Turning Metrics into a Business Case Buyers Trust (Part 5)

With 92 percent of buyers now demanding a defensible business case and CFOs scrutinizing every dollar, this playbook shows how to turn business outcomes into clear, compelling value narratives that close the Value Communication Gap.

If you’re joining mid-series:

• Part 1: Defined the Value Communication Gap (VCG) as the difference between the value your solution delivers and what customers actually hear during the sales process.

• Part 2: Explained why overloaded buying committees, competing priorities, and information overload widen this gap.

• Part 3: Revealed how traditional, feature-focused pitches deepen the gap and provided practical fixes.

• Part 4: Showed how insightful, customer-centric value stories effectively bridge this gap.

In Part 5, we're diving deeper: we'll show exactly how to communicate value using metrics that matter most to your buyer.

A Quick Disclaimer Before We Start

In my experience, buyers never ask for “ROI” by name. Instead, they ask some version of “How will this make life better for my team or my company?” For our purposes, ROI means showing how your solution helps to grow revenue, reduce costs, or mitigate risk after deployment. In other words, communicate real, believable business value, not inflated theoretical math. Gartner reports that 92 percent of buyers now require a formal business case before approving new technology¹, so clear value communication is more important than ever.

The Spectrum of Value Communication

In enterprise sales, excellence evolves. Initially, the goal is to establish credibility clearly and earn further meetings. Later, excellence involves deeper stakeholder validation and explicit internal alignment. Here's the spectrum clearly defined:

Bad (Unclear and Unconvincing): Quantified but generalized estimates, without customer validation or relevant benchmarks. Example:

"We typically reduce downtime by about 10%, saving you significant money."

Good (Tailored and Credible): Quantified outcomes using results from similar customers and credible third-party benchmarks, adapted specifically to the prospect’s situation. Example:

"Customers similar to your company typically reduce downtime by about 15%, aligning with McKinsey’s 10–20% benchmarks⁴, representing roughly $600K annual savings."

Excellent (For Opening Conversations): Outcomes using clear, credible external benchmarks or insights directly mapped to the customer’s stated goals or publicly available data, clearly signaling a deep understanding and inviting collaborative discussion.

"Based on your recent earnings call, downtime incidents cost you roughly $35K each. Our solution typically achieves downtime reductions of at least 15%, consistent with McKinsey's industry benchmarks⁴. Even conservatively, this translates directly to annual savings exceeding $400K per site. Does that align with your internal metrics?"

Excellent (Advanced Conversations – Best-in-Class): Outcomes explicitly coauthored and validated with multiple stakeholders within your customer's organization, ensuring accuracy, internal alignment, and clear ownership of the value narrative. Example:

"Across customers in your industry, our solution typically reduces downtime by an average of 17%, with high-performing customers achieving reductions up to 33%. John Smith, your Finance Controller, confirmed each downtime incident costs approximately $43K. After our recent 90-day pilot, your Plant Manager, Steve Brown, validated at least a 10% downtime reduction, representing around $400K in savings annually. This conservative estimate from just one site alone, is enough to cover the entire cost of the solution across all your factories three times over."

Your goal: Start with "Excellent (Opening Conversations)" and evolve to "Excellent (Advanced Conversations)."

Five-Step Framework for Clearly Communicating Value:

Step 1 – Identify Your Customer’s Key Metrics Early

Warning Sign: If you're guessing or relying on assumptions, you risk presenting irrelevant or unimportant metrics, causing immediate disengagement.

Quick Fix: Reference publicly available information or industry benchmarks explicitly or ask buyers directly during early conversations (even before formal pitches):

"Your earnings call highlighted downtime as a critical KPI. Is this still your top concern, or is there another more pressing metric today?"

"How does your company measure success?" "Which KPI gives you or your team the most headaches today?"

Step 2 – Quantify the Cost of Inaction

Warning Sign: Buyers don't feel a sense of urgency and view your solution as optional rather than essential.

Quick Fix: Show what the status quo costs your prospect today. For example:

• Example - Opening Conversations (Healthcare):

"Each readmission costs hospitals around $15K, according to HCUP / AHRQ benchmarks². At your reported rate of 12%, that's potentially millions annually. Is this consistent with your internal assessments?"

• Example - Advanced Conversations (Healthcare):

"Your Quality Director, Maria Lopez, validated your 12% readmission rate costs around $4.5M annually. Dr. Sarah Lin, your Clinical Lead, confirmed our solution could realistically reduce this by 15%, representing savings exceeding $650K. These assumptions have been reviewed by your CFO, Emily Carter, aligning directly with your internal business case."

Quantifying the cost of inaction immediately shifts their mindset from optional to essential, as clearly quantifying this cost can empower internal sponsors and help accelerate project approval.

Step 3 – Build a Simple, Credible Value Model

Warning Sign: Buyers question or dismiss your ROI calculations as unrealistic or overly complicated.

Quick Fix (Expanded): Build transparent models with customer-validated numbers and credible benchmarks explicitly:

• Example - Opening Conversations (Supply Chain):

"Inventory inaccuracies delay about 250 orders monthly, costing around $1.2M annually. PwC research indicates typical operational cost savings of 20%³. Conservatively, this could mean at least $240K annual savings. Does this seem realistic based on your internal figures?"

• Example - Advanced Conversations (Supply Chain):

"During our pilot, your Operations Manager, Sarah Patel, confirmed inventory inaccuracies delay roughly 250 orders monthly, costing $1.2M annually. Your CFO, Alex Johnson, explicitly validated a conservative reduction of 15% ($180K savings annually), matching PwC’s benchmarks³. These figures have been integrated into your internal investment proposal."

Simple math tied directly to their real metrics ensures the buyer trusts and values your model.

Step 4 – Use Credible External Evidence

Warning Sign: Your buyers seem uncertain or hesitant about whether your projected outcomes are realistic and achievable.

Quick Fix: Proactively share credible external validation, such as relevant case studies, customer testimonials, or respected third-party research, to build trust and confidence.

Supply Chain SaaS Example:

"Given your goal of reducing inventory inaccuracies. Here are three resources you can share internally: - A short case study from XYZ Logistics, a firm very similar in size and scope to yours, who achieved a 17% reduction in inaccuracies within six months. This translated to approximately $350K in annual savings. - An introduction to their COO, Michael Stevens, who can briefly discuss their experience firsthand. - Recent PwC research³ confirming that companies typically realize operational cost reductions between 15% and 20% using similar AI solutions. Would these resources be helpful to you and your team as you build your internal business case?"

This approach feels confident, supportive, and proactive, clearly positioning you as a helpful resource for your buyer’s internal conversations.

Step 5 – Co-create the Business Case with Your Champion

Warning Sign: Your buyer is disengaged, skeptical, or views your proposed value as “your numbers” rather than their own.

Quick Fix: Engage your champion proactively in co-creating the value case from the start. Clearly position their involvement as essential for accuracy, credibility, and internal advocacy.

Example:

"I can share outcomes from similar customers and external benchmarks, but the strongest business case is the one we shape together. Your understanding of internal expectations, key metrics, and the concerns of your executives is essential. Working closely together on this from the beginning ensures our business case directly aligns with your internal reality. Can we collaborate early on to build this?"

Engaging your champion from the outset ensures internal alignment, boosts credibility, and positions them as active advocates rather than passive observers.

Five Common Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

Mistake #1: Starting with general assumptions about customer metrics. What to do instead: Always ask explicitly for customer-defined metrics early in your discussions.

Mistake #2: Not quantifying the cost of inaction. What to do instead: Do your homework and work hard to illustrate the cost of not doing anything to increase the sense of urgency.

Mistake #3: Using generic ROI calculators not tied to customer data. What to do instead: Collaborate openly with buyers, plugging their numbers into simple, transparent calculations.

Mistake #4: Ignoring external data benchmarks. What to do instead: Reference reputable external research (Gartner, McKinsey, PwC) to validate your claims.

Mistake #5: Not involving your internal champion early enough. What to do instead: Actively collaborate with your champion from the start, co-creating numbers and ensuring internal buy-in.

Your Turn: What’s Your Trusted Metric?

Every seller has a trusted value metric. What’s yours? Share your go-to metric and why in the comments. And please keep your questions coming, I greatly appreciate these conversations!

Sources:

1. Gartner – Tech Buying Trends (92% require formal ROI cases)

2. HCUP / AHRQ — Stat Brief #278 “Conditions With Frequent and Costly Hospital Readmissions (Each readmission costs hospitals around $15K)

3. PwC – Global AI Study (Up to 20% cost reduction with AI)

4. McKinsey & Company – Digitizing Supply Chains (Typical 15% cost reduction)

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