---
title: "Which number will change? The first line of the proposal"
slug: primera-linea-propuesta
lang: en
situation: comprar
format: hoja
minutes: 5
video: 21
updated: 2026-10-19
---

# Which number will change? The first line of the proposal

> For anyone receiving or writing AI proposals for a committee who wants the business reason to come before the price and the feature list.

## When to use it

- Someone on the committee justified an AI purchase with "everyone is doing it".
- A proposal arrived that opens with the price or the features and never says what will improve.
- You have to write a proposal and do not know where to start.

## The sheet

A one-page proposal, in this order. The first line decides whether the rest deserves reading.

| # | Line | What to write | Illustrative example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Which number will change? | One only, and concrete: sales, response time or errors. It goes before the price and the features. | "Response time on quotes." |
| 2 | Value today and expected value | The current figure, the target and the date it gets reviewed. | "From 3 days to 1 day, review on 31 March." |
| 3 | Owner of the number | A person from the area that will use it, not from technology. | "Marta, sales manager." |
| 4 | How it will be measured | Where the figure comes from today and who takes it afterwards. | "From the sales system, every Friday." |
| 5 | What the tool does | Only what helps move the number in line 1. | "Drafts the first version of the quote." |
| 6 | What it costs in month 6 | Licence, usage, integration and review hours at your real volume. | "See the month-6 cost sheet." |
| 7 | What happens if the number does not change | Cut-off date and how you exit. | "If it is still 3 days in March, no renewal." |

Proposal for: ____________ · Write line 1 here: ______________________________________

## How to fill it in 5 minutes

1. Write line 1 before anything else. If it takes more than two minutes, the purchase does not have a business reason yet.
2. Pick a single number. If three show up, ask which one would hurt most if it did not change, and keep that one.
3. Put a date and an owner in lines 2 and 3 in the same sitting. A number without an owner does not get measured.
4. Leave the features for line 5. If the original proposal has them on the first page, move them.
5. The most common mistake: accepting "improve productivity" as a number. It is not a number; it is a wish. Ask for the figure, the unit and the date.

## The line that is almost always missing

The first one. Proposals tend to open with the price, with the feature list or with the phrase "everyone is doing it", and that phrase is not a business reason. The reason is a number that will change. If nobody at the table can write that line, the purchase is a trend, and trends get expensive when they renew every year.

## If this becomes a big decision

If the purchase is hard to reverse and carries your name, the free tools at vicsol.org/decision-clarity/ help you structure it. They do not replace a formal review.

---

Vic Sol · Decision Desk · vicsol.org/resources/ · Free to use with attribution.
This sheet structures a conversation; it is not legal, financial or audit advice.