--- title: "Win-loss analysis for small teams: questions and template" description: "Run win-loss analysis without a research team: who to ask, eight questions, a one-page record and a tally that shows why you lose deals." url: "https://plainrival.com/blog/win-loss-analysis-template" published: 2026-10-08 author: "Dan" --- # Win-loss analysis for small teams: questions and template Run win-loss analysis without a research team: who to ask, eight questions, a one-page record and a tally that shows why you lose deals. Published 8 October 2026 · by Dan · Guides. Ask a salesperson why a deal was lost and the answer is "price". Ask the buyer and you hear something else. They didn't understand the onboarding, or a colleague had used the other product before, or your demo skipped the one feature they cared about. Win-loss analysis is the habit of asking the buyer. Large companies hire a research firm for it. A team of five can do it with a calendar link, eight questions and a spreadsheet. This guide shows how. ## Who to ask, and when Ask people who compared you with at least one other product and then decided. Include the deals you won. Winners tell you what to keep saying, and they are easier to reach. Send the request within two weeks of the decision. After a month people remember the outcome and forget the reasons. A short email works: > You recently chose between us and another product. Could I ask you eight questions about how you decided? It takes 15 minutes, and it isn't a sales call. Have someone other than the salesperson run the call. Buyers soften their answers for the person they turned down. ## Eight questions Ask them in this order. The early ones are easy and get people talking. 1. What made you start looking for a product like this? 2. Which products did you compare? 3. Who else took part in the decision? 4. What did the product have to do for you to say yes? 5. What did you like most about the one you chose? 6. What nearly stopped you from choosing it? 7. How did price and contract terms affect the decision? 8. What could the other side have done to change your mind? When someone answers "price", ask one more question. "Too expensive compared with what?" turns a one-word answer into something you can use. ## Record each interview on one page Write the record the same day, in the same fields every time. Quote the buyer's own words where you can. Here is one filled in for a made-up deal. **Win-loss record: Northwind Logistics** _A fictional deal. Lost to Acme CRM, interviewed 6 October 2026._ - **Outcome:** Lost. 12 seats, annual contract. - **Compared with:** Acme CRM and one spreadsheet-based process. - **Trigger:** A new sales lead joined and wanted pipeline reports by region. - **Main reason:** “Their mobile app meant our drivers' managers could update deals on the road.” - **Second reason:** Acme CRM was €4 cheaper per seat after its September price cut. - **What nearly changed it:** Our reporting. “Yours was better. If you had an app we would have signed.” - **Reason code:** Missing feature (mobile app) - **Follow-up:** Tell them when the mobile app ships. Add to the roadmap tally. ## Give every deal one reason code The record is for reading. The reason code is for counting. Pick one main reason per deal from a short fixed list: - Missing feature - Price or contract terms - Easier to set up or use - Trust (reviews, references, company size) - Timing or no decision - Sales process (slow replies, weak demo) Keep the list under eight codes. With more than that, every deal gets its own code and nothing adds up. ## Count after ten interviews One interview is a story. Ten are a pattern. Tally the reason codes for lost deals once you have ten, and again every quarter. This example uses twelve made-up losses. **Main reason for each of 12 lost deals** | | Value | | --- | --- | | Missing feature | 5 | | Easier to set up or use | 3 | | Price or contract terms | 2 | | Sales process | 1 | | Timing or no decision | 1 | Illustrative numbers. Your own tally will look different. In this tally, price is the main reason in two deals out of twelve. A missing feature decides five. A team that had only asked its salespeople would have spent the quarter discussing discounts. ## Turn the tally into three changes A tally that nobody acts on is a hobby. After each count, write down one change for each of these: - **Product.** The missing feature that cost the most deals goes to whoever owns the roadmap, with the quotes attached. - **Sales.** The objection buyers raised most gets a written answer in your [battlecard](https://plainrival.com/blog/battlecard-template). - **Website.** The thing winners liked most moves higher on your home page, in their words. ## Add what the competitor changed Buyers describe the competitor as it was on the day they compared. That picture goes out of date. In the record above, the second reason was a price cut from September. A team that had seen the cut the week it happened could have [prepared an answer](https://plainrival.com/blog/competitor-cuts-prices) before the deal was decided. Plainrival doesn't run win-loss interviews. It covers the other half. It checks your competitors' public pages once a day and sends [a weekly brief](https://plainrival.com/features/weekly-brief) of what changed, so you can match a reason from an interview to the date the competitor made its move. _Product preview: an illustrative example. Companies and changes are fictional._ ## Questions about win-loss analysis ### How many win-loss interviews do I need? Ten gives you a first pattern. Below that, treat every finding as a question to test in the next interviews. ### Should I interview won deals too? Yes. Winners tell you which claims worked, and those are the claims to repeat on your website and in sales calls. ### What if buyers don't reply? Ask within two weeks of the decision, promise 15 minutes and say it isn't a sales call. If they still don't reply, send the eight questions as a short form and accept shorter answers.