The Role of a Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)

1 Needed, Process OwnershipSince it is increasingly understood that is diffi-cult to differentiate on the basis of what wesell and therefore a company must differentiateon the basis of how we sell, a company-specif-ic and cross-functional Revenue generationprocess must be designed, installed and managedto advance a chosen Go To Market Strategy. Every business wants to gain and sustain a com-petitive advantage in the marketplace. There isno single source of sustainable competitiveadvantage except terrific day-in and day-outexecution across every dimension of the organi-zation that in anyway participates in the differ-entiating Revenue generation Everything else can be quickly copied orbested by someone else, somewhere else, in ourincreasingly global, converged, redefined, web-enabled, high-bandwidth world.

2 So how can youset yourself apart from everyone else? Through aclear, well executed Go To Market , the goal of every company is to clar-ify its Go To Market strategy and assure itsimplementation by designing and creating across-functional Revenue Generation Processthat leverages the unique strengths of the organ-ization to increase Speed to Revenueby col-lapsing the time from Suspect to should be identified asthe official owner/guardian ofthe entire Revenue being said, someone should be identifiedas the official owner/guardian of the entireRevenue Generation Process. This individualwould be its caretaker, providing leadership andmanagement to assure the success of its installa-tion and execution. Revenue Storm recommends you consider cre-ating a new position within your organizationfor a Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) who hasultimate accountability for profitable Rationale forPositionWhen a company desires aggressive and acceler-ated Revenue growth, it must be prepared to meas-ure and manage one Revenue stream at a Revenue Stream is a flow of Revenue of a spe-cific product offering(s) from a specific marketsegment(s) through a specific channel(s), eitherdirect or indirect.

3 Since not all Revenue streamsare created equal, it must be annually determinedwhich streams can only be modestly increasedand which streams can be geometrically explod-ed and then focus limited corporate resourcesand efforts in the appropriate direction. Realizingthat over-investing in the wrong Revenue streamwill hurt the company s bottom line and under-investing in the right Revenue stream will hurt thecompany s top line, one person (CRO) is neededto oversee the prediction, execution, and produc-tion of the individual Revenue streams. Oncethese decisions are made, the CRO can coalesceorganizational support towards the common goalof Revenue production. The CRO will identify and monitor the high gain acceleration compression points within theRevenue Generation Process and correct the inter-nal miss-alignments in the BusinessDevelopment Engine that creates organizationdragon Revenue performance.

4 Due to its counter-intuitive nature, and in the absence of a CROposition, many companies do exactly the wrongthings when they attempt to accelerate the growthof profitable Revenue . For example, if a companycontinually finds itself whipping its horse acrossthe quarterly Revenue finish line, the real prob-lem may not be a slow or unmotivated horse, butpoor Revenue management practices. Surviving off the heroic efforts of a whippedhorse puts the company in a highly vulnerablemarket position. The better, safer and long-termanswer is to securely anchor each Revenue streamwith a solid, well-conceived Go To MarketStrategy fully supported by a fully alignedBusiness Development Engine that is proactivelymonitored and managed by a CRO.

5 The estab-lishment of this position is a good first step inthat direction. The position overview Revenue Storm White PaperAuthored by: LaVon KoernerPresident andChief Revenue OfficerThe Role of a Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)Vol. 1. No. 1 General FunctionOnce the Company s Business Strategy is estab-lished, the Senior Management group, under theleadership of the CRO, is responsible for selectinga Go To Market Strategy (GTMS) to connect thebusiness strategy to the company s targeted cus-tomers, and installing a Revenue process and man-aging its implementation on all existing revenuestreams and/or potential new Revenue streams. The CRO must foster good com-munication and teamworkamong the various CRO drives the achievement of Revenue and pro-vides a worldclass business development growthengine capable of out performing those of the competi-tion.

6 The CRO must foster good communication andteamwork among the various organizational functionsand share best practices among the Revenue streammanagers, so successes and lessons learned regard-ing Revenue production are leveraged. Essential Duties andResponsibilitiesAcceleration Plan: The CRO will create andimplement a plan to create demand and achieverevenue results by operationalizing the GTMson targeted Revenue producing Generation Process:The CRO willcreate, install, and manage a complete revenueprocess from Suspect to Salefor each Development:The CRO may or maynot own sales/business development headcount(virtual sales team) but such headcount would begoaled to support the Revenue Acceleration Management.

7 In order to assure thatprofitable Revenue targets will be achieved, theCRO will monitor Revenue pipelines of eachrevenue stream to determine in advance thelevel of risk to obtaining desired goals and whatadjustments should ultimately be implementedto accelerate :The CRO will create and imple-ment marketing initiatives that support theRevenue Acceleration Alignment:The CRO will workwith the other executives to continually improvealignment of each functional group to supportthe GTMs including sales process, sales processtools, business development organizational struc-ture, legal, finance, compensation, hiring andselection criteria, and rewards and Revenue StormToday s analysts and shareholders have made itclear to businesses of all sizes ever increasingprofits is the goal.

8 That leaves companies with twomajor choices: reduce expenses or grow profitablerevenues. Executives have made a career of reduc-ing expenses. While expenses can still beimproved today, due to a decade of cost-cuttingefforts, the greatest potential impact is GROWINGPROFITABLE REVENUES. Companies tend totake two approaches to the Revenue Equation: 1)Dole out larger Revenue goals and assume thecompensation plans will drive the desired results,or 2) Push out more products and services to themarket hoping more Revenue options will yieldmore Revenue dollars. Neither is a good strategy. An aligned organization, executing against a well-defined and communicated Go-to-Market Strategyis essential to reap replicable Revenue growth yearafter year.

9 It demands more careful thought, focus,and planning than ever before. Revenue Stormwas created to bring together an integrated set ofconsulting and training methodologies to bringclarity and focus to organizations navigating intoday s tumultuous business emphasize Clarity, Speed and Revenue . Wework with each level of the organization, usingbusiness drivers that are important to those teamsto gain consensus and focus. We help companiesidentify their strengths, leverage what is workingthrough the installation of process and tools, andhelp uncover vulnerabilities where improvementsare needed. We look for both small, but fastimpacting changes to build team excitement andmotivation as well as going to work on the bigger,more global issues that when resolved will yield awell-aligned, fast churning Revenue Engine.

10 Let s start a Revenue Storm within your organi-zation that will thunder in the marketplace andrattle your competitors. For more information visit our website 2003 - 2008 Revenue Storm Corporation. All rights reserved. Duplication in whole or in part HeadquartersChicagotel 224 659 7710 European HeadquartersUnited Kingdomtel +44 (0)1752 547784