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Understanding Your Results

After you score a deal, MarginArc presents a detailed analysis designed to help you price confidently and win more often. Here's what each section means and how to use it.

The Arch Gauge​

The arch gauge is the centerpiece of your results. It's a visual dial that shows where your current margin sits on a spectrum.

Reading the needle:

  • Left side (red zone) -- your margin is too thin. You're leaving money on the table or pricing below what the market will bear.
  • Center-left (yellow zone) -- conservative pricing. You'll likely win the deal, but you could be earning more.
  • Center (green zone) -- the recommended sweet spot. This is where MarginArc's analysis suggests you'll maximize the balance between margin and win probability.
  • Center-right (yellow zone) -- aggressive pricing. Higher margin, but your win probability starts to drop.
  • Right side (red zone) -- too aggressive. You're at real risk of losing the deal to a competitor or pushing the customer to look elsewhere.

The gauge also shows your three margin positions as markers, so you can see exactly where each option falls.

tip

The recommended position (center marker) isn't always the "right" answer. If you have strong deal registration and no competitors, the aggressive position might make perfect sense. Use the gauge as a guide, not a rule.

The Summary​

Right below the gauge, you'll find a written summary of the deal. This is a plain-language overview that covers:

  • What MarginArc identified in the deal (product category, OEM, deal size)
  • The key factors influencing your margin (competitive landscape, deal reg, partner tier)
  • A bottom-line recommendation

This summary is designed to be shareable. You can copy it into a Slack message to your sales manager or reference it in a deal review meeting.

Three Margin Positions​

Every scored deal produces three pricing strategies:

Conservative​

  • What it means: Lower margin, higher win probability
  • When to use it: Competitive bids, price-sensitive customers, displacement deals where you need to unseat an incumbent
  • Typical win probability: Highest of the three
  • What it means: The balanced position -- solid margin with strong win probability
  • When to use it: Most deals. This is MarginArc's best estimate of the optimal price point based on everything it knows about the deal.
  • Typical win probability: Moderate to high

Aggressive​

  • What it means: Higher margin, lower win probability
  • When to use it: Deals with strong protection (deal registration, sole source, long-standing relationship), renewals, or situations where you know the customer's budget
  • Typical win probability: Lower, but the margin makes up for it

Each position shows you:

  • The suggested sell price
  • Your margin percentage and dollar amount
  • The estimated win probability

Action Items​

Action items are specific, ranked recommendations. Each one has a priority level:

  • High priority -- do this before you submit your quote. These items have the biggest impact on your margin or win rate.
  • Medium priority -- worth doing if you have time. These improve your position but aren't deal-breakers.
  • Low priority -- nice to have. These are optimizations for when you want to squeeze out every advantage.

Common action items include:

  • Register the deal if you haven't already
  • Request special pricing from the distributor based on volume or competitive pressure
  • Bundle services or support to increase overall margin
  • Adjust your product mix to favor higher-margin SKUs
  • Engage the OEM rep for competitive support

Risk Factors​

Risk factors are things that could hurt the deal. MarginArc flags these so you can address them proactively:

  • No deal registration -- you're exposed to competitor pricing without protection
  • Competitor identified -- the customer is shopping around
  • Below-market pricing -- your cost seems higher than what similar deals show
  • Missing context -- MarginArc didn't have enough information to fully assess a dimension of the deal
  • Product end-of-life -- the product line is approaching or past its end-of-sale date

Each risk factor includes a brief explanation of why it matters and what you can do about it.

Competitive Analysis​

When you provide competitor information (or MarginArc infers it from the deal), you'll see a competitive analysis section:

  • Likely competitor pricing range -- based on the OEM, product category, and deal size
  • Your positioning -- how your quote compares to the estimated competitor range
  • Differentiation opportunities -- areas where you can win on value rather than price (services, support, availability, relationship)

Deal IQ​

Deal IQ is a score from 0 to 100 that measures how much context MarginArc had to work with. It is not a grade on your deal -- it's a measure of analysis depth.

What the numbers mean:

Deal IQWhat It Means
80-100Excellent context. MarginArc has a comprehensive picture and high confidence in its recommendations.
60-79Good context. Solid recommendations, but a few dimensions are estimated rather than known.
40-59Moderate context. Core recommendations are reliable, but adding more detail will sharpen the analysis.
20-39Limited context. MarginArc is working with minimal information. Results are directional.
0-19Very limited. Consider adding more deal details before relying on these numbers.

How to raise your Deal IQ:

Every piece of context you add moves the needle. The biggest impact comes from:

  1. Uploading the actual distributor quote (vs. manual entry)
  2. Adding deal registration status
  3. Specifying your partner tier
  4. Naming the competitor
  5. Including customer information

Progressive Reveal​

MarginArc uses a concept called progressive reveal. The more context you provide, the deeper the analysis goes:

  • Basic score (low Deal IQ): You get the arch gauge, three positions, and a summary. This is enough to sanity-check your pricing.
  • Standard score (moderate Deal IQ): Action items appear, risk factors are identified, and competitive analysis is included.
  • Deep score (high Deal IQ): You get everything above plus OEM-specific intelligence, historical comparisons, and detailed strategy plays.

You don't have to provide everything upfront. Score the deal, review the results, and if you want more depth, add context and rescore.

What to Do Next​

  • If you're happy with the recommended position -- use it as your starting point for the customer quote.
  • If you want to explore -- try the conservative or aggressive positions to see how they change your win probability.
  • If Deal IQ is low -- add more context and rescore. Every detail helps.
  • If you see high-priority action items -- address them before submitting your quote. They're flagged for a reason.

See Rescoring a Deal for how to update a deal with new information.