One of the most obvious indicators that you have an improvement opportunity is a lost customer. Whether it was a new prospect or a current customer, the news is devastating particular when you know they were in your strike zone. Lost business calls are not fun to do, or easy to do. But the CEO has to make that call. There is an unbelievably valuable learning opportunity about how your team and competitors executed. What you learn then can be leveraged to drive action steps internally to insure you don’t lose the next one. If you don’t make the call, you are likely not going to get better. If you make the call and struggle to get the desired information and insight, you are not likely going to get better.
In my first attempts to do a lost business call, I struggled to even get the call. As I got better at getting the calls, I had a lot of learn the hard way moments. Times when I pushed too hard, in the wrong direction, or asked a question incorrectly. Too many times the customer stopped wanting to help me, and starting looking for the end of the conversation. My success rate today in these kinds of calls is up over 90%. What follows is a step by step guideline that will help you have a successful call and be better able to leverage the details of the story to help your company get better.
Step 1 – Who Does the Call?
Step 2 – Assemble the Need To Know List
Step 3 – Get the Call
Step 4 – Do the Call
Step 5 – After the Call
Sign up to get the full Coaching Guide – Free
