Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) – Roles and Responsibilities

In recent years the role of the CRO has become exceedingly popular. While it initially was more common among Silicon Valley IT vendor companies, it has now become an almost necessary position in all industries and is slowly becoming commonplace.

Roles & Responsibilities of a CRO

The CRO is the chief revenue officer. And as the title suggests, they are responsible for growing a company’s revenue. Just like any other C-suite member, the CRO reports to the CEO on all matters regarding the company’s revenue. The CRO is present at small as well as large companies and is usually hired or appointed a few years after a company has been established. The primary purpose of having a CRO is to streamline sales, marketing, and customer relationship marketing at an organization. The CRO came into existence primarily to capitalize on the revenue opportunities that are being created by digital products such as SaaS.

The need for the CRO has presented itself due to the shift to increasingly digital and customer-focused marketing. The changing environment has greatly influenced the role and responsibilities of a CRO.

Role of a CRO or Chief Revenue Officer

• The CRO is in charge of operations, sales, corporate development, marketing, pricing, and revenue management.
• Their main aim is to sell each product to generate the most revenue possible to the most relevant audience.
• They must maximize the effectiveness of marketing and advertising investments.
• They must also maximize the effectiveness of distribution.
• Ultimately they must ensure customer satisfaction.

Responsibilities of a CRO or Chief Revenue Officer

• Developing and communicating growth strategies with CEO, COO, and board of directors.
• Setting up the process of generating revenue.
• Unifying processes to offer the customer the best experience possible, which keeps them coming back.
• Integrating sales and marketing, as well as any other process that maximizes the returns on marketing investment.
• Maintaining communication and relationships across organizational functions in order to work with different departments and manage the revenue generation through those departments.
• Clearly identifying micro-markets and creating specific products targeting those markets.
• Creating a pricing strategy to target those micro-markets so that the highest possible return is generated.
• Monitoring all the revenue streams and adjust as necessary.
• Forecasting revenue generation and the strategies required and planning accordingly.
• Managing all revenue channel development and introducing new sales channels and partners.

Skills of a CRO or Chief Revenue Officer

• Being results-oriented, especially in the long-term.
• Being acutely tuned in to the market.
• Having strong leadership skills and communication skills.
• Being data-driven.

Chief revenue officer or CRO salary in US and India

The average base CRO salary in the US is $189,028 according to a PayScale study from February 2021. While, in India, PayScale notes the average base CRO salary to be ₹2,750,000 in June 2020.

Summary

The introduction of the CRO in some companies could mean that another position becomes somewhat redundant or atleast needs a little reworking. The CCO or chief channel officer, who is responsible for the indirect revenue with a partner, is no longer needed in some instances since the CRO will integrate direct and indirect sales for the most part.

The way present-day markets work and the changing nature and definition of products and services available to customers has created the need and the gap for the CRO to fill. The rather new introduction to the C-suite might not have gained as much popularity yet, but the CRO is a position that is definitely here to stay because of the value they bring to a company.