Case study / 001
The company that was winning deals and losing the market
A 34% win rate looked like proof the product was strong. It was the symptom: they were winning the deals they got shortlisted for, and almost never getting shortlisted. A narrow funnel was flattering the average.
They described themselves as a "people operations platform". Every buyer interviewed said "payroll software". Repositioning into the category buyers actually searched for would roughly double qualified opportunities at flat spend — modelled, holding win rate and budget constant.
The lesson: a high win rate is one of the most dangerous numbers in B2B marketing. Always read it against the volume of opportunities that produced it.
