Your biggest growth opportunities are often hiding in plain sight within the accounts you already serve. The key to unlocking them isn’t selling harder—it’s collaborating better.
External Value Labs are structured, client-facing sessions where you and your buyers work together to identify new ways to create value. They move beyond presenting ideas to co-creating them, turning collaboration into tangible progress clients want to own.
While the Value Labs framework covers both internal team alignment and external client collaboration, this article focuses specifically on how to run external sessions that deepen partnerships and drive client commitment.
If you’re new to Value Labs, read the starter guide: How to Run a Value Lab: Collaborate to Grow Key Accounts.
An external Value Lab is a facilitated, collaborative meeting between your account team and client stakeholders. It’s designed to:
Unlike internal Value Labs, in which your team aligns behind closed doors, external Value Labs bring the client directly into the process. You move from presenting ideas to the client to building ideas with them.
Here’s the key distinction:
These sessions are especially powerful when you want to reenergize a key account, build executive alignment, or move from vendor to trusted partner.
The secret to successful external Value Labs lies in helping clients feel ownership of the outcomes.
When clients co-author a solution, they become its champions. They’ll fight for budget, defend against skeptics, and ensure success because it’s their idea too.
Psychological ownership drives commitment and advocacy. Here’s how to create it:
External Value Labs work best in specific scenarios. Use them when you want to:
Before scheduling an external Value Lab, ensure you have:
Getting the meeting often determines success. How you ask matters as much as what you share. Be direct, clear, and value-driven:
“We’ve been developing a few ideas that might help accelerate your expansion into new markets. We’d love to explore them in a working session. Not a presentation, but a collaborative discussion where we build the approach together.”
Even with the right framing, buyers often hesitate to commit to a working session. Here’s how to respond to common pushbacks while keeping the conversation collaborative.
If they say: “Just send me the deck.”
Respond with: “I could send slides, but that defeats the purpose. The value comes from combining your team’s insights with our ideas. Even 90 minutes together generates better solutions than any deck I could send.”
If they say: “What exactly will we cover?”
Respond with: “We’ll focus on [specific challenge]. I’ll bring initial ideas, but the session is designed to build on your team’s expertise. Think structured brainstorming with purpose.”
If they say: “Who needs to be there?”
Respond with: “Ideally, [specific roles]. Their perspectives will help us reach the best solution quickly. These sessions work best with 4-6 people who bring different viewpoints.”
Here’s an example of how to position the session in writing that’s concise, collaborative, and focused on joint problem-solving rather than presentation.
Subject: Strategic Discussion: Accelerating [Specific Goal]
Hi [Name],
I’ve been thinking about your goal to [specific objective] and have developed a few ideas that could help accelerate progress.
Rather than a standard presentation, I’d like to propose a collaborative working session where we explore these ideas together and build an approach that fits your situation.
The session would:
Could we schedule time in the next two weeks? I’m confident we’ll leave with actionable ideas your team is excited to pursue.
Best,
[Your Name]
Preparation determines whether the meeting feels like collaboration or a presentation.
Once your client is on board, plan session length by scope. For example:
It’s better to have focused time with the right people than a longer session with partial attendance. You may also get some valuable feedback in your communications with clients to help you structure this in a way that will be most valuable to them.
Beyond the 4-stage framework, these best practices ensure your external Value Lab runs smoothly, keeps participants engaged, and delivers results.
Whether in-person or virtual, the same principles apply. When running Value Labs remotely:
Follow the same 4 Stages of Structured Problem Solving framework used in internal Value Labs, adapted for client collaboration.
The 4 Stages of Structured Problem SolvingSM
Begin by clarifying the opportunity or issue. This stage aligns everyone on what you’re solving for. Start with context: “We’d like to explore whether expanding into new markets could be accelerated through joint initiatives.”
Then, invite their perspectives:
Keep it conversational and inclusive. This is where ownership begins.
Deepen understanding before moving to solutions. Ask open questions:
Encourage diverse perspectives and healthy debate. Surface assumptions and constraints. Understanding precedes innovation.
Open the floor for creative thinking. This is where collaboration becomes co-creation. Use prompts like:
Encourage quantity over perfection. Build momentum before filtering.
Facilitator Tip: Keep energy high. Use “Yes, and…” thinking. Capture everything visually.
Turn ideas into concrete next steps. Together, define:
Test commitment. Ask: “If we move forward with this plan, will it achieve both your goals and ours?”
Only commit to actions that are realistic, measurable, and mutually beneficial. End by scheduling your next touchpoint: “Let’s reconnect Tuesday to refine the plan and confirm resources.”
Even experienced facilitators face challenges. Here’s how to navigate them:
|
Pitfall |
How to Avoid It |
|
Talking too much early |
Ask more questions; let clients co-own discovery. |
|
Missing key stakeholders |
Map and invite decision-makers early. It’s often better to re-schedule than to proceed without them. |
|
Treating it like a pitch |
Focus on exploration and co-creation; otherwise you risk clients disengaging. |
|
Overpromising next steps |
Be realistic; under-promise, over-deliver. |
|
Losing momentum afterward |
Schedule a follow-up before closing the meeting. Send notes within 24 hours. |
You can use these same principles to establish a foundation for collaboration among stakeholders in your org when running an internal Value Lab.
External Value Labs help clients take ownership of outcomes and help you earn trusted partner status. For a worksheet, video, and guide, download the Value Labs Toolkit.