How to get buy-in faster: Use models, not monologues
A simple framework beats a long explanation every time
You’ve seen it happen. Someone spends 15 minutes trying to explain a simple marketing concept to a room full of glazed-over colleagues. At best, they get a few nods. At worst, someone misinterprets everything and derails the meeting.
Why? Because words fail where a diagram, model or chart would succeed.
People process structured models much faster than dense explanations. A good framework turns 10 minutes of rambling into 10 seconds of clarity.
Here’s proof and examples I use daily.
Example 1: Growth is a cycle. Stop thinking one-directionally.
Marketers LOVE funnels. Funnels are dead. Funnels are linear and tell you where users drop off—but do not reflect how growth or a business functions.
Loops, on the other hand, show you how one user brings in the next. And that’s far more important and actionable. The example below is a viral growth loop and how you can accelerate it:
1️⃣ More new users → Improve by reducing friction to access the product.
2️⃣ Users experience value → Improve by making the product so good that people can’t help but talk about it.
3️⃣ Users invite others → Improve by prompting a share at the exact moment users feel the value.
Instead of asking “How do we get more users?”, viral growth loops force you to ask “How does one user bring in another?”. I’ve seen this approach 2x the viral share of growth in the past year at Cleo, outpacing growth of any other acquisition loop.
Example 2: Metric Trees—stop guessing, start tracing the problem
When a key metric tanks, most teams throw wild guesses at the problem.
A metric tree forces you to diagnose properly:
📉 ROAS drops? Check LTV and CPA.
📉 CPA increases? Check CPC and CVR.
📉 CVR is down? Check landing page quality, audience targeting, or incentive strength.
Most marketers skip this and start tweaking ad creative. Wrong. Blaming an algorithm or creative before diagnosing the problem properly is like buying new golf clubs because you can’t putt straight.
Try this today → Next time a metric moves, map all of its components and the impact on each before making a decision.
How to apply this to your work today
If you want people to agree with your ideas, stop writing essays. Structure wins arguments—use a model to get buy in faster. Here’s how:
The bottom line
❌ Nobody remembers your explanation.
✅ Everyone remembers a good framework.
📉 The best thinkers reduce complexity, not add to it.
Next time you’re trying to convince, explain, or align people, don’t talk—model it.
Try this today → Take a complex idea you’re working on and turn it into a loop, tree, or formula. If you can’t, the idea probably isn’t that clear to you either.