Closed Won
Table of Contents
Throughout the sales process, there are various stages that a prospect will go through before they become a paying customer. Starting with prospecting, the sales funnel narrows as prospects move through each stage until they reach the final closing stage. At the end of the sales funnel, you will need to denote whether you won or lost the deal in your CRM.
In Salesforce and other CRMs, “Closed Won” is the term used for successfully closing a deal with a prospect. This means that they have agreed to purchase your product or service and are now considered a customer.
What Is Closed Won in Sales?
“Closed won” is the term used in sales to describe a deal that is fully complete. This could refer to new customer acquisition or upselling an existing customer.
In either case, closed won deals represent revenue for the company. The term is often used in contrast to “closed lost“, which refers to deals that were not successfully closed.
While every salesperson wants to close as many deals as possible, not every deal can be won. Sales is a numbers game, and closed won deals are the ones that contribute to revenue growth.
Synonyms
- Closed Deal: to finish a deal; to settle an agreement.
- Closed Sale: a completed sale; a transaction in which goods or services have been exchanged for money.
- Deal Closing: the final negotiation stage; the process of completing a deal.
Key Metrics for Closed Won Deals
Let’s take a look at some of the key metrics that you should track for closed won deals:
Deal Conversion Rate
Your deal conversion rate is the percentage of deals that move from one stage to the next and eventually get closed.
While there’s no magic number for what a good deal conversion rate is, most businesses aim for a rate of 2-5%. If you’re falling below this range, it could indicate that your sales process is too long or that you’re not qualifying your leads properly.
Average Sales Cycle
The average sales cycle is the length of time, on average, that it takes for a salesperson to successfully close a deal.
This metric can help salespeople identify inefficiencies in the sales process and optimize resources. If the average sales cycle is excessively long, it may indicate that the sales team is not following up with leads promptly. Alternatively, if the average sales cycle is unusually short, it could suggest that the sales team is not thoroughly evaluating prospective customers.
Quota Attainment
When tracking sales KPIs, quota attainment is one of the most important metrics to pay attention to. Sales management uses this metric to measure how close the sales team is to achieving their monthly, quarterly, or annual sales goals.
This metric is important because it provides visibility into whether the sales team is on track to hit their targets. If quota attainment is low, it could indicate that the team needs more support or that the quotas are unrealistic.
Win Rate
The win rate is the percentage of deals that are closed won. This metric is important because it provides insight into the sales team’s success rate.
A high win rate indicates that the team is effective at converting leads into customers, while a low win rate may indicate that there is room for improvement. Several factors can affect the win rate, including the quality of the leads, the size of the deals, and the skills of the sales team.
Average Deal Size
Sales Ops uses this metric to determine how much revenue the sales team generates per closed deal, and it can be a useful benchmark for comparing performance over time.
Deal size is largely determined by the product or service being sold and complex pricing models, but it can also be affected by the skills of the salespeople and the quality of the leads.
What Sales Teams Can Learn from Closed Won Data
Sales teams can learn a lot from analyzing their customer data. By understanding which deals were successfully closed, and why, sales teams can adjust their strategies to close more deals in the future.
Closed won data can also help sales teams identify patterns and trends, such as common objections or challenges that occur during the sales process. By understanding these patterns, sales teams can be better prepared to overcome challenges and close more deals.
Analyzing closed won data helps sales teams discover new growth opportunities. For example, if a sales team notices that they are closing a higher percentage of deals in a certain industry, they may decide to focus more of their attention on that industry in the future.
How to Close a Deal
Closing a deal takes more than just a quick pitch and a firm handshake. It requires careful planning, an understanding of the customer’s needs, and the ability to build trust.
Perhaps most importantly, it requires the ability to listen. Active listening allows salespeople to pick up on cues that can help them tailor their pitch and overcome objections. It also shows the customer that you’re truly invested in finding a solution that meets their needs.
With these things in mind, here are a few tips for closing a deal:
- Don’t rush into things. When salespeople take the time to build relationships and understand their customers, they’re more likely to close the deal.
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Asking questions shows interest in finding a solution that meets the customer’s needs.
- Be prepared to overcome objections. Anticipating objections ahead of time can help salespeople defuse them before they become a problem.
- Be conversational. A friendly, conversational tone helps build rapport and makes it more likely that the customer will give a salesperson their business.
- Only close clients that need the product or service. Pressure tactics may work in the short term, but they’ll only damage relationships in the long run.
People Also Ask
What are the 3 forms of closing a deal?
Most deals are closed using one of three methods: the upfront sale, the delayed sale, or the subscription sale. The upfront sale is the most common type of deal, and it involves closing the deal as soon as the product or service is purchased.
The delayed sale is less common, and it involves delaying payment until after the product or service has been used. The subscription sale is the least common type of deal, and it involves making regular payments over a period of time.
What is a closed won opportunity in Salesforce?
In Salesforce, a closed-won opportunity is an opportunity that has been won by the sales team and is no longer active. This usually happens when the customer has signed a contract or made a purchase. Once an opportunity is closed-won, it cannot be reopened.
However, Salesforce allows users to create custom fields and statuses for opportunities, so it is possible to create a “closed lost” status for opportunities that were not successfully won. This can be useful for tracking which sales strategies are effective and which need to be improved.
How do you close a deal effectively?
Closing a deal effectively includes personalization, objection handling, active listening, and being conversational. It is also important to understand the customer’s needs, build trust, and show genuine interest in finding a solution that meets their needs.
Salespeople should only close deals with customers who actually need the product or service. This will help build long-term relationships and avoid any pressure tactics that could damage the relationship.
Why does closed won analysis tell you more than closed lost analysis?
As the names imply, closed won analysis looks at the deals that were successfully won by the sales team, while closed lost analysis looks at the deals that were not successfully won. Closed won analysis can give insight into the strategies that are working and which ones need to be improved. It can also help salespeople understand why they lost certain deals and how to avoid losing future deals.
Closed lost analysis can be useful for understanding which products or services are not selling well and why. But since lost deals are often due to factors beyond the sales team’s control and it isn’t always as easy to gather customer feedback, closed won analysis is generally more helpful for understanding how to improve sales.
