You’ve earned the title: chief revenue officer (CRO). But more often than not, it comes with the same old playbook. A playbook that is focused squarely on sales, while marketing remains a separate motion, running on different systems, using unconnected data sources, and measured on different metrics.
CROs today face immense pressure to deliver growth amid market unpredictability, shifting buyer behavior, and tighter budgets. It’s no longer enough to optimize sales execution alone. Revenue growth now requires precise coordination across the entire go-to-market engine. That means, for CROs, marketing matters more than ever.
In many organizations, sales and marketing still operate in silos. It’s a disconnect that CROs are uniquely positioned to bridge. Doing this well means transforming the role from sales leader to full-funnel orchestrator.
Sales and marketing: Better together
It used to be that sales carried the pipeline burden, with marketing playing a support role. That model no longer holds up. In today’s environment, revenue teams act in unison from the top of the funnel all the way through bookings, revenue recognition, and renewal.
But for new CROs stepping into the role, aligning these motions is often easier said than done. They most commonly struggle to gain a clear perspective into the marketing department’s quantifiable contributions, ROI, and real impact on revenue. Leads get passed with no follow-up or ability to view their status. Campaigns launch with no sales input. Forecasts lack top-of-funnel context and attribution. This all leads to slow or misinformed decision-making and weakens results.
To move from CRO in name to CRO in practice, you need more than anecdotal feedback or quarterly campaign reviews. You need ongoing, real-time visibility into the marketing performance metrics that matter — conversion rates, channel ROI, and pipeline contribution — all tied to shared revenue goals. This is where marketing performance management (MPM) becomes exceptionally valuable.
Why marketing performance management matters to CROs
Marketing now owns a significant share of the buyer’s journey. Campaigns influence pipeline value, deal velocity, and ultimately, revenue outcomes. For CROs, understanding this performance is essential for leading a predictable revenue engine.
Many new CROs inherit systems where marketing performance is still often unseen. Attribution is unclear. Conversion data is fragmented. Spend decisions aren’t tied to revenue impact, making it difficult to understand what’s working and what isn’t.
MPM solves this by linking marketing KPIs directly to revenue targets. With a connected view, CROs can:
- Understand which programs actually convert and influence pipeline
- Solve the attribution gap
- Prioritize budget toward higher-yield channels
- Act quickly on new insights with real-time visibility
This clarity gives CROs the confidence to course-correct, align teams more effectively, and strengthen forecasting accuracy — all while building a more predictable path to growth.
A shared source of truth for revenue planning
Bringing sales and marketing into alignment requires shared data, shared definitions, and shared accountability. That’s where revenue performance management (RPM) comes in.
RPM connects sales and marketing planning in a single environment, unifying market analysis, account segmentation, territory quota design, incentive strategies and execution, and campaign planning with real-time sales and marketing performance management data.
With this connected approach to planning:
- Sales and marketing plan collaboratively and jointly set targets and responsibilities
- Revenue leaders can see where pipeline gaps are forming, and what’s causing them
- Campaigns are launched with sales buy-in and built around shared goals
Instead of working in silos, teams benefit from new insights from shared data and increased cross-functional collaboration. For a new CRO, this is the foundation for leading meaningful change across the revenue organization.
The role of the CRO is expanding
CROs impact all go-to-market (GTM) organizations, not just sales. They’re strategic leaders of the entire revenue operation. To be successful, they need to collaborate closely with leaders across functions to guide data-driven investment decisions, and deliver predictable, scalable growth.
This shift can feel overwhelming, especially when most CROs come from sales or sales operations. But it’s also a huge opportunity to be a transformational leader in your organization. With visibility into marketing performance, sales productivity, and financial impact, CROs can:
- Align teams around shared revenue goals
- Act fast on what’s working, and what’s not
- Hold all teams accountable to shared revenue outcomes
This is the difference between being a CRO in name only and becoming a true revenue leader. Connected sales planning tools like RPM and MPM make that transformation possible. They give CROs the insight, agility, and authority to lead cross-functionally from top to bottom of the funnel.
