Value Selling
Selling on quantified business outcomes — not features, not relationships, not price.
is the discipline translating capabilities into the customer's financial language. It is the antidote to feature-fight cycles.
The Value Hypothesis
Before the first meeting, draft a hypothesis: 'For companies like yours, our customers typically achieve X by addressing Y.' This is a starting point, not a conclusion — refine it through .
Co-building the Business Case
A the customer co-authors is a business case the customer defends. Walk the through the model. Use their numbers. Identify the assumptions Finance will challenge and stress-test them in advance.
A defensible case includes:
- Baseline metrics (current state, sourced)
- Target metrics (post-implementation, with timeline)
- Assumptions and sensitivity analysis
- Implementation costs (people, process, )
- and 3-year NPV
Speaking CFO
CFOs do not buy percentages — they buy periods, cash-flow timing, and risk-adjusted returns. Always lead with payback. A 9-month payback at 2x ROI beats a 24-month payback at 5x ROI for most CFOs.
Value Realization (post-sale)
The promised at sale must be measured after deployment. tracking is the basis for renewal, expansion, and reference. Account managers who skip this lose the relationship to the next vendor with a sharper case.