Most vendors think they lose deals in the final mile. During Procurement, during pricing negotiations, during the last-minute technical deep dive. But by the time those conversations happen, the real decision is already made. The buyer has already filtered who feels viable, who feels credible, and who feels easy.
The B2B Elements of Value Pyramid framework explains why. It breaks the buying process into 5 categories of value that influence B2B Decision-making—some logical, some emotional, all real:
- Table Stakes
- Functional Value
- Ease of Doing Business
- Individual Value
- Inspirational Value
Source: https://flevy.com/browse/flevypro/b2b-elements-of-the-value-pyramid-9954
The first three categories form the rational core of the pyramid. They address what buyers need to justify the decision internally and execute it externally. The final two categories introduce personal motivation and long-term emotional alignment. For many vendors, mastering the first three categories is enough to dominate a market.
Let’s break down how these three layers actually work.
- Table Stakes: The Silent Scorecard
The base of the pyramid is not where you differentiate. It is where you qualify.
Table Stakes includes meeting specifications, acceptable price, regulatory compliance, and ethical standards. These are all non-negotiable. They are invisible when done well and instantly disqualifying when done poorly. No one awards bonus points for hitting data privacy regulations. But you will lose the deal if you do not. Ethical sourcing? Required. Fair pricing? Assumed. Alignment with product specifications? Expected.
One major mistake that vendors make here is trying to pitch these elements as differentiators. “We comply with ISO standards” is not a selling point—it is a minimum bar. The other mistake is treating them as an afterthought. Buyers do not want to chase documentation, clarify scope, or guess your ethics policy.
Everything in this category communicates one thing: are you serious? If the answer is no, the conversation ends early.
- Functional Value: The Business Case in Hard Numbers
The second layer is where most proposals live. Functional Value is about measurable Business Performance—direct impact on revenue, cost, or operations.
This includes:
- Cost Reduction
- Improved Top Line
- Product Quality
- Scalability
- Innovation
Buyers do not just want to feel safe—they want to win. They want to show outcomes, drive Key Metrics, and shift capabilities. Functional Value is where this happens.
But this layer is saturated. Every vendor promises to reduce costs. Every pitch includes improved margins or workflow efficiency. Innovation is everywhere, even when it isn’t.
That is why specificity matters. Functional claims only land when they are credible, contextual, and relevant to the buyer’s business. It is not enough to say “we cut costs by 20 percent.” You need to show how, in what context, for whom, and with what results. You need to tie scalability to the buyer’s projected growth, not your infrastructure slide.
Functional Value gives the buyer something to fight for in internal conversations. When done well, it arms the champion with numbers that neutralize resistance.
- Ease of Doing Business: The Invisible Differentiator
The third category shifts from metrics to experience. Ease of Doing Business influences how the buyer feels about working with you—before, during, and after the sale.
This layer includes:
- Time Savings
- Reduced Effort
- Decreased Hassles
- Transparency
- Simplification
- Integration
- Availability
- Responsiveness
- Configurability
- Organization
- Variety
- Risk Reduction
- Information
- Access
These are often the tiebreakers when product and price are similar. Buyers start asking: Who is easier to onboard? Who gives us confidence? Who reduces internal pushback?
Ease is not just customer support. It is proposal clarity, contract simplicity, integration readiness, responsiveness during technical reviews, and the tone of your pre-sales team. It is whether your product creates more work for IT, or reduces it. Whether your rollout takes weeks or months. Whether your documentation makes sense, or requires translation.
Organizations that win here never say “ease” in their pitch. They prove it. Through references, templates, fast pilots, no-surprises pricing, and product walk-throughs that speak for themselves.
Ease creates momentum. Momentum closes deals.
Case Study
A mid-size digital infrastructure provider was invited to compete for a multi-year contract with a global logistics company. Three other vendors were already in active discussions.
The provider started by locking down Table Stakes. It led with certifications, regulatory checklists, and a clear response to every RFP requirement. No ambiguity. No disclaimers. Just professional precision.
It then built its Functional Value case with real benchmarks. The proposal included client-side simulations, not generic case studies. It modeled potential cost savings on the buyer’s actual network design, using anonymized data from similar clients. Scalability was mapped to the buyer’s projected growth regions.
Where it pulled ahead was Ease of Doing Business. It offered a live sandbox within 48 hours. Assigned a named integration lead before the contract was signed. Shared a co-developed project plan, not a sales deck. Walked procurement through every clause in the contract. Setup was promised in 30 days—and delivered in 27.
The client later said the decision was made after the second meeting. The remaining eight weeks were formality.
FAQs
Is it possible to skip Table Stakes and just focus on higher value?
No. Buyers disqualify vendors who cannot meet baseline requirements. You must meet every expectation in this layer or risk being filtered out early.
How do we make our Functional Value claims stand out?
Be specific. Tie your value to their current pain, budget structure, or growth plan. Use their language, their numbers, and their success metrics—not your internal jargon.
What metrics reflect strong Ease of Doing Business?
Time to onboard, average number of support tickets, time to resolution, Net Promoter Score post-sale, pilot conversion rate, and customer effort scores all signal ease.
Who owns these layers across the organization?
Table Stakes usually sits with legal, compliance, and operations. Functional Value with product and marketing. Ease of Doing Business with sales, Customer Experience, and delivery. Coordination is critical.
Is one of the first three more important than the others?
No. They work together. Fail one, and the others do not matter. Succeed in all three, and you dominate every shortlist.
Final Thoughts
By the time your team delivers a demo, the buyer has already made up their mind. They have already compared risks, modeled outcomes, and tested assumptions. What they are really doing is validating their decision—not making it.
If your offering does not pass the first three categories of the pyramid with clarity and confidence, the deal is gone before it begins.
Focus on being obvious in the right ways—obviously compliant, obviously impactful, and obviously easy to work with.
The pyramid does not just describe how buyers think. It gives you a playbook for how to win before the pitch ever starts.
Interested in learning more about the other categories of elements of the B2B Value Pyramid? You can download an editable PowerPoint presentation on B2B Elements of Value Pyramid here on the Flevy documents marketplace.
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