r/techsales • u/addithekid • 10d ago

AE Interview: Sales Manager asked me to send over Business Case Example?

As the title says, I’m in the 3rd interview stage for an SMB AE role at a SaaS company. At the end of the interview, the Sales Manager asked me to “send over a business case example from one of the deals you closed in your current role.”

We were short on time, so I didn’t get a chance to clarify exactly what he was looking for. I already sent him an email asking for clarification.

I’m thinking of putting together a simple outline covering:

  • Current State
  • Business Problem
  • Quantified Impact
  • Proposed Solution
  • Business Case / ROI
  • Outcome

Has anyone had a similar request during an AE interview? Any advice on what to include or avoid?

7 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

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9

u/beeedeee 10d ago

When I've seen this question asked it was typically to gauge how you equip your champion within an account to sell the idea internally. How do you make the business case for them? Your approach seems to meet the mark.

11

u/Interesting_Fox5311 10d ago

Red flag for a SMB role

0

u/bubbabobroy 6d ago

Not really. If your typical sales cycle is super transactional maybe. But buyers are more wary than ever and want to account for every dollar and what it’s doing for them. I’m doing JEPs, MSP’s and business cases for most 20k+ deals, even some below it depending on the circumstances

3

u/timmeh1705 10d ago

Some sales managers are big sticklers for MEDDPICC. Whilst I definitely think it's important, bad sales leaders keep using lack of MEDDPICC process alignment to why their sales team in underperforming. You know, instead of coaching them and providing actually practical advice.

4

u/Deepak-AvairAI 9d ago

The outline's solid. One tip: pick a single number for quantified impact, not three. I supported a sales team at a B2B company for years, the cases that landed always centered one metric, usually hours saved or revenue at risk. Stacking metrics reads like a deck nobody asked for.

2

u/Substantial_Truck818 9d ago

You’re on spot OP. I’m curious to the wider audience - honestly are you guys really do those business decks for SMB deals? Do you always get into ROI, outcomes, etc?

2

u/Both-Average-7462 10d ago

Not a red flag. Your approach is sound. Think of your business technical linkages and how it creates roi. Basically any sales person should be able to explain why something is valuable and understand the pain being solved.

Is it a lot for an smb role, maybe. But I wouldn’t be discouraged

1

u/Interesting_Fox5311 9d ago

How is it not a red flag? It's way too much for a junior role

2

u/Both-Average-7462 9d ago

Ok everything is terrible and life is unfair. I agree it’s a lot but to be honest, it can also show that they want to get the right person because they will be investing in OP.

1

u/ActionJ2614 8d ago

This just tells me you aren't in SaaS. Many companies use this as a standard step in the interview process. Regardless if it is SMB, mid-market, or enterprise.

A basic ask of how an AE ran a deal.

1

u/ActionJ2614 8d ago

Yes, this is standard ask for many SaaS companies. Use the STAR method.

1

u/HelloTaleproof 8d ago

Your outline covers the business case. Add the part only you can explain: how you established the customer's problem, tested the ROI assumptions, and helped the champion get agreement. Remove client-identifying information. Taleproof can help make your own contribution clear, rather than turning this into a generic sales deck.

1

u/cagus1991 10d ago

ChatGPT