In successful companies all over the United States, Chief Revenue Officers are playing increasingly pivotal roles, directly influencing culture and growth.

They are becoming more and more sought-after as CEOs with product and engineering backgrounds realize the importance of being able to offload revenue management so they can stay focused on what they do uniquely well.

What does a CRO do?

Simply put, a CRO is accountable a company’s revenue streams and they are responsible for driving growth by overseeing and aligning revenue generating departments such as marketing, sales and customer service. As their role comprises everything from pricing strategies to customer retention, successful CROs typically have a deep background in sales and marketing, finance and management.

Their job can include the following tasks:

• Creating marketing strategies, defining ideal clients and marketing segments
• Creating financial goals and preparing plans to meet those goals
• Working with product teams to define products and offerings
• Optimizing value props and positioning
• Establishing go-to-market models, pricing strategies and developing growth strategies
• Analyzing data to determine ways to improve profits
• Forecasting short-term and long-term results and strategies
• Reporting data, plans and findings to executives
• Using customer feedback to increase customer satisfaction

Since a successful Chief Revenue Officer must cover a lot of bases, they need to be a jack of all trades when it comes to operating a successful company. That said, many industry-leading sales coaches with expertise in this area have found they all seem to possess these six key attributes:

1) Sales and marketing acumen

As Chief Revenue Officers work extensively with both sales and marketing, successful ones are adept at getting these two critical teams to work more closely together. To do this – and truly tap into both teams’ potential – they typically have a lot of experience working in those departments themselves. To get the best out of both teams, the CRO must be able to create goals and strategies that help them to row in the same direction. A truly effective CRO combines solid leadership with skillful diplomacy to create an alliance between sales and marketing.

2. Great team-building skills

Experienced and skilled Chief Revenue Officers know the importance of good teamwork. That is why they are good team builders with a knack for recruiting A-team players who can help them achieve their revenue-generating goals.

3. Leadership prowess

With many employees reporting to the Chief Revenue Officer, the great ones prioritize motivating people and helping them to reach their full potential through an effective planning process. As they make a lot of the big decisions around sales and marketing, the CRO must be also be skilled at assigning duties in addition to overseeing the group and individual performance of everyone under their charge.

4. Goal setting knowhow

Exceptional CROs are not only motivated to work toward their company’s goals, they help create those goals. This includes setting long-term goals that will help the company achieve sustainable revenue growth through solid planning and communication. If you’re in the market for a CRO, finding a goal-oriented animal who lives for reaching goals is definitely the way to go.

5. Critical thinking ability

Being able to think strategically and analytically are vitally important traits for a CRO to have. As one of their many jobs, they will spend a lot of time pouring over piles of data to develop new plans and improve processes. They have to be able to identify gaps between revenue potential and revenue performance, analyze these gaps and set new goals accordingly.

6. Tech competence

Finally, there is just no way in today’s modern marketplace that anyone in this role can be successful if they are not a tech guru. First, they need to know how their products integrate into the client’s technology stack to be able to sell it properly. In fact, staying on top of all the developing technology that could make or break their company is one of the most important facets of their job. Be wary of anyone who tries to tell you they’re a ‘big picture’ thinker who lets the tech people deal with the ‘tech stuff.’

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Natasa Tomic is a journalist and content producer who specializes in writing about business and sales.