So the Rasmussen Presidential Approval Index came out today showing only 30% of the nation’s voters strongly approve of the way that President Obama is performing in his role. 38% said they strongly disagree providing a net index rating of -8. 43% say he is doing a poor job. It turns out men more strongly disapprove than women. You can read the full report here at the Daily Presidential Tracking Poll.
The purpose of this post is not to bash our President. As a Christian businessman I pray for him as we are instructed to do in the Bible. I pray the Lord gives him wisdom and discernment. The reason I wanted to discuss this report is a “what if”. 
What if, as the leader in your business, you too could have a report that frequently showed your “voters” (customers who vote every time they buy from you or your competitors) approval rating? How valuable would that be, particularly in this economy?
The good news is you can…it is called Win/Loss analysis and if your team is not doing it now, get started! In Win /Loss analysis you contact customers you win and ask why they bought, how they came to buy and so on. You also call those accounts you lost. You know, the ones your sales team said you lost “because your price was too high”? Well as I shared in my post WARNING: Buyer’s say what salespeople do wrong? PRICE is not on the list! The top reason buyers do not buy is your salespeople are not listening to their needs; they don’t follow up timely and as a result do not understand the problem the buyer is trying to solve.
Aside from having personally done win/loss over tie years and realized the benefits, it is also a Biblical principle.
In Proverbs we learn ” the tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pour forth foolishness” So there you go, will so start win/loss today and be “wise” or will you keep making strategic decisionsthat add no value ( and may hurt your business) and be a ….( I don’t need to remind you, you just read the passage)
Once you start conducting win /loss you will have a wealth of information to keep your voter approval ratings high among your internal and external customers.
No Smoke and Mirrors 
You are going to want to read this post by Art Petty :Effective Leadership: How Do You Know When You Are Getting It Right? http://artpetty.com/2009/07/10/effective-leadership-how-do-you-know-when-you-are-getting-it-right/#comment-6027
Mark
Mark, right on! I often tell students in my classes that “Win/Loss may be the most effective tool in your ‘kit bag’ to uncover market problems, yet so few product managers make it part of their regular routines!” It’s like exercise. You can’t get fit by watching an exercise video. You can’t keep in touch with your markets without regular and disciplined interactions. For you married types, Why did your spouse marry you? Why do they stay married to you? Often times, the answers will be completely different, and we need to continue to adapt. Similarly, product managers need to 1) understand why customers did or didn’t buy (win/loss); and 2) continue to get feedback to identify strengths (distinctive competence) and weaknesses (customer->market problems). We Christians have the benefit of being “saved.” Regrettably, your market won’t continue to buy unless YOU continue to win their trust.