This article comes from David Kinard’s insightful talk at our Seattle 2024 Sales Enablement Summit. Check out his full presentation and our wealth of OnDemand resources.

"Vision without execution is just hallucination." – Thomas Edison (or maybe just a really stressed-out CRO)

The average CRO lasts just 18 months. That’s not long. In the time it takes to get your office chair to the perfect height, your badge could be deactivated. So, when we talk about building a stronger partnership with the Chief Revenue Officer, we’re not just talking about getting along — we’re talking about survival, alignment, and serious revenue wins.

I’ve served as a CRO, partnered with CROs, reported to CROs, and led cross-functional teams. What I’ve seen — and what I’ve learned — is that your relationship with the CRO is one of the most important (and often most misunderstood) dynamics in any organization.

CROs aren’t just glorified sales leaders. Or at least, they shouldn’t be. A good CRO thinks about the entire revenue ecosystem: how sales, marketing, customer success, operations, IT, and finance all connect to drive recurring revenue. 

So, in this article, I’ll share five tips I’ve learned the hard way that can help you work better with your CRO – and maybe even become one yourself someday.

Let’s dive in.

1. Understand the difference between activity and action

Salespeople love to talk about activity. "I made 15 calls today." "I sent out 25 emails." "I did five RFPs." And listen, that’s important. I want our people out there knocking on doors, peeking behind curtains, and generating engagement.

But as CRO, I’m not measured on activity. I’m measured on outcomes. I’m responsible for the big numbers – annual recurring revenue (ARR), renewals, expansion, share of wallet.

I always say, the salesperson sells the tea bag. I’m trying to sell the whole tea experience – the hot water, the cup and saucer, the cookie, the comfy chair, the book, the whole vibe. I’ll give you the tea bag for free if I can sell you everything else that goes with it.

What I need from sales enablement is support that helps drive outcomes. If you’re measuring success by how many playbooks you created or how many people completed training, that’s great – but show me how it moved the needle. Did it improve win rates? Shorten the sales cycle? Increase deal size?

Tie what you do to revenue. That’s the language your CRO speaks.

Why enablement needs to speak CRO, with Gail Behun [Video]
Gail Behun joins us on the podcast to discuss how to maximise the relationship between enablement and the Chief Revenue Officer!
Sales Enablement CollectiveDaniel O’Dowd