How AuditBoard Uses Customer Feedback to Refine Strategy and Drive Revenue

How AuditBoard Uses Customer Feedback to Refine Strategy and Drive Revenue

Interview with Matt Nelson, Vice President of Product Marketing

Matt Nelson discusses how AuditBoard combined win-loss data with CRM data to understand why deals were won or lost, identify areas for improvement, and transform weaknesses into strengths. The conversation, led by Scott Varner from Clozd, explores AuditBoard's approach to building a successful win-loss program and the impact of customer feedback on company strategy.

The Importance of Win-Loss Analysis

AuditBoard, a global solution for audit, risk, and compliance, prioritized win-loss analysis as part of its customer-obsessed culture. The initiative aimed to understand why customers chose or did not choose AuditBoard, with interest coming from multiple departments: product, sales, and marketing. The first step was to establish a baseline for why deals were won or lost and to build an organic relationship with win-loss insights across all levels of the company.

Cross-Functional Engagement

Interest in the win-loss program came from various parts of the business:

• ​Product team: Wanted to identify and prioritize feature gaps.
• ​Sales team: Sought to improve the sales process and cycle.
• ​Marketing team: Focused on platform positioning and enablement.

AuditBoard quickly built a cross-functional program by ensuring executives saw immediate value. Before presenting findings to the executive team, insights were previewed with leaders from sales, product, and other departments to foster partnership and momentum for action.

Sharing Insights and Driving Action

AuditBoard shared interview insights widely within the organization, often via Slack, enabling leaders at all levels to take action based on the findings. This viral approach allowed the program to scale and encouraged organic adoption of win-loss insights.

Key Insights and Actions

One of the first major insights was the importance of demonstrating value and ROI, which was a critical driver for deal selection. AuditBoard shifted from a product-centric to a solution-centric sales narrative, developed a value framework, and implemented several initiatives:

• ​Built a value realization team
• ​Created a value calculator
• ​Changed marketing campaigns and positioning
• ​Conducted a total economic impact report

These actions led to measurable improvements in win rates, with data showing a direct correlation between focusing on value/ROI and increased success in deals.

Ongoing Change and Flexibility

AuditBoard balanced a focused approach with flexibility to address new opportunities or challenges as they arose. By prioritizing a small number of key issues, the company could remain agile and responsive to emerging needs, such as new competitors or shifts in market dynamics.

Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Data

AuditBoard combined qualitative win-loss interviews with quantitative CRM data to gain a comprehensive view of the sales cycle. This dual approach provided both high-level trends and detailed, actionable insights. Reporting always included both data sources to ensure findings were representative and specific.

Surprises and Insights

While surprises became less frequent as more data was collected, the program provided early warnings of potential issues or opportunities. A significant realization was that AuditBoard often lost deals not to competitors, but to "no decision"—highlighting the need to address inertia or lack of urgency among prospects.

Engaging All Levels of the Organization

AuditBoard tailored insights for different audiences, ensuring relevance for executives, product teams, and other stakeholders. This approach fostered engagement and ownership across the company, supporting a culture of learning and continuous improvement.