Don’t try and trick your CFO
Need to get the CFO on your side? Learn to speak their language so they don't have to waffle on with their bosses.
Have you ever had to argue for more money for a project or a hire?
It’s pretty hard, right?
CFOs really don’t like these kinds of surprise changes.
But the fact is, not everything in your GTM will go according to plan this year.
Whether it’s a problem with inbounds, conversion rates, or churn, gaps appear.
And when that happens, you have 2 choices.
You can either do nothing and live with the gap.
Or you can do something (that costs something), and fix that gap.
But to do that, you need to convince the CFO that you might need to slightly change the budget.
The thing is, CFOs don’t enjoy saying no.
In my experience, when approached with a good case, they’re more than happy to see it.
But considering their world, what CFOs are really yearning for is that solid and data-driven component, especially for sales and marketing topics.
Simply put, CFOs approach a decision like this like an auditor.
They always ask:
Does the problem you’re presenting make sense?
Is the logic right?
Does this solution make sense?
Is the whole thing plausible?
The reason why they’re grilling you on all of that stuff is not that they are testing you in particular.
But depending on the size of the ticket, they are going to be asked the exact same questions by investors and the CEO.
Being the data people, RevOps are actually the most equipped for that conversation.
Instead of just submitting budget requests, successful teams:
Demonstrate that they understand the problem
Demonstrate that they understand what the solution might be
And, demonstrate the financial implications of the solution
You want to put the CFO in a position where they can plausibly and, with clean logic, explain the change to their bosses.
And usually, those bosses don’t accept any bullshit.
So if the CFO feels like you’re trying to trick or bullshit them, they don’t like it because they can’t do the same bullshit trickery to their bosses.
Do you know anyone dreading that talk with their CFO soon? Send them this letter! My email is always open if people want to know where to start.