Learn how to create compelling business cases that drive ROI, engage stakeholders, and close complex B2B deals. This step-by-step guide shows you how to quantify value, address objections, and build CFO-proof cases that win.
A business case is a structured document or executive summary 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 the solution will impact their business and bottom line.
In B2B SaaS sales, a well-crafted business case is often the difference between a closed deal and a stalled opportunity. It helps prospects see the value of your solution, weigh the pros and cons, and ultimately decide whether to invest. Without one—or with one that's outdated or irrelevant—deals slip away.
But here's the challenge: creating a solid business case is time-consuming. Reps need to be well-informed about the prospect's needs, industry trends, potential risks, and be able to quantify ROI in a way that resonates with CFOs, economic buyers, and technical evaluators.
That's where this guide comes in. We'll walk you through 10 proven tips for creating a winning business case—one that's data-driven, stakeholder-aligned, and built to close. Let's dive in!
A business case is the formal justification for a proposed investment or initiative. In B2B sales, it's the document or presentation that shows prospects how your solution will deliver measurable value—whether that's increasing revenue, reducing costs, or improving operational efficiency.
A strong business case includes:
The business case serves as a shared reference point for all stakeholders—economic buyers, champions, technical evaluators, and end users—ensuring everyone is aligned on the value, timeline, and expected outcomes.
Business cases are critical in B2B sales because they help reps clearly demonstrate how their product or service can deliver measurable value. And this can make or break a deal.
According to a recent S&P Global Market Intelligence study, 80% of B2B companies are consistently failing to meet their revenue goals. The underlying issue? Rather than relying on data, 50% of organizations make business spending decisions based on intuition.
A well-crafted business case solves this problem by:
In short, a strong business case transforms your pitch from a subjective conversation into an objective, data-backed proposal that decision-makers can confidently approve.
Now that you understand what a business case is and why it's important in B2B sales, let's explore the 10 proven tips for creating a winning business case.
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—it's easy to assume your prospect might be facing certain challenges 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:
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.
Why this matters: A business case built on assumptions will fail. One built on deep discovery and stakeholder alignment will win.
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:
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.
Pro tip: Use Accord Intelligence to automate account research and stakeholder mapping, so you can spend less time on manual prep and more time on high-value discovery conversations.
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. POCs under 3 months are 3X more likely to result in successful commercial 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.
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.
How Accord helps: Use Accord's Sales Content Management to embed case studies, battle cards, and ROI calculators directly into your business case playbook, ensuring every stakeholder sees the right content at the right time.
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:
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 economic 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 align with the needs of your stakeholders.
Key stakeholders to map in your business case:
Pro tip: Use Accord's Stakeholder Mapping product to automatically identify the right people in each prospect's org, map reporting lines, track sentiment, and ensure you're multi-threading across the entire buying committee.
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 relevant customer success stories that demonstrate measurable impact. One such example shows how a growing SaaS company was able to streamline its sales process using Accord's platform, including our Mutual Action Plans. Accord enabled faster decision-making and better multi-threading across deals. Within the first quarter of implementation, the company saw significant improvements in deal velocity and stakeholder alignment by keeping all buyers engaged and following clear, actionable steps through Accord. This not only accelerated their sales cycle but also strengthened buyer engagement, as executives could see real-time value and progress throughout the deal.
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.
What to include in your case study:
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.
Common success metrics to track in your business case:
How Accord helps: Use Accord's Performance Management product to automatically track methodology adherence, deal execution quality, and success metrics across every opportunity—giving you real-time visibility into what's working and where coaching is needed.
In the vast majority of cases (if not all), your prospects are going to have concerns and objections about moving forward with your solution. Forrester reports that 86% of B2B purchases stall at some point in the process, often because one stakeholder's concerns weren't addressed early.
Common examples include:
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:
By considering potential risks and objections ahead of time, you'll be able to provide clear, accurate answers to your prospect's questions.
How to structure objection handling in your business case:
Pro tip: Use Accord's Sales Content Management to embed objection-handling talk tracks, security documentation, and integration guides directly into your business case playbook, so reps can address concerns in real time without switching tools.
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:
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.
Phase 1: Kickoff and Planning
Phase 2: Full Solution Deployment
Phase 3: Training and Onboarding
Phase 4: Monitoring and Adjustments
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.
How Accord helps: Use Accord Playbooks to turn your implementation plan into a structured, step-by-step workflow that lives where the work actually happens—not in a static doc. Automatically track progress, assign tasks, and keep all stakeholders aligned on next steps.
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:
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.
How Accord helps: Use Accord's Sales Content Management to automatically update business case templates, ROI calculators, and case studies across all active deals—ensuring prospects never see outdated pricing, messaging, or collateral.
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.
Ready to build CFO-proof business cases that win? Accord's AI-Powered Revenue Excellence Platform helps you set winning playbooks, enforce best practices, and score execution quality across every deal. From automated account research to stakeholder mapping to real-time performance tracking, Accord makes excellence the only option for your revenue team.
Book a demo to see how Accord can help you build business cases that close.
