How do I build a business case?
Building a business case is something buyers and sellers are always asked to do, but there’s rarely much definition given to what one even is.
The purpose of a business case is to take your central conviction in why a product, service, or project is worthwhile and give that personal conviction the translatability to travel to other people and garner their conviction, as well.
The great news is that people are incredibly human when they make decisions, and that means we can generate accurate patterns about how people gain conviction. We almost always follow the same three steps.
1. The What
Before gaining conviction, it’s important to know what the subject of our conviction even is. Otherwise, we run the risk of “LET’S DO THIS… wait, what are we doing?” That message won’t travel. We need to clearly state our hypothesis.
For Sangria, an example of our “what” would be “codifying your best buying and selling process, so you can close deals faster, with a higher win %, and with much greater success to the buyer.”
2. The 3 Whys
The 3 whys are why anything, why us, and why now. The purpose of this workflow is to understand the decision in a much more resilient way. Decisions are made in plurality, but they are often represented as a simple “yes” or “no.” When we detangle timing from our specific solution from the general imperative, we can start to understand the strengths and weaknesses of our business case.
A common “why anything” for Sangria is “we need to increase our close rates to reach quota.” This statement might seem noncontroversial, but it brings up some important questions. For example, “why are we focusing on close rates instead of increasing pipeline?” Maybe, it’s one of multiple initiatives, maybe it’s because internal metrics show close rates as a weakness, or maybe it’s much more cost effective to increase close rates by 25% than to increase pipeline by 100%. None of these justifications have anything to do with Sangria.
Next, we need to answer the question “why us.” In sales, this is often called your “unique value proposition.” This is all about understanding what you do for your buyer better than anyone else in the world. Your strongest competitive positioning isn’t about bashing competitors. It’s about centering on how you’ll be an asset to make the buyer successful. Sangria’s example is that “we give every seller on your team your best sales process in a single click, and empower them to share it anywhere.” This isn’t a comparison of features. This is a defensible moat after years of decisions to become the unique company we are today. You won’t know if your “why us” is going to stand if you don’t ask about it… and often.
”Why now” is often the most pivotal of the three. Any action is easy to take in theory, but inaction will always be your strongest competitor. Your “why now” should point to a moment in time that’s special, not just something that will happen again in three months. A compelling event is a pivotal moment in your buyer’s story, and you can only discover that by asking discovery questions that uncover motion.
3. Present State vs. Future State with Negative Consequences vs. Positive Outcomes
Every buyer is in a hero’s journey. The are living their story, and this chapter is about moving from the present to a better future. Translatable conviction means creating a compelling story, and that’s done with impact and specificity.
When detailing the the present stage and negative consequences, you want to dig beyond the surface level. Instead of stopping at “we’re missing quota,” learn more about the story of why they are at their organization in the first place. Discover what the opportunity cost of this moment is. What does it mean to them personally and as an organization if they can’t get it right. However, you can’t stop there because hopelessness doesn’t sell.
Instead, we want to focus on what happens if we hit our goals. Using Sangria as an example again, transforming an organization from one who regularly misses quota by 25% to one who routinely exceeds it is life-changing. For one of our customers, exceeding their goals means having the financial freedom to be able to go on months-long camping trips with their kids instead of being bound to their 9 to 5. That’s the kind of value that only their story can tell, and it’s the kind of story that was enough for us to build a company.
Last, but not least… every component we have talked about above only matters if your buyer owns it. Your value case needs to be co-created with your buyer in order to make it truly worthwhile.
An enterprise sales cycle is a long journey. It’s important to remember who you are, where you came from, where you’re going… and why should never stop. The business case is the reminder that stays with you and keeps you going every step of the way.
