Start with the workflow before the spreadsheet
Ask for a recent example: what happened, who handled it, how often and what downstream effect followed. Establish whether the consequence is lost time, delayed revenue, error risk or capacity. These require different evidence.
Use the buyer's estimates and identify their confidence and owner. Do not multiply a broad time estimate by salary and declare guaranteed profit. Freed capacity may improve service or reduce pressure without reducing payroll. A business case should state the action needed to realize the benefit and the costs of adopting the solution.
| Decision | Evidence to use | What changes next |
|---|---|---|
| Frequency and effort | Buyer-supported events and time per event | Calculate a workload estimate with ranges |
| Economic consequence | Actual delay, cost, risk or capacity effect | Distinguish measurable cash from operational benefit |
| Realization | Adoption effort and owner of the change | Check whether the benefit can actually occur |
Work through the decision
Illustrative arithmetic: a buyer estimates 40 exception requests per month at 15 minutes each. That is 10 hours of monthly work. A proposed 50% reduction would free five hours under those assumptions; it does not automatically save five hours of payroll cash.
Ask whether the reclaimed capacity improves a constrained process and whether integration creates new maintenance work. Record the buyer who validates the inputs and use a conservative range. The estimate supports a decision only if its assumptions and realization path remain visible.
A confident ROI number hides weak inputs
An attractive result can rest on guessed frequency, duplicated costs or an impossible savings assumption. Show the inputs and let the buyer change them. If the outcome disappears under a plausible conservative case, discuss that uncertainty before proposing a purchase.
A concrete next step
Build a small input model for one workflow, with low/base/high assumptions and a named validator. Ask what must change operationally to realize each benefit.
Sources and research notes
- Bessemer: 10 laws of cloudInvestor operating guidance
- GitLab Command PlanCompany operating handbook
Primary sources reviewed October 6, 2026. The operating recommendations and worked scenarios are Daavid’s analysis. Illustrative numbers are assumptions, not measured client results. Company marks identify sources and prior experience; they do not imply a customer relationship or endorsement.
Schematic