Recording: So You Want to Be a CRO?

MetaCX and Modern Sales Pros hosted a fantastic lineup of high-octane revenue leaders for a fly-on-the-wall discussion about the future of the revenue c-suite. In the webinar, the panelists offered insights into this sought-after role – diving into how it’s evolving, how SaaS plays a part, and the future of the relationship between the CRO and the Chief Marketing Officer.

Check out the full webinar recording and four key takeaways below.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

CROs have to be in lockstep with all other c-suite roles.

The CRO is the steel thread that connects all functional areas of a business and ensures everyone is working towards common goals and objectives. This is particularly crucial for marketing and customer success leadership. All departments impact revenue so it’s important that the CRO is on the same page with the other c-suite roles.

CROs should own the entire revenue cycle, not just sales.

In today’s B2B landscape, the expected career trajectory in sales is to first become director, then VP, then CRO. Of course, a sales background is a need-to-have before stepping into the revenue c-suite. However, without equal attention to CS, services, and other delivery functions, the role of CRO is nothing more than an inflated title. It’s critical that the CRO gives equal attention to customer retention and growth. New business is not the only component to revenue health.

CROs don’t need to own marketing.

Oftentimes, it’s to a business’s advantage to have another individual (like a CMO) own marketing. Not surprisingly, there is a tendency for CROs who do own marketing to focus on demand gen efforts, often at the exclusion of everything else. When that happens, the long term vision for the brand can get lost. Marketing is a multifaceted discipline and it's important for there to be someone in leadership who has multiple goals in mind.

CROs should be strategic, operational, and data-driven.

It should be every CRO’s goal to ensure that every step of the customer journey has a positive impact on revenue. There is a growing importance in revenue operations and the need to think about growth from the perspective of hiring, activation of channels, geographies and other revenue engines. That’s a lot to juggle and requires an individual who is strategic, operational, and data-driven.