Latest / Sales Leadership with Fexingo: Quota Carriers, Sales Managers, and Revenue Teams / How Sales Reps Can Stop Losing Deals to Competitors They Never See
Transcript
- Lucas: There's a sales problem that doesn't have a sexy name, but it probably costs your team more than any named competitor ever will. I'm calling it the shadow competitor. Luna: Shadow competitor — I like that. You mean the vendor you never even see coming? Lucas: Exactly. The one that isn't in your win-loss analysis because the buyer never mentions them. But they're there, and they're eating deals you thought you had locked. I want to walk through a real case from a mid-market SaaS company — let's call them CloudSure — that lost a seven-figure deal last year to a competitor that didn't show up in any of their notes. Luna: Seven figures and they didn't know who they lost to? How does that happen? Lucas: The rep had been working this enterprise prospect for eight months. Multiple demos, a proof of concept, references checked. The buyer went dark for three weeks, then sent a polite email saying they'd decided to go in a different direction. The rep marked it 'no decision' in the CRM. Luna: Classic. 'No decision' is the default when you don't know what happened. Lucas: Right. But the VP of Sales at CloudSure — sharp operator — she didn't accept that. She scheduled a 30-minute debrief with the buyer, no strings attached, just to understand their process. And the buyer says, 'Oh, we actually went with a vendor called DataSync. They came in through procurement halfway through our evaluation. We didn't include them in your process because it would have been awkward.' Luna: Ouch. So the competitor never got a fair fight because the rep never knew they were in the ring. Lucas: That's the shadow competitor. DataSync wasn't on CloudSure's radar. They weren't in the competitive battlecards. The rep couldn't position against them because she didn't know they existed. And the buyer — who's trying to be polite — doesn't want to bring up a secret vendor in a room full of people who've invested eight months. Luna: So how often does this actually happen? Is it a one-off or is it systemic? Lucas: There's a study from the Revenue Enablement Institute — and I'm paraphrasing — that found roughly one in five closed-lost deals in enterprise sales involve a competitor that the rep never identified during the sales cycle. That's twenty percent of your losses coming from a blind spot. Luna: Twenty percent is massive. If your team loses fifty deals a quarter, ten of them might be shadow competitors. Lucas: Exactly. And the thing is, those deals are usually the most winnable — because if you'd known the competitor was there, you could have built a strategy. The problem is you can't defend against a ghost. Luna: So what can a sales rep or a manager actually do about it? Because 'do better intelligence' sounds like a platitude. Lucas: It does. So let's be specific. The VP at CloudSure did two things. First, she ran a closed-lost audit — but not the usual spreadsheet review. She went through every lost deal from the previous quarter and flagged any deal where the 'lost to' field was empty, said 'no decision,' or said 'other.' She found fifteen deals in that bucket. Luna: Fifteen deals that could have been shadow competitors. Lucas: Right. Then she called the buyer on each of those fifteen deals — not to re-sell, just a genuine post-mortem. And in nine of those calls, she identified a competitor she hadn't known about. Nine out of fifteen. The rep had no idea. Luna: That's a sixty percent hit rate on uncovering hidden competitors. That's not a blind spot, that's a whole blind section. Lucas: It is. And the fix isn't complicated. It's a two-step process. Step one: every quarter, run a 'shadow competitor audit' on your closed-lost data. Flag any deal that doesn't name a specific competitor. Step two: the VP or a sales enablement person calls those buyers — not the rep, because there might be hard feelings — and asks two questions: 'Who else did you seriously consider?' and 'Was there any vendor we didn't talk about that influenced your decision?' Luna: Simple questions. But do buyers actually answer honestly? Lucas: In my experience, yes — if you're not selling. If you call within ninety days of the loss and lead with 'we're trying to get better, not trying to win you back,' most buyers will tell you. They want you to improve. They liked you. They just chose something else. Luna: So the insight goes back into the competitive intelligence. But what about the rep in the field? How does she prevent this in real time? Luna: You know, this is exactly the kind of practical insight that makes me wish we could share these conversations with more sales leaders. And honestly, if today's episode moved your thinking forward in some small way, there's a simple way to help us keep doing this — no pressure, no subscription, just a small gesture if it felt worth it. You can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's it. And we'll get right back to the tools. Lucas: Yeah, second that. Your support is what keeps this ad-free and focused on the stuff that actually works. So thank you. Now — back to the rep in the field. Lucas: So the rep's job is to create an environment where the buyer feels safe revealing other options. One tactic I love: early in the sales cycle, say something like 'I know you're probably looking at other solutions — that's smart. Can you share who else is in the mix so I can make sure we're addressing the right criteria?' Luna: That's a lot more effective than asking 'are you considering anyone else?' which sounds defensive. Lucas: Exactly. And if the buyer says 'we're not looking at anyone else,' that's a yellow flag. Almost every enterprise purchase involves multiple options. If they say none, they might not be telling you the truth — or they haven't figured out their own process yet. Either way, you need to probe further. Luna: I also think there's a data play here. You can look at your CRM and see patterns. If a certain buyer persona or industry tends to produce 'no decision' losses, that's a clue. Lucas: Great point. One company I worked with found that their closed-lost deals in the healthcare vertical were three times more likely to be marked 'no decision' than in any other vertical. They did the debrief calls and discovered a dominant shadow competitor — a vendor that specialized in healthcare compliance. It was a clear gap in their product, but they'd never known because the buyer never brought them up. Luna: So the vertical-specific shadow competitor can become a strategic priority. Either build a compliance feature or partner with one. Lucas: Bingo. And that's where the sales leader comes in. The shadow competitor audit isn't just for the rep. It's a strategic signal. If you see the same unknown competitor name popping up in multiple debriefs, that's a threat you need to address at the product or marketing level. Luna: One pushback though: for a small sales team — say five reps — is it worth the time to call fifteen buyers every quarter? Lucas: Fair question. But think about the math. If five reps each lose ten deals a quarter, that's fifty losses. Even if only ten of those are shadow competitors — and each deal is worth, say, fifty thousand dollars — that's half a million in revenue you're leaving on the table. A day of phone calls from the VP is a very high roi activity. Luna: When you put it that way, it's hard to argue against. But I want to ground this in a rule of thumb. When should a team suspect they have a shadow competitor problem? Lucas: I'd say if more than twenty percent of your closed-lost deals are marked 'no decision' or 'other,' you have a shadow competitor problem. That's the threshold. Below that, it might be noise. Above it, it's systemic. And the fix is the audit we just described. Luna: Twenty percent. So if you look at your CRM right now and that number is higher, you've got a hidden enemy. Lucas: Exactly. And the good news is, once you expose the shadow competitor, you can actually compete. You can build a battlecard. You can train your reps on their weaknesses. You can position against them in demos. The moment you know who you're fighting, the odds shift. Luna: I like that. The shadow competitor is only dangerous as long as it stays in the shadows. Lucas: Right. So here's my challenge to every sales leader listening: this week, pull your closed-lost report for the last quarter. Count how many deals are in the 'no decision' or 'other' bucket. If it's more than twenty percent, schedule five buyer debrief calls. I think you'll be surprised what you find. Luna: And for the reps out there: start asking the 'who else is in the mix' question in your next discovery call. It might feel awkward at first, but it's a superpower. Lucas: Yeah. And if you get pushback, remember: the buyer isn't trying to hide. They just don't want to hurt your feelings. Make it safe for them to tell you the truth, and you'll win more deals. Luna: Alright, I'm going to go check my own closed-lost report after this. Lucas: Same. I have a feeling we'll both find a few ghosts.