Closed Won/Lost Reasoning

Overview

This workflow automatically analyzes why deals were won or lost and updates your HubSpot records with that insight. When a deal moves to "Closed Won" or "Closed Lost," the workflow examines meetings, emails, notes, and deal history to determine the primary reason for the outcome, then writes that analysis back to custom HubSpot fields.

Key Terms

Workflow: An automated sequence that runs when specific conditions are met, performing actions without manual input
Trigger: The event that starts a workflow—in this case, when a deal stage changes in HubSpot
Deal stage: A label in HubSpot (like "Negotiation" or "Closed Won") that shows where a deal is in your sales process
Agent: An AI-powered assistant that can read and update HubSpot data using natural language instructions
Property: A field in HubSpot that stores information about a deal, contact, or company (e.g., "Deal Amount" or "Closed Lost Reason")

What This Workflow Does

This workflow triggers whenever a deal stage is updated in HubSpot. It validates whether the deal has moved to "Closed Won" or "Closed Lost." If the deal is not in one of those final stages, the workflow stops immediately.

For deals that are confirmed closed, the workflow:

Retrieves all deal properties, associated contacts, companies, meetings, emails, and notes from the past six months
Analyzes the data to determine the primary reason the deal closed
Selects a closure reason from a predefined list (e.g., "Competitive Advantage" for wins or "Pricing" for losses)
Checks whether HubSpot already has closure analysis in custom fields
Updates or validates three HubSpot fields: the AskElephant reason, the detailed analysis text, and the standard HubSpot closure reason field
Generates a comprehensive report documenting what was updated and why

The workflow operates autonomously—no manual input or approval is required once it starts.

How to Set It Up

Follow these steps to activate the workflow in your workspace:

Step 1: Navigate to Recipes

Log into AskElephant and click Automations in the left sidebar navigation.
In the Workflows tab click New Workflow
Select From Recipe

Step 2: Find the Workflow

Search for Closed Won/Lost Reasoning in the recipes library.

Step 3: Enable the Workflow

Click the workflow
Select the three dots in the workflow bar
select Activate Workflow to turn it on for your workspace

Step 4: Verify Your HubSpot Connection

The workflow requires an active HubSpot integration. If you haven't connected HubSpot yet:

Navigate to your Integrations page and click Connect
Follow the authentication steps to grant AskElephant access to your HubSpot account
Ensure the connection has permissions to read deals, contacts, companies, and update deal properties

Step 5: Configure Custom HubSpot Fields

This workflow writes to specific custom fields in HubSpot. You'll need to create these fields in your HubSpot workspace if they don't already exist:

Field Name	Type	Purpose
`closed_won_reason_askelephant`	Single-line text	Stores the primary reason a deal was won (AskElephant's categorization)
`closed_won_reason_analysis_askelephant`	Multi-line text	Stores detailed analysis explaining why the deal was won
`closed_lost_askelephant`	Single-line text	Stores the primary reason a deal was lost (AskElephant's categorization)
`closed_lost_analysis_askelephant`	Multi-line text	Stores detailed analysis explaining why the deal was lost

The workflow also updates the standard HubSpot fields closed_won_reason and closed_lost_reason by mapping AskElephant's categories to HubSpot's predefined options.

Step 6: Test the Workflow

To verify the workflow is working:

Move a test deal in HubSpot to "Closed Won" or "Closed Lost"
Wait a few moments for the workflow to run
Check the deal record in HubSpot for updated closure reason fields
Review the conversation link in AskElephant to see the full analysis report

Configuration Tips

Optional Customizations

Closure Reason Categories: The workflow uses predefined lists for won and lost reasons. If you want different categories, you can modify the agent prompt in the workflow editor.
Data Lookback Period: By default, the workflow analyzes meetings and emails from the past six months. This can be adjusted in the agent configuration.
Field Update Logic: The workflow compares new analysis with existing field values and decides whether to update or retain them. You can adjust this logic to always overwrite or always retain existing values.

Important Considerations

The workflow only runs when the deal stage changes. It will not retroactively analyze deals that were already closed before you enabled the workflow.
If a deal has no associated meetings, emails, or notes, the analysis will rely solely on deal properties and may be less detailed.
The workflow writes to custom fields and standard HubSpot fields. Ensure your HubSpot account has the necessary field-level permissions.

Why This Workflow Is Useful

Consistent Win/Loss Documentation

Every closed deal gets a structured analysis, eliminating gaps where reps forget to log why a deal closed. This builds a reliable dataset for sales leadership.

Faster Revenue Insights

Instead of manually reviewing deal records or running surveys, you get immediate insights into why deals are won or lost. This helps you spot trends (e.g., "We're losing on pricing in Q2") and adjust strategy quickly.

Better Forecasting and Coaching

When every deal has a documented closure reason, you can analyze patterns across teams, products, or customer segments. Sales managers can use this data to coach reps on common objections or competitive positioning.

Time Savings for Sales Teams

Reps don't need to write closure summaries manually. The workflow analyzes call transcripts, emails, and notes automatically, freeing up time for selling activities.

Conclusion

This workflow ensures every closed deal in HubSpot has a well-documented reason for its outcome, giving your team actionable insights without manual data entry. Enable it today to start building a cleaner, more useful win/loss dataset. If you run into any issues or need help customizing the workflow, reach out to AskElephant Support via the in-app support widget or at [email protected].

Need Additional Help?

If you have questions or need further assistance, the AskElephant support team is here to help!

You can reach our support team in several ways:

click the chat button in the bottom right corner of your screen,
email us at [email protected],
or use @askelephant support in your dedicated Slack channel.

We're committed to getting you the answers you need as quickly as possible.