Introduction

Milestone 3: Value Design Workshop is part of the Engagement Phase of the Value Accelerator Framework.

This is an optional Milestone of the Value Accelerator Framework.

In smaller or more transactional customer engagements, where decisions involve a limited number of stakeholders, this Milestone can often be skipped. However, in complex enterprise engagements—where multiple decision-makers, mobilizers and influencers are involved—it is strongly recommended.

The Value Design Workshop provides a structured forum for aligning the customer’s key business priorities, solution expectations, and buying dynamics. It ensures that all critical stakeholders have a shared understanding of the problem, the proposed solution, and the path forward—reducing ambiguity and building collective commitment.

Purpose

The Value Design Workshop is a critical tool for managing complexity in large-scale customer engagements. When multiple stakeholders are involved in a buying decision, reaching consensus on what problem to solve and how to solve it becomes a major challenge.

Typical obstacles include:

• Disagreement on the primary problem to address

• Lack of alignment on the solution strategy or approach

The Value Design Workshop is specifically designed to address these challenges. It creates a structured environment for stakeholder alignment and decision-making, enabling the customer organization to move forward with clarity and confidence.

Through this Milestone, the Vendor facilitates a collaborative session where customer stakeholders align on:

• Business Strategy: Shared understanding of overarching goals and strategic priorities

• Top Challenges: Agreement on the most pressing pain points impacting performance

• Solution Definition: Agreement on the direction and principles of the ideal solution

By helping customers make sense of their internal complexity, the Vendor becomes a facilitator of consensus—not just a provider of solutions.

This role is critical. Research from The Challenger Customer shows that vendors who reduce decision-making complexity for buying groups are 62–70% more likely to close high-quality deals. Additionally, Sales Reps who act as decision facilitators increase the likelihood of long-term partnership by 23%.

In short, the Value Design Workshop is not just a collaborative step—it’s a strategic move to accelerate decisions, reduce churn, and strengthen the vendor’s position as a trusted partner.

Methodology

Collective Learning

At the core of the Value Design Workshop is a structured methodology based on the principle of Collective Learning.

According to research presented in The Challenger Customer, Collective Learning is one of the most effective ways for large customer organizations to overcome internal misalignment and reach consensus on complex decisions. It occurs when customer stakeholders engage in a shared learning experience—openly exploring different perspectives, debating key issues, and progressively building agreement through interaction.

In complex B2B buying situations, stakeholders often have conflicting priorities, operate in silos, or lack clarity on how their objectives intersect. Collective Learning bridges these disconnects by fostering interaction, alignment, and shared ownership of the decision.

The Value Design Workshop is specifically structured to enable this process. It brings together key stakeholders from the customer organization in a guided session facilitated by the vendor.

During the workshop, the vendor supports Collective Learning by encouraging:

• Open Dialogue – Creating a safe environment for stakeholders to voice their concerns, assumptions, and views.

• Collaborative Problem-Solving – Focusing the group on defining the right problem to solve and exploring solution paths together.

• Shared Understanding – Helping participants articulate a common vision aligned with the organization’s strategic objectives.

By enabling this kind of dialogue, the Value Design Workshop becomes a catalyst for internal alignment—an essential step for advancing large, complex deals.

Customer Stakeholder Behaviors That Indicate Collective Learning

During the session, signs that Collective Learning is occurring include:

• Candid discussions about conflicting priorities or misunderstandings.

• Stakeholders openly acknowledging differing perspectives.

• Active exploration of inter-dependencies across departments or functions.

• Joint development of ideas and solution principles.

• Objections being addressed collaboratively rather than individually.

These behaviors signal progress—not conflict. They indicate that the buying group is maturing its decision and moving toward aligned action.

The vendor’s role is not to dominate the conversation, but to guide it—helping stakeholders uncover the “hidden consensus” that leads to confident, collective decisions.

Value Threads

A central concept introduced in the Value Design Workshop is the Value Thread.

The Value Thread is a logical chain that connects all elements required to demonstrate how the vendor’s offering creates measurable value for the customer—across all levels of their organization. This thread enables a structured dialogue with stakeholders from C-level to operational roles, showing each how the proposed solutions link to their specific responsibilities and priorities.

The Value Thread links the following five elements:

1. Business Objectives: The strategic goals the customer wants to achieve.

2. Strategic Initiatives and KPIs: The tactical programs designed to achieve those goals, and how success will be measured.

3. Challenges: The obstacles preventing successful initiative execution.

4. Use Cases: The concrete solutions that resolve the key challenges.

5. Enablers: The vendor’s products and services required to implement the use cases.

Example of a Complete Value Thread

The Value Thread is especially powerful in complex B2B environments where the buying group includes stakeholders with different roles and concerns:

• C-level executives care about long-term business objectives and strategic direction.

• Vice Presidents focus on executing initiatives that deliver those objectives and monitor KPIs.

• Directors and middle managers are tasked with solving challenges that arise during execution.

• Individual contributors and specialists focus on implementing use cases and need clarity on the products and services involved.

By establishing a Value Thread, vendors can tailor the message to each stakeholder while maintaining a cohesive narrative across the organization. It ensures that business and technical discussions remain linked—and that all contributions are understood in the broader context of value creation.

In addition to enabling alignment, the Value Thread also serves as a powerful diagnostic tool.

During the pre-workshop interviews and in-workshop sessions, the vendor can assess how clearly the customer articulates each element of the Value Thread. This provides valuable insight into the organizational maturity of the customer engagement.

The more complete and structured the Value Thread, the more mature the customer organization is in its strategic execution. Conversely, if several elements are vague or missing, the customer may require more support in clarifying priorities and aligning internal stakeholders.

This insight helps vendors:

• Adapt the workshop to the customer’s level of maturity.

• Adjust communication styles to match different stakeholder needs.

• Support less mature customers by helping define missing Value Thread elements.

• Accelerate mature customers by focusing on refining decisions and fast-tracking implementation.

The image below represents the Value Thread concept.

Workshop Methodology

The Value Design Workshop introduces a structured, original approach developed within the Value Accelerator Framework. It blends proven industry practices with a distinctive methodology that drives stakeholder alignment in complex B2B environments.

The workshop is built around eight interconnected activities, delivered collaboratively by both vendor and customer participants. These activities are strategically organized across three distinct phases:

• Pre-Workshop Activities

• In-Workshop Activities

• Post-Workshop Activities

Each activity plays a crucial role in aligning the business and technical domains, enabling stakeholders to engage in a shared learning process. This alignment ensures that the workshop supports Collective Learning, delivering practical outcomes while building internal consensus.

Here below you can find the overview of Workshop Activities

1. Stakeholder Identification and Engagement

(Pre-Workshop | Business Domain)

Identify the right stakeholders who should attend the workshop. This ensures the customer’s decision-makers, mobilizers and influencers are well-represented.

→ Tip: The vendor should equip the sales rep with a typical participant profile to ensure broad representation.

2. Strategic Objectives, Initiatives, and KPIs Review

(Pre-Workshop + In-Workshop | Business Domain)

Capture and validate the customer’s strategic goals and key metrics. This starts before the session (via interviews or questionnaires) and is refined live during the workshop.

3. Challenges Identification

(In-Workshop | Business + Technical Domains)

Identify the roadblocks preventing progress toward strategic goals. The session uses guided facilitation techniques to uncover and frame the most relevant pain points.

4. Challenges Prioritization

(In-Workshop | Business + Technical Domains)

Align stakeholders on which challenges matter most. This step is essential in complex environments where priorities often vary across functions.

5. Use Case Identification

(In-Workshop | Technical Domain)

Translate top challenges into concrete solution ideas. Participants collaborate to define use cases that could effectively address the prioritized problems.

6. Use Case Prioritization

(In-Workshop | Business Domain)

Classify and sequence the proposed use cases. Quick wins are prioritized alongside longer-term strategic initiatives—helping shape a phased execution plan.

7. Success Criteria Identification

(In-Workshop | Business + Technical Domains)

Define KPIs and success metrics to evaluate the selected use cases. This ensures future implementation can be measured and tied back to business value.

8. Post-Workshop Report

(Post-Workshop | Business Domain)

The vendor documents and shares a comprehensive report summarizing the methodology, participant list, workshop findings, and recommended next steps. This artifact serves as a reference for alignment and execution planning.

The diagram below visually represents the workshop activities, highlighting with color coding which ones occur before, during, and after the workshop. The diagram also uses color coding to highlight activities that belong to the business and technical domain.

Workshop Best Practices

• Acknowledge Required Effort

  The Value Design Workshop represents a significant time and resource investment for both the customer and the vendor. To ensure participation, the workshop’s value must be crystal clear—which is only possible if the previous mandatory Milestones of the Value Accelerator Framework have been successfully completed.

  Proposing the workshop too early risks customer overwhelm and rejection. Instead, vendors must first build trust, establish credibility, and demonstrate alignment with the customer’s priorities. Only after passing the prior Quality Gates should the workshop be positioned—as a pivotal step in advancing stakeholder alignment and commercial progress.

• Offer Free of Charge, Emphasize Strategic Value

  While the workshop is typically delivered free of charge—especially when consulting services are not the vendor’s core business—it should not be perceived as low-value. Vendors must clearly communicate the workshop’s market value by emphasizing the depth of facilitation, business expertise, and structured outcomes it delivers. If offered as a formal consulting engagement, its cost would be significant.

• Right-Size the Workshop Duration

  The workshop is designed to deep-dive into one customer strategic initiative at a time. For engagements covering multiple initiatives, schedule separate workshop sessions.

  • Plan approximately 2.5 hours per initiative.

  • Keep each workshop day up to 6 hours to maintain energy and focus.

• Keep All Stakeholders Together

  Do not split customer participants into parallel breakout groups. The workshop’s success hinges on shared learning and alignment. Splitting participants can reinforce silos and weaken decision-making clarity. Unified participation promotes collaboration and creates common ground for action.

• Facilitate, Don’t Present

  The workshop moderator—typically the sales rep—should prompt open discussion rather than deliver a presentation. The focus is on surfacing perspectives, uncovering disconnects, and fostering dialogue among customer participants.

  Use open-ended questions and follow-ups to encourage participation and insight-sharing.

• Optimize Workshop Logistics

  • Seat all participants at the same table to encourage dialogue.

  • Use a large screen or projector visible to all attendees.

  • Limit customer attendance to eight participants to preserve workshop quality. Work with the customer beforehand to select the most relevant decision-makers, mobilizers and influencers.

• Adapt to the Customer’s Strategic Maturity

  Customers vary in how clearly they define their strategies. The workshop approach should adapt accordingly.

  Evaluate the customer’s maturity before the workshop based on how clearly they can define:

  • business objectives

  • strategic initiatives

  • Success criteria and KPIs per initiative

  • Availability of target KPI values

  • Initiative timelines

  For mature customers, the workshop serves to refine strategy and execution, leveraging vendor insights and peer best practices.

  For less mature customers, the workshop helps shape strategic clarity and identify initiatives that generate quick wins and longer-term impact.

• Define Success Criteria and KPIs Early

  The workshop must result in shared agreement on two key evaluation mechanisms:

  • Success Criteria: Specific, measurable outcomes used to determine whether a pilot project achieves its intended results. These provide clear benchmarks and create momentum for scaling beyond the pilot.

  • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Quantifiable metrics used to track the performance of the broader strategic initiative. These help inform ongoing decision-making and drive continuous improvement.

  Aligning on these metrics ensures both customer and vendor have a clear, objective definition of success—and a path to measure and sustain value delivery.

Execution

To deliver a Value Design Workshop, Vendors must execute the following activities:

1. Introductory call to the Value Design Workshop

2. Pre-workshop Activities

3. Workshop Delivery

4. Post-workshop Activities

The execution of the Milestone is driven by the sales rep.

The following vendor’s roles should also be engaged to support the sales rep in the execution of the Milestone:

• Subject Matter Expert(s) (based on the specific topics of the workshop)

• Customer Success Manager (if available from the Vendor’s organization)

The execution of the Milestones also requires active collaboration with the customer organization.

In the sections below you can find detailed instruction on how to execute the Milestone.

1. Introductory call to the Value Design Workshop

The introductory call is a 60-minute session scheduled by the sales rep with the customer’s mobilizer and key stakeholders. The objective is to align on the purpose, structure, and logistics of the Value Design Workshop—and to confirm the right participants.

During this call, the sales rep should cover five key topics:

1. The value and purpose of the workshop

2. The goals and expected outcomes

3. The methodology and structure

4. The agenda, timing, and logistics

5. The proposed list of participants from the customer side

The call should establish clarity, set expectations, and secure buy-in from customer stakeholders.

Explain the Value of the Workshop

Start the conversation by addressing why this workshop matters.

You can frame the value in two ways—based on the customer's engagement maturity or the type of stakeholder you’re addressing.

• Highlight the challenge of internal alignment

  Research from The Challenger Customer shows that an average of 5.4 stakeholders are involved in a typical B2B buying decision. As the number of participants increases, alignment becomes harder—and decision quality suffers.

  The Value Design Workshop is built to overcome this challenge. It brings all key decision-makers into one room to create alignment around strategic goals, top challenges, and actionable solutions.

  You may use the following visual to support this point:

• Introduce a Commercial Insight

  Alternatively, you may open the call with a Commercial Insight that resonates with the customer’s context. For example:

  “67% of digital transformation projects fail. The number one reason? Too much focus on technology and not enough on the business value it should deliver. The Value Design Workshop is designed to fix that—by aligning your business and technical stakeholders around what success actually looks like.”

Regardless of the approach, pause after this message and ask the customer:

“Does this sound like something valuable for your organization at this stage?”

This confirmation ensures shared understanding and opens the door to planning the next steps.

Explain Workshop Goals

The sales rep should then articulate the concrete goals of the Value Design Workshop. These goals position the workshop not as a theoretical exercise, but as a practical step toward value creation.

The primary goals of the workshop are:

• Identify initial use cases that can be quickly implemented to support the customer’s business objectives.

• Estimate the business value of the prioritized use cases based on customer inputs and benchmarks.

• Define a preliminary implementation roadmap that outlines mid- to long-term steps to realize value at scale.

While presenting these goals, the sales rep should emphasize the following point:

Generating business value at scale—and at speed—requires more than identifying short-term wins. It demands a clear vision for how value will be sustained and expanded through future initiatives. The Value Design Workshop is built to help define that vision.

This Milestone is not just about designing quick wins. It is about building or strengthening a long-term strategic path. The workshop brings together stakeholders to align on immediate priorities and future ambition—ensuring that business impact is both measurable and scalable.

To ensure engagement and alignment, the sales rep should ask two questions after presenting the workshop goals:

1. “Do you agree with the goals we’ve outlined for the workshop?”

2. “Are there any other goals you’d like us to include?”

If the customer proposes additional goals, the sales rep should:

• Confirm whether they fit within the scope of the Value Design Workshop

• Or determine if they are better addressed in a future Milestone of the Value Accelerator Framework

In both cases, the objective is to reinforce that the workshop is part of a structured process—one that is designed to evolve with the customer’s priorities.

Explain Workshop Methodology

Once the customer has confirmed alignment on the goals, the sales rep should explain how the Value Design Workshop will be executed. The focus is not only on what the workshop will cover, but on how it is structured to help customer stakeholders build consensus.

Key messages to convey:

• The workshop is designed to bring decision-makers together to create alignment.

• It addresses both the business and technical domains of the customer’s organization.

• The methodology follows eight structured activities—some conducted before, others during, and the rest after the workshop.

To support this explanation, the sales rep should walk through the visual diagram of the workshop methodology (provided earlier in the wiki), which outlines the sequence of activities and highlights the dual business-technical focus.

Explain workshop Agenda

The sales rep should now present the proposed workshop agenda using the template shown below:

They should walk the customer through each session, highlighting its purpose and expected outcome:

1. Intro (15 min)

   • Welcome, participant introductions, and a quick recap of the workshop goals and methodology.

   • This sets expectations and ensures everyone is aligned from the beginning.

2. Strategic Objectives, Initiatives, and KPIs Review (60 min)

   • The customer presents their business strategy, strategic initiatives, and KPIs.

   • This creates shared visibility and helps anchor the rest of the workshop in business value.

3. Challenges Identification & Prioritization (75 min)

   • Participants identify and rank the core roadblocks that hinder progress.

   • This collaborative activity fosters transparency and reveals alignment or disconnects across departments.

4. Use Case Identification & Prioritization (75 min)

   • Participants define and prioritize use cases to address the top challenges.

   • The session encourages co-creation, supported by the vendor’s insights and relevant solution experience.

5. Success Criteria Identification (30 min)

   • Participants define how success will be measured for the prioritized use cases and strategic initiatives.

   • This includes concrete KPIs and criteria for evaluating a potential pilot project.

6. Implementation Roadmap (30 min)

   • The group outlines a timeline and high-level plan for implementation.

   • This session turns the discussion into a practical next step.

7. Next Steps and Wrap-up (45 min)

   • Review outcomes, align on next steps, and clarify responsibilities.

   • This final session ensures momentum and shared accountability beyond the workshop.

The sales rep should reinforce that this agenda is a starting point. It can be adapted based on the customer’s specific initiatives, number of stakeholders, and desired focus areas. Making the agenda flexible strengthens the perception that the workshop is a co-created effort designed around the customer—not a one-size-fits-all template.

Explain Workshop Timeline

The sales rep should explain that the full execution of the Value Design Workshop spans approximately six to seven weeks. This includes preparation, workshop delivery, and follow-up activities. The timeline should be visualized using the GANTT chart below, which clearly illustrates when each activity takes place—before, during, and after the workshop.

While presenting this timeline, the sales rep should highlight several key points:

• Pre-workshop activities such as stakeholder interviews or questionnaires must be completed in advance. These steps are critical to gather input, build context, and tailor the workshop experience to the customer’s specific situation.

• This preparation allows the vendor to ensure the workshop delivers relevant, high-impact discussions that resonate with the customer’s business and technical stakeholders.

• The timeline reflects a realistic and structured approach that balances preparation with efficiency, enabling momentum without overwhelming the customer team.

It is important for the sales rep to emphasize that a transparent, open-book approach from both vendor and customer is essential. Commitment to pre-workshop steps is not optional—it’s foundational to workshop success.

If the customer expresses hesitation about the pre-workshop effort, the sales rep should address the concern directly:

• Reiterate the workshop’s strategic value.

• Reconnect the conversation to the business outcomes the customer aims to achieve.

• Clarify that the short-term investment in preparation leads to higher-quality outcomes, faster alignment, and a stronger foundation for future collaboration.

Without customer buy-in to these initial steps, the workshop cannot fulfill its intended purpose.

Explain workshop Participants

To ensure the Value Design Workshop delivers meaningful outcomes, it is essential that the right participants from the customer organization attend. Research from the Challenger Customer indicates that for every topic of interest, approximately 5.4 stakeholders are involved in the decision-making process—either as decision makers or as consulted contributors. Securing the attendance of these individuals is fundamental to achieving alignment and enabling effective decision-making during the workshop.

Often, customer stakeholders may not be fully aware of all the individuals who should be involved. For this reason, the vendor should support the customer in identifying the required participants. The vendor organization should equip the sales rep with a predefined list of recommended roles to be represented for each typical topic of interest.

The sales rep should present this list to the customer during the call, clearly outlining the importance of full representation. In some cases, one person may cover multiple roles, which is acceptable as long as all necessary perspectives are covered.

Some roles should always be represented, regardless of the workshop topic:

• Business Owner: A senior leader who can articulate the customer’s business strategy and key initiatives.

• Head of IT: Especially important when digital solutions are part of the discussion.

Other roles may be topic-dependent. For instance:

• Head of HR is critical if the initiative focuses on employee experience or workforce transformation (e.g., “improving workplace experience with digital solutions”).

Once the required roles have been presented, the sales rep should ask the customer to identify which individuals will represent each role. This is also a moment to qualify the customer stakeholder as a Mobilizer: if the stakeholder can identify and secure participation from the relevant roles, it strongly suggests they are well-positioned to drive internal alignment and decision-making.

The sales rep should also present the list of vendor roles that will participate in the workshop. This demonstrates the vendor’s commitment to the engagement and reassures the customer that expert resources are being allocated to support the workshop.

Explain Workshop Logistics

The sales rep should review the following practical logistics with the customer to ensure the workshop runs smoothly:

• Participants should bring their own laptops to engage in hands-on activities.

• The meeting room must be equipped with a large screen or projector and a reliable internet connection.

• The duration of the workshop depends on the number of strategic initiatives to be discussed:

  • On average, 2.5 hours are required to cover one initiative.

  • If multiple initiatives are involved, the workshop should be split across multiple days.

  • Each workshop day should not exceed 6 hours.

• The workshop is ideally conducted in person. However, a remote format is also acceptable if required.

Explain Workshop Value

Vendors are strongly encouraged to deliver the Value Design Workshop free of charge, particularly if the vendor does not operate a consulting business. In such cases, the vendor’s focus should remain on generating value through their core offerings. That said, it is essential that the customer understands the true market value of the workshop and its related activities. The sales rep should clearly communicate that although the workshop is offered at no cost, it would carry a substantial price tag if delivered as a formal consulting engagement.

Identify Customer Stakeholders To Be Invited To The Workshop

The sales rep must guide the customer in identifying the right stakeholders to participate in the Value Design Workshop. These participants should represent both business and technical domains and hold roles relevant to the topic(s) to be addressed.

During the introductory call, the sales rep should:

• Present a recommended list of required customer roles for the workshop.

• Ask the customer’s mobilizer to share the contact details of the identified participants to arrange pre-workshop interviews or questionnaires.

• Request that the mobilizer inform the participants in advance that they will be contacted by the vendor team for pre-workshop activities.

Pre-workshop activities may include live interviews or offline questionnaires, depending on the vendor’s chosen approach.

The sales rep should also share the list of vendor participants who will be involved in the workshop. This ensures transparency and builds trust in the vendor’s commitment to support the customer with the right expertise and seniority.

To ensure productive dialogue and meaningful engagement, the number of customer participants should be limited to no more than eight. This group size fosters alignment, avoids overcrowding, and encourages active contribution from all attendees.

Example participant list

Customer participants

• Business owner (e.g., senior manager, VP, or director aligned to the strategic initiative)

• Chief information officer (CIO) or IT head (if digital solutions are involved)

• Chief digital officer (CDO) or equivalent role (if relevant to the initiative)

• Other key stakeholders: decision-makers, influencers, or power users affected by the initiative

Vendor participants

• Executive sponsor: senior vendor leader acting as counterpart to the customer’s business owner

• Sales rep: workshop facilitator and lead point of contact

• Subject matter experts (SMEs): experts aligned to the specific business or technical topics addressed in the workshop

By setting expectations early and ensuring the right participants are in place, the sales rep lays the foundation for a well-structured and high-impact workshop.

Important notes

• The list of customer and vendor participants should be tailored to the specific topics of interest.

• The vendor should equip the sales rep with a library of typical participant roles to support effective stakeholder mapping.

• The customer list should always include a senior business leader who can act as the business owner, articulating the customer’s strategic vision and representing executive sponsorship.

• The vendor team should mirror this by including a senior leader who acts as the executive counterpart to the customer’s business owner.

Final Planning and Next Steps

Before concluding the call, the sales rep should agree with the customer on the next steps to finalize workshop logistics. This includes:

• Confirming the date and location of the workshop

• Collecting contact details of the participants

• Ensuring alignment on any final preparation steps needed from the customer or vendor side

Clear communication at this stage sets the foundation for a well-prepared and high-impact workshop.

2. Pre-workshop Activities

Before the workshop, the sales rep engages with identified customer participants to gather essential input that will shape the structure and focus of the workshop. This step ensures that the workshop is tailored to the customer’s actual context, priorities, and expectations.

Pre-workshop insights can be collected through either live interviews or offline questionnaires. While both options are valid, live interviews are strongly recommended—they allow the sales rep to build rapport, clarify ambiguous answers, and uncover deeper insights that typically do not surface in written responses.

The vendor can choose the method that best fits the engagement context. However, all pre-workshop activities should be completed at least two weeks prior to the workshop date to allow sufficient time for consolidation and preparation.

Here below is the pre-workshop activities breakdown:

• Send invitations for live interviews or distribute the offline questionnaire to selected customer stakeholders.

• Conduct interviews with customer participants (if interviews are selected).

• Consolidate, Document and Share the Results of the Pre-workshop Activities

These steps help ensure the workshop will be relevant, focused, and aligned with the expectations of all customer stakeholders. The pre-workshop phase also reinforces the vendor’s credibility by demonstrating professionalism, preparation, and customer centricity.

Sending the invitation for the interview or, alternatively, distributing the offline questionnaire to the customer participants

If interviews are selected, the sales rep should schedule a 60-minute remote meeting with each chosen customer stakeholder. The subject line of the invitation must clearly indicate the intent of the meeting.

Example subject line:

Pre-workshop interview with Mr. Robert Janson

In the body of the invitation, the sales rep should briefly explain the purpose of the meeting and its connection to the upcoming workshop.

Example message:

Dear Mr. Janson, in preparation for our upcoming Value Design Workshop on 26 October 2024, we would like to collect your insights through a 60-minute interview. Thank you in advance for your availability. We look forward to speaking with you.

All interviews should be scheduled well in advance of the workshop to ensure sufficient preparation time.

If the vendor prefers to use a questionnaire instead of interviews, the sales rep should send the questionnaire with a short explanation of its purpose, along with a clear deadline for submission. Timely completion is essential to guarantee high-quality preparation and a relevant workshop experience.

Conducting Interviews with Customer Participants (If Interviews Are Chosen)

If interviews are selected, the sales rep should follow a structured approach to gather strategic and operational insights, while building rapport with key customer stakeholders.

Introduction

At the beginning of the interview, the sales rep should:

• Thank the participant for their time.

• Briefly introduce him/herself and the context of the engagement.

• Reference the upcoming Value Design Workshop and explain that the interview is essential to tailor the session to the customer’s goals and context.

• Emphasize that all responses are confidential and that there are no right or wrong answers—only open and honest input.

• Mention that notes will be taken to consolidate insights into a summary report that supports the workshop design.

This introduction should take no more than 5 minutes.

Interview Structure and Questions

1. Personal Introduction and Role Context (2–5 min)

   • Could you briefly introduce yourself and describe your role within the organization?

   • How is your role connected to the strategic initiative(s) being addressed in the workshop?

2. Vision and Strategic Objectives (~5 min)

   • What are the overarching strategic goals or vision of the organization over the next 3–5 years?

   • Which strategic initiatives have been defined to help achieve that vision?

   • Are there specific phases, milestones, or deadlines associated with the execution of these initiatives?

3. Initiatives and Ownership (~10 min)

   • What current or planned projects or actions are you involved in that support the strategic objectives?

   • What are your responsibilities in driving or contributing to those initiatives?

   • What support do you need to be successful in your role within this initiative?

4. Measuring Success (~5 min)

   • How do you measure whether the organization is moving in the right direction?

   • Which KPIs or success criteria are being used today—or should be used—to track progress?

   • Are there specific targets or thresholds for these KPIs?

5. Challenges and Bottlenecks (~10 min)

   • What are the biggest challenges you currently face—or expect to face—in executing the strategy?

   • Why do you believe these challenges exist?

   • Which of these would you prioritize as most urgent or impactful?

   • Have you already attempted to address any of these challenges? If so, what was tried? What worked, what didn’t, and why?

6. Scaling Success and Unlocking Value (~5 min)

   • In your view, what would be needed to scale a successful pilot to the broader organization (e.g., across departments or campuses)?

   • Are there specific resources, technologies, competencies, or partnerships required to achieve your strategic goals at scale?

7. Expectations for the Workshop (~5 min)

   • What are your expectations for the Value Design Workshop?

   • Are there specific questions or concerns you would like to see addressed during the session?

8. Additional Input (~3 min)

   • Is there anything important that we haven’t covered in this interview but should be considered as we prepare for the workshop?

9. [Optional for Technical Roles] Technical Infrastructure (5–10 min)

   • Which systems, platforms, or assets are already in place that could support the initiative (e.g., timetabling tools, presence sensors, energy monitoring platforms)?

   • Are there data sources currently being collected that could be leveraged to measure or optimize performance?

   • Are there known integration or interoperability challenges across different systems or departments?

Interview Best Practices

• Ask follow-up questions to uncover root causes and unexpected insights.

• Summarize key answers during the conversation to validate understanding.

• Keep the tone conversational and flexible, while staying within the time allocated (60 minutes).

• Limit the number of vendor participants to two (interviewer - typically the sales rep - and a note-taker).

• Build rapport early to encourage honest, reflective input.

• Maintain a learning mindset: the goal is to understand the customer’s world, not pitch solutions.

Content of the offline Questionnaire (If Questionnaire is Used Instead of Interviews)

If the sales rep opts to collect insights using a questionnaire instead of live interviews, the questionnaire should mirror the structure and depth of the interview to ensure consistent outcomes. The questions should be clearly worded and limited in number to ensure they can be answered within 30 minutes. The questionnaire must be positioned as an important pre-workshop activity that will directly influence the structure and relevance of the workshop.

Below is the recommended structure for the questionnaire.

Instructions for Completion

• Please complete all sections to the best of your ability.

• The estimated time for completion is around 30 minutes.

• Submit the completed questionnaire by [insert deadline] to: [insert contact name and email].

• If you have any questions or need clarification, please reach out to the sales rep listed above.

Section 1: Personal Information

• Full Name

• Job Title

• Department / Unit

• Role in the Project: Briefly describe your role and how it connects to the project or initiative addressed in the upcoming workshop.

Section 2: Strategic Vision and Objectives

1. What is your understanding of the organization’s strategic vision for the next 3–5 years?

2. Which strategic initiatives are being (or will be) implemented to realize that vision?

3. Is there a defined timeline or set of milestones for achieving these initiatives?

Section 3: Your Role in Strategy Execution

1. What is your personal vision for the project or initiative that will be addressed in the workshop?

2. What are your specific responsibilities in supporting the organization’s strategic objectives?

3. Are there any particular success factors that you consider essential in your role?

Section 4: KPIs and Success Criteria

1. How does the organization currently measure progress toward its strategic goals?

2. Which KPIs or success criteria are in place—or should be used—to evaluate the success of this initiative?

3. Are there defined targets or deadlines for those KPIs?

Section 5: Challenges and Bottlenecks

1. What are the main challenges or blockers you currently face—or anticipate facing—in contributing to the strategy?

2. Why do you think these challenges exist?

3. If these challenges remain unresolved, what risks or consequences could arise?

4. Have any solutions or proof-of-concepts already been attempted? What worked, what didn’t, and why?

Section 6: Scaling and Resources

1. What would be needed to scale a pilot initiative to the entire organization (e.g., campus-wide or cross-departmental)?

2. Are there any specific resource gaps, technology requirements, or skill sets needed to enable success at scale?

Section 7: Expectations for the Workshop

1. What are your expectations for the Value Design Workshop?

2. Are there specific topics or concerns you would like the workshop to address?

Section 8: Additional Comments

1. Is there anything else you would like to share that was not covered in the previous sections?

Consolidate, Document and Share the Results of the Pre-workshop Activities

After completing all interviews or collecting responses from the questionnaire, the sales rep must consolidate the insights gathered into a structured pre-workshop report and share the report with the workshop participants.

This report serves three key purposes:

• It supports the customization of the workshop agenda and content.

• It ensures alignment among the vendor team supporting the engagement.

• It provides a shared baseline of understanding to kick off the workshop with focus and clarity.

The report should summarize patterns across participants while capturing relevant stakeholder-specific nuances. It should clearly reflect:

• Key strategic objectives and initiatives mentioned by participants.

• Common challenges and blockers raised.

• Any misalignments or conflicting views that may require clarification during the workshop.

• Perceived maturity of the customer organization on the topic of interest.

• Additional topics that emerged and merit inclusion in the workshop.

Where applicable, the sales rep should cluster and prioritize recurring themes.

Adapt the Workshop Based on Maturity Level

The sales rep should interpret the collected insights to determine the customer's level of maturity in relation to the workshop’s core topic:

• If the customer demonstrates high maturity, the workshop should focus on gathering detailed insights, challenging assumptions, and jointly exploring how the vendor’s solution can accelerate strategic initiatives or deliver measurable business outcomes.

• If the customer shows low maturity, the workshop should be adjusted to include more facilitation support. In this case, the vendor’s role is to help define the customer’s strategy, clarify objectives, and structure a roadmap.

Embed the Insights into the Workshop Tools

The vendor team should update the workshop facilitation tool in advance of the session. This includes:

• Pre-populating customer objectives, initiatives, and KPIs.

• Highlighting challenges and blockers to be discussed and validated during the workshop.

• Mapping suggested use cases or solution ideas (if maturity and clarity allow).

Note: The Value Accelerator offers a specific digital tool purposely designed to facilitate the delivery of the Value Design Workshop. Reach out to the Value Accelerator team if you want to know more.

3. Workshop Delivery

Once all pre-workshop activities are completed, the workshop session takes place. The sales rep acts as the moderator, guiding the session flow, while other vendor participants contribute expertise and support based on their areas of specialization.

The sections below provide guidance on how to conduct each part of the workshop effectively.

Introduction

The sales rep opens the session by welcoming participants and facilitating a short round of introductions. This ensures that all attendees are familiar with each other’s roles and can engage confidently throughout the workshop.

After the introductions, the sales rep reuses the presentation from the introductory call to revisit the workshop goals, methodology, and agenda. Re-establishing a shared understanding at the outset is essential for maintaining alignment and focus throughout the session.

Before starting the first activity, the sales rep should outline the following participation principles to foster an open, collaborative atmosphere:

• no formalities, no grades – formality and evaluation hinder open discussion.

• speak up – active participation from everyone is key to the workshop’s success.

• feel free to move – participants are welcome to stand, stretch, or walk around if needed.

• ask for breaks – breaks can be requested at any time.

• bring your laptop – laptops are required for completing the hands-on activities.

This introduction block typically takes about 15 minutes.

Strategic Objectives, Initiatives and KPIs review

In this session, the customer’s business owner presents the organization’s strategic context. This includes a clear articulation of the business direction in terms of:

• business outcomes and objectives – the specific, measurable results the customer organization aims to achieve with respect to the project that is the focus of the workshop. These outcomes represent the high-level goals that guide strategic decisions.

• strategic initiatives – the actions, programs, or projects that the organization is planning or executing to reach those business outcomes.

• key performance indicators (KPIs) – the metrics used to evaluate the success of each initiative, including the target values and timelines.

For example, if the workshop focuses on sustainability, a business outcome might be: “achieve full sustainability of manufacturing operations within five years.” A related strategic initiative could be: “adopt green energy sources,” with a KPI measuring “Tons of carbon emissions reduction,” and a target such as “20,000 tons of CO₂ equivalent reduced per manufacturing site over five years.”

Before the workshop, the sales rep should prepare a digital whiteboard or application to support the session. This tool should enable collaborative input from both vendor and customer participants and be pre-populated with data collected during the pre-workshop phase:

• business outcomes

• strategic initiatives

• target KPIs

• challenges related to each initiative

During the session, the sales rep updates the tool in real time as the customer stakeholders add insights and clarifications. This ensures that all stakeholders have a shared and up-to-date view of the customer’s strategic direction.

Below is a screenshot of a digital tool purposely designed by the Value Accelerator team to facilitate the workshop.

As the business owner presents the organization’s business strategy, the sales rep should:

1. Update the digital tool purposely designed by the Value Accelerator team to facilitate the workshop with any new or refined information. This tool should remain visible throughout the session—whether in-person or virtual—to ensure alignment across all participants.

2. Facilitate the conversation by asking open-ended questions and actively listening to the customer’s input. The insights gathered here will later be used to link challenges and use cases to the customer’s strategic objectives.

3. Validate the input by asking the business owner to review and confirm the content captured in the digital tool. This step ensures a shared understanding of the customer’s business strategy.

In the image below, a screenshot of the Value Accelerator app highlights the sections dedicated to customer business objectives, related strategic initiatives, and the key performance indicators (KPIs) used to measure success. These fields should be pre-populated based on insights gathered during the pre-workshop activities and updated in real time during the session.

This session is crucial in ensuring that all participants are aligned on the customer’s goals and initiatives, setting the stage for the rest of the workshop.

The session should last 60 minutes.

Challenges Identification & Prioritization

This session focuses on identifying and prioritizing the key challenges that prevent the customer from successfully executing their strategic initiatives. The activity is repeated for each strategic initiative captured earlier in the workshop.

The exercise is facilitated using the digital tool purposely designed by the Value Accelerator team to facilitate the workshop. This tool enables structured input and collaborative discussion among participants, ensuring transparency and alignment.

The session should last approximately 75 minutes.

In the sections below, you will find detailed guidance on how to conduct the challenges identification and prioritization activities using the digital tool.

Login to the digital tool

The first task for the sales rep is to ask all customer participants to log into the digital tool that the vendor is using to facilitate the workshop. The login process should be seamless and intuitive. The sales rep should ensure that everyone is successfully logged in before moving forward. It is common for a few participants to experience minor technical issues during login, so the sales rep must be ready to assist promptly.

While participants are logging in, the sales rep should also log into the tool and share her screen using a large monitor or projector, so everyone can clearly follow the activity.

Once all participants are connected, the sales rep invites them to create their personal avatar by entering their name and role

The image below shows an example section of the Value Accelerator App where participants can set up their avatars:

This moment sets the tone for the session. The sales rep should guide the participants with patience and calm, supporting anyone who may be unfamiliar with the tool. While the process is simple, some participants may take longer to get comfortable. The facilitator should reassure the group with a tone of openness and inclusion: “There are no wrong answers. Every voice matters. Take your time.”

This setup encourages full engagement and helps build a collaborative, relaxed environment that supports honest discussion and shared learning.

Estimated time: 5 minutes.

Challenges Identification and Voting

Once all customer participants are logged into the digital tool, the sales rep should explain how the challenge identification and voting activity will work for each strategic initiative.

For every strategic initiative under discussion, the digital tool provides a pre-populated list of challenges typically associated with that initiative. These examples are drawn from previous engagements with similar customers and serve as a valuable starting point for discussion.

Customer participants are invited to review this list and vote on the challenges they find relevant. There is no limit to the number of challenges a participant can vote for, but each challenge can be voted on only once per person. Participants can also create new challenges directly in the tool. Once a new challenge is added, it becomes visible to all participants and can be voted on by others.

Participants are asked to vote based on two dimensions:

• Urgency: How soon does this challenge need to be solved? Is it an immediate priority or something that can be addressed later?

• Challenge value: What would be the impact of solving this challenge? Or, what are the consequences if we don’t solve it?

This framework helps surface the most pressing and high-value challenges to address first.

The sales rep should explain that the reason for starting with a pre-curated list is to contribute relevant insights that the vendor has learned through past customer engagements. These examples can help stimulate discussion, especially when participants are unsure where to begin.

The sales rep may choose to briefly walk through the pre-populated challenges in the tool before participants begin voting and adding their own.

This approach benefits both parties:

• For the customer, it sparks reflection and may highlight overlooked pain points.

• For the vendor, it focuses the workshop on problem areas where the vendor has proven solutions, increasing the likelihood of meaningful outcomes.

Throughout the activity, the sales rep should closely monitor the progress of voting and challenge creation. The real-time updates should be displayed via a shared screen or projector so all participants can follow along. If any participant experiences difficulty navigating the tool or casting votes, the sales rep should step in to help quickly and discreetly.

The sales rep should also keep track of time, checking in occasionally to make sure participants are progressing at the right pace.

Estimated time: 30 minutes.

The screenshot below shows the challenges voting screen from the Value Accelerator App.

Open Discussion on Challenges

Once all customer participants have completed the voting process and added any additional challenges to the digital tool purposely designed by the Value Accelerator team to facilitate the workshop, the sales rep should initiate an open discussion to reflect on the results.

The discussion should begin with a quick review of the voting outcomes. Some challenges may have received strong consensus, while others might have been marked as relevant by only a few participants.

To encourage active participation, the sales rep should initially focus on the lower-ranked challenges. Participants who voted for these less popular challenges should be invited to explain their reasoning. This approach reinforces the collaborative nature of the workshop and ensures that all perspectives are heard and valued.

For example, the sales rep might say:

“Let’s look at the results of the voting. I see that many of you agree on the importance of the challenge ‘xyz’. But I also noticed that the challenge ‘abc’ was flagged as important by only one person. Could you share why you think this is a relevant challenge?”

By prompting this type of exchange, the sales rep helps participants surface overlooked pain points, validate individual insights, and potentially shift group consensus. Sometimes, other stakeholders may change their minds and vote for the challenge after hearing a compelling explanation. In other cases, the challenge may remain relevant to a specific role or function—which is also valuable to capture.

This session is also an opportunity for the sales rep to guide the conversation towards challenges that align with the vendor’s value proposition. If challenges arise that fall outside the vendor’s offering, the sales rep should acknowledge them while gradually refocusing the discussion on areas where the vendor can provide tangible support and solutions.

This activity strengthens engagement, fosters mutual understanding, and aligns participants around a shared problem space.

This session should last approximately 20 minutes.

Challenges Prioritization

After customer participants have identified and voted on the relevant challenges, the sales rep should explain the next step: prioritizing the top-voted challenges to determine which ones require immediate action and which should be planned for later stages.

Typically, the top five most-voted challenges will serve as the starting point for this discussion. The sales rep will guide the participants in re-evaluating these challenges using the same two variables introduced earlier: urgency and value.

For each challenge, the sales rep should prompt an open discussion, encouraging participants to reflect on:

• how soon the challenge needs to be addressed (urgency),

• and the expected impact of solving or not solving the challenge (value).

The sales rep and any subject matter experts from the vendor side should contribute their perspective to help the customer assess each challenge realistically. This ensures that customer input is enriched with relevant benchmarks, previous project experiences, and domain expertise.

As the discussion unfolds, the sales rep will position each challenge in a prioritization matrix within the digital tool purposely designed by the Value Accelerator team to facilitate the workshop. The matrix is structured around four quadrants:

1. low urgency / low value: These challenges have limited impact and do not require immediate attention. We refer to this quadrant as "negligible."

2. low urgency / high value: Challenges that are important but not time-sensitive. They should be tracked and addressed as part of a long-term plan. We refer to this quadrant as "long-term plan."

3. high urgency / low value: These issues require a quick response but offer limited strategic impact. They can be addressed through quick-win solutions. We refer to this quadrant as "mid-term plan."

4. high urgency / high value: These challenges are both time-critical and strategically significant. They represent the most important priorities for the customer. We refer to this quadrant as "top priority."

As each challenge is positioned within the matrix, the digital tool updates the visual display for all participants, reinforcing alignment and creating a shared understanding of priorities.

The sales rep facilitates the discussion on challenges prioritization by guiding participants in the use of the challenges prioritization matrix. For each selected challenge, the sales rep invites customer participants to express their perspective on two key variables: urgency and value.

Each participant is encouraged to share how quickly the challenge should be addressed (urgency) and what impact solving—or failing to solve—the challenge would have on the organization (value). These inputs help build a collective view of which challenges matter most, and why.

Based on the discussion, the digital tool automatically places each challenge within the appropriate quadrant of the matrix. This real-time visualization supports alignment and enables all participants to track how priorities emerge from the discussion.

Once the exercise is complete, the matrix will be fully populated. This gives the customer team a clear and shared understanding of their most urgent and high-value challenges, ensuring alignment on which issues to tackle first and which to address in later stages.

The image below shows an example of the challenges prioritization matrix within the Value Accelerator App.

The session should last approximately 20 minutes.

Use Cases Identification & Prioritization

This is the second core activity of the workshop. In this session, customer participants will use the same structured approach as in the challenges identification and prioritization exercise—this time to identify and prioritize the solutions to their top challenges. These solutions are referred to as use cases.

Each use case represents a specific action, project, or initiative that addresses one or more of the prioritized challenges discussed earlier. The objective of this session is to collaboratively define a set of relevant and impactful use cases that can deliver measurable value to the customer.

The following sections explain in detail how to conduct the use case identification and prioritization activity.

This session typically lasts around 75 to 90 minutes.

Use Cases Identification and Voting

Before starting the use case identification and voting exercise, the sales rep should access the digital tool being used to facilitate the workshop and highlight the use cases that are most relevant to the top-priority challenges previously identified.

This preparatory step can be executed by the sales rep, a subject matter expert (SME) from the vendor team, or—if supported—automatically by the digital tool.

note:

• The vendor organization should maintain a challenges and use cases map—a structured reference that maps known challenges to the use cases best suited to address them.

  • This map is a strategic asset during the workshop. It enables the sales rep and vendor SMEs to quickly identify the most suitable use cases based on the challenges raised by customer participants.

  • The matrix should reflect the vendor’s experience across markets and continuously evolve with new insights and capabilities.

  • Ideally, the digital tool integrates this map so that use cases are automatically suggested once key challenges are selected. This automation enhances efficiency and relevance.

• If automatic suggestions are not supported by the tool, it is recommended to provide a 10-minute break after completing the challenges prioritization exercise.

  • During this break, the sales rep and SMEs should populate the digital tool with a curated list of use cases aligned to the customer’s top-priority challenges.

  • When customer participants return, they can immediately begin the use case voting exercise, starting from this pre-filtered list.

This approach is important for the following reasons:

• It reduces the risk that customer participants will identify use cases that are either irrelevant or not impactful.

• It avoids the inclusion of use cases that fall outside the vendor’s delivery capability or product portfolio.

• It anchors the discussion in the vendor’s domain expertise while remaining focused on customer-defined priorities.

By guiding the identification process in this way, the vendor organization ensures that the selected use cases are strategically aligned, technically feasible, and designed to create measurable business value.

The screenshot below shows the challenges and use cases mapping with the Value Accelerator App.

Before beginning the use case identification and voting exercise, the sales rep should explain to the customer participants that the digital tool used to facilitate the workshop will display a curated list of use cases typically relevant to the previously prioritized challenges.

The sales rep should clarify that these use cases reflect the vendor organization's experience in addressing similar challenges across previous customer engagements. By offering this starting point, the vendor supports the customer team in making well-informed decisions based on practical, field-tested solutions.

The use case identification and voting activity follows the same structure as the previous challenge identification exercise, ensuring a consistent experience and clear expectations for all participants.

During the exercise, the digital tool presents the predefined list of use cases to all participants. The sales rep invites customer stakeholders to:

• Review the proposed use cases

• Vote for those they consider relevant and impactful

• Add any additional use cases they believe should be included

Any newly created use cases will be visible to all participants and can also be voted on.

Each participant may vote for as many use cases as they deem relevant but can only vote once per use case.

Customer participants are encouraged to evaluate each use case against two core criteria: value and complexity.

• value: What is the potential business impact of implementing this use case? Will it meaningfully address a high-priority challenge and support the strategic objectives?

• complexity: How complex would it be to implement this use case? Consider the technical feasibility, stakeholder involvement, resource availability, and change management effort required.

This approach allows participants to quickly converge on the most promising and executable use cases while filtering out those that may be less strategic or overly difficult to implement at this stage.

The screenshot below shows the use case voting interface from the Value Accelerator App.

The sales rep and vendor SMEs play a critical role in supporting the customer participants during the use case identification and voting activity—particularly in evaluating complexity.

While participants can typically estimate the value of a use case based on its relevance to top-priority challenges, the complexity is often underestimated. Vendor guidance is therefore essential to ensure a realistic assessment.

For example, in the case of digital solutions, complexity may arise from integration requirements with third-party systems such as ERP platforms. These integrations can introduce significant implementation effort, dependencies, and cost. Other factors that influence complexity include whether the use case can be delivered using standard capabilities or whether it requires additional development or customization.

The sales rep should monitor participant progress in the digital tool, assist with technical issues, and offer clarification when needed—especially when evaluating feasibility and implementation effort. This ensures that the voting outcomes reflect both the business value and delivery complexity of each use case.

Once the use case voting is complete, the digital tool should display the final voting results.

The use cases identification and voting session should last approximately 30 minutes.

Best Practices

To ensure the effectiveness of the use cases identification and voting session, vendors should follow these best practices:

• Explain each use case in context: focus on the use cases pre-selected in the digital tool. Briefly explain how each use case addresses the customer’s top-priority challenges and how it links to their strategic initiatives.

• Use micro product demonstrations: where relevant, support the explanation of each use case with short product demos. These can be delivered either live or through brief video recordings. Each demo should be laser-focused on the functionality or outcome of the use case and should last no more than a few seconds. For additional guidance, refer to the best practices outlined in Milestone 4.

• Leverage the digital tool: the digital tool purposely designed by the Value Accelerator team to facilitate the workshop allows the sales rep and SMEs to upload and manage supporting materials, including demo videos, documentation, and visual references. This helps streamline the delivery of complex information and improves workshop engagement, as showed in the image below.

Open Discussion on Use Cases

Once all customer participants have completed the voting on use cases, the sales rep facilitates an open discussion. The objective of this discussion is to allow participants to explain why specific use cases are relevant to solving their organization’s challenges.

This open exchange encourages collaboration and shared understanding across departments, often surfacing perspectives that may not have been considered.

During the discussion, the sales rep may also propose re-evaluating use cases that received fewer votes or suggest new use cases not yet considered. This creates an opportunity for the vendor to introduce additional relevant solutions that reflect experience from similar customer engagements.

If participants agree on the relevance of new use cases introduced by the sales rep or vendor SMEs, these use cases should be added to the digital tool and included in the prioritization process.

The focus of this session is to identify and agree on low-hanging fruit—use cases that are low in complexity but high in value. These are the use cases that can be implemented quickly with minimal investment, helping the customer generate tangible business value in a short timeframe.

Quick wins are critical for building trust and momentum. By helping the customer realize early success, the vendor strengthens its position as a strategic partner and creates the conditions for expanding the collaboration to include more complex initiatives.

The sales rep should use this rationale to gently steer the conversation toward the low-hanging fruit use cases that align with the customer’s priorities and the vendor’s capabilities.

This session should last approximately 20 minutes.

Use Cases Prioritization

The next step is to define the top priority use cases.

The sales rep should look at the results of the use case voting exercise and invite the participants to an open discussion about the right priority of each of the most voted use cases.

As the sales rep facilitates the discussion the use cases should be positioned on the use case prioritization matrix, which includes four quadrants:

• Low complexity and low value: These use cases are simple to implement but offer limited value. They may be used to demonstrate vendor capabilities in a small-scale proof of concept (PoC) setting. Quadrant label: “potential PoC”.

• Low complexity and high value: These are the ideal quick wins. They are easy to deliver and highly relevant to the customer’s top-priority challenges. Quadrant label: “top priority”.

• High complexity and low value: These use cases are difficult to implement and have low strategic impact. They should be excluded from the roadmap. Quadrant label: “negligible”.

• High complexity and high value: These use cases are important but require substantial time, resources, or technical effort. They should be included in the mid-/long-term roadmap and addressed after the quick wins. Quadrant label: “in roadmap”.

The sales rep should use a digital tool that can visually position the use cases on the matrix. This shared visualization helps the group reach alignment on implementation priorities.

If participants wish to place a high-complexity use case in the top priority quadrant due to its perceived value, the sales rep and vendor SMEs should explain the potential risks and resource requirements associated with early implementation. A suggested approach may include starting with a simpler use case to generate value and reinvest in the more complex one later.

For example, the sales rep may say:

“I understand this use case is important to your team. However, given the high complexity, we recommend starting with lower-effort use cases to show quick results. These early successes can help justify and fund the implementation of this more complex initiative.”

Once the prioritization is complete, the matrix should provide a clear and agreed-upon set of use cases. The image below illustrates a populated use case prioritization matrix from the Value Accelerator App.

This session should last approximately 20 minutes.

Success Criteria Identification

This session focuses on defining the success criteria that will be used to evaluate whether the top-priority use cases have delivered measurable value.

Vendors may propose a paid pilot project to test the value of these use cases before going into a broader roll-out phase. To objectively assess the pilot’s outcomes, success criteria must be identified and agreed upon in advance. These criteria will serve as the reference point to determine whether the pilot was successful.

If the pilot meets the success criteria, both customer and vendor can move forward with a broader roll-out of the use cases. A successful pilot also enables deeper collaboration, including potential implementation of use cases positioned in the “in roadmap” quadrant of the use case prioritization matrix.

Conversely, if the pilot fails to meet the agreed-upon success criteria, the vendor and the customer will need to jointly assess whether and how to continue the collaboration.

The sales rep begins this session by explaining the purpose of success criteria and their role in guiding the pilot project and future decision-making.

The sales rep then facilitates an open discussion with customer participants to define the success criteria for each top-priority use case. Vendor SMEs can contribute by suggesting relevant examples based on past experiences, but the customer participants must take an active role in the process.

It is essential that the customer participants feel ownership of the selected criteria. Success criteria should not be imposed by the vendor. Customer ownership increases commitment, credibility, and alignment with the organization’s business objectives.

To support the discussion, the digital tool used to facilitate the workshop should include typical success criteria associated with each use case. However, these templates are only starting points. All criteria should be refined and confirmed in collaboration with the customer participants.

In some cases, customer participants may struggle to define appropriate criteria—especially if they are unfamiliar with this concept. In such instances, the sales rep or vendor SME should tactfully provide examples or steer the conversation toward more practical, outcome-based measures.

Equally, if a proposed success criterion is not suitable—either because it is too vague or not applicable to the use case—the sales rep should explain this clearly and guide the participants toward more meaningful alternatives.

For each use case, the goal is to identify between one and three clear, measurable success criteria. Once agreed upon, the sales rep should immediately add them to the digital tool for transparency and future reference.

The image below shows how success criteria can be added to the Value Accelerator digital tool for each selected use case

Before closing the session, the sales rep should help participants connect the use cases and their success criteria back to the KPIs of the customer’s strategic initiatives discussed earlier in the workshop.

This step is crucial. It reinforces that the selected use cases are not tactical, isolated efforts. Instead, they are drivers of measurable progress on strategic priorities—priorities typically sponsored by senior management.

By making this connection explicit, the sales rep elevates the importance of the workshop outcomes and strengthens alignment with the customer’s broader transformation goals.

The image below shows how strategic objectives, initiatives, challenges and use cases are linked to one another in the Value Accelerator App.

This session should last approximately 30 minutes.

Implementation Roadmap

This session is dedicated to building alignment around the implementation timeline for the selected use cases. The sales rep facilitates the discussion, guiding customer participants through the steps of structuring a clear and realistic roadmap.

The implementation roadmap is based on the results of the use case prioritization matrix. The sales rep begins by reviewing the top-priority use cases—those placed in the quadrant labeled “top priority.” The first step is to confirm whether customer participants agree that implementation should begin with these use cases.

Once agreement is reached, vendor SMEs will advise whether these top-priority use cases can be implemented in parallel or whether a sequential (staggered) implementation is more appropriate. If sequencing is required, the vendor SMEs will recommend an optimal order, which will then be reflected in the roadmap.

After defining the timeline for the top-priority use cases, the sales rep shifts focus to the use cases in the “in roadmap”quadrant. These are use cases that offer high value but also carry higher complexity. Vendor SMEs work with customer participants to determine suitable timeframes for implementing these use cases in the mid- to long-term horizon.

In the final phase of the session, the group reviews the use cases in the “potential PoC” quadrant. These are low-complexity, low-value use cases that may serve as good candidates for proof of concept projects—either to showcase the vendor’s capabilities or to build confidence in new solutions. If appropriate, some of these use cases may also be included in the roadmap.

Throughout the session, the digital tool purposely designed by the Value Accelerator team to facilitate the workshop should be used to visualize the implementation roadmap in real time. This shared view helps participants align on timing and priorities.

The image below provides an example of a digital roadmap created using the Value Accelerator App.

If questions arise about the feasibility or timing of implementing certain use cases, the sales rep should explain that the roadmap presented in the workshop is preliminary. A follow-up feasibility assessment will be conducted after the workshop to validate technical readiness, resource availability, and timeline constraints.

This session should last approximately 30 minutes.

Next Steps and Wrap-Up

Joint Action Plan

This session focuses on defining a clear and actionable path forward. The sales rep facilitates the discussion, guiding participants to agree on the next steps that will follow the workshop.

To ensure continuity, the sales rep refers to the Value Accelerator milestones, using them as a framework to structure the upcoming phases of customer engagement. These milestones help align the joint action plan with the customer’s strategic priorities and the vendor’s structured delivery process.

All relevant action items that emerged during the workshop should be captured in the digital tool purposely designed by the Value Accelerator team to facilitate the workshop. Examples of action items may include:

• scheduling a technical deep dive on selected use cases

• sharing additional documentation

• initiating a feasibility assessment

• preparing the final workshop summary report

For each action item, the sales rep ensures that:

• an individual owner is assigned (from either the customer or vendor side), responsible for coordinating execution

• a due date is agreed upon, allowing for follow-up and timely progress tracking

The digital tool allows the sales rep to document these action items in real time, ensuring visibility and alignment across all stakeholders.

Before concluding the session, the sales rep confirms that all participants agree with the action plan and feel confident about the next steps.

The image below provides an example of how next steps can be captured using the Value Accelerator App.

This session should last approximately 30 minutes.

Wrap-up

This is the final activity of the workshop. The purpose is to consolidate key learnings, capture participant reflections, and formally close the session.

The sales rep facilitates this closing discussion by:

• Summarizing the workshop outcomes, linking the identified use cases, success criteria, and implementation roadmap back to the customer’s broader business objectives and strategic initiatives. This reinforces the alignment between workshop results and the customer’s goals.

• Encouraging reflections from each participant to gather immediate feedback and promote a sense of ownership and engagement.

To guide this reflection, the sales rep can ask a few open-ended questions, such as:

• did we achieve the goals of the workshop?

• were your expectations met?

• how did you feel during the workshop?

• what went well?

• what could have been done better or differently?

Each participant is encouraged to respond. The sales rep should listen attentively, follow up with clarifying questions when needed, and document the feedback.

This closing feedback is valuable not only for maintaining and strengthening the relationship with the customer but also for continuously improving how the vendor delivers the Value Design Workshop.

Once this session is complete, the digital tool used to facilitate the workshop should be locked. Participants will retain read-only access to the final whiteboard, preserving transparency while ensuring the integrity of the documented outcomes.

This session should last approximately 15 minutes.

4. Post-workshop Activities

Once the workshop is complete, the sales rep and the vendor SMEs who attended should hold a debriefing meeting to discuss the workshop outcomes and begin working on the action plan agreed upon during the session.

If the action plan was executed effectively during the workshop, it should naturally align with the next milestones of the Value Accelerator Framework.

A typical key action item following the workshop is the creation and delivery of the workshop report. In the following sections, detailed guidelines are provided on how to create the workshop report.

Workshop Outcomes Consolidation

The sales rep should consolidate the outcomes of the workshop into a report, which will then be presented and handed over to the customer organization.

The workshop report can be formatted as a Word document, a PowerPoint presentation, or any other format preferred by the vendor. The sales rep will collaborate with other vendor participants from the workshop to prepare this report.

Regardless of the chosen format, the following information should be included:

• Explanation of the workshop methodology

• A timeline showing the pre-workshop activities and the workshop day

• Names, titles, contact details, and roles (e.g., business owner, SME) of all workshop participants, including customer participants who were interviewed but didn’t attend the workshop

• Summary of the pre-workshop interviews and/or questionnaires

• Workshop agenda

• Summary of the topics discussed during the workshop, including screenshots of the digital tool as filled in during the session

• Summary of agreed next steps, including owners and due dates

• Comments from both the vendor and customer participants shared during or after the workshop

This report serves as a comprehensive summary and reference for the customer organization, ensuring that all key points and decisions are documented clearly.

The digital tool purposely designed by the Value Accelerator team to facilitate the workshop includes reporting functionalities already aligned with the standard structure and content of the Value Design Workshop report, helping the sales rep prepare a professional, consistent summary with minimal additional effort.

Presentation of Workshop Results and Next Steps

Once the workshop report is completed, the sales rep should schedule a follow-up call with the customer participants, along with any key customer stakeholders who were not part of the workshop. The purpose of this call is to:

• Present the workshop report

• Gather feedback on the report and confirm if the customer requires any changes

• Officially hand over the workshop report to the customer, explaining its content and significance

The customer stakeholders can then use the workshop report to present the results internally within their organization and promote the strategic engagement with the vendor. This handover ensures that the customer has all the necessary information to advance the collaboration and validate the outcomes of the workshop.

Quality Gates

• The key customer stakeholders agree in writing to the content of the workshop report.

• The key customer stakeholders agree in writing to execute the next steps discussed and agreed upon during the workshop.

Sales Enablement Artifacts

• Value Design Workshop Overview: A presentation template used to explain the Value Design Workshop to the customer, detailing its goals, methodology, timeframe, agenda, and participants. This template should always be customized to fit the specific context of the customer engagement.

• Pre-Workshop Interview Template: A script for the vendor to use when interviewing customer participants before the workshop. The questions are structured to gather information on the participant’s personal introduction, vision for the project, business strategy and objectives, tactics and strategic initiatives, challenges and blockers, and any additional relevant information.

• Digital Tool: A digital whiteboard or app designed to execute the workshop. It enables collaboration with customer participants and collects their feedback. The tool covers all the capabilities required to execute the workshop.

• Workshop Report Template: A template for the report that summarizes workshop discussions. Ideally, the digital tool generates the report automatically. If not, the vendor should prepare a template in a different format (e.g., Word or PowerPoint) for sales reps to fill out based on the workshop discussions.

Notes:

• The Value Accelerator team has developed an app that is purposely designed to facilitate the delivery of the Value Design Workshop.

• All templates and tools referenced above are available in the Value Accelerator Academy. The academy provides Sales Reps with ready-to-use resources developed by the Value Accelerator team to support the effective delivery of each milestone.

Need help? Visit the Value Accelerator Academy!

The Value Accelerator Academy is your go-to resource for turning value-selling into a habit and driving predictable revenue.

It offers both free and premium on-demand training, with over 10 hours of content covering every Milestone of the Value Accelerator Framework. Each module includes:

• Actionable lessons

• Real-world examples

• Guided steps to build mastery across all phases of the Framework

In addition to training, the Academy provides a full set of tools and templates to help you tailor the Framework to your specific sales motion—whether you’re leading transactional deals or enterprise engagements.

Start learning at your own pace and turn structure into results.