Creating a Persuasive ROI Presentation for Customer Success
This is the fourth post in the series about Customer Success ROI. The first one discussed the wisdom of not doing ROI analyses. The second showed how to calculate benefits. The third discussed how to create a staffing model. Today, we talk about how to create and deliver a persuasive ROI presentation, combining the benefits calculations and the staffing model into an effective justification.
Let’s start with the structure of the presentation. Keep it simple and logical: simplicity suggests transparency and strengthens your argument. Use three sections:
- Rationale. Describe the role of the organization and its overall approach, together with the changes you want to make. Add a success anecdote. While ROI is about numbers, a politically astute story provides the emotional hook you need to sell the investment.
- ROI. Use the staffing model to demonstrate the benefits of the program and/or the strategy you want to fund. Focus on one major quantitative benefit. Piling on minor benefits dilutes the strength of the argument, may expose you to unpredictable counter-arguments, and strains the thin patience of executives.
- Qualitative benefits. Some benefits cannot easily be forced into numbers, so don’t try. Instead, present them as add-ons. This has the twin advantages of strengthening your quantitative arguments and allowing you to finish on a passionate note, asking for the investment.
Standard strategies apply for the delivery: make sure the right decision makers are in the room, socialize the presentation ahead of time, and use your champions to add comments and questions that will showcase your proposal to its best advantage. Good luck!
Can you share your experience justifying a Customer Success investment? Tell us about it in the comments. And if you need help creating your ROI presentation, contact us.
