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In the world of Enterprise SaaS sales, or consultative selling of any big ticket item, it's crucial for front-line account executives to master the art and science of presenting compelling business cases to CFOs.
These cases should not resemble your crappy product brochures but instead provide a clear and strong justification for the company to make calculated risks. Unfortunately, many business cases fail to achieve this objective, resulting in a lack of CFO buy-in. We work with a lot of CFOs and count many among the Higage partner portfolio. Here are the common reasons behind business case failures and provide practical strategies to overcome these challenges.
Get Real: Root your case in the CFOs Reality:
Understand the CFO's workflows and your solution's role within their core business processes.
Define realistic and quantifiable outcomes that can be achieved within a specific timeframe.
Identify metrics that are important to the CFO and demonstrate how your solution contributes to achieving those metrics.
Highlight Impact:
Clearly articulate the problem statement and why taking action is necessary.
Quantify the impact in specific terms. For example, "Implementing our solution will result in a 2.3% increase in win rate, driving X more revenue."
Position the impact upfront to capture the CFO's attention and engage them in the business case.
Don't Guess: Conduct thorough research:
Encourage sales reps to gather in-depth information about the CFO's background, priorities, and decision-making style. This can help tailor the business case to resonate with their specific interests.
The "F" Stands for Financial. Quantify the financial impact:
Amazingly, our CFOs all have stories of reviewing business cases that don't highlight the financial impact of the proposal.
You must present the financial impact of the proposed investment.
As a leader you must provide guidance on how to calculate and present financial impact
Financial impact includes key factors like cost savings, revenue growth, improved efficiency, return on investment (ROI) metrics and much more.
Be sure to present the metrics that matter to the CFO and align to their corporate objectives.
Protect The Downside and Mitigate Risks:
Remember that CFOs hate risk. They have an allergic reaction to risk.
Discuss how to address potential risks and objections that the CFO may have.
Present a risk mitigation plan that demonstrates your understanding of potential challenges and outlines strategies to minimize or overcome them.
Build a strong value proposition:
Emphasize the importance of developing a compelling value proposition.
CFOs aren't all about the money all the time. They understand other forms of value.
Clearly articulate the unique benefits and competitive advantages of the proposed solution even if they aren't purely financial.
Include productivity gains, impact on employee satisfaction, retention, culture, brand, corporate social responsibility, public relations, and other benefits.
However, always try to connect to and show how it aligns with the company's overall strategic goals.
Leveraging case studies and testimonials:
Recommend including relevant case studies or testimonials from other companies or clients who have experienced success with your solution.
Case studies and testimonials provides tangible evidence of the value and impact it can bring.
More often than not, it provides a halo effect and demonstrates trust that you can do what you say. It's ok to take advantage of some FOMO too.
Present a compelling executive summary:
CFOs are busy. Respect their time.
Experienced CFOs read the executive summary to decide if they want to spend their valuable time reading the rest of your business case.
As a leader, you are encouraged to highlight the significance of crafting a concise and engaging executive summary that quickly captures the CFO's attention and summarizes the key points of the business case.
Providing a clear implementation plan:
Explain the importance of presenting a well-defined implementation plan that outlines the steps, timeline, and resource requirements for successfully implementing the proposed solution.
This demonstrates your preparedness and commitment to the project's success.
A clear implementation plan, based on reality, will foster trust with the CFO and other stakeholders.
Align with Your Prospect's Initiatives & Timelines:
Remember... it's NOT about you. Avoid the pitfall of force fitting the "deal" into your forecastable timeframe that many front-line account executives fall into.
Ensure your business case aligns with broader company strategies and timelines.
Outline how your project directly impacts key company initiatives.
Leverage internal champions to help you identify and communicate the alignment of your solution with company priorities.
Conduct research on public statements, financial reports, and executive interviews to gain insights into the company's top initiatives.
If your solution doesn't address a top-three initiative, it's going to be a lot harder to close.
Here's a checklist to further enhance your chances of success, consider the following tips when building your business case:
Be transparent about the level of effort and commitment required from the company.
Avoid making baseless claims or vague statements. CFOs are pragmatic and value concrete data and evidence.
Provide clear information on the ROI of the proposed investment, grounded in the CFO's reality and supported by relevant data.
Clearly communicate the risks associated with not taking action and the potential consequences.
Collaborate with other stakeholders within the organization to gather additional insights and ensure alignment.
By understanding the common pitfalls of business case development and following these practical strategies, you can increase your chances of obtaining CFO buy-in. Remember, the key lies in presenting a business case that is realistic, quantifiable, aligned with company initiatives, and transparent. By doing so, you'll build better business cases that not only capture the attention of CFOs but also secure their approval and support for your proposed investment.