What it contains
- The cost of the problem — today, with the assumptions it rests on.
- The value levers — costs avoided, additional revenue, reduced risk; each one marked as data or estimate.
- The investment — price, implementation, the customer’s internal costs.
- Total cost and payback — how long until value exceeds the investment.
- Sensitivity — what happens if an assumption changes.
- The numbers to ask for — the ones only the customer has, and whom to ask.
How to build it
- Start from the customer’s pain and metrics, not from product features.
- Use their numbers when you have them, and state your estimates when you don’t.
- Show a range, not a single number: conservative, expected, optimistic.
- Build it with the customer: a business case written together is more credible than one handed over.
The most common mistakes
- Made-up ROI. A spectacular number with no source loses the CFO’s trust.
- Value expressed as features. “Faster” isn’t a number.
- Forgetting the customer’s internal costs. Time, training, process change.
