How can a Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) help my business?

A Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) in a B2B company is responsible for the end-to-end revenue engine of the business. This title has been popping up more and more since lead generation and go-to-market (GTM) disciplines have significantly advanced, and the lines of responsibility continue to blur between marketing and sales. That blurring is the important part - unlike a traditional VP of Sales, the CRO role is cross-functional: it integrates sales, marketing, customer success, and sometimes partnerships or product-led growth into one unified go-to-market (GTM) function.

Here’s a breakdown of the functional duties:

1. Revenue Strategy & Alignment

• Define the company’s revenue strategy in line with business goals (annual and multi-year growth targets).

• Translate corporate strategy into a unified go-to-market plan across sales, marketing, customer success, and channel/partner programs.

• Ensure alignment between demand generation, pipeline development, sales execution, and post-sale expansion/renewal.

2. Sales Leadership

• Own and manage the direct sales organization (new logo acquisition, account management, inside sales, enterprise/field sales, SDRs/BDRs).

• Build the sales structure, territories, quotas, and compensation plans.

• Recruit, train, and develop sales leadership and frontline teams.

• Monitor sales productivity, conversion rates, and forecast accuracy.

3. Marketing & Demand Generation Oversight

• Oversee demand generation, inbound marketing, and ABM (account-based marketing).

• Align marketing campaigns with sales motions to ensure pipeline health.

• Ensure brand positioning and messaging reflect value to target ICPs.

• Measure ROI on marketing spend and optimize channel mix.

4. Customer Success & Retention

• Own net revenue retention (NRR) and customer lifetime value (CLV).

• Oversee customer onboarding, adoption, renewals, and upsell/cross-sell motions.

• Build playbooks for churn reduction and expansion revenue.

• Partner with product to capture customer feedback loops and influence roadmap priorities.

5. Revenue Operations & Analytics

• Establish and manage RevOps as a centralized function across sales, marketing, and customer success.

• Oversee CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot), forecasting, pipeline visibility, and reporting.

• Standardize metrics and dashboards for revenue performance.

• Use data to identify bottlenecks, improve conversion, and forecast growth.

6. Partnerships & Ecosystem Development

• Build channel sales and strategic partnerships (resellers, integrators, technology alliances).

• Structure co-selling and referral programs.

• Expand distribution through ecosystem relationships.

7. Executive & Board-Level Responsibilities

• Report revenue performance, forecasts, and risks to CEO and Board.

• Serve as the voice of the customer in executive discussions.

• Collaborate with CFO on pricing, margins, and unit economics.

• Work with COO on GTM processes and scaling.

• Influence product strategy to align with market opportunities.

8. Organizational Design & Culture

• Break down silos between sales, marketing, and customer success.

• Build a performance-driven, accountable revenue culture.

• Align incentives and KPIs across functions (e.g., pipeline coverage, CAC payback, NRR).

• Ensure professional development and succession planning for revenue leaders.

In summary, the CRO owns predictable, scalable revenue growth for your company. They unify all GTM functions under a single strategy, ensure customer acquisition and retention are balanced, and make sure every dollar spent on growth is optimized for return.

You may be thinking to yourself, "Ok, so how is a CRO different from a Chief Growth Officer (CGO)? Aren't those the same thing?" Not exactly. While they are closely related roles, they aren't interchangeable.

The major different is in scope and time horizon. A good CRO should be thinking in quarters and annual plans, whereas a CGO will look out mid- to long-term (think, 12-36 months). A CRO should focus to optimize and scale the current revenue engine. A CGO will discover and build the next revenue engine. A CRO is typically most valuable in mid-market and enterprise B2B companies that need tight coordination of GTM execution. A CGO is usually found in larger or rapidly scaling companies where leadership wants someone to focus on future growth bets.

If you're a growing B2B business, you likely have many, if not all of the challenges that a CRO is responsible for. If your mindset is focused on "how do we optimize what we already do to consistently hit and grow revenue targets?," then this role can add tremendous value to your company.

Not sure where to get started with leveling up your GTM? Reach out below and we can discuss a gameplan specific to your growth.