One of the most positive influences the SaaS industry has had on the business world is the promotion of an integrated approach to finding, winning and retaining customers.
This might have been born out of SaaS companies wanting to put all sales-type things in one place, leaving the engineers free to develop products.
Or….. That buyer behaviour and technology is enabling companies to sell both digitally (traditionally sits in marketing) and physically (sits in sales)
And more likely…that a relentless focus on growing MRR & exit valuation leaves less room for the ego that loves silos
Yet, the evolution of this unified approach created a new breed of revenue leader. The Chief Revenue Officer (CRO).
Over the last 10 years, recruitment of CRO’s become a regular hire for scale-ups in tech firms as they grow through different rounds of funding, but the CRO role is increasingly being seen in larger organisations.
But as demand grows, where does the talent come from to fulfil market demand? Can leaders in organisations with a more traditional approach to their revenue engine qualify to be CROs?
In this interview, we talk to Michelle Milbourn, who has spent over 20 years recruiting executive talent into tech firms and placed CROs, VP sales, CMO and more into some of the world’s fastest-growing SaaS organisations
Key Areas of Discussions with Michelle Milbourn, Founder & Director at Kommol:
- Why do companies decide to recruit a CRO?
- What are the key attributes of a successful CRO?
- What experiences & skills do first-time CROs have?
- How can someone in a VP of sales role gain the experience to qualify to apply for a CRO role?
About Michelle:
Michelle has spent over 20 years helping technology companies recruit tech talent. For the last 9 years, she has helped some of the world’s fastest-growing SaaS companies build leadership teams and boards.
In this time she has seen the recruiting needs of the revenue function evolve and is perfectly placed to explain the role of the CRO and how it is different to more traditional roles within the marketing, sales and customer success arena.
