Every day, you or your sales team map critical connections between your offering concept (why you and your organization believe your offering is unique and valuable to a target market) and specific sales situations. Prepare your sales teams to make those connections using the Sales Cases as a model (the Cases were mentioned at the beginning of this book and are an extension of your messaging platform from strategy and product concept to direct sales support).

Think of Sales Cases as logical “buckets” for conversations your sales personnel will likely engage in before being able to close any one deal. Where developing an I3 Value Proposition helps frame, focus and tighten your strategy and message, Sales Cases anticipate the areas of concern that prospects (based on your organizational and industry experience) will require you to address.

Another way to look at Sales Cases is to think of a legal proceeding—one in which you have to prove something beyond a reasonable doubt. Ask the question, “What case will I have to make to prove the merit of my offering for this customer?” Notice, it is proving the merit “for” this customer and not “to” this customer. The goal is not merely convincing your prospect of your case, but actually finding and substantiating the actual merit of your offering in each of the five case-dimensions.