The Four Views Theater, following Sarah

The Value Path is eight stages: how a person moves from first learning about you to creating value with you and passing it on, at their own pace. Each stage has a mantra in the person's own words, and the stages fall into Two Phases: the Path TO Value, then the Path OF Value.

The four Unified Views are what a company can see once it has built them: the whole customer, the whole revenue picture, the business context around them, and what its own team can do. A company builds them in that order. This team already has all four.

Sarah starts as Audience. Her mantra: "I am learning." Someone in her RevOps community shares a guide on LinkedIn, she reads it, and two hours later she comes back to read it again. Nobody has talked to her, and nobody needs to yet.

Sarah becomes a Researcher: "I am researching." She compares approaches and gathers evidence. A week later she reads a 90-day implementation playbook. In July she joins your community and posts an introduction that names her real challenges. In August she writes to you directly with one specific question about attribution, picked up from a community discussion.

Because she asks. Sarah becomes a Hand Raiser: "I need help." After her emailed question, she asks for a conversation herself. She arrives prepared, with specific questions and the context behind them: her company is scaling after a Series B. At the end, she mentions bringing in Marcus, her CRO, next time.

Each person keeps their own stage. Sarah becomes a Buyer: "I am buying." She builds the case inside her company and brings two colleagues in. Marcus, her CRO, goes from first hearing about you to buying in under three weeks, after a workshop she invites him to. He never asked for help himself. Priya, who runs marketing, starts out wary of "another sales tool". Sarah sets up a conversation just for her concerns, and by the end Priya is on board. In November they come to you aligned, with success measures you define together.

Sarah crosses from the first of the Two Phases into the second. Until now, value came to her. From here she creates it. Value Creator: "I must create value." She signs in early December: "Can't wait to get started - team is excited." In January her whole revenue team, twelve people, spends a day getting started. Sales arrive sceptical and warm up during the day. At the 30-day check-in, marketing can already see what their content does, sales is slower than hoped, and Sarah is coaching her team through the change.

Whether she actually gets the value. Sarah becomes an Adopter: "I realize your value." In April, at the 90-day review, she shows her own leadership what changed. Sarah: "Team is bought in - seeing the value daily." Priya: "Marketing finally has voice at revenue table." Marcus: "This is transformative - showing CEO and board." This is the stage where value takes root or quietly stalls, and the one most organizations watch least.

Because it worked, not because she was asked. Sarah becomes an Advocate: "I tell others about you." In May she writes to you on her own, offering to be a reference: she wants to help people in the same spot she was in. In August she gives the keynote at a RevOps conference and tells the room her real story, challenges included. It spreads inside her company too: her customer success team sees what the revenue team got and asks for the same, and in September Sarah starts that conversation with you.

Builds with you. Sarah becomes a Champion: "I am a raving fan." A Champion co-creates and becomes a strategic partner. In October Sarah co-writes a playbook with you, putting more than ten hours of her own time into telling her team's real story. In November she personally introduces three RevOps leaders from her network, each with a note written for that person. In December you plan the next year together: she joins your customer advisory board, and you start exploring research you could do jointly. Marcus: "This partnership is core to our competitive advantage."

No. The eight stages are always listed in this order, but each person moves at their own pace. People skip stages, and some return to earlier ones. Sarah's two colleagues show it. Marcus never asked for help himself, so he skipped Hand Raiser: Sarah brought him straight into the buying. Priya came in already researching, through Sarah, so she skipped Audience and Hand Raiser. She is still a Value Creator, doing the work in her own team, while Sarah has gone on to Champion.

A lead marked Hot, a deal marked Closed Won after 74 days, a renewal date, and a list of emails and meetings with no story: "Contract signed", "Kickoff", "QBR", "Case study request". The eighteen months, the three people, and the reason Sarah came to speak for you aren't on it. Seeing the whole relationship, where the work already happens, is what Value-First calls the Unified Customer View.

Settled: the eight stages, their mantras and their order; the Two Phases, which split at the moment of purchase or commitment; that people skip and revisit stages; and that each person keeps their own stage, separate from the deal. Also settled: the four Unified Views, built in order. Each answers to a Value Cornerstone (value for the customer, for the company, in context, and for the community). Each grows in three steps: Foundation, then Capability, then Multiplication.

Still open: may a business reorder the stages to match how its own customers experience value? Some customers create value during a free trial, before they ever buy. Where does the split between the Two Phases sit for them? This walkthrough doesn't answer that.

About this telling: the Four Views Theater ran on the old Value-First website. This walkthrough retells its first story. The original Value Path Simulator is still online.

Not checked: whether the simulator online today shows the version this was built from. Sarah, her company, the team and every number are made-up examples.