Why I use Business Cases to Win More Deals

Everyone wants that advantage to close more deals. Right?

What should you know that you don’t????

Here’s something I’ve found to give you an advantage… make it easy for your champion and buyer to see exactly what you can do for them.

How???

Creating a Business Case!

Make it easy for your champion to explain to executives what it is you do and why they need you.

Now before you say… we have these and I send them out every time but they don’t seem to work.

• Case Study is NOT a Business Case. It’s not this marketing “thing” that paints you in a perfect light. This isn’t about painting the picture of someone else’s use case.
• ROI calculator is not a Business Case. ROI calculators tend to magically makes your numbers look so good that “they would be crazy not to buy”. Not what we are looking for here.
• Drown them in info is not a Business Case. Giving so much information that you send them on a treasure hunt with every resource they could ever need is never helpful. (or even a webpage specifically for them that has so much information that will make their head spin)

So if it’s not all that… what is it?

1 pager that is specific to them and their world.

Not a 1 page of links… 1 page of their specific use case that speaks their language and easily connects all the dots.

Here is the break down:

1) The Headline:

• Speak Directly to Their Burning Priorities
  • Your headline should instantly grab your prospect's attention by touching on something they are already convinced is a priority. Think of it as a one-liner that says, "I get you, and I can help."
  • What this isn’t… your company’s name Business Case for their company name. What’s the hook that makes this something that makes them want to read more.

2) The Problem Statement:

• Echoing Their Pain Points
  • Here, use your discoveries from initial conversations to outline the prospect's current challenges—in their own words. This shows you've been listening, and it builds immediate rapport.
  • How did they describe what their current world is like? Where are they trying to go and what’s holding them back? How big of a deal is it?

3) Solution

• Echoing Specific to their pain points you listed in the problem statement.
  • This section can easily get really long, really quickly because you love your product. Don’t. Keep it specific to them and their needs.

4) Pricing

• Show your pricing and what you have presented to them.
  • They need to see what the cost will be to them so make sure it’s included.

5) 3 Options:

• The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
  • Everyone knows that the way you paint it will always be stars star-aligned scenario. Your ROI is going to show everything in perfect light. Instead, this is your way to show different scenarios that show doing nothing, doing something, and your perfect world. Let them see for themselves how it all breaks down.
    • Taking No Action
      • Spell out what will happen if they do nothing—essentially, the costs of inaction (COI). This is NOT where you put the information from what they will lose with your 10X number. This is from them, what they will lose because they do nothing.
    • Taking Some Action
      • Outline a scenario where some changes are made but not necessarily using your solution. Or they do use your solution but not to the fullest.
    • The Best-Case Scenario
      • Here's where you show how your solution can be a game-changer. Sure you would love to just show this with your “10X Return” but make this realistic with their information and what impact it will have for them.

6) What it Takes:

• Being clear on what it will take from them
  • Specify what you'll need from their end for successful implementation. Will it take time and resources… how much and from who? As much as you want to sweep this under the rug to get the sale, the transparency helps them know everything they need. Plus it can be a worry for them and may think it needs more than it needs. Take the worry away and be clear on what it will take.

That’s it… 6 key elements to your Business Case that are specific to that buyer. See how this isn’t one of your pretty case studies? See how it’s not designed to send a billion things at them.

This is a business case that is clean and precise about their world and what you can do for them. It’s only applicable to them.

The best part about this… the only way you can do this is IF YOU KNOW THEM! You have to do a great Discovery and continue to engage them throughout to understand what their world looks like, what happens if they do nothing, and what they specifically will gain from your solution.

The more you know… the easier this is. The more you guess, the more likely you are to show them you don’t know them.

Be the Dot Connector with a Business Case that shows them you know them and how exactly you can help them.

PS… Whether you are actually building a Business Case (which I recommend) or not… You should be focused on all these aspects to know how to position and win the deal