When pitching a B2B product, founders often grapple with whether to emphasize revenue growth or cost reduction. I personally struggled with this at my own startup. It can be agonizing, especially when both have real merits. The siren's call to tailor your pitch to what you think a given prospect wants to hear is strong, but it's a false optimization that will lead you astray. You're not selling to "organizations" as coherent entities; you're selling to people with personal and political motivations that drive their purchasing decisions.

Understand the Pain

Rather than agonizing over which angle to lead with, focus on understanding the customer's immediate pain points. Cost optimization has its limits - the maximum you can cut is 100%. Revenue growth, on the other hand, has theoretically infinite potential. The real question you as the seller want to answer isn't which one to prioritize, but rather what problem you're actually solving for the customer.

Don't Fight the Last Battle

If you can't articulate the problem you're solving for the customer simply, or if it changes from one prospect to the next, recognize that you don't know yet.

Customers (speaking on behalf of their organization) may say they want to optimize costs or boost revenue, and this is true. But talk is cheap - and what they really want (what will get them to actually take action) is to alleviate their pressing concerns, which may be idiosyncratic to their role or company. These concerns should be true of your target customer in aggregate. Spend time with your prospects and users - before they are your customers. Understand their needs and tailor your pitch accordingly.

From there, it's still not about choosing between revenue and costs; it's about addressing the human factors that drive decision-making.

You're Selling to Individuals

How will they defend this to their boss? Will choosing this make them look smart? What happens to their budget? Could this decision get them fired (or promoted)?

These are real and powerful forces. If you can't sufficiently motivate the person on the other side of the pitch, your strongest competitor is and will always be Do Nothing Inc.

Organizations in the abstract may strive for efficiency, but individuals have personal and professional motivations that influence their choices, and individuals are who you pitch to. By understanding these motivations and addressing the customer's pain points, you'll be better equipped to make a compelling case for your product.

Don't get bogged down in debating which metric to prioritize - focus on solving the customer's problems, and the rest will follow.