Why do business cases fail?

In selling, business cases don't work! Wait! What? Okay, let's expand on that. In selling, improperly delivered business cases don't work. That begs the question, how do we properly deliver a business case? Most business cases are boring. They are boring because they don't focus on the exciting part of a sale.

Why do people buy?

We address this question in many of our workshops. When we approach it from the seller's mindset, we answer it with a statement about meeting needs or solving problems. However, things change when we take a step back and approach it from the buyer's perspective.

Why do people buy?

As a buyer, you answer this question entirely differently. People buy for two reasons: to increase pleasure or avoid pain. Essentially, we decide to buy based on emotion and then use facts and figures to support our decision.

How does this relate to a business case? You can present numbers and facts all day long, but numbers and facts alone don't move people. When selling in a business-to-business environment, think of pain as expense and pleasure as revenue. We, as salespeople, must remember that there are two sets of objectives. The agendas of the individuals we work with and the overall corporate goals. We must address both sets of needs.

Our business cases need to show our customers what success looks like so they can visualize it, feel it, and see themselves winning because of it.

We must understand how the customer views success and paint a picture before presenting a business case. Then, a well-presented business case becomes one of our most potent closing tools.