Episode 20: How to build credibility at work

The first time I presented to an exec at work I prepped for 3 days. I had figured out which exec would have a strong opinion and met with them beforehand to give them a pre-read and make adjustments before we got into the room.

During the meeting I got a question from the CRO about our win rate and the calculation I was using. I didn’t know the answer but I immediately responded with my best guess. I was right.

That moment of being right led to overconfidence. The next time I barely prepped for the meeting and on slide 2 of my presentation the CEO stopped me and said a number didn’t look right. The CRO confirmed it was wrong and bam. In less than 3 minutes all my credibility was ruined. It took me months to regain that trust, so here are the numbers I regularly study up on:

Market Landscape

Start with an overview of the entire market and where you fit in. You should be able to answer questions like:

1. Who is your customer? What role do they play in their company and how is success measured?

2. If they couldn’t use your tool what is their alternative? What problem does your product solve for them?

3. Who are the competitors in your space that overlap with your customer? Who do you win and lose against and why?

Business Metrics

Once you have a handle on the market, then focus on your company specifically. Let’s say you are a B2B software organization with two models — a pay-as-you-go model and a contract model with volume discounts in exchange for commitments.

You should be able to follow your full funnel:

1. How many free trials per month?

2. How many paying customers per month / what’s the conversion rate?

3. What is the product mix for the paying customers / what’s driving the conversion?

For your paying customers you should also have a good understanding of:

1. Top customers by $

2. Fastest growing customers by $

3. Products by $

Function Metrics:

Once you understand how your business fits into the market, focus on your function. Specifically how you are affecting the overall business - e.g. increasing adoption of a specific product or increasing a win rate against a competitor.

If you are in marketing, your key metrics would be:

• website visitors

• demo requests (want to talk)

• qualified leads (actively talking)

• closed leads (paying)

• average sales cycle (days)

If you are in product, your key metrics would be:

• full funnel for your product area

  • how many tried the product?

  • how many are actively using?

  • how many converted to paying customers?

• how does this compare with other products?

Once you have had a chance to collect and study up on these metrics, it’s time to start sharing this with your company.

1. Find thought partners: Regularly study these metrics with a thought partner. Together you can find gaps and trends and ideate on what data is actionable vs. not

2. Report your progress: Focus your future work on moving these metrics. As you share your priorities with others start with the data you’ve been following and share updates on your progress.

3. Knowledge share and reciprocate: Get to know other functions and their key metrics they are moving. Ask why these metrics are important and share the same in return.

Chances are pieces of this data already exists in pockets of the organization. Bringing it all together in of itself is a huge win for the business - especially at the exec level.

You will also inevitably run into roadblocks with the data — it may not be in the right format or have missing pieces. These become high visibility projects that the executive team will care about once you’ve alerted them to this. The credibility will come from highlighting a new view of numbers that matter, finding gaps in the data, and fixing them.

Now you rinse and repeat - study these metrics on a weekly/monthly/quarterly basis to the point where you can quickly spot issues as well as naturally bring it up in conversation without needing to look them up to maximize credibility

As always feedback is a gift and I welcome any/all feedback on this episode - good or bad. See ya next week 👋.

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✨ Special thank you to Gigi Marquez who suggested I start this newsletter 🙏7Iq