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Proven tips to spark interest with higher-ups

Your goal is to capture a Valuable improvement Idea in 140 characters or less.

Here's how:

1. Start with an action verb  

The strongest verbs imply business value. Some examples: 

  • Reduce, decrease, eliminate, discontinue 

  • Increase, implement, create 

  • Replace, substitute, reuse 

  • Automate, consolidate, simplify 

  • Outsource, insource, relocate 

See Action Verbs for Valuable Ideas to strengthen your phrasing and make a strong pitch. 

2. Describe a specific, concrete change that benefits the business

What will the company start or stop doing? What difference will it make? Some examples:  

  • Increase customer service fees by 50% for accounts above $50k. 

  • Consolidate vendors of paper products to obtain volume pricing. 

  • Reduce outside legal expense by in-sourcing contract work. 

  • Replace fleet vehicles with ride-share service. 

3. Make the value proposition clear and concise

Adjust wording to make the action and its business impact crisp and clean. 

See the photo for examples.  

Tips  

  • Remove warm-up phrases. (e.g., "I think we should...") 

  • Stick to one change per Idea.  

  • Describe concrete action, not preparatory steps like analysis or review. 

  • Read the Idea pitch aloud. Does it flow? Is it clear? 

  • Make sure you answer the questions, "What will improve? Why is this idea valuable?" 

See Guesstimate Value to show the financial impact of your Valuable Idea.