Introduction

Intro

Picture this… you’re two quarters into your founding PMM role. You’re making progress. Positioning updates, launches, win/loss interviews — when suddenly you start getting pinged a little more often.

“Can you make a deck for this?”

“We need one-pagers for the new feature!”

“Got anything for this objection?”

You want to help, but also... you can’t do it all. And you shouldn’t do it all.

This playbook is here to help you manage internal requests from sales and other teams, so you can stay focused, prioritize, and avoid becoming a glorified order taker.

What is an internal sales request?

An internal sales request is… exactly what it sounds like.

It’s when someone from the Sales team (or CS, or even Marketing) asks Product Marketing for help. Usually something like:

“Do we have a deck for this?”

“Can you make a one-pager for this new feature?”

“Any content I can use to respond to this objection?”

“What’s the latest messaging for this use case?”

“We need something to explain this better.”

Sometimes the request is clear. Sometimes it’s vague. Sometimes it’s reasonable. Sometimes… not so much.

You have to become a request ninja, fighting to keep your time safe to get your actual work done.

These requests all have one thing in common:

👉 It’s someone asking you to stop what you’re doing to make something for them.

These requests can actually be super helpful when they reveal gaps in your enablement, expose messaging that isn’t landing, or highlight new use cases worth investing in.

But they can also become a black hole of reactive work if you don’t manage them well.

A mindset shift: from support ticket → feature request

Here’s what internal sales requests are not:

• An signal that your priorities need to change
• Something you’re automatically responsible for
• A “to-do list” handed to you by another team

What they can be — when handled correctly:

• Insight into what’s really happening in the field
• A prompt to improve or share resources you already have
• A spark for building something once, and using it across the whole team

The trick is to treat them like product feature requests — not tech support tickets.

That shift in mindset changes everything.

You move from “how fast can I turn this around?” to “is this the right thing to work on right now?”

Let’s get into how.

Why Managing Requests Matters

We’ve all heard this before: most people don’t actually understand what product marketing does.

To Sales, you might be “the person who makes the decks.”

To Product, “the messaging person.”

To Marketing, somewhere between strategy and support.

The truth is PMM’s get tons of requests because we’re actually good at lots of things. It’s really not a slam, but more of a compliment.

But it’s on you to clarify what you do (and what you don’t do).

For that, we have a playbook on How to create a product marketing charter that will really help:

Need a step-by-step guide to conducting creating your charter? Check out this playbook 👇🏻

Playbook #9: How to Create a Product Marketing Charter Playbook #9: How to Create a Product Marketing Charter

So the requests are definitely coming. It comes with the territory. But when you manage internal requests with intention, everything changes:

• You build more trust, not less, by communicating clearly and following through.
• You ship better work, because it’s aligned to real priorities.
• You teach your org how to work with you.
• You stay focused on what matters most.

When you start saying no the right way – and saying yes to the right things (high-impact, strategic things) people stop treating you like a vending machine... and start seeing you like a partner.

How to Get Started

Let’s start cleaning up the chaos:

1. Audit What Already Exists

• What assets are floating around? And where?
• What’s being used? What’s not?
• Survey your reps with a few quick questions:
• What do you use the most?
• What’s missing?
• What do you wish you had?
• What’s confusing?

2. Create (and Share) a Library

• Even a simple Notion or Google Drive folder helps.
• Categorize by: Product, Persona, Use Case, Funnel Stage.

3. Roll Out a Request System

• Use a simple form + dashboard
• Set expectations: when and how you triage requests
• Bonus: hold a monthly prioritization meeting with sales leadership

Bonus: Package it up 🎸

If you can tie this into one neat system you can roll out and enable your team on I promise you will look like a freaking rock star. I made a simple app that does just that.

Check it out here 👇🏻

PMM Content OS App PMM Content OS App

This simple app gives you everything you need to manage internal content like a pro. Use it to:

• Audit and organize your existing content
• Create a searchable library for your team
• Track usage with lightweight analytics
• Accept, triage, and manage incoming requests

Step-by-Step Guide to Managing Requests

You don’t need a complicated system to manage internal requests.

Here’s the 5-step method I’ve used to help founding PMMs go from reactive and overwhelmed to strategic and in control.

Step 1: Always Know Your Priorities

Use high level goals as your compass.

If you don’t know what matters most, every request will feel urgent. And when everything feels urgent… nothing really gets done.

That’s why your first job is to get crystal clear on your current priorities.

My favorite way to track this is with the OKR method. And here’s the template I use to track them:

OKR Tracker Template OKR Tracker Template

A simple framework for keeping your priorities visible and aligned. It helps you track your:

• Objectives (big-picture goals)
• Key Results (how you measure progress)
• Projects (the actual work that drives outcomes)

The key is to have Objectives and Key Results, but also Projects.

Here’s that broken down 👇

OBJECTIVES are meaningful goals you want to achieve. They should be aspirational, specific, and action-oriented. If you’re lucky to have broader company goals from your CEO, it helps to keep those in mind and aligned with your Objectives.

For example:

• Improve our messaging to the CRO persona
• Launch a successful V1 of our AI product
• Expand into the Telecom industry

KEY RESULTS are the measurable outcome(s) that lead to achieving your Objective. They should be specific, time-bound, and I repeat, MEASURABLE. You can have multiple Key Results nested under one objective. The idea is that when all of them are met, so is your Objective.

For example:

• 100% sales adoption of CRO messaging by June 30
• 1000 AI product trial signups by Sept 30
• 25 Telecom opportunities generated by Nov 30

🚨🚨🚨 One mistake I’ve made (and I see others making) is creating Key Results that are actually just projects.

PROJECTS are the actual work that leads to making progress toward your goals. The things that are going to help you move the needle on your OKRs. Projects are a way to make progress whereas Key Results are how you measure them.

Some examples:

• Run a CRO messaging training series with sales
• Launch V1 of our AI product on Product Hunt
• Develop messaging targeting the Telecom Industry.

Write it down. Share it with your team. Make it visible.

Pro Tip:

Make these visible in your product marketing charter. And share them often in your newsletter.

Then, when requests come in, ask:

👉 Does this support one of our top 1–3 OKRs right now?

If the answer is no, then it’s probably a no (or at least, not right now).

Think of this step as protecting your time and your impact.

Step 2: Think of Asks as Feature Requests

Sales might treat their request like it’s life or death but you get to triage it like a product manager would.

That means:

• Ask clarifying questions: “What’s the actual use case?” “How often does this come up?”
• Look for patterns: Is this a one-off request, or the fourth person asking the same thing?
• Reframe the request: “Are you sure you need a new deck or do you really need a talking point and a slide?”

Requests are inputs. Not instructions. Treating asks like feature ideas helps you zoom out and make better decisions.

Step 3: Build a Lightweight Intake System

There’s many tools and apps you can use for this but really you don’t need a fancy tool. You just need a place everyone knows they can go to make their voice heard.

That means setting up:

• A basic Request Form (Notion, Asana, Google Form — whatever’s easiest)
• A shared Request Tracker or Dashboard so others can see what’s happening
• A recurring Triage Ritual where you review and prioritize open requests

Form → Triage → Prioritize. That’s it.

This makes your work visible, gives you cover when saying no, and helps you spot repeat requests worth solving for at scale.

Pro Tip:

Sometimes people just want to be heard (like in life, tbh) so showing them “we have it on our roadmap” is often enough.

Step 4: Master the Art of Saying “No”

Saying no doesn’t make you difficult to work with.

But let’s be honest… It can be uncomfortable. Here’s how to do it with confidence:

• Be clear: No vague “maybe later” or ghosting. Just be honest.
• Be concise: One sentence is enough. You don’t need a full justification.
• Be kind: Acknowledge the request. Thank them for thinking of you. Encourage the idea.

Pro Tip:

Pro tip: use your boss for help! Here’s a script you can steal:

“Right now, my top priorities are X and Y because of Z. That’s going to take 90% of my time this quarter. Can you help communicate that to the team, and let them know that we will review all new requests on X date?”

This keeps the convo respectful and reminds people that you’re working on things that matter to the business.

Step 5: Have a Reason for Saying “Yes”

You don’t need to say yes often, but when you do, make it count!

Great reasons to say yes:

• It builds trust with Sales early in the role
• It helps you learn (e.g. real-world use cases or objections)
• It uncovers a clear gap in messaging or enablement
• It unblocks a high-value deal
• It creates an asset you’ll use 20 more times
• It actually helps you accomplish one of your OKRs or top level goals

I like to say yes and share why you’re doing it. Something like:

“I’m jumping in here because this seems like a recurring need and we don’t have anything built for it yet. Once I’ve got it, we can use it for X and Y too.”

This shows that you’re strategic (win) but also encourages and teaches them what type of requests get said yes to (double win).

A Few Other Things to Think About When Managing Requests

• Not every request needs an asset. Sometimes a Slack message is enough.
• If someone asks for a deck, ask what they’re actually trying to accomplish with it.
• Saying “not right now” is still a no (and often the right one).
• Keep a “nice no” script handy, you’ll use it more than you think.
• Every asset you create should be tied to a repeatable need.
• Some things are just more urgent and important than others. That’s okay! Be flexible.
• Keep a running list of all requests to see what patterns emerge.

Conclusion

You’re a founding PMM… you’re going to get requests. Constantly.

It only becomes a problem if you let them dictate your calendar or priorities.

When you treat internal asks like product feature requests — not support tickets — everything changes:

You get more done. You do the right work. And you teach your org how to work with PMM in a way that benefits everyone.

Start with your priorities. Set up a simple system. Say “no” with confidence. Say “yes” with intention.

And above all: protect your time so you can build the stuff that actually moves the needle.

📎 Resources

• Playbook #9: How to Create a Product Marketing Charter Playbook #9: How to Create a Product Marketing Charter
• OKR Tracker Template OKR Tracker Template
• PMM Content OS App PMM Content OS App

• Introduction
• Intro
• What is an internal sales request?
• A mindset shift: from support ticket → feature request
• Why Managing Requests Matters
• How to Get Started
• 1. Audit What Already Exists
• 2. Create (and Share) a Library
• 3. Roll Out a Request System
• Bonus: Package it up 🎸
• Step-by-Step Guide to Managing Requests
• Step 1: Always Know Your Priorities
• Step 2: Think of Asks as Feature Requests
• Step 3: Build a Lightweight Intake System
• Step 4: Master the Art of Saying “No”
• Step 5: Have a Reason for Saying “Yes”
• A Few Other Things to Think About When Managing Requests
• Conclusion
• 📎 Resources