Building a compelling business value case has become essential in today's B2B landscape, defined by the endless pursuit of efficient growth.
According to Gartner, 93% of B2B buyers now require a business case for tech solutions. This isn't just about ROI calculations - it's about demonstrating how your solution delivers real value throughout the deal.
With buyers scrutinizing every purchase decision, Sales Engineers play a vital role in connecting technical capabilities to measurable business outcomes.
Let's explore how to create business cases that win deals and drive real value for buyers.
Given their deep understanding of both the technical and business sides of every deal, sales engineers are uniquely positioned to craft the most compelling and realistic value cases.
They know which platform components a buyer will actually use and can realistically project the magnitude of value they'll receive. It's not theoretical - it's based on hands-on expertise
A strong business case starts at the beginning of your relationship with the prospect and spans the entire sales cycle. This means thinking ROI from day 1 during discovery.
You need to understand and quantify the buyer's:
These insights form the foundation of your value narrative and the northern star for all subsequent buyer interactions. Anchor demos on high-value capabilities and customer success outcomes supporting the prospect's goals. Structure trials and test drives around these insights. And pass them off to post-sales teams to shorten time-to-value realization.
Sales Engineers excel at translating technical capabilities into business value, integrating the following elements into a cohesive story:
A successful business case requires input from multiple stakeholders. Partner early and often with:
Leverage the internal resources available to you. Your job as the sales engineer is not to have every answer all of the time. Rather, you are responsible for coordinating your network of experts and partners to create a frictionless experience for your buyer.
Cultivating strong champions is integral to developing and socializing successful business cases. Technical champions are your internal advocates on the buying team who understand both the technical features and broader business context of your offerings.
Your champions will help validate your value case and advocate for your solution when you're not in the room. Make it easier for them to be effective advocates by:
Later in the deal, partner closely with your technical champions to ensure your projections are both realistic and achievable. Validate your assumptions rigorously with them to avoid disaster later.
As with every aspect of SE work, personalization matters in value selling. Customize your business case by:
Your goal is to make it as easy as possible for the buyer to understand and align with the value of your platform by putting it in their context.
Your business case needs concrete numbers. Work with champions to define success metrics that support strategic company initiatives and calculate the impact of your offerings on each metric.
Personalize to your buyer, but some key impact levers include:
But don't just present numbers out of context - explain your methodology and assumptions. This builds credibility and helps stakeholders defend the investment internally.
For sales engineering leaders trying to scale value selling across their team, focus on these key success metrics:
For sales engineers looking to build better business value cases, here are tips to keep top-of-mind:
Remember, as a sales engineer, you are uniquely positioned to lead the value selling motion because you spend the most time deeply understanding the buyers’ business processes, pain points, and unique terminology.
Plus, SEs' inherent combination of presentation skills and attention to detail means they can efficiently transform technical capabilities into business value stories that resonate with buyers- all packaged in a format that feels inherent to their organization.
A business value case in sales is a structured argument that justifies an investment by showing expected returns, implementation requirements, and risk mitigation strategies. It connects technical capabilities to measurable business outcomes.
Validate through customer references, pilot programs, technical proof of concepts, and detailed ROI calculations. Work with technical champions to verify assumptions and implementation requirements.
Focus on specific customer pain points, quantify the cost of inaction, show clear ROI calculations, and provide concrete examples of similar customer successes. Include both technical and business metrics.
Business value cases translate technical capabilities into tangible business outcomes. They help stakeholders justify investments and ensure alignment between technical requirements and business goals.
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