Several years ago I called the director of IT at a company to which we had lost a deal. I asked him questions that focused on their company and their needs (always about “you” not “me”). We got around to discussing why they had chosen our competitor; it was because someone in their company had a close connection with the sales rep from the competitor’s company. At the end of the call thanked him and kept the door open for future correspondence.

Several months later they came back and purchased our product (after they had determined the competitor’s product would not work for them). You never know what’s going to happen, so make the best of win/loss call opportunities. -Michael