Using the 5Ws Framework: Responding to the Example Business Case
Let’s take a look at how the 5Ws framework gets applied to an example business case. If you haven’t taken a look at that example business case, pop over there first before continuing to read.
The questions below are grouped by each W to illustrate the various threads that you can pull to gather requirements.
Note that the order in which each question is asked would vary based on the audience and intended goal (e.g. sales intro call, project discovery session).
Who is responsible for the delivery of the digital transformation and modernization initiative?
Who suggested that the organization embark on that journey?
Who are the stakeholders that are accountable and involved in the program as it executes?
Who are the customers (e.g. Main Street businesses, big box retailers, state / local / federal government)?
Who are the ideal customers?
Who manages the current state systems (e.g. in house, outsourced managed services)?
Who is expected to use the self-service portal from the customer’s perspective (i.e. the persona)?
Who is aligned and not aligned to the organization’s decision to grow and use digital means to achieve it?
Who has different language requirements and are there employees or contractors to facilitate translation (live or async)?
What problems are being solved by the goals that were established?
What are the priorities for each of the goals expressed?
What are the measures and metrics for each of the goals? How do those align to the strategic plan for the organization?
What are the current state pain points for each stakeholder group?
What is the marketing plan for engaging prospects and customers, and how are prospects acquired into the funnel?
What is the sales team’s current sales methodology, and does this meet the needs for the growth plan?
What system holds product pricing data?
What system is currently calculating sales tax for customers?
What gaps exist between current staff and the future state, and is there a plan to “reskill” or restructure?
What budgetary constraints exist for acquiring consultants, systems implementors, and technology licensing?
What are the various revenue models currently used, and are these changing as part of the business’s growth plan?
What deployment approach is preferred (e.g. a pilot, phased rollout, hard cutover)?
What is the appetite for near-shoring / friend-shoring / offshoring?
What data is stored in Salesforce, MailChimp, etc?
What “trackers” exist adjacent to these systems (e.g. Excel pricing grids, call lists, etc)?
What currencies are used for transactions (both with customers and vendors)?
Where are sales reps interacting with data while traveling (e.g. phones, tablets, laptops)?
Where are sales and service teams going when operating remotely (e.g. at a customer’s location, in the middle of the woods)?
Where can customers pay for products (e.g. QuickBooks invoice, send a check, credit card on file)?
Where are employees and contractors interacting with customers today (e.g. calls, emails, in person)?
Where does sales acquire new leads (i.e. prospective customers)?
Where does the business have nexus for sales tax?
Where in Canada (and any other countries) is the business operating and how are legal entities structured for such operations?
Where are devices provisioned and managed for employees and contractors?
Where will training occur as changes to business processes and systems rolls out?
When do they expect the customer portal to be used and is there sufficient staffing coverage to handle exceptions that occur?
When is inventory reconciled and how long does it take to accomplish?
When is the organization experiencing peak demand from customers?
When is the organization experiencing resource constraints internally (i.e. that may not be tied to customer demand)?
When does the organization need to achieve specific milestones associated with their 5 year growth plan?
When are customers billed and expected to pay for products or services purchased?
When is the organization “open” and “closed” for business?
Why did the organization define the goals as they did?
Why is now the time to do this, and has something similar been tried in the past?
Why is there a mix of high and low sophistication and complexity in terms of business processes and systems (e.g. paper-based inventory, enterprise CRM platform)?
Why is the term “basic” used in relation to the Salesforce CRM implementation?
Why are service reps traveling and how are they getting to the customer?
Why would this transformation and modernization program go exceptionally well, and is the organization capable of meeting that demand?
Why would this program fail to meet the expected outcomes, and are the potential impacts of this known?
TLDR: There are many questions to ask and each answer may lead to more questions. Continue recursively asking questions with the 5Ws.
