How are you showcasing your RoCV-Return on Contract Value?

Michelle Wideman

I really liked Rohan Gupta’s, blog post, “5 Predictions for Customer Outcomes in 2023.” The RoCV, Return on Contract Value, really jumped out to me, for in times of economic downturns I feel like every software purchase is being analyzed and there are two boxes CFO/CIO’s consider:  the IN box and the OUT box.  

I’ve never been lucky enough to work at a software company where the platform showcases the ROI customers receive in the user interface.  Showcasing ROI is something the pre-sales team had to do in an evaluation/proof of concept prior to a prospect buying and something the Success and/or Renewals team was responsible for post sales.  

I’ve had Success team members say, “My champion doesn’t care about ROI.”  In my mind this should definitely set off flags that we’re not high enough in the organization and we need to enable our Success Teams and our customer champions on why this information is important and how it can help promote them in their careers.  

If our customers are continually aware of the value we provide we’re making the renewal a non-event and ensuring our retention stays strong.  We can lean into this further, leveraging it as an incremental opportunity, if you’re receiving ____value, if we expand into this team we could increase this value even further.  

As we start outlining projects for the New Year, a few things to think about:  

• How do you ensure your company’s software/service is in the IN box?
• How do you outline your RoCV?
• How often are you communicating your ROI?  If you are only showcasing this during QBRs is this often enough?  And do you have the right audience in the room?  

kmulhalljr

Very interesting post @Michelle Wideman. While I'm in a unique space, one where capturing RoCV is not a 'thing', I did recently bring this up in an internal meeting with our executives as I feel the MSP partners we work with need to be onboard with the concept of a unified, dynamic plane where these calculations can reside (I've offered to build either a Canvas App or something using App Sheet). Curious what other people's experiences have been...

Michelle Wideman

@rohangupta17 adding the author himself:)

rohangupta17

Thanks for reading, @Michelle Wideman and for posting here. I'm definitely seeing customers thinking about this, which is an early indicator of them asking for it, and I think its an opportunity for CS Leaders to proactively build the capability to deliver against this ask instead of being caught on the back foot.