Win-loss analytics

Win-loss analytics is the uncovering and analysis of the specific reasons why a visitor to a website was or wasn't persuaded to do something that was desired online (conversion). This information allows web teams to have the information that helps them improve marketing efforts to find those people that are better qualified to convert, and to improve the website's navigation and content to better accommodate the needs of visitors to the site.

History
While analysis to determine why one person bought and another did not has long been a formal part of many traditional sales team's efforts, marketing teams have not benefited from it because instead of working on a face-to-face level, they are working to reach and work with the masses.

With the web, the capability of interacting with thousands of visitors at one time exists. This, and advances in online analysis technologies, made Win-Loss Analytics possible for marketing teams (both online and offline).

Win-loss analytics vs. web analytics
Web analytics tools have existed since the beginning of the web and have become pervasive among web teams. These tools provide a "traffic camera's" view of what is going on with a website and its associated traffic. This information allows those responsible to ensure that they make intelligent guesses about what changes to make to the website to improve.

Win-loss analytics tools first emerged in late 2005 and were designed to get the face-to-face perspective of each visitor and uncover who the visitor was, what products they were qualified for, how well they were persuaded, and why they didn't convert.