When a prospect becomes an SQL the BDR is responsible for creating a deal in HubSpot. This means all deals won and lost live in HubSpot. Think about it like this: Apollo is for all outbound activity and Hubspot is where outbound prospects go when we determine there is an opportunity. That said, you will be searching for closed/lost accounts in HubSpot.
What is a Closed/Lost? A closed/lost is an account that became a deal at some point. This deal could be anywhere in the sales cycle. On one hand, it could be an SQL that requested a demo, never showed up, and we never head back from them. On the other hand, it could be a deal that went through 5 meetings, went to the contract stage, was at the finish line, but never closed. At the end of the day, closed/losts show some sign of intention and fit, but never sign up with us.
On the other hand, a Closed/Win goes through our sales cycle and becomes a Paystand customer.
Our goal here is to find closed/lost deals with who we want to re-engage. This takes vetting because these are warm leads.
First, we want to create a list of potential CL accounts to go after and find out why they went CL. The majority of this research is done by viewing the CL account in Hubspot and reviewing all the old emails and interactions between the AE and prospect. Sometimes AEs will leave notes that can shed light here as well. You can always reach out to the AE to get their input.
Once we have this information, we can reach out thoughtfully. Let's talk about how these steps are done in practice.
Create a CL list in HubSpot
- Hover over the Sales tab and click on “deals”
- This page has all the deals in Paystand's history. At the time of writing this, around 7k. We want to use filters to narrow this number down.
- Click on the “More Filters” button near the top of the screen.
- Key filters to use:
- Accounting/ERP/SOR Software
- This one is huge. You only want to find deals from the team you are on. Here you will select NetSuite or Sage Intacct
- Closed Lost Reason
- Timing
- The timing wasn’t right, could be for any reason. Great filter to use.
- Lost Momentum
- Similar to timing. Usually, we lose track of these people in between meetings.
- Price
- We were too expensive. Always good to revisit these in case the company has grown or would like to re-negotiate.
- Authority
- A DM Blocked the deal, maybe they are gone. Maybe their mind can be changed.
- Timing
- SAL
- Weeds out SQLs that the AE didn’t SAL.
- Look for SQLs that never showed to the first demo.
- Closed Lost Date
- Use this to create a range where you want to find CL accounts.
- You can look for recent CLs, CLs during the holidays, Old CLs, etc.
- Accounting/ERP/SOR Software
Once you have created a list, save it for later use. Click “Save View” on the top right-hand corner of the page. A message will pop up, click the “Save as new” link. Name the list and make it private to yourself.
Click into a deal. Review the interactions between the prospect and AE. Review the AEs notes. Information you want to find:
- Who the AE was and who they met with from the CL account
- Why the deal didn’t close
- What were the prospect's pain points
- How can we address those pain points
Once we’ve qualified the CL, and decided to reach out to them, we will put them in a closed lost sequence. Customize the first email based on the information we uncovered in HubSpot.
Example Template:
