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Speaking Their Language: How to Pitch Data ROI to Different Executive Personas
- Christian Steinert
- 4 days ago
- 14 min read
Part 2 of 2: The Data Leader’s Guide to Proving ROI
Last week, I promised you Part 2 would dive into revenue growth ROI calculations—going beyond time savings to show you how to quantify the bigger financial impact of data initiatives.
After wrapping up Part 1, I went back to our client projects to pull examples of revenue generation ROI. And you know what? This boils too many oceans to write about in a concise and easy to follow way.
This isn’t a result of poor implementation. Rather, the data maturity of the healthcare clients we generally work with are very early on in their data lifecycle journey.
Standardizing metrics and automating reports in a centralized data warehouse is exactly what our clients are in need of. The revenue growth piece is an entirely different statement of work, demanding complex data analysis and methodologies vs. the foundational data engineering we’ve been delivering this year.
So we’re pivoting.
Instead of forcing a revenue generation story, we’re going straight to what actually matters when you’re early in your data maturity journey: how to communicate the ROI you CAN prove to the people who control your budget.
Because here’s what I’ve learned working with healthcare organizations: Cost savings is your best opening move. It’s concrete. It’s defensible. Nobody can argue with “we’re spending X hours on this, here’s what those hours cost.”
Revenue generation comes later—once you’ve built trust, proven you can deliver, and have the infrastructure to actually measure impact. But first, you need to get the initial project approved.
Today, I’m showing you how to take the time savings ROI from Part 1 (that $83K over 5 years, 160% ROI) and translate it into six different languages for six different executive personas.
And instead of dragging this into a third part about “how to present your deck,” we’re keeping this as a tight two-part series. Part 1: Calculate it. Part 2: Communicate it. That’s the playbook.
Let’s get into it.
Quick Recap: The Time Savings ROI from Part 1
Before we dive into stakeholder communication, let’s quickly recap what we calculated last week:
The Problem:
A VP of Revenue Cycle spending 90 minutes every day manually pulling data from multiple Power BI reports and native EHR exports, then hard-coding numbers into Excel.
The Numbers:
375 hours per year of manual work (1.5 hours × 250 working days)
$27,045 in annual labor costs (375 hours × $72.12/hour)
$26,500 first-year investment ($18K development + $8.5K technology costs)
$18,545 net annual savings after year one
11.6 months to break even
$83,225 net benefit over 5 years (160% ROI)
That’s the foundation. Now let’s talk about how to sell it.
Why Cost Savings First?
Before we get into the personas, let me make the case for why cost savings should be your lead story—especially if you’re working with organizations early in their data maturity lifecycle.
1. It’s immediately quantifiable You can time manual processes today. You can calculate labor costs today. No predictive models. No attribution debates.
2. It requires minimal trust You’re not asking leadership to believe you can transform their business. You’re just asking them to believe you can eliminate manual work. That’s a much smaller leap.
3. It creates the foundation for future investments Once you prove you can deliver a 160% ROI on automation, the next conversation about predictive analytics or revenue optimization gets a lot easier.
4. It’s defensible under scrutiny When the CFO asks “how do you know this will work?” you can point to documented time tracking, industry benchmarks, and conservative assumptions. You’re not speculating—you’re calculating.
Revenue generation ROI? That comes later. Once you have the infrastructure. Once you have clean data. Once you’ve built trust by delivering on your first promise.
For now, focus on what you can prove.
The Framework: Same Numbers, Different Emphasis
Here’s the universal truth about ROI: Every executive cares about it, but they evaluate it through completely different lenses based on their role, responsibilities, and what keeps them up at night.
The $83K in time savings stays the same. The 160% ROI stays the same. The 11.6-month payback stays the same.
What changes is which part of the story you lead with and what you emphasize.
Let’s break down six key personas you’ll pitch to as a data leader.
Persona 1: Director/VP of Analytics
What they care about:
Team capacity and burnout
Data quality and consistency
Proving the value of their department
Getting budget for future initiatives
What keeps them up at night: “My team is drowning in report requests. We’re order-takers, not strategic partners. And every time budget discussions come up, we’re seen as a cost center.”
How to Pitch the $83K ROI
Lead with: “Your team gets 375 hours back per year”
Emphasize: Eliminating soul-crushing manual work improves retention and morale
Frame it as: “This frees your team to work on strategic initiatives that showcase analytics’ value”
The win: Position this as proof of concept for larger data investments
The Conversation
“This automation saves 375 hours annually of manual data entry—that’s nearly two months of full-time work. That’s not just cost savings. That’s your senior analyst’s time freed up to build the predictive models you’ve been wanting to tackle. That’s capacity to move from reactive reporting to proactive insights. And here’s why this matters for your budget conversations: This is proof that investing in data infrastructure pays off. When you go ask for budget for the next project, you can point to this and say ‘We delivered a 160% ROI on the last initiative. Here’s what we want to tackle next.’ The $83K savings pays for itself in 11.6 months. But the real return is positioning your team as strategic enablers, not report factories.”
Questions They’ll Ask
“Will this reduce headcount?”
→ No. This reallocates talent to higher value work. We’re not eliminating the role—we’re eliminating the busywork that prevents them from doing the strategic work they were hired for.
“What if the person who knows the manual process leaves?”
→ That’s actually the biggest risk of NOT automating. Right now, you have key person risk. The automation includes documentation and removes that single point of failure.
“How long until we see results?”
→ Time savings are immediate—they start the day the automation goes live. The 11.6-month payback period accounts for the initial investment. After that, it’s pure value creation.
Persona 2: Director/VP of IT
What they care about:
System stability and uptime
Security and compliance
Reducing technical debt
Minimizing manual touchpoints that create risk
What keeps them up at night: “Every manual process is a security incident waiting to happen. We’re one audit away from a finding. And I’m tired of being the bottleneck for every data request.”
How to Pitch the $83K ROI
Lead with: “This eliminates 375 hours of manual system access annually”
Emphasize: Reduced risk of human error, security incidents, and audit findings
Frame it as: “Moving from 250 manual data pulls per year to zero reduces your attack surface”
The win: Infrastructure investment that reduces operational risk
The Conversation
“Every manual data pull is a potential security incident. It’s a potential error. It’s a potential audit finding. And right now, we’re doing 250 of them per year—every single workday someone is manually accessing systems, pulling data, copying it into Excel.This automation eliminates 375 hours of manual system access per year. The $83K in savings is great, but the real value to IT is reducing risk and freeing up cycles currently spent troubleshooting ‘why doesn’t my report match?’ issues.You get consistent, auditable data pipelines with proper access controls. You get documented processes instead of tribal knowledge. And you get 11.6 months to break even on an investment that dramatically reduces your operational risk.”
Questions They’ll Ask
“What’s the security model?” → Role-based access control, encryption at rest and in transit, full audit logging. We’re following HIPAA-compliant cloud architecture patterns with documented security controls.
“Does this add complexity to our stack?” → It’s cloud-native using managed services, which actually reduces complexity. No new servers to patch. No new infrastructure to maintain. We’re leveraging Azure services you’re already using with the addition of Microsoft Fabric which directly integrates.
“Who owns maintenance?” → Clearly defined SLAs with documented runbooks. We’ll train your team or provide ongoing support—your choice. But the architecture is designed to be low-touch.
Persona 3: VP of Revenue Cycle / VP of Operations
What they care about:
Operational efficiency
Meeting departmental KPIs
Team productivity
Having reliable data to make decisions
What keeps them up at night: “I need my team focused on reducing A/R days and improving collections. Instead, they’re spending hours every day just compiling the reports that tell us where we stand.”
How to Pitch the $83K ROI
Lead with: “Your VP gets 90 minutes back every single day”
Emphasize: Faster access to accurate data enables better decision-making
Frame it as: “Instead of compiling reports, your team analyzes them”
The win: Operational capacity without adding headcount
The Conversation
“Your VP of Revenue Cycle spends 90 minutes every day manually compiling this report. That’s 375 hours per year—over nine full workweeks—that they’re not spending on reducing A/R days, improving denial management, or optimizing collections.The automation pays for itself in 11.6 months. After that, it’s pure capacity creation. Your VP gets their mornings back. Instead of pulling data until 10:30 AM, they’re analyzing it at 8:00 AM and taking action by 9:00 AM.And here’s the strategic benefit: as your patient volume grows, this doesn’t require adding another analyst. The manual process would. You’re creating operational leverage—doing more with the same team.”
Questions They’ll Ask
“Will this disrupt our current workflows?”
→ We’ll phase the implementation to minimize disruption. Run the automated and manual processes in parallel for 30 days. Nothing changes until you’re confident the numbers match.
“What if the numbers don’t match what we’re used to?”
→ That’s why we build in a validation period. We’ll document any differences and make sure you understand why. Often, the automated version is actually more accurate because it’s consistent.
“Can we customize this as our needs change?”
→ Yes. It’s built with modular, documented logic. As your reporting needs evolve, we can adjust without rebuilding from scratch.
Persona 4: CFO
What they care about:
Cash flow and working capital
ROI and payback period
Budget efficiency
Risk management
What keeps them up at night: “Every dollar we spend needs to generate a return. I need proof this works before we invest. And I need to know the ongoing costs, not just the up-front price tag.”
How to Pitch the $83K ROI
Lead with: “160% ROI over five years with an 11.6-month payback period”
Emphasize: Hard dollar savings, not soft benefits
Frame it as: “Year one investment: $26.5K. Years 2-5: $18.5K annual net savings.”
The win: Quantifiable return that improves operational efficiency
The Conversation
“We’re proposing a $26,500 first-year investment that generates $83,225 in labor cost savings over five years. That’s a 160% ROI with an 11.6-month payback period.Here’s the breakdown: Year one, we invest $18,000 in development and $8,500 in technology costs. We save $27,045 in annual labor costs. Net first-year benefit: $2,045. Years 2-5: we continue saving $27,045 annually with only $8,500 in ongoing technology costs. Net annual savings: $18,545.The math is straightforward: we’re buying back 375 hours per year at $72/hour through automation that scales. Conservative assumptions. Documented time tracking. No hand-waving.”
Questions They’ll Ask
“What are the ongoing costs?”
→ $8,500 annually for cloud infrastructure and Power BI licensing. That’s it. No hidden fees. No surprise maintenance costs.
“What if volumes grow?”
→ The automated solution scales with minor incremental costs. The manual process would require adding FTEs. As volume grows, the ROI gets better, not worse.
“How confident are we in these numbers?”
→ The time tracking is documented—we literally timed the manual process. The labor costs are based on actual salary data. And we’re using conservative assumptions on implementation time. If anything, we’re understating the benefit.
Persona 5: COO
What they care about:
Operational scalability
Cross-departmental efficiency
Process improvement
Enabling growth without proportional cost increases
What keeps them up at night: “We’re adding volume but our costs are growing linearly. Every time we grow, we need more people. How do we scale without just throwing bodies at problems?”
How to Pitch the $83K ROI
Lead with: “This creates a scalable foundation that grows with the business”
Emphasize: Manual processes don’t scale; automated infrastructure does
Frame it as: “As patient volume grows, this doesn’t require adding analysts”
The win: Operational leverage and future-proofing
The Conversation
“Right now, this automation saves 375 hours and $83K over five years. That’s the immediate return. But here’s the strategic value for operations:As your patient volume grows 20-30% over the next few years, the manual process would require adding 1-2 FTEs to keep up. The automated solution scales without incremental labor costs. You get operational leverage—your capacity grows without your costs growing proportionally.This isn’t just about saving money on one report. It’s about building a scalable operational foundation. It’s proof that we can systematically identify inefficiency, automate it, and create capacity for growth. And it’s a model we can replicate across other departments.”
Questions They’ll Ask
“How does this fit into our broader operational strategy?” → This is the foundation for systematic process improvement. We identify high-value, repeatable processes and automate them. This is the first domino—it proves the model works.
“Can this approach be replicated in other departments?” → Absolutely. The framework is repeatable: document the manual process, calculate the time/cost, build the automation, measure the impact. Finance, clinical operations, HR—anywhere there’s manual reporting, this model applies.
“What’s the change management plan?” → Phased rollout with parallel processes during transition. Training and documentation. Clear communication about what’s changing and why. We’re not just building technology—we’re managing the change process and documenting everything.
Persona 6: President/CEO
What they care about:
Strategic positioning and competitive advantage
Organizational capability building
Culture and employee satisfaction
Long-term value creation
What keeps them up at night: “Are we building an organization that can compete in five years? Are we attracting and retaining the right talent? Are we making decisions based on data or gut feel?”
How to Pitch the $83K ROI
Lead with: “This is the foundation for becoming a data-driven organization”
Emphasize: Building institutional capability, not just solving one problem
Frame it as: “First step in transforming how we use data to compete”
The win: Cultural shift toward efficiency, innovation and definition alignment
The Conversation
“This specific automation saves $83K over five years with a 160% ROI. That’s a solid financial return. But let me tell you the bigger story:This is how we transform from gut-feel decision-making to data-driven operations. Right now, your VP of Revenue Cycle spends 90 minutes every day on manual data entry. That’s not a revenue cycle problem—it’s a symptom of an organization that hasn’t invested in the infrastructure to leverage data effectively.This automation is proof we can identify inefficiency, quantify it, and systematically eliminate it. It demonstrates to your team that we’re serious about using technology to align the business with the data. And it creates the foundation for the more strategic initiatives—predictive analytics, operational optimization, growth enablement—that you need to compete long-term.The 11.6-month payback proves this pencils out financially. But the real return is building the muscle to do this repeatedly across the organization.”
Questions They’ll Ask
“How does this align with our 3-5 year strategy?”
→ This is the foundation for the data infrastructure you’ll need to execute on growth and strategic initiatives. You can’t do predictive analytics without clean, automated data pipelines. This is step one.
“What’s the cultural impact?”
→ It demonstrates commitment to innovation and efficiency. It shows the team you’re investing in tools that make their jobs better, not just squeezing more work out of them. And it positions data as a strategic asset, not just an afterthought.
“What’s next after this?”
→ We’ve identified three additional high-ROI automation opportunities using this same framework. Once we prove this model works, we can scale it systematically across the organization. This is the pilot that unlocks the roadmap.
The Pattern: What Changes, What Stays the Same
Let me make this crystal clear:
What Stays the Same Across All Personas
The core numbers: $83K savings, 160% ROI, 11.6-month payback
The math: 375 hours × $72.12/hour
The conservative approach: Documented assumptions, transparent calculations
The proof: Time tracking, industry benchmarks, defensible estimates
What Changes
The opening line: What you lead with in the first 30 seconds
The emphasis: Efficiency vs. risk vs. scalability vs. strategy
The framing: Tactical win vs. strategic capability
The objections you anticipate: Budget vs. disruption vs. attribution
Master this translation, and you’ll stop defending budgets. You’ll start getting handed them.
Your Cheat Sheet: Quick Reference Guide
Here’s your one-page reference for tailoring your pitch:
The Multi-Stakeholder Meeting: When They’re All in the Room
Often, you’re not pitching to one persona—you’re pitching to multiple executives at once. Here’s how to navigate it:
Opening (30 seconds)
Start with the universal truth that everyone cares about:
“We’re proposing a $26,500 investment in automated reporting that generates $83,225 in savings over five years—a 160% ROI with an 11.6-month payback period.”
Layer Based on Who’s Present
If the CFO is in the room: Dive into the financial details first. Show the year-by-year breakdown. Emphasize the conservative assumptions.
If the COO is in the room: Pivot to scalability next. Talk about operational leverage and how this creates capacity for growth.
If the CEO is in the room: Connect to strategic vision last. Frame this as the foundation for becoming a data-driven organization.
If IT is in the room: Address security and maintenance concerns proactively. Don’t wait for them to ask.
Close with the Universal Truth
“This pays for itself in under a year. After that, it’s pure value creation. And it’s a proven model we can replicate across other high-impact areas.”
Common Objections and How to Handle Them
Regardless of who you’re pitching to, you’ll face similar objections. Here’s how to handle them without sounding defensive:
“We don’t have budget right now”
Don’t say: “But this is really important!”
Do say: “The 11.6-month payback means this effectively funds itself. And we can phase the implementation to minimize up-front costs if needed. What does your budget timeline look like?”
“Our people like the manual process / They’re comfortable with Excel”
Don’t say: “They’re wasting time!”
Do say: “I hear you. And we’re not taking away their ability to use Excel. We’re just eliminating the 375 hours per year they spend copying and pasting data into it. What if instead of spending 90 minutes compiling the report, they spent that time analyzing it?”
“What if it breaks? What if the automation fails?”
Don’t say: “It won’t break, don’t worry!”
Do say: “Great question. That’s why we’ll run the automated and manual processes in parallel for 30 days. Nothing changes until you’re confident. Plus, we’ll provide documented runbooks and clear SLAs for ongoing support.”
“We tried automation before and it failed”
Don’t say: “This time will be different, trust me!”
Do say: “Tell me more about what happened.” [Listen carefully.] “Here’s how we’re specifically addressing that: [detailed mitigation plan based on what they tell you].”
“Can we start smaller? This feels like a big investment”
Don’t say: “No, we need to do it all at once!”
Do say: “Absolutely. We can phase this. Start with one report, prove the ROI, then expand. Keep in mind that smaller scope means proportionally smaller savings, but if you want to pilot it first, we can structure it that way. What would a pilot look like to you?”
“How do we know this will actually save 375 hours?”
Don’t say: “Just trust the math!”
Do say: “We documented the current process by talking with the stakeholders that lead this process. We’re using conservative assumptions—if anything, we’re understating the benefit. But we can build in checkpoints to measure actual time savings if you want validation.”
The One Thing You Must Do Before Any Pitch
Before you walk into any meeting, answer this question:
“Who in this room has veto power, and what’s their biggest fear?”
Because that person—whether it’s the CFO worried about budget, the COO worried about change management, or the IT director worried about complexity—is the one whose objection will kill your project.
Tailor your pitch to address their fear first. Lead with what matters most to them. Then layer in the benefits for everyone else.
Don’t bury the objection. Address it head-on in your opening.
If the CFO has veto power: Lead with ROI and payback period. If IT has veto power: Lead with risk reduction and minimal maintenance. If Operations has veto power: Lead with minimal disruption and parallel processes.
Wrapping Up: The Two-Part Framework
Over these two weeks, I’ve given you the complete playbook for proving data ROI in healthcare:
Part 1: Calculate It
Time manual processes
Convert time to labor costs
Factor in implementation costs
Calculate net savings and payback period
Project long-term ROI
Part 2: Communicate It
Identify your audience
Lead with what they care about most
Emphasize the benefits relevant to their role
Anticipate and address their specific objections
Frame the same ROI six different ways
The reality: You’ll get better at both of these with practice. Your first ROI calculation will take hours. Your tenth will take 20 minutes. Your first stakeholder pitch will feel awkward. Your twentieth will feel natural.
But the framework doesn’t change. Time savings is your foundation. Clear communication is your delivery mechanism. Conservative assumptions are your credibility.
Stick to these principles, and you’ll build trust. Build trust, and you’ll get budget. Get budget, and you’ll build the infrastructure that eventually does unlock revenue generation.
We started this series by saying “money talks.” That’s still true. But the language money speaks changes depending on who’s listening.
Learn to translate, and you’ll never struggle to prove your value again.
Christian Steinert is the founder of Steinert Analytics, helping healthcare organizations turn data into actionable insights. Subscribe to Rooftop Insights for weekly perspectives on analytics and business intelligence in these industries.
Also - check out our free Healthcare Analytics Playbook email course here.
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