Annualize Your Value Statements!

How is 1 day per week worth 2 FTEs?

 

When communicating value, we need to present the largest reasonable figures. One simple way to accomplish this is to annualize our calculations.

 

Let’s say that during a discovery conversation, we learn that our prospect can save one day each week by implementing our software. We could leave it at that, but it isn’t very compelling!

 

On the other hand, if we annualize our finding, it amounts to about fifty days per year. That’s much more interesting: That’s nearly a quarter of an FTE (Full Time Equivalent)!

 

But wait: The prospect was simply describing one individual on a team, and it turns out that there are ten people all suffering the same issue. On a weekly basis this amounts to saving ten days for the team. Annualizing the calculation, we find that our prospect can recover 500 days annually. That’s a lot more! (Flick your wand and say, “Engorgio!”)

 

We glance at our prospect, a middle manager, and realize that they can’t really visualize what 500 days saved can mean. We say, “500 days – that’s a bit over two FTEs, so that’s like freeing up two members of your team to focus on other, more valuable activities.” Our prospect immediately “gets it” and starts thinking about other neglected tasks that could be addressed.

 

Annualize your value statements!

For more, see "Let's Talk About Value" starting on page 156 in Doing Discovery:

https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/