Chapter 1

Chief Revenue Officer

I

f your primary work responsibility is producing the revenues necessary to keep your board of directors and investors happy (including your sometimes less-than-friendly banker), you are the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). Your title may be CEO, President, COO, VP of Sales, Business Development Director, etc., but when the company’s revenue success (or failure) lies squarely on your shoulders, consider yourself the Chief Revenue Officer. This book has been written specifically for your success, survival, and sanity.


So, why have a sales force?

The only reason to have a sales force

is to alter the prospects’ decision process

so they value your competitive differentiation

more than a lower price.


The primary indicator of an ineffective sales force is when you know and your sales team confirms that your product or service brings real value to the marketplace but they still need lower prices to close business. If your sales force is not able to alter the prospect’s decision process, then it is time to get a team in place that can. Our observation is the sales team either needs training on how to articulate and defend your Differentiating Values or you need a more robust sales force selection process.

With decades of business experience, we’ve had the opportunity to witness revenue disasters of quantum proportions. Every com­pany we’ve worked with has expressed some version of the same basic narrative:

 

"Our business situation is unique"
"We've got the best (or worst) sales team in the market"
"Our market is very competitive"
"We're getting beat up on price"
"New prospects always take a serious look at us before they pass"
"Our quality, service, and support are truly world class"
"Our sales staff always has a full sales pipeline"
"We have a very long sales cycle"


 One of the most routine phone calls is a version of this mes­sage: “We are really hurting for short-term revenue! Can you help us out?”

The answer is always, “Of course we can.” There are several effective, short-term measures that can be done to kick-start the revenue flow, but the REAL fix is to help Chief Revenue Officers understand and act on the fact that revenue is a system manage­ment issue just like any other well-run production discipline.