Tips, Tricks & Best Practices

gotmike
Top Contributor

My Deal is Dead... Now What?

SOLVE

So let's say I have a deal, it's linked to a contact and a company. I send a proposal, we negotiate, the deal falls through. I move it to closed-lost.

 

Okay, NOW WHAT?

 

Just b/c they didn't buy THAT ONE TIME, doesn't mean they won't buy AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE!

 

Also, its likely that there is a different "level" of qualification here beyond just MQL vs SQL vs Opportunity. I get that if they fall off before I send a proposal they may stay SQL, or if they don't really need a proposal then they may stay MQL.

 

But at any point they can be QUALIFIED but NOT READY YET.

 

So in my mind, the DEAL should go to Closed-Lost.

 

But how are other people using HubSpot CRM as a good way to make sure these CONTACTS and COMPANIES get the nurturing they require to eventually come back with a NEW DEAL in the future, hopefully that one going to Closed-Won?

 

I have thought about creating another pipeline for "Closed Lost Nurturing" and putting highly-qualified folks there. I could also just use filtered lists based on lifecycle stage.

 

Hoping to hear some great ideas about how others are dealing with this...

 

FYI - This is kindof a follow-on to a prior post I had about the early stages of lead curation and prospecting, just at the other end of the spectrum. (https://community.hubspot.com/t5/Tips-Tricks-Best-Practices/How-are-people-managing-outreach-activit...)

 

 

1 Accepted solution
karstenkoehler
Solution
Hall of Famer | Partner
Hall of Famer | Partner

My Deal is Dead... Now What?

SOLVE

Hi @gotmike,

 

This comes down to personal preference, there are points to be made for bumping back the Lifecycle stage of such contacts and companies to SQL and for keeping them in the Opportunity stage. I'm not a fan of resetting Lifecycle stage, as it messes with reporting, but again, other people prefer this.

 

In any case, if other properties are well-maintained, it should be easy to flag these contacts to be nurtured by marketing or to be followed-up with by sales at a later stage.

 

For example, if a closed lost reason is documented (as dropdown select, not free text), this can be used by marketing for specific closed lost nurturing, depending on each reason. Marketing would enroll contacts where the closed lost reason is known and where there isn't a won deal.

 

Alternatively, sales could specifically mark contacts to go back into marketing nurturing by checking a custom property.

 

Lastly, Sales Hub offers great tools for sales follow-up. You could create a closed lost sequence for different closed lost reasons. These emails would not be sent in the short succession that sequence emails are usually sent with. They'd be spaced out over months or years, depending on the reasons and should include tasks for follow-up and research.

 

What the exaction combination of these features should look like, depends on the sales process and the quality of sales and marketing alignment.

 

Hope this helps!

Karsten Köhler
HubSpot Freelancer | RevOps & CRM Consultant | Community Hall of Famer

Beratungstermin mit Karsten vereinbaren

 

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1 Reply 1
karstenkoehler
Solution
Hall of Famer | Partner
Hall of Famer | Partner

My Deal is Dead... Now What?

SOLVE

Hi @gotmike,

 

This comes down to personal preference, there are points to be made for bumping back the Lifecycle stage of such contacts and companies to SQL and for keeping them in the Opportunity stage. I'm not a fan of resetting Lifecycle stage, as it messes with reporting, but again, other people prefer this.

 

In any case, if other properties are well-maintained, it should be easy to flag these contacts to be nurtured by marketing or to be followed-up with by sales at a later stage.

 

For example, if a closed lost reason is documented (as dropdown select, not free text), this can be used by marketing for specific closed lost nurturing, depending on each reason. Marketing would enroll contacts where the closed lost reason is known and where there isn't a won deal.

 

Alternatively, sales could specifically mark contacts to go back into marketing nurturing by checking a custom property.

 

Lastly, Sales Hub offers great tools for sales follow-up. You could create a closed lost sequence for different closed lost reasons. These emails would not be sent in the short succession that sequence emails are usually sent with. They'd be spaced out over months or years, depending on the reasons and should include tasks for follow-up and research.

 

What the exaction combination of these features should look like, depends on the sales process and the quality of sales and marketing alignment.

 

Hope this helps!

Karsten Köhler
HubSpot Freelancer | RevOps & CRM Consultant | Community Hall of Famer

Beratungstermin mit Karsten vereinbaren

 

Did my post help answer your query? Help the community by marking it as a solution.