How to Keep Win-Loss Program Insights Fresh: Interview with Scott Varner

How to Ensure Your Win-Loss Program Continues to Deliver Fresh Insights

Scott Varner, Director of Program Delivery, Brady - Head of Client Success

Scott Varner has managed hundreds of win-loss analysis programs. In this session, he discusses the best ways to engage key stakeholders and adapt win-loss programs over time to keep them fresh and competitive.

Brady Tengberg, head of client success at Clozd, interviews Scott Varner about maintaining fresh insights in win-loss programs. Scott explains that while initial insights are exciting, they can become stale, leading clients to feel they're hearing the same information repeatedly. He identifies key warning signs of a stale program, such as lack of engagement from teams and repetitive decision drivers. Scott emphasizes the need for continuous learning and adaptation to remain competitive, likening it to quarterly earnings updates that reflect a company's awareness of market dynamics.

To keep insights fresh, Scott recommends:

• ​Aligning the program with business priorities
• ​Facilitating open-ended customer interviews
• ​Ensuring the program adapts to changes in the business landscape
• ​Segmenting data to uncover nuanced insights
• ​Regularly updating stakeholders

Scott also discusses the pros and cons of broadening the scope of win-loss programs. While expanding the focus can yield new insights, it’s crucial to maintain a real-time pulse on the business. He concludes by reminding viewers that competitors are always seeking insights about their business, emphasizing the need for ongoing vigilance and adaptation in a constantly evolving market.

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Q&A

Brady Tengberg: My name is Brady Tengberg. I'm the head of client success here at Clozd, and I'm here today with Scott Varner, who was one of our directors of program delivery. Scott, great to have you today.

Scott Varner: Great to be here.

Brady: Today we're going to talk a little bit about stale insights and how to keep a program fresh over time. Scott, you've been at Clozd for a long time. Tell us a little bit about your background here at Clozd.

Scott: I've been doing win-loss for four years. I've worked with dozens, approaching hundreds of different clients, many of which we've been working with the entire time I've been here. Companies doing win-loss for four years, continuously evolving, staying fresh.

Brady: One of the things that's interesting about your role is you started as a program manager, working directly with clients, and now you oversee a lot of different types of programs. You have a lot of context on how different programs operate.

Scott: Yeah.

Brady: In the last year and a half, I've heard from people that when they start their win-loss journey, everything is really fresh. You start to talk to your customers and get excited, but over time, people start to say, "We're starting to hear the same thing over and over again, and things aren't quite as fresh as they were before." Why is it important to have fresh insights in a win-loss program?

Scott: Why do companies do earnings calls every quarter? Stakeholders want answers about what's driving performance and whether you have awareness of the factors around you. If you're not continuously hungry to learn about your competitors, customers, and market, you're probably dying a slow death or unaware that others are innovating around you.

Brady: Especially for customers in saturated, mature markets, it's important to stay up-to-date. What are the typical warning signs that a program's insights are going stale?

Scott: The first warning sign is lack of engagement. If I'm running a win-loss program and teams aren't coming to me to ask questions, it might mean they don't have questions, or they're not in tune with you as a source of information. Another warning sign is when people say, "The headlines are the same." If decision drivers aren't changing, it may mean we're not paying close enough attention to the underlying themes.

Brady: As a program manager, how do you help keep insights fresh for your contacts?

Scott: I see myself as a facilitator and advisor. First, I facilitate questions to identify key business priorities and whether the win-loss program is mapped to those. Next, I review how we're measuring customer decisions and whether our system of measurement has evolved with the business. Finally, I ensure our interview guides allow for open-ended answers, giving customers room to explain the "why" behind their responses.

Brady: Many people treat customer interviews like rigid surveys. Your point about leaving room for customers to dictate the conversation helps avoid confirmation bias.

Scott: Yes. It's also important to consider who we're talking to. With enough interviews, we can segment data by persona, industry, or geography to uncover nuanced insights. Different stakeholders will ask different questions about the data, pushing us to think differently about the conversations we've had.

Brady: There's a law of averages—if you group everyone together, differences get muddled. Enterprise and SMB customers might have very different feedback, but if you aggregate, the answers might not seem that different.

Brady: If you were starting a win-loss program now, how would you design it to keep insights fresh?

Scott: Step one is plugging into the needs of the business. Start with visibility and buy-in from leaders or those who know what leaders want to hear. When we tap directly into the customer, we access the most powerful source of information. If we can provide leaders with insights relevant to their priorities, they'll ask follow-up questions and, most importantly, act on the insights. This ensures the program serves a purpose and remains aligned with strategic priorities.

Brady: Sometimes customers say they're not learning anything new, but haven't changed anything in their business. If you keep hearing the same feedback, have you shared it with someone who can act on it? It's important to drive change and then test how it lands with customers in the next round of interviews.

Scott: Yes, and it's important to do this continuously. For example, in a recent win-loss interview, a VP of global sales said she's careful with ROI claims because every vendor promises big savings, but business is complicated and many factors contribute to outcomes. One or two interviews aren't enough to confirm a strategy is working; you need ongoing, broad feedback.