Asking your employer to pay for coaching
So, you’re interested in getting a product marketing coach.
Click here to skip directly to an email template you can send your manager.
I was in your exact same shoes when I was building my first product marketing team.
Luckily, my CMO saw the value and made the investment. Not only did it accelerate my growth as a product marketing leader, but my coach also helped me build the foundation for our product marketing team.
I was able to implement the right processes, systems, and thinking much sooner, started making an immediate impact, and felt more confident stepping into my role as a strategic leader in the company.
If you’re reading this, I’m guessing you don’t need convincing of the value of coaching. But it sure helps if you can get it funded by your company.
Here are some tips when trying to convince your employer:
- Most companies have established budgets for learning, development, and leadership programs. And while coaching may typically be considered for senior positions, it doesn’t mean it’s not available to middle managers and individual contributors. You just need to ask for it.
- Remember that asking for a coach takes courage. It's a sign of strength, not weakness. It's a clear indicator you take your self development seriously and want to reach your full potential. All companies want to hire and retain employees with high potential and asking for coaching indicates your ambition to succeed.
- Budget owners are often happy to allocate some of their budget for coaching. Especially when they understand how it aligns with their business objectives. They are investing in your growth as a product marketing leader — an important strategic role in the company.
- But they are also investing in the successful build of their product marketing function. A coach will help you build a solid foundation, avoid common mistakes, and get to results quicker.
- Share how you’ll pay it forward. How can you share your learnings more broadly across the company and bring value to other teams? One of the many benefits of receiving coaching is you can begin to implement the strategies in your own work and contribute to a coaching culture.
Ready to make the ask?
Here’s a simple email template you can use.
I wanted to inquire about starting to work with a Product Marketing Coach.
Jason Oakley has a program called the PMM Accelerator Program where he works with PMMs who are building a product marketing function from scratch, sharing what he’s learned doing it at Klue, Chili Piper, and Uberflip.
It’s a personalized 1-on-1 coaching program, but some general highlights include:
- 2 (60-min) coaching calls per month
- Unlimited async support between calls
- Access to all of Jason’s templates and resources
- Access to a private community of other founding PMMs
I think I could benefit from an experienced mentor that can help me focus on the right things, implement proven systems, and collaborate with me on projects. I can also share learnings with the broader team so everyone levels up.
The program is $1500 per quarter or $5000 annually. You can review the program details here.
What do you think?
Thanks,
{Your Name}
Good luck!
I’ll leave you by repeating a point I made above.
Remember that asking for a coach takes courage. It's a sign of strength, not weakness. A clear indicator you take your self development seriously and want to reach your full potential.
All companies want to hire and retain employees with high potential. Asking for coaching indicates your ambition to succeed.
I hope to hear from you. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me at productivepmm@gmail.com