Typically, a person taking on the chief revenue officer role has a minimum of at least five years of direct sales experience. This personal experience is important as it lays a foundation to lead a sales force with success. With growing revenue top of mind, the CRO considers how to tackle each one of their responsibilities. Unfortunately, there are often knowledge gaps as technology, culture and the marketplace quickly advances.

I have drilled deeper into the responsibilities of a Chief Revenue Officer to offer you resources to overcome barriers and leap forward to grow revenue:

WTIA's (Washington Technology Industry Association) theme in May is DisruptiveTECH. Consider revenue growth opportunities from disruptive technologies in the past, and those projected in the future. This article is a reminder that your company may soon be disrupted or become a disruptor and lead you to a decline in revenue - or amazing revenue growth.

As you look at the disruptive technology examples below, many will be familiar to you. I want to challenge you to pause for a moment and consider how your customers and employees are changing habits in the new world. Buying habits are changing and “sales” has new challenges where the world comes to the buyer and they don’t want to be interrupted. I am hoping a few of the examples will have you scratching your head with amazement and wonder.

Profits increase when you have engaged, passionate people on your team. Having the wrong people in those seats can be a barrier to growing sales and increasing the overall profit of your organization.

With the level of the talent available today in the marketplace, you can always replace someone if you don’t find the right fit the first time. After a quick hire, a simple plan of “wait and see for 90 days” seems logical with so many available. If the new person on the team does not perform in the first 90 days, terminate and hire the next. However, it's much better if you hire the right candidate from the start.

Much of the conversation focuses on how people can find a job.  “How to get hired” is a question answered again and again. Employers still need to do their part, to hire the right people.  Hiring doesn't have to be gamble. The right recruiting and selection process is one of the most important strategic plans your company needs to improve revenue and profits results exponentially.

Les McKeown, President and CEO, Predictable Success puts the responsibility of success on the employer in this Inc. Magazine article:

Two pre-eminent Pacific Northwest companies occasionally share pieces of their long view public. Both Amazon and Filson are achieving their goals and securing their futures by purchasing real estate. Recent news about Amazon included plans to open hundreds of bookstores.

Watch the short video that talks about the very first bookstore and a little speculation as to why and questions about Amazon's long term plans:

Managing leads to convert them into more sales requires good timing and persistence. This infographic presents four best practices to follow to close more sales.

One of my favorite indicators of business success is:  Growing Sustainable Revenue.  The sustainable growth rate in a business is the maximum growth rate a business can achieve without having to increase its financial leverage or debt financing. Stated another way, it is the maximum growth rate that can be achieved given the company's profitability, asset utilization, dividend payout, and debt ratios.

Here are three keys to sustainable revenue growth:

Connect with your prospects & clients

Understand what they want to achieve

Deliver to beyond their expectations

While it sounds simple, a commitment of time and effort is required.  Often there is resistance to changing the mindset, as a team develops new habits.  As an executive improves skills to manage change, it is much more difficult with four generations now in the workplace. There is no "one size fits all" solution. 

The chief revenue officer is a pivotal role directly influencing the future of a company, and covers new business sales, installed client base sales, marketing, and partner strategy. Adding a new CRO to an organization sends the message: “our company wants a growth hacker” with a passion for growing business.

As a company evolves, it may become apparent that a chief revenue officer is needed, and that person will lead the charge as they take on the responsibility for all aspects of driving revenue to the company. As with most CXO positions, each company will require a CRO to play different roles. There is no “one-size fits all” job description.