Tips, Tricks & Best Practices

BWeil13
Member

Re-Opening Closed Lost Deals

SOLVE

In our business, we have very cyclical timelines for our sales process. If a deal does not go through our pipeline within the determined amount of time (ie X date), we move them to Closed Lost. However, sometimes our closed lost deals reapply and indicate a renewed interest. This can be even a year later that they renew their interest...it's not a small product they are buying so the timelines are pretty long.

 

My question is: should we reopen the deal, or create a new deal? If we reopen the deal, I am concerned about data/reporting issues. If we create a new deal, I am concerned about junking up our pipeline with too many deals for the same customer/product.

 

What are some best practices, tips, etc. for this issue?

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karstenkoehler
Solution
Hall of Famer | Partner
Hall of Famer | Partner

Re-Opening Closed Lost Deals

SOLVE

Hi @BWeil13,

 

Eventually this comes down to the question for how long you'd consider a deal dormant and from which point on it's closed lost. If you have long sales cycles and the typical closed lost reason is 'Customer didn't move forward', then maybe it's time to adjust your tolerance for inactivity.

 

If you however think that you're closing deals for a good reason, I would not reopen them. If it's closed lost, it's closed lost. In cannot be un-closed-lost the same way you can't un-lose a game. In that case you would create a new deal and maybe use a custom deal property to label it as a returning opportunity.

 

Best regards!

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

Beratungstermin mit Karsten vereinbaren

 

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2 Replies 2
karstenkoehler
Solution
Hall of Famer | Partner
Hall of Famer | Partner

Re-Opening Closed Lost Deals

SOLVE

Hi @BWeil13,

 

Eventually this comes down to the question for how long you'd consider a deal dormant and from which point on it's closed lost. If you have long sales cycles and the typical closed lost reason is 'Customer didn't move forward', then maybe it's time to adjust your tolerance for inactivity.

 

If you however think that you're closing deals for a good reason, I would not reopen them. If it's closed lost, it's closed lost. In cannot be un-closed-lost the same way you can't un-lose a game. In that case you would create a new deal and maybe use a custom deal property to label it as a returning opportunity.

 

Best regards!

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.

Malhadrami
Member

Re-Opening Closed Lost Deals

SOLVE

Hi Karsten,

 

Thank you for your helpful indications here!

 

I was wondering, what will the Original Source of the newly created deal be in this case?

 

Best,

Mohammad