How to Build a Concrete Future State so the Buyer Has Something to Buy Toward.
The buyer has admitted the problem and feels the cost. Now you need to help them picture a specific, measurable future - not a vague 'better world' - so the gap between now and then becomes something worth crossing.
Keenan's framework is built on two anchors: the current state and the future state. The gap between them is what you sell. A vague future state - 'things would run more smoothly' - produces a vague deal. A concrete one - 'we would cut onboarding time from six weeks to two and hit our Q3 headcount plan' - produces urgency, a measurable business case and a decision. Vision creation questions are how you build that second anchor, with the buyer doing the building.
Where it goes wrong
Without a concrete future state, the buyer has nothing specific to commit to. The deal drifts. They stay interested but never urgent. And when you are not in the room, your champion cannot sell the vision internally because there is no vision - just a general sense that things could be better.
What you'll be able to do
The AE can guide a buyer from 'this is painful' to 'here is exactly what solved looks like and how we would measure it' - using questions, not a pitch - so the future state is owned by the buyer, not borrowed from a slide deck.
How to do it
Ask them to picture a specific time horizon
Ask them to picture a specific time horizon. 'Picture twelve months from now with this solved. What is different?' A concrete timeframe makes the answer concrete. 'Someday' stays vague; 'twelve months' forces real thinking.
Push for a measure
Push for a measure. 'How would you know it was working? What would you be looking at?' Buyers often answer in feelings first. Help them convert the feeling into a number or a visible outcome.
Ask how they would use it, not just what
Ask how they would use it, not just what it would do. 'If you had that capability, how would your team actually use it day to day?' Bosworth's vision-creation approach: buyers commit hardest to solutions they helped design. Co-creating the daily picture makes your product feel like theirs.
Ask what it would mean for them personally
Ask what it would mean for them personally. 'And for you specifically - what does that change?' The business case gets the deal approved; the personal stake gets it championed. You need both.
Write it back to them
Write it back to them. At the end of the conversation, summarise the future state in their words and ask if you got it right. This becomes the shared definition of success you can reference in every conversation that follows.
See the difference
Rep: 'Great, so it sounds like things would be a lot more efficient for your team.' Buyer: 'Yes, definitely.' Rep: 'Perfect, let me send you some information on how we approach that.'
Rep: 'Picture twelve months from now with this fixed. What does that actually look like for your team?' Buyer: 'We would have new hires productive in three weeks instead of six, and our managers would stop spending half their Fridays on onboarding admin.' Rep: 'And how would you measure that - what number would tell you it had worked?' Buyer: 'Time to first deal for new reps. Right now it is eleven weeks. We want it under six.' Rep: 'Got it. So the target is eleven weeks down to under six, and managers get their Fridays back. Is that the right way to frame what success looks like?'
The AE can guide a buyer from 'this is painful' to 'here is exactly what solved looks like and how we would measure it' - using questions, not a pitch - so the
How you'll know it's working
You have got it when you can write down the buyer's future state in their own words, with at least one number attached, before you have shown them anything about your product.
Questions people ask
How do you build a concrete future state so the buyer has something to buy toward?
Keenan's framework is built on two anchors: the current state and the future state. The gap between them is what you sell. The AE can guide a buyer from 'this is painful' to 'here is exactly what solved looks like and how we would measure it' - using questions, not a pitch - so the future state is owne
What is the most common mistake to avoid?
Without a concrete future state, the buyer has nothing specific to commit to. The deal drifts.
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