Rethinking ROI

To succeed in today's B2B landscape, it's not enough to simply talk about value — you must prove it, consistently, to every decision-maker involved in the buying journey.

Yet, according to GTM Partners, 60% of companies say they struggle to credibly demonstrate ROI to their buyers, and that's the #1 reason deals stall or fail to close. My experience has also found that when companies have an ROI problem, a future retention issue is looming, if it hasn't happened already.

Signs you might have an ROI problem

• It's difficult for users to quantify the value of your product for their boss.
• Your sales team isn't aligned on how to communicate ROI.
• Your ROI story relies on outdated or simplistic calculations (just "revenue in vs. spend out!").
• Proving ROI for your solution requires so much effort that it doesn't scale across your customer base.
• Prospects are skeptical, or your quantified ROI isn't helping you win or renew accounts.

Far too often, teams overlook these warning signs until sales momentum slows, customer retention dips, and competitors waltz in with a more compelling value narrative. Here is a quick assessment that you can make of your situation today.

The five types of ROI

Not all ROI is created equal. The GTM Partners framework identifies five distinct types:

Winning vendors show attributable and transformational ROI. Stuck in the "muddy middle" with only indirect ROI? CFOs will cut your solution first in a downturn.

The ROI framework: proving your value

The ROI Readiness Framework helps you pinpoint your company's position when it comes to proving value.

The Winning Zone: Companies that can show Attributable and Transformative ROI are at an almost insurmountable advantage. Since they are either transforming how customers do business or they can prove directly attributable ROI, they're not getting cut. Companies in the winning zone can outmaneuver competitors through big strategic moves and investments.

The Competition Zone: Vendors in the Efficiency and Necessity zones can be very successful and may even be category leaders. However, they're constantly defending against other players who can easily force competition on features, ease of use, price, and efficiency gains.

The Instability Zone: Vendors who can only show Indirect ROI are in what we call the muddy middle, where retention gets hammered. In a down economy, CFOs will not approve new or renewed tech that can't show ROI. Companies showing Indirect ROI get lumped with dozens of other providers as one of many contributors to some final outcome.

Think of it as a spectrum:

• Are you in the "Winning Zone," setting yourself apart because your solution delivers direct financial or transformational business outcomes?
• Are you in the "Competition Zone," where your product is valuable but faces ongoing feature, price, and efficiency comparisons?
• Or are you in the "Instability Zone," struggling to justify continued investment when budgets are tight?

Understanding your current zone not only clarifies how buyers see your value — it reveals exactly where to focus your go-to-market efforts to move up the hierarchy and secure your place as an essential partner.

Personalizing ROI

Advanced companies are thinking about ROI on multiple levels.

Take the time to map out your own personas and what kind of ROI might speak to each one. Sellers need to know how to win over the champion and influencers. Sellers also have to arm their champion with the ROI that resonates with the economic buyer so they can get approval from the budget holder.

Modern go-to-market leaders map ROI to key personas — champions, influencers, and economic buyers. Each group cares about different outcomes. Your champion needs a win for their team; your economic buyer wants to see clear revenue or cost impact. Arm your advocates with the tailored ROI proof they need to persuade decision-makers.

Bottom line

In the modern GTM era, the ability to tailor, communicate, and validate ROI — across all five types — is your ticket to bigger wins, faster deals, and greater customer retention.

• Proving ROI today is about delivering the right value story to every stakeholder at every stage — not just sharing numbers.
• The ROI Readiness Framework helps you identify whether you're a must-have partner or at risk of being deprioritized when budgets tighten.
• Diagnose your signals of ROI weakness and clarify which of the five ROI types you deliver.
• Align your messaging with key personas — champions, influencers, and decision-makers — to ensure relevance and impact.
• Embed ROI as a core part of your go-to-market strategy, making it central rather than an afterthought.

Want help mapping your value story and solving your ROI problem? Let's accelerate it together.