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Use case

What to send after a deal goes cold.

Ask one respectful question after a clear no or a stalled deal. Keep it separate from the sales pitch and make writing available for people who do not want to record.

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The short answer

Send a single-question Magic Link within 48 hours of the deal going cold. The prospect clicks it, records a 60-second voice note in any browser, and does not need a HeySpeak account. You get a transcript and an AI summary in your dashboard. Read five of those side by side and the pattern that killed those deals becomes obvious.

Why exit surveys do not work

The problem is not that prospects have no opinion. Most of them have a very clear one. The problem is the ask itself. A "please complete our 3-minute survey" email lands in an inbox already full of things that person chose not to deal with. It asks them to open a form, read questions, think, type, proofread, and submit, for a company they already decided not to work with. Almost nobody does that.

A voice link flips the equation. One tap. One question. Speak for sixty seconds from their phone. Done. No form, no account, no cookies, no trace in any system. The friction is low enough that the decision to respond becomes a different kind of calculation, and most people who liked you, even a little, will say yes to that.

Be honest about one thing though: if the relationship ended badly, no format will get a reply. Voice links work well with warm lost deals where the prospect went another direction, not with contacts who felt misled or wasted time. Know the difference before you send.

The playbook

Four steps. They go in order.

  1. 1

    Send while the decision is still recent

    Ask after a clear no, or after you have reasonably concluded that the deal has gone quiet. Do not manufacture urgency or keep pushing when the prospect has asked for no further contact.

  2. 2

    Ask one specific question

    Not "can you tell us more about your decision?" That is too open and too much work. Something specific: "What would have needed to be different for this to be a yes?" or "What made you go with the other option?" One question they can answer in sixty seconds without having to think hard about structure.

  3. 3

    Frame it so they feel safe

    The prospect may expect a counter-pitch. Defuse that in the message: "No pitch. I would value one honest answer if you are willing." Say how you will use the response and respect a no or no reply.

  4. 4

    Compare several decisions

    One response reflects one deal. Review several answers together and compare them with CRM notes, deal size, segment, and competitor data before deciding that you found a pattern.

What question to ask

This is the hardest part. The wrong question gets a polite non-answer. The right one gets the thing they said internally when they made the decision. Below are four that tend to work, with a note on why each one is constructed the way it is.

"What would have made this a yes?"

Forward-looking, not accusatory. Asks them to imagine a better version of your product, not to criticize the one they saw.

"What did the other option have that tipped the decision?"

Direct and specific. Gives you a concrete competitive data point. Works best when you already know who they went with.

"What was the thing that felt missing or unclear?"

Surfaces friction points that might be fixable. Often uncovers messaging failures as much as product gaps.

"If you had to explain to a colleague why you went elsewhere, what would you say?"

Forces them to articulate it simply. The answer is close to what they actually said when they made the decision internally.

Pick one. Only one. Multiple questions in a single voice link raise the effort bar and reduce the reply rate. If a prospect's first answer makes you want to dig deeper, send a follow-up link with question two.

Related pages

Where lost-deal feedback fits in a broader async voice workflow.

Comparison

Alternatives to discovery calls

When async voice earns its place in the sales flow, and when you still need the live call.

ICP

HeySpeak for consultants

Use async voice as the second touch in your sales flow. Worked examples.

Common questions

Won't prospects just ignore this too?
Some will, and no format guarantees an answer. Keep the request optional, explain why you chose them, and offer voice and writing. A respectful question is more important than a claimed response-rate uplift.
What is the best question to ask a lost deal?
The most reliable one is "What would have made this a yes?" It is forward-looking and non-accusatory, so it does not put the prospect on the defensive. If you know who they went with, "What did [competitor] have that tipped it?" gives you sharper competitive data. Avoid open-ended prompts like "tell us about your experience", which require too much effort to answer well.
Should I mention that it is recorded?
Yes. Tell them that the answer will be recorded and transcribed, who will review it, and how you plan to use it. Do not assume silence means consent to another use, such as a testimonial or sales asset.
How do I use the feedback once I have it?
Read the AI summaries for all your lost deals in one sitting. Look for the thing that comes up repeatedly: that is the signal. Then decide: is this a product gap, a pricing problem, or a messaging issue? Each one has a different fix. Do not act on a single response. Act on a pattern.
Does the prospect need to install anything or create an account?
No HeySpeak account or app is required. The recipient opens the link in a supported browser and can use the response options the sender enabled. Submitting an answer does not itself create permission for future marketing contact.

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