Speaking in dollars and cents creates stronger buy-in.
The fastest way for communicators to lose internal buy-in is failing to connect their story to the organization’s bottom line. To truly influence decisions, comms teams need to speak the language of finance.
This is a challenge Mari Cosidine, chief brand and marketing officer at Acenda Integrated Health, will tackle in her upcoming presentation during Ragan’s Employee Communications Conference next month.
“I think when it comes to speaking the language of finance, we often come across sometimes a little squishy or a little too warm and fuzzy for our finance partners,” Cosidine said.
Communicators don’t need to become finance experts, but they do need to be better translators to persuade leaders, she said.
Cosidine has seen this firsthand. In her role overseeing brand, marketing and communications with “a 100 different service lines and 35 different locations,” she had to talk to many different teams, especially when advocating for resources, she said.
Getting that buy-in required a different way of talking about their goals.
“I needed to dive out of my everyday language and work more into the financial language,” she said.
From “engagement” to outcomes
This begins with a change in mindset, she said.
“Stop leading with communications jargon and start leading with business impact,” Cosdine said.
For example, instead of saying, “This would be a great engagement initiative,” she changed the message to make it more relatable.
“Finance doesn’t hear it that way,” she said. “So saying things like, ‘This supports retention, which directly impacts turnover and workforce stability’ helps us speak the right language and shows a real need.”
How to start translating
For communicators who feel intimidated by financial language, Cosidine emphasized that the barrier to entry is lower than it seems.
“I think one of the biggest gaps is not understanding what numbers mean,” she said.
Her advice is to start by looking for signals in financial data and connecting them to communications strategies.
“It really is translating those signals into very clear executive-ready recommendations,” she said.
Importantly, this doesn’t mean you have to suddenly become a financial analyst, she said.
“It’s less about learning finance and more about learning how to use finance to really strengthen your voice and show the strategic impact of the communication,” Cosidine said.
Tie everything to strategy
One of the most effective changes Cosidine made with her team was aligning communications metrics directly to organizational goals.
“We took the strategic plan of the organization and we took every goal and were able to tie KPIs from our department directly to it,” she said.
Alignment created a shared language across teams, she said. It helped connect the dots.
“We may be doing different things, but again, that’s the basis of where we’re able to show growth, where we’re able to show return on investment,” she said. “And that really was a game changer for us.”
Influence and access
Ultimately, the bigger goal is about changing how communicators show impact.
“We know that communications isn’t a support department,” Cosidine said. “We really want to show that direct correlation of the work that’s happening and how it affects business goals.”
When communicators can clearly articulate that connection, the impact is stronger influence, more strategic input and better access to resources.
“The result is not having missed opportunities and really being able to influence decisions, secure budget and…shape strategy at the top,” she said.
Register now to see Cosidine’s presentation and others during Ragan’s Employee Communication Conference, April 21-23 in Boston, Mass.
Courtney Blackann is a communications reporter. Connect with her on LinkedIn or email her at courtneyb@ragan.com.
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