Handling Lost Sales Records

Choose the Correct Sales Outcome

When a Sales Job or Inquiry is no longer expected to move forward, record the outcome in Pams instead of leaving it in an active stage. This keeps current work lists focused on genuine Sales Jobs and preserves the history needed to understand why business did not proceed.

Use the outcome that best describes what happened:

For example, use Lost when the customer selects another supplier or decides not to proceed. Use Regretted when your team cannot continue with the offer or order. Use Cancelled when the existing record is withdrawn before completion.

Do not use these outcomes as interchangeable labels. The outcome identifies what happened to the record, while the related reason identifies why it happened. A record marked Cancelled with a detailed Cancellation Reason gives a much clearer result than a record that only says “Cancelled.”

Before changing an outcome, review the record’s Client, Inquiry Number, Sales Job Number, Project, and current Stage. This is especially important when a client has several similar inquiries or offers open at the same time.

To locate and review Sales Jobs from lists before recording an outcome, use Managing Inquiry Lists.

Mark a Sales Record as Lost, Regretted, or Cancelled

Use the outcome controls on the relevant Sales Job or Inquiry only after confirming that the record will not continue through the sales cycle. Recording the outcome removes uncertainty for the sales team and makes the record available for later review.

1. Open the Sales Job or Inquiry that is no longer expected to proceed. Check the Client, Sales Job Number, Inquiry Number, and Project Name before making a change.

2. Review the current Stage and any related offer or order information visible on the record. If the record is still active, confirm with the responsible salesperson that it should be recorded as Lost, Regretted, or Cancelled.

3. Select the outcome that matches the business result. Pams may show outcome actions such as Lost job, Regretted To Offer, or a cancelled inquiry outcome such as Inquiry Cancelled By Client. Use the wording shown on the record.

4. Complete the related outcome details, including the appropriate reason field. For a lost record, use Lost Reason. For a regretted record, use Regret Reason. For a cancelled record, use Cancellation Reason.

5. Click Save or Save and Close after checking the selected outcome and reason.

6. If Pams shows an approval status such as Awaiting Loss Approval or Awaiting Regret Approval, wait for the record to be reviewed. Where approval actions are available, the reviewer can use Aprove Lost, Disapprove Lost, Approve Regretted, or Disapprove Regretted.

7. Reopen or refresh the record and verify that it displays Lost, Regretted, or Cancelled rather than an active sales stage.

Capture the Reason for the Outcome

The selected outcome tells Pams whether the Sales Job or Inquiry was Lost, Regretted, or Cancelled. The reason fields explain the business cause. Enter the reason when you record the outcome so the record remains useful during later sales reviews.

1. After selecting the outcome, locate the matching reason field on the record:

   • Use Lost Reason for a record marked Lost.
   • Use Regret Reason for a record marked Regretted.
   • Use Cancellation Reason for a record marked Cancelled.

2. Select the most accurate available reason. For a lost sale, the reason should reflect the customer or commercial result. For a regretted sale, it should describe why the sale could not be fulfilled or accepted. For a cancellation, it should state the cause of the withdrawal.

3. Add supporting information in Lost Comment or Regret Comment when the selected reason alone does not explain the situation. Keep the comment focused on the decision or event that ended the record.

4. Where Pams displays Regret Date or Cancellation Date, check that the recorded date reflects when the outcome occurred. This helps distinguish a recent outcome from an older record reviewed later.

5. Click Save or Save and Close. Reopen the record and confirm that both the outcome and its reason are visible.

Avoid using the outcome name as the reason. For example, do not select or write “Cancelled” as the Cancellation Reason if the record already displays Cancelled. Record the underlying cause instead, such as a customer withdrawal or another specific business event.

A complete outcome record should let another salesperson understand the result by reading the outcome, the reason, and any comment without having to reconstruct the history from separate conversations.

Use Consistent Reasons for Meaningful Analysis

Consistent reason values make lost-sales records useful beyond the individual Sales Job. When your team records comparable outcomes in the same way, you can review patterns across clients, projects, offers, and principals without combining unrelated situations.

Keep the outcome and reason separate:

• Lost, Regretted, and Cancelled describe the result of the Sales Job or Inquiry.
• Lost Reason, Regret Reason, and Cancellation Reason explain the cause of that result.
• Lost Comment and Regret Comment provide the additional context that does not fit into the reason alone.

Use the same available reason for similar cases. If several clients decide not to continue, use the same Lost Reason for those records rather than entering slightly different versions of the same explanation in comments. This makes those records easier to compare during sales analysis.

Use comments for the details that distinguish one record from another. For example, the reason can identify the general cause, while Lost Comment can capture the relevant customer decision, commercial circumstance, or timing. Do not replace the reason with a long comment when a suitable reason is available.

Avoid broad or repeated wording that adds no information:

• Do not use Cancelled as the Cancellation Reason.
• Do not use Lost as the Lost Reason.
• Do not use a regret reason for a record that should be marked Lost.
• Do not change a record to Cancelled merely because it is no longer active; first confirm whether it was actually cancelled, lost, or regretted.

Preserve the reason that was accurate when the outcome was recorded. If circumstances later become clearer, update an incomplete or incorrect reason, but do not rewrite the record in a way that changes the original business result without confirming what occurred.

Review Lost-Sales Reasons in Your Analysis

Reviewing Lost, Regretted, and Cancelled records helps you understand which Sales Jobs did not complete and why. The value of this review depends on the outcome and reason being recorded clearly on each Sales Job or Inquiry.

Start with the records that display a lost-sales outcome. Use the available Sales Jobs, Inquiry lists, or Lost Items view to identify records marked Lost, Regretted, or Cancelled. Open the records that need further context and review the relevant fields rather than relying on the outcome alone.

When reviewing each record, compare:

• The selected outcome: Lost, Regretted, or Cancelled
• The associated Lost Reason, Regret Reason, or Cancellation Reason
• The Client, Principal, Project, and Salesperson Responsible
• Any supporting Lost Comment or Regret Comment
• Relevant dates, including Regret Date or Cancellation Date where displayed

Look for recurring causes among similar records. A group of records with the same Lost Reason may indicate a repeated customer-side or commercial issue. A group marked Regretted may highlight cases where the sale could not be fulfilled or accepted. Cancelled records should be reviewed separately so they are not treated as ordinary lost Sales Jobs.

Pay particular attention to records with no reason, a vague reason, or a comment that conflicts with the recorded outcome. Correcting these records before relying on them for reports or team discussions gives sales managers a clearer view of actual sales results.

For wider sales performance review, including booking and targets, see Reviewing Sales Performance.

Correct Missing or Incorrect Outcome Reasons

Correct an outcome record when it does not accurately reflect what happened or when the reason is missing. Make changes carefully because the outcome affects how the Sales Job or Inquiry is understood in later reviews.

1. Open the affected Sales Job or Inquiry and confirm its Client, Sales Job Number, Inquiry Number, and current outcome. Read the existing Lost Reason, Regret Reason, Cancellation Reason, and any related comment before changing anything.

2. If the outcome is correct but the explanation is incomplete, keep the current outcome and update only the related reason or comment. For example, retain Lost and correct Lost Reason rather than changing the record to another outcome.

3. If the wrong outcome was selected, use the available action on the record to return it for correction. Pams may show actions such as Consider as not lost, Consider As Not Cancelled, Restore, or Reactivate, depending on the record’s current state.

4. After returning the record for correction, select the outcome that matches the actual result: Lost, Regretted, or Cancelled. Enter the matching reason field and update any comment or date shown on the record.

5. Click Save or Save and Close. If the record enters Awaiting Loss Approval, Awaiting Regret Approval, or another review state, confirm that the outcome is approved before treating the correction as final.

6. Reopen the record and verify that the final outcome, reason, comment, and relevant date are all displayed correctly.

If several records use different wording for the same business cause, standardize the comparable reason values when you review them. Keep the original business facts in Lost Comment or Regret Comment so standardizing the reason does not remove useful context.

Overview

Pams records sales outcomes so Sales Jobs and Inquiries that will not proceed remain visible without appearing as active work. The three outcome types covered here are Lost, Regretted, and Cancelled.

A Lost outcome records an Sales Job that did not proceed. A Regretted outcome records a sale that cannot be fulfilled or accepted while preserving it for review. A Cancelled outcome records a sales result that was withdrawn before completion. Each outcome has related fields that explain the reason for the result, including Lost Reason, Regret Reason, and Cancellation Reason.

Use the outcome fields together:

• Select the outcome that accurately describes what happened.
• Select the matching reason to explain why it happened.
• Add a Lost Comment or Regret Comment when additional business context is needed.
• Check dates such as Regret Date and Cancellation Date where they appear.
• Save the record and verify that it no longer displays an active sales state.

Outcome records may also pass through review states such as Awaiting Loss Approval or Awaiting Regret Approval. When these statuses appear, the outcome has been submitted for review and should be checked again after the approval decision.

This process supports more accurate review of Sales Jobs, client decisions, principal-related Sales Jobs, and sales performance. It also prevents unclear records from remaining in active lists after the Sales Job has ended.

The quality of the outcome analysis depends on selecting the correct result and capturing the underlying cause. A clear Lost Reason, Regret Reason, or Cancellation Reason helps distinguish customer-driven losses from cases where a sale could not be accepted or was withdrawn.

Prerequisites

Before recording a Sales Job or Inquiry as Lost, Regretted, or Cancelled, make sure you have enough information to identify the correct record and the actual business outcome.

• Open the relevant Sales Job or Inquiry from the lists you use to manage sales records. Confirm the Client, Sales Job Number, Inquiry Number, and Project Name so you do not update a similar record for the same client.

• Review the current Stage and the record’s active commercial information. Check whether an offer, order, or related sales activity is still being handled before selecting a final outcome.

• Confirm whether the Sales Job was truly Lost, Regretted, or Cancelled. Use Lost for an Sales Job that did not proceed, Regretted when the sale cannot be fulfilled or accepted, and Cancelled when the existing outcome was withdrawn before completion.

• Obtain the underlying reason from the responsible salesperson, client communication, or the record’s existing sales history. You need this information to complete Lost Reason, Regret Reason, or Cancellation Reason accurately.

• Check whether a useful explanation should be added in Lost Comment or Regret Comment. Use these fields for relevant context that the selected reason does not fully capture.

• Be ready to save the record with Save or Save and Close. If Pams displays Awaiting Loss Approval or Awaiting Regret Approval, allow for the outcome to be reviewed before relying on it in sales analysis.

For help identifying and opening the right records before making a change, refer to Managing Inquiry Lists.