Third, marketers must communicate in English – by speaking finance, the language business people understand.

Third, communicate in English – by speaking finance, the language they understand.  We have learned the value of learning finance, and the natural progression of thinking in finance, we now turn to communicating in finance.

From our earlier discussion on the disparity of terms and goals used in marketing vs. finance, it should have become apparent that you must keep this focus at the front of your mind. 

There are several times and mediums to communicate marketing programs to senior managers.  Email, reports, presentation – even lunch dates!  

Keep this mind: you are always being interviewed in corporate America – and to a lesser extent even in smaller enterprises.  There are no casual, innocuous conversations – seemingly friendly and off-hand discussions.  Management is always assessing your demeanor, communication talent, etc.  It has been my experience that it is more prudent to lead with your finance knowledge and not your marketing expertise unless specifically asked.  Most executives and senior managers are terrified of sounding unknowledgeable (or “stupid”) by asking what you mean by marketing centric terms and how they related to sales.

Developing a mindset of communicating in finance takes time and patience.  It’s not something you learn from a book or blog.  You won’t see the “routes” up the rock face until you’ve tried climbing a few times.