I am a Senior Marketing Manager. Over th
Ask
I am a Senior Marketing Manager. Over the past 4 months, the Sales VP and account executives constantly DM me asking for "emergency" 2-hour slide makeovers and custom pitch emails.
This ad-hoc fire-fighting consumes 15 hours a week and is causing our Q3 brand acquisition roadmap to slip.
I have my quarterly review with our CMO tomorrow morning.
Can you give me:
1. The exact speakable opening line for my 1-on-1 tomorrow (fact -> specific change -> written confirmation date) to require all sales collateral requests to go through our Asana intake queue with a 5-business-day SLA.
2. The comeback line if my CMO says: "Can't marketing just stay agile and flexible to support sales revenue?"
3. A side-by-side table of opener vs comeback.
Answer
"Over the past 4 months, sales has come to me directly with ad-hoc 'emergency' requests — about 15 hours a week. The Q3 brand acquisition roadmap is slipping as a result. I'm asking that all sales collateral requests go through the Asana intake queue with a 5-business-day SLA. Please confirm in writing by [date]."
Comeback if your CMO says "Can't marketing just stay agile and flexible to support sales revenue?":
"I'm asking for one specific change: all sales collateral requests routed through the Asana intake queue with a 5-business-day SLA. That's how marketing keeps both sales support and the Q3 roadmap. Please give me a written yes or no by [date]."
| Opener (tomorrow's 1-on-1) | Comeback ("stay agile / flexible") |
| --- | --- |
| "Over the past 4 months, sales has come to me directly with ad-hoc 'emergency' requests — about 15 hours a week. The Q3 brand acquisition roadmap is slipping as a result. I'm asking that all sales collateral requests go through the Asana intake queue with a 5-business-day SLA. Please confirm in writing by [date]." | "I'm asking for one specific change: all sales collateral requests routed through the Asana intake queue with a 5-business-day SLA. That's how marketing keeps both sales support and the Q3 roadmap. Please give me a written yes or no by [date]." |
Fill `[date]` with a concrete day — e.g., "Friday, September 25, 2026" if you want a week to confirm, or earlier if you need it locked before the next sales-deal cycle starts.