When pitching new marketing initiatives, supplement ROI projections with research demonstrating a clear audience need for the content. Framing the project as a valuable service to the customer, rather than just another marketing tactic, is a more powerful way to gain internal support.

Executives don't care about tactical benefits like 'five fewer clicks'. A crucial skill for modern sellers is to extrapolate that tactical user-level gain into a strategic business outcome. You must translate efficiency into revenue, connecting the dots from a daily task to the company's bottom line.

Instead of pitching the abstract value of 'delight,' connect it to concrete business objectives. By asking a founder, 'Are users proud enough to recommend our product?' the focus shifted from a vague concept to a clear driver of word-of-mouth growth, making it easier to get buy-in.

To get buy-in for developer experience initiatives, don't use generic metrics. First, identify leadership's primary concerns—be it market share, profit margin, or velocity. Then, frame your measurements and impact using that specific language to ensure your work resonates.

Stakeholders will ask "so what?" if you only talk about developer efficiency. This is a weak argument that can get your funding cut. Instead, connect your platform's work directly to downstream business metrics like customer retention or product uptake that your developer-users are targeting.

To get buy-in from skeptical, business-focused stakeholders, avoid jargon about user needs. Instead, frame discovery as a method to protect the company's investment in the product team, ensuring you don't build things nobody uses and burn money. This aligns product work with financial prudence.

To bridge the communication gap with leadership, reframe common product metrics into financial terms. Instead of reporting daily active users (DAU), calculate and present average revenue per daily active user (ARPA-DAU). Similarly, frame quality initiatives not as ticket reduction but as operating expense (OPEX) savings.

Product managers often fail to get ideas funded because they speak about user needs and features, while executives focus on business growth and strategic bets. To succeed, PMs must translate user value into financial impact and business outcomes, effectively speaking the language of leadership.

Creating products customers love is only half the battle. Product leaders must also demonstrate and clearly communicate the product's business impact. This ability to speak to financial outcomes is crucial for getting project approval and necessary budget.