Introduction

Think of a business case as a living document or presentation that explains why a particular solution is the best choice to solve a company’s problem. It outlines the benefits, costs, and potential return on investment (ROI), allowing decision makers to understand how it will impact their business and bottom line.

A business case is crucial in B2B SaaS sales because it helps prospects see the value of the solution, weigh the pros and cons, and ultimately decide whether or not to invest. A well-structured business case can seal the deal, but the absence of one — or having one that isn’t regularly updated or relevant — can cause the opportunity to slip away.

Of course, creating a solid business case can be challenging. It’s time-consuming, and reps need to be well-informed about the prospect’s needs, industry trends, potential risks, and be able to quantify ROI.

Fortunately, we’re here to make it easier for you! In this article, we’ll guide you through our top 10 tips for creating a winning business case. By following these steps, you’ll streamline the process and increase your chances of success.

Why Are Business Cases Important for B2B Sales?

Business cases are important for B2B sales because they help sales reps clearly demonstrate how their product or service can deliver measurable value, such as increasing revenue, reducing costs, or improving operational efficiency. And this can make or break a deal because according to the finding from a recent S&P Global Market Intelligence study, most B2B companies are struggling to align their sales strategies with their financial targets. In fact, a whopping 80% (yep, you read that right) of the companies surveyed reported that they’re consistently failing to meet their revenue goals. 

So, what's the underlying issue? It turns out that rather than relying on data, 50% of organizations make business spending decisions based on intuition. Yikes. 

With a well-crafted business case, reps can build credibility and trust with prospects because it shows that the proposed solution isn’t just about hitting a quota — it’s rooted in data and specifically designed to address the prospect’s unique challenges. Instead of overwhelming prospects with features they may not need, a business case emphasizes value-selling — demonstrating how the solution will genuinely help the prospect achieve their goals.

10 Tips for Creating a Winning Business Case

Now that you know what a business case is and why it’s important in B2B sales, let’s explore the top 10 tips for creating a winning business case. 

Tip 1: Understand Your Prospect's Business Objectives 

Just like fingerprints, no two prospects are exactly alike. That’s why when you’re building a business case, the first step is to understand your prospect’s business objectives. This is often easier said than done, because it’s easy to assume your prospect might be facing certain challenges or issues based on similar companies, but the key here is to practice active listening and ask pointed questions so you can get to the root of their challenges or better understand their goals. 

Here are 5 pointed questions you can ask to gain a better understanding of their goals: 

1. What are your top three primary business objectives for the next 12 months? 
2. What challenges are you currently facing that are making it difficult to achieve these goals?
3. Why is now the right time to find a solution that will help you achieve these goals?
4. What will happen in the next 12 months if you don’t implement a solution that can help?
5. How do you measure success in your organization and what metrics matter the most to you?

Another important but often overlooked step is to conduct thorough research. This means analyzing current trends to gain a better understanding of your prospect’s industry, as well as identifying common challenges and opportunities that may affect them. Review company-specific information, such as recent financial reports, press releases, and key initiatives they’ve announced. And don’t forget to multi-thread by engaging with all relevant stakeholders across different departments to avoid missing out on important perspectives that could impact the outcome of your business case.

Tip 2: Gather Data-Driven Insights

When it comes to building a convincing business case, data is king. As a rep, one of the most important things you can do after identifying your prospect’s biggest challenge is gather data-driven insights. You can do this by asking your prospect questions such as:

• What metrics will you use to measure the success of this process/challenge?
• What impact has this challenge had on your bottom line?
• Can you share historical data on the associated costs?
• What is the cost of not addressing this challenge?
• Why is now the right time to address it? 

Your goal in this step is to gain a deep understanding of the financial impact of this issue on the organization and its key stakeholders. By analyzing historical data, you can quantify the ongoing effects of the challenge, providing a solid baseline for your business case. This data enables you to clearly compare the costs of the current state with the benefits of your solution. Additionally, building your business case on actual data, rather than hypotheticals or assumptions, allows you to effectively position your solution against alternatives.

Tip 3: Quantify the Problem and Potential ROI 

It’s no secret that budgets are getting tighter, and to win in today’s market you need to be able to illustrate how your solution will help save time, increase productivity, and drive ROI. Your prospects care about making smart investments that will deliver clear, quantifiable results. To make it easier for them to see the value of your solution, develop a Proof of Concept (POC) that delivers verifiable results quickly. This POC should demonstrate clear, measurable outcomes that directly address the prospect’s pain points. 

For example, let’s say your prospect is primarily concerned with reducing customer churn. In this case, your POC could focus on how your solution helps improve customer engagement and retention. Part of your business case would involve setting up a pilot program where your product is implemented with a small segment of their customer base. Over a few weeks, you would track key metrics such as customer satisfaction scores, renewal rates, or the reduction in churn percentage. Then you would present these measurable results as part of your business case illustrating how your solution addresses their biggest challenge. This will help you make the case for full-scale implementation. 

Important note: Build a POC that can deliver verifiable results quickly; otherwise, it will be difficult to convince decision makers of the solution’s value and secure the necessary budget for full implementation. Ultimately, your POC should act as a teaser that demonstrates the potential value of your full solution. So when you’re putting it together, make sure you set the right expectations. This means you focus on clear, measurable outcomes that align with your prospect’s key objectives. 

Also keep in mind that a strong POC will help you position your solution against alternatives because you won’t just be pitching your prospect on what your solution can do — you’ll be showing them in their own environment, against their own metrics. When you do the work, you’ll reap the reward. In this case, it will allow you to win calls with the right stakeholders so you can move the deal forward. 

Tip 4: Craft a Compelling Value Proposition

Our next tip is to craft a compelling value proposition. This is important because your prospects are probably overwhelmed with options, making it difficult to see the value in your solution versus the alternatives. That’s why rather than trying to wow your buyers with features, a better approach is to focus on value selling.

Value selling is a sales process where, instead of emphasizing features or pricing, a rep focuses directly on how the solution aligns with the customer’s needs. This could involve demonstrating how your solution decreases costs, increases efficiencies, or boosts revenue. (Want to learn more about value selling and how to build a culture of impact? Check out this value selling masterclass.)

To do this, you’ll want to craft a unique point of view (POV) by using the data-driven insights you gathered in step two, and combining those insights with research about your prospect’s industry. This could involve conducting thorough market research, gathering insights on industry trends, or identifying gaps in the solutions offered by competitors. 

Having a strong POV is essential — we cannot stress this enough. It will help you differentiate your solution from the competition while also building trust with your buyers — both of which are key for winning deals.

Tip 5: Identify Key Stakeholders 

One of the golden rules of business is to know your audience. Creating a business case is no different. You need to have a solid understanding of who the key stakeholders are so you can 

a.) customize your messaging to address their specific concerns and b.) make sure you’re speaking to the decision makers who have the authority to move the deal forward. In the absence of this, you’ll risk building a business case that misses the mark, doesn’t resonate, or gets stalled in unnecessary back and forth. 

Use a stakeholder mapping template, like this one, to identify and keep track of all of the relevant stakeholders. This way, when you’re developing the business case, you incorporate every important perspective, including the executive buyer, champion, end user, financial gatekeeper, and technical advisor. This process can be time consuming, but it’s worth every second because it enables you to anticipate objections and ensure the elements of your solution that you present aligns with the needs of your stakeholders. 

Tip 6: Provide Social Proof and Case Studies

Show your prospects what they’ve been missing — and what’s possible for them — by providing them with relevant success stories featuring specific KPIs from companies of a similar size and operating within the same market dynamics.

For example, at Accord, when selling to mid-market or enterprise cloud-based software companies that are struggling with extended sales cycles and moving up-market, we share our Freshworks case study. This case study illustrates how Freshworks was able to streamline its sales process using Accord’s platform, including our Mutual Action Plans. Accord enabled faster decision making and better multithreading across deals. Within three months, Freshworks closed $600,000 worth of deals by keeping stakeholders aligned and following clear, actionable steps through Accord. This not only improved deal velocity but also strengthened buyer engagement, as executives could see the real value and progress.

A relevant case study like this helps build credibility because case studies go beyond just your word about what your solution can do. They show prospects the tangible results others have experienced through successful implementation. This not only demonstrates the real-world value of your solution but also alleviates much of the uncertainty that comes with making a big decision. When your prospect sees proven results from a familiar or comparable company, it reduces perceived risk and builds confidence that your solution will work for them, too.

Tip 7: Establish Measurable Success Metrics

In steps two and three, we discussed the importance of gathering data-driven insights and quantifying the potential ROI via a POC. Now, we’ll explore why it’s crucial to establish baseline metrics — similar to those in your POC — and track progress over time, both throughout the buying cycle and after implementation.

Let’s continue with our previous example from step three where the prospect is primarily concerned with reducing customer churn. During the POC, you focused on how your solution improves customer engagement and retention by running a pilot program for a small segment of their customer base. You tracked key metrics such as customer satisfaction scores, renewal rates, and churn reduction over a few weeks.

Once that POC is complete and you’ve made the case for full-scale implementation, establishing baseline metrics based on the POC results becomes the next important step. For example, if the POC showed a 5% reduction in churn for the test group, this metric can serve as a baseline to track future performance after the solution is fully deployed. Over the course of six months or a year, you can monitor further reductions in churn, as well as improvements in customer lifetime value, average engagement rates, or even upsell potential.

Remember, the purpose of the POC is to demonstrate the initial impact, whereas establishing and tracking baseline metrics allows you to measure long-term success. For example, if after implementation you see churn reduce by an additional 10% over six months and customer satisfaction scores increase by 15%, these ongoing improvements help reinforce the sustained value of your solution. 

This approach helps maintain momentum during the buying cycle and drives post-implementation success, demonstrating that your solution continues to meet the prospect’s evolving business goals.

Tip 8: Address Potential Risks and Objections

In the vast majority of cases (if not all), your prospects are going to have concerns and objections about moving forward with your solution. 

Common examples include: 

• Integration: How well will the new solution integrate with existing tech stack? Will it create extra work?
• Cost: Will the solution help solve the challenges it promises to and deliver ROI? 
• Adoption: What happens if there are issues adopting the solution? 
• Implementation: How long will implantation take and how will it impact current processes?

To make your prospects more confident and comfortable moving forward, anticipate their questions and objections, and prepare solutions ahead of time. To do this, you can use data and insights from previous sales cycles with similar companies. 

Consider questions such as:

• What common concerns did similar prospects have during the sales process?
• What were the primary objections to moving forward, and how were they addressed?
• What specific challenges did these companies face during implementation or integration?
• How did the solution demonstrate ROI, and in what time frame?
• What feedback did their teams give regarding adoption and ease of use?

By considering potential risks and objections ahead of time, you’ll be able to provide clear, accurate answers to your prospect’s questions. 

Tip 9: Develop a Clear Implementation Plan 

Creating a business case doesn’t end with the sale. A key step is outlining a clear implementation plan, as this shows your prospect what the rollout will look like, who will be involved, and what kind of timeline they can expect. Important note: Set the right expectations. This isn’t the time to over promise. Make sure the implementation plan is realistic and works for both your team and the prospect’s organization. 

Your implementation plan will include: 

• Key milestones: Identify major phases of the rollout (e.g., testing, full deployment).
• Timeline: Clearly define how long each phase will take and any deadlines.
• Roles and responsibilities: Identify who will be responsible for each part of the process, including members from both your team and the prospect’s team.

Here’s an example of what an implementation plan can look like, based on our previous example where the prospect is concerned with reducing customer churn.

1. Phase 1: Kickoff and planningsome text
   • Timeline: 1-2 weeks
   • Who’s involved: Project manager, account manager, customer success team, IT leads
   • Details: Align on goals, define success metrics (e.g., 5% churn reduction baseline from POC), and create a detailed project timeline.
2. Phase 2: Full solution deploymentsome text
   • Timeline: 4-6 weeks
   • Who’s involved: IT team (from both sides), operations, sales, customer support
   • Details: Begin scaling the solution across the full customer base, ensuring the solution integrates with existing systems smoothly.
3. Phase 3: Training and onboardingsome text
   • Timeline: 2 weeks
   • Who’s involved: Customer success, training leads, key department heads
   • Details: Conduct team training to ensure proper usage of the solution, focusing on adoption and ease of use.
4. Phase 4: Monitoring and adjustmentssome text
   • Timeline: Ongoing (first review at 3 months)
   • Who’s involved: Customer success, analytics team, key decision makers
   • Details: Monitor KPIs such as customer retention, churn reduction, and engagement rates. Make necessary adjustments to optimize performance.

You’ll notice that in this example, there are various phases of implementation to make sure things go smoothly. This plan also outlines everything from the timeline (remember, keep it realistic!) to who is involved, and any relevant details. 

Tip 10:  Continuously Refine and Iterate Your Business Case

You’re probably familiar with the phrase, “hard work pays off,” and building a business case is no different. It’s an iterative process that doesn’t end when you present it to your prospect. Instead, you need to continuously refine and adapt it as market conditions or your prospect’s needs change. 

Questions that will help you determine if it’s time to iterate or refine your business case include: 

• Has your prospect’s business or industry changed since you created or last reviewed the business case? If yes, an iteration is necessary. 
• Are there any new competitors in the market you need to address? Remember, you always want to highlight what makes your solution stand out against the competition. To do this effectively, you need to keep an eye on emerging players who may disrupt your sales process. 
• Have your prospect’s priorities changed in any way? If yes, how? It’s important to keep your business case aligned with your prospects priorities, so if anything has shifted make sure this is reflected in your business case. 
• Is the data you’re using still up-to-date and relevant? Check and cross check your data points to make sure everything you’re using is still accurate. 

By regularly revisiting and refining your business case, you’ll be able to keep a pulse on changing market conditions, the competitive landscape, and the needs of your prospect. 

Conclusion

B2B sales isn’t just a “numbers game.” It’s about building meaningful partnerships with your prospects and helping them solve their real challenges. By positioning yourself as a trusted advisor, you can guide them toward the best solution for their specific needs.

A thoughtful, data-backed business case plays a key role in this process. It allows you to clearly outline what your prospect can expect, highlight realistic outcomes based on similar companies, and show how success will be measured. This not only reinforces your position as an advisor but also equips your prospect to make a confident, informed decision about moving forward with your solution.