01 / Discovery
Understand the issue worth solving.
Start with the result the buyer wants. A request for a workshop, a dashboard, or a proposal tells you what they are considering. Establish which business problem that request is meant to solve.
- What needs to improve, and by when?
- Where does the current approach make that difficult?
- What have you tried, and what did you learn?
- What would a useful solution have to do?
Follow the answer that matters. Ask for an example, explore its consequence, then repeat your understanding in the buyer's words. Give them room to correct you.
Confirm the objective, the obstacle, and the conditions for success. Show only capabilities that address those conditions.
Method reference: Julie Thomas on asking and confirming useful questions.
02 / Business value
Make the benefit checkable.
Choose a measure the buyer already recognises: time spent, rework, delays, margin, or a defined risk. Record the baseline, expected change, time period, and source of each assumption. Ask what the improvement would mean to the people doing the work.
Less time preparing a customer review
Suppose a team prepares 20 reviews per month. A pilot aims to reduce preparation from three hours to two.
This is a capacity estimate. Check the baseline, adoption, and review quality with the buyer. Recovered time becomes a cash saving only when an actual expense changes. Include implementation and operating costs before estimating net benefit.
If a number is unknown, label it as an assumption and agree how to test it. A smaller supported estimate is more useful than a large promise.
Method reference: ValueSelling Associates on quantifying value.
03 / Stakeholders and approval
Know how the decision will be made.
Map the people who use, fund, approve, implement, and review the proposed change. Understand what each needs to see before supporting it.
- Outcome owner: Who is accountable for the result?
- Decision authority: Who can approve the investment or stop it?
- Delivery and assurance: Who must assess implementation, security, procurement, or other requirements?
- Daily users: What would make the change useful and workable for them?
Ask your contact to explain the approval path. Check that a pilot's permissions cover its actual scope. Record unresolved approvals as open items.
04 / Mutual action
Leave with a commitment both sides own.
Agree a next step that advances the buyer's decision. Give it an owner, a date, and a clear completion condition. Extend the plan through implementation and the first review of realised value.
| Step | Owner | Complete when |
|---|---|---|
| Confirm the problem and baseline | Buyer owner | The team agrees the starting measure. |
| Agree scope and approvals | Buyer + seller | Permissions, limits, and success criteria are recorded. |
| Run the bounded pilot | Named leads | The agreed test is complete and evidence is available. |
| Review the result | Decision owner | Proceed, revise, or stop is an explicit decision. |
Method reference: Julie Thomas on creating a mutual plan.
05 / Evidence and follow-through
Keep a record others can trust.
Separate what you think from what the buyer has confirmed. Keep the source, date, owner, and next action beside the statement. Share a short recap and invite corrections.
- Hypothesis
- An explanation to test. State what evidence would change your view.
- Confirmed
- The buyer has explicitly agreed. Record who confirmed it and when.
- Supported
- A statement backed by a document, measurement, or observed result.
- Unknown
- A gap with a named owner and a plan to resolve it.
A short meeting recap
Thank you for the discussion. Your priority is [outcome] by [date]. The main obstacle is [issue].
We agreed to test [approach] against [measure]. We still need to confirm [open question].
[Owner] will complete [next action] by [date]. Please correct anything I have misunderstood.
Store customer material only in the approved customer workspace. Include the information needed for the decision and follow the agreed access and retention rules.
06 / Sources
Go deeper.
This guide is an Andes editorial resource informed by Julie Thomas and ValueSelling Associates. The examples are illustrative. It is not official ValueSelling training or certification.
- Asking thoughtful questionsJulie Thomas / ValueSelling Associates
- Quantifying business valueValueSelling Associates
- Agreeing a mutual planJulie Thomas / ValueSelling Associates