against complacency, and constant analysis of wins and losses helps with
that: even when you win, mistakes will be made, and an objective analysis will
help to correct them at the risk of them resulting in future losses.
Klitschko only seems to be returning to win/loss analysis
as a Challenger – being meticulous to identify where he can gain competitive
advantage next time he faces Fury. Indeed, win/loss analysis is even more
important for industry Challengers as they must pick their battles wisely
against bigger competitors. The essence of a successful Challenger is
attacking your large competitor where you can beat them – win/loss analysis
will shed an awful lot of light on this. It is also more important for SMEs,
where every win and loss is likely to have a greater proportional impact on the
business’s bottom-line.
Contactme if you’d like to talk about implementing a win/loss analysis programme in
your organisation. In the meantime, it’s well worth following Dr Klitschko on LinkedIn here, and I would also thoroughly recommend the documentary Klitschko about the brothers and their
lives in and out of the ring.
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