Day 17 of 20 · AI for Sales
ROI Calculators & Business Cases
⏱ 7 min
📊 Beginner
Every deal eventually hits the same wall: the CFO. Your champion loves the product. The end users want it. The technical team has signed off. But the person who controls the budget needs one thing you haven't provided — a business case with numbers.
Most reps lose deals at this stage because they hand the champion a generic ROI calculator and hope for the best. The CFO sees through it instantly. The numbers are vague, the assumptions are hand-wavy, and it looks like it was built to sell, not to inform.
Today you'll learn to build custom ROI narratives for each prospect. Feed AI their specific pain points and metrics, and it generates a business case with projected savings, revenue impact, and a one-page CFO justification that actually gets budgets approved.
Why generic ROI calculators fail
Let's talk about what happens when a rep sends a standard ROI calculator.
The prospect fills in numbers they don't believe. "Enter your average deal size." "Enter your close rate." "Enter time spent on X." These inputs feel like guesses, and the prospect knows it. If the inputs are guesses, the output is fiction.
The math is transparently biased. Generic calculators are designed to produce impressive numbers no matter what you put in. CFOs have seen hundreds of these. They look at the output and think "marketing material," not "business case."
It doesn't speak their language. A good business case connects to the company's specific strategic priorities — not generic industry benchmarks. If the CFO cares about headcount efficiency and your calculator talks about "productivity gains," you've missed the mark.
A custom business case is different. It uses the prospect's actual numbers, ties to their stated priorities, and presents a narrative that feels like analysis — not a sales pitch.
Knowledge Check
Why do CFOs distrust most ROI calculators?
A
Because CFOs don't understand ROI calculations
B
Because CFOs prefer to make decisions based on gut feel
C
Because the inputs are guesses, the math is designed to always look impressive, and the output feels like a sales tool rather than genuine financial analysis
D
Because ROI calculators use incorrect formulas
CFOs are professional skeptics — it's literally their job. They've seen every vendor's ROI calculator and they all produce spectacular numbers. What earns their trust is a business case that uses real numbers from their own business, acknowledges assumptions honestly, and connects to the strategic priorities they've actually talked about. AI helps you build exactly that.
The custom business case formula
A business case that gets budgets approved follows a specific structure. Here's the formula:
1. The problem statement — In the prospect's own words, what's broken? Use quotes from discovery calls. This shows you listened.
2. The current cost of the problem — Quantify what doing nothing costs. Lost revenue, wasted time, employee churn, missed opportunities. Use their numbers whenever possible.
3. The proposed solution — What changes with your product? Be specific about which pain points get addressed.
4. The projected ROI — Conservative, moderate, and optimistic scenarios. Always lead with the conservative number. CFOs respect honesty more than optimism.
5. The timeline to value — When do they start seeing returns? "Month 3" is more believable than "immediately."
6. The risk of inaction — What happens if they do nothing for another 6-12 months? This creates urgency without pressure.
AI builds all six sections from your discovery notes and the prospect's data. Let's see it in action.
I need to build a business case for a deal I'm working. Here's what I know from discovery:
Company: Velocity Logistics (mid-market, 400 employees, $85M revenue)
Buyer: CFO is the final approver
Our product: Sales automation platform, $96K/year
Pain points from discovery calls:
- Sales team of 28 reps spends ~35% of their time on manual data entry and CRM updates
- Average deal cycle is 47 days, industry benchmark is 32 days
- They lose ~12% of deals due to slow follow-up (reps forget or get buried)
- VP of Sales said "I know we're leaving money on the table but I can't quantify it"
- Currently using 4 different tools that don't talk to each other
- They're hiring 6 more reps next quarter to hit growth targets
Build me a custom business case with actual numbers that I can send to the CFO.
**BUSINESS CASE: Velocity Logistics Sales Automation**
*Prepared for the Office of the CFO*
---
**THE PROBLEM (In Your Team's Words)**
Your VP of Sales said it clearly: "I know we're leaving money on the table but I can't quantify it." Here's the quantification.
Your 28 sales reps spend 35% of their time — roughly 14 hours per week each — on manual data entry and CRM administration instead of selling. That's the equivalent of **9.8 full-time reps doing nothing but admin work**.
---
**THE COST OF DOING NOTHING**
| Cost Factor | Annual Impact |
|-------------|---------------|
| Admin time (28 reps x 14 hrs/wk x $45/hr fully loaded) | **$882,000/yr** in non-selling activity |
| Lost deals from slow follow-up (12% of pipeline) | **$1.2M-$1.8M/yr** in missed revenue (est. based on team size and avg deal value) |
| Extended deal cycles (47 vs 32 day benchmark) | **15 extra days** per deal = delayed revenue recognition |
| Tool fragmentation (4 disconnected systems) | Data gaps, reporting errors, training overhead |
**Conservative estimate of current waste: $2.1M annually**
And you're about to hire 6 more reps into the same broken system — adding $189K in admin waste without fixing the root cause.
---
**THE SOLUTION**
A unified sales automation platform that eliminates manual data entry, automates follow-up sequences, and consolidates 4 tools into one. Specifically:
- Automated CRM updates from email and calendar (saves 10+ hrs/rep/week)
- Triggered follow-up sequences so no deal falls through the cracks
- Single platform replacing 4 disconnected tools
- Real-time pipeline visibility for leadership
---
**PROJECTED ROI (Three Scenarios)**
| Scenario | Admin Time Recovered | Deals Saved | Net Annual Benefit | ROI |
|----------|---------------------|-------------|-------------------|-----|
| Conservative | 40% reduction ($353K) | 5% improvement ($600K) | **$857K** | **793%** |
| Moderate | 60% reduction ($529K) | 8% improvement ($960K) | **$1.39M** | **1,349%** |
| Optimistic | 75% reduction ($662K) | 12% improvement ($1.44M) | **$2.0M** | **1,983%** |
**Investment: $96,000/year**
**Conservative payback period: 41 days**
---
**TIMELINE TO VALUE**
- Month 1: Implementation and data migration
- Month 2: Team onboarding and workflow configuration
- Month 3: First measurable impact on rep productivity
- Month 6: Full deal cycle improvement visible in pipeline data
---
**THE COST OF WAITING**
Every quarter without this solution costs Velocity approximately **$525K** in admin waste and lost deals. You're also about to invest in 6 new hires ($420K+ in salary and onboarding) who will inherit the same inefficient system.
The question isn't whether $96K is worth spending. It's whether $525K per quarter is worth losing.
Now write me the "CFO email" — a one-page message I can send directly to the CFO summarizing this.
**Subject: Business case for sales automation — $857K conservative annual benefit**
---
Hi [CFO Name],
I've been working with [VP of Sales] and the team over the past few weeks to understand the operational challenges in your sales organization. I wanted to share a brief business case for your review.
**The core issue:** Your 28-person sales team spends approximately 35% of their time on manual data entry and CRM administration — the equivalent of 9.8 full-time reps doing non-selling work. Additionally, 12% of deals are lost due to follow-up gaps, and your deal cycle runs 15 days longer than the industry benchmark.
**The financial impact:** We estimate this costs Velocity $2.1M annually in admin overhead and lost revenue. This number grows with the 6 new hires planned for next quarter.
**The proposed solution:** A sales automation platform that eliminates manual data entry, automates follow-up, and consolidates your current four tools into one. Annual investment: $96K.
**The projected return:**
- Conservative scenario: $857K annual benefit (793% ROI)
- Payback period: 41 days
- First measurable impact: Month 3
**What makes this different from a typical vendor pitch:** These numbers are built from your team's actual data — their time allocation, your pipeline metrics, and your growth plans. I'm happy to walk through every assumption.
I've attached the full analysis. Would 20 minutes this week make sense to review together?
Best,
[Your Name]
↻ Replay conversation
Knowledge Check
What makes the CFO email more effective than a standard ROI spreadsheet?
A
It's shorter than a full business case
B
It avoids mentioning the price
C
It uses the prospect's own data and quotes, leads with the conservative scenario, and offers to walk through every assumption — building trust instead of hype
D
It includes colorful charts and graphs
The CFO email works because it demonstrates three things: you listened to their team, you did honest math with their real numbers, and you're confident enough to lead with the conservative scenario. Saying "I'm happy to walk through every assumption" is a power move — it signals that the numbers hold up under scrutiny, which is exactly what a CFO wants to hear.
Adapting the business case to different buyers
The CFO isn't your only audience. Different stakeholders need different versions of the same business case, and AI generates each one from the same source data.
For the CFO: Lead with ROI, payback period, and total cost of ownership. Focus on financial impact and risk of inaction. Keep it to one page.
For the VP of Sales: Lead with rep productivity gains and pipeline impact. Show how their team's daily experience changes. Include the hiring efficiency angle — "get more from your existing team before adding headcount."
For the CTO/IT: Lead with integration simplicity, security compliance, and tool consolidation. Address the technical concerns that could block procurement.
For the champion: Give them the internal selling toolkit — a one-pager they can forward, the three strongest stats to drop in a meeting, and answers to the objections they'll face internally.
Ask AI: "Take this business case and rewrite it for [role]. Emphasize what they care about and de-emphasize what they don't." In 60 seconds you have four tailored versions of the same story.
Same data, four audiences. AI tailors the narrative to what each stakeholder actually cares about.
Knowledge Check
Why should you create different versions of the business case for different stakeholders?
A
To make the deal look bigger than it is
B
Because each stakeholder needs a different price
C
Each stakeholder evaluates the purchase through a different lens — financial return, team impact, technical fit, or internal politics — and the same message won't resonate with all of them
D
To confuse the buying committee into approving faster
A CFO who cares about payback period doesn't want to read about API integrations. A CTO who cares about security doesn't want to read about sales rep productivity. When every stakeholder gets a version of the business case that speaks to their specific concerns, they all arrive at the same conclusion through their own reasoning. That's how buying committees align.
The ROI calculator prompt library
Here are the prompts that will cover 90% of your business case needs. Save these and reuse them:
The full business case: "Build a custom business case using these discovery notes. Include: problem statement using the prospect's own words, cost of doing nothing, projected ROI in three scenarios (conservative, moderate, optimistic), timeline to value, and cost of inaction. Make it data-driven and honest — lead with conservative numbers."
The CFO one-pager: "Summarize this business case into a one-page email for a CFO. Lead with the financial impact, include the conservative ROI, and close with a specific ask for a 20-minute review."
The stakeholder version: "Rewrite this business case for [role]. Emphasize what a [role] cares about and remove details that aren't relevant to their decision."
The objection-proof version: "What are the 5 most likely objections a CFO would raise to this business case? For each objection, give me a data-backed response I can include proactively."
The competitive comparison: "The prospect is also evaluating [competitor]. Add a section to this business case that differentiates our solution on the metrics that matter most to the CFO — total cost of ownership, time to value, and risk."
These prompts turn one discovery call's worth of notes into a complete selling toolkit. The business case stops being the bottleneck and becomes the deal accelerator.
Knowledge Check
Which ROI scenario should you lead with when presenting to a CFO?
A
The conservative scenario — because CFOs respect honesty over optimism, and if even the conservative number is compelling, the deal sells itself
B
The optimistic scenario to show the maximum possible return
C
Whichever scenario produces the largest number
D
The moderate scenario as a compromise
Leading with the conservative number is counterintuitive but incredibly effective. When you say "even in our most conservative scenario, you see a 793% return in the first year," the CFO thinks "and it's probably better than that." Lead with the optimistic number and they think "there's no way." Conservative numbers build trust. Trust closes deals.
💰
Day 17 Complete
"The deal doesn't die in the demo. It dies on the CFO's desk. Build a business case with their numbers, their language, and their priorities — and watch budgets open up."
Tomorrow — Day 18
Sales Content & Enablement
Tomorrow you'll build a content library that arms your entire team with AI-generated case studies, one-pagers, and email templates.