The purpose of the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) is to drive organic revenue growth by leveraging each revenue-generating function and department within your organization.

This is a position that was born in the Silicon Valley SaaS sector, but it's no longer isolated to the tech space. More companies are finding value in adding the CRO position to their C-suite, from startups to Fortune 500 companies.

Whether you're a company like Continental Airlines, which has had a CRO for nearly two decades, or a business that is just realizing the value of this position, it's a specialized role. Here is what a CRO can bring to the table and what you need to know to find your company's next CRO.

When the economy is strong and business is booming, it is easy to focus on present success and delay planning for future challenges. Newer business owners and entrepreneurs often prefer to delight in their own accomplishments rather than engage in long-term strategic planning. However, no boom lasts forever, which means that this naïve approach can be quite costly.

Contrary to popular belief, it does not take a severe recession to hinder business operations. Even small changes in the overall economy or an individual vertical can negatively affect revenue growth. Economists and experienced business owners understand that waiting to plan until an economic downturn has occurred can be a catastrophic mistake.

Another Leadership Forum is happening in March for members of Center for Advanced Manufacturing Puget Sound (CAMPS).  The forum will be at the offices of Clark Number in Bellevue, WA on March 27. I will have the honor of presenting on the topic of “Becoming a Thought Leader”.

Strategy ideas are in abundant supply. Any and all may appear attractive and anyone with an active imagination can easily see the possibilities, but “possible” should not be confused with “probable”. Entrepreneurs (and intrapreneurs) with “irrational optimism” are eager to take action on the possibilities and leap without a parachute --- to fly or land with a splat.

Your best client might be those that purchase your most expensive products or services. Or not.

Either way, you need to know who your ideal client is. Who are they, where are they, what motivates them to buy, when do they buy, why do they buy, how do they buy? (For help begin with the Resultist Ideal Client Persona Worksheet.)

After identifying your best current client and creating your ideal client persona, the next step is to evaluate your prospects as compared to your ideal client. This will ensure that your sales team is investing in the “right” opportunities. Our team uses the  Sales Qualification Matrix.

To grow profitable revenue, I recommend that you do more of what’s working and less of what’s not. A key to achieving this state is knowing the characteristics of your ideal client. Actually, not just the characteristics, but also their demographics, psychographics, and purchasing patterns. In other words – their persona.

Gift giving can be a challenge. While some say, "it's the thought that counts" with a gift, you want to avoid being the subject of a statement along the lines of, "What were they thinking?"

With the holidays approaching, you may be faced with the annual conundrum of figuring out who you should send gifts to and what the appropriate parameters are for gift giving. You aren't the only manager struggling with this issue.

Before you start shopping for those client and associate gifts, here are a few of the pros and cons of professional gift giving as well as some tips that can help you make the right choices this year. We've thrown in a few professional gift ideas to get you started.

On November 15, 2018 CAMPS (Center for Advanced Manufacturing Puget Sound) celebrated the successes and achievements in manufacturing in the Puget Sound region.  Regence, Capital Benefit Services and Shannon & Associates sponsored the fabulous event. The emcee for the evening was Randy Gardiner, President of CAMPS Board of Directors.