business-case-roilisted

# Business Case & ROI ## Purpose Turn a deal's pains and value drivers into a conservative, defensible ROI model and a one-page business case your champion can take into an internal sign-off meeting — built on the buyer's *own* numbers, not vendor marketing math. ## Inputs - The buyer's stated metrics (volumes, costs, cycle times, headcount, error rates) — whatever they actually told you - The pains and value drivers they named, ranked by what they care about - Your price / proposed investment (annual + any one-time cost) - Who signs off and what they need to see (CFO = payback, champion = their pain solved) ## Method A business case is a chain: **stated metric → cost of the problem → value of the fix → ROI → payback**. Each link must trace to something the buyer said. If a number isn't theirs or directly derived from theirs, it's not defensible — cut it. **1. Quantify the cost of inaction (the "do nothing" number).** Anchor the case on what staying still costs *per year*, not on your features. ``` Cost of inaction = (frequency of the problem) × (cost per occurrence) × (time horizon) ``` Use their numbers: "47 reps × 6 hrs/week lost × 46 working weeks × loaded hourly rate." Inaction is the real competitor — make it expensive and concrete before you price anything. **2. Map each value driver to one quantified impact.** Every value driver must land in exactly one of four buckets (no double-counting): | Bucket | Formula shape | Example | |---|---|---| | Time saved | hours