For a new Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), the first 90 days set a defining course. CROs step into the role with a meticulously crafted 30-60-90-day plan, yet face unique challenges in translating their vision into tangible results. The demands of the role and the pace of today’s sales environment leave little room for error, making a strategic and balanced approach essential.
Day 1-30: Immersing in the Landscape
The initial phase often revolves around deep listening and immersion. CROs engage in a comprehensive “roadshow,” visiting sales regions and speaking directly with teams to gauge the organization’s revenue pulse. This period is less about immediate change and more about gathering authentic insights—understanding the “voice of the customer,” identifying strengths and weaknesses, and absorbing ground-level feedback. During these 30 days, CROs encounter a mix of narratives, each revealing parts of the organizational reality, but it’s essential to distinguish recurring themes from one-off issues to set a foundation for accurate decision-making.
Day 31-60: Distilling Insights into Strategy
As the second month begins, the task shifts from observation to synthesis. By consolidating insights and “clean” data from sales operations, CROs create preliminary hypotheses, which they refine through collaborative discussions with key team members. These hypotheses serve as strategic anchors, guiding the organization’s focus and addressing immediate areas of concern. Validation through data is critical here, helping CROs move past surface-level assumptions and revealing underlying patterns and emerging needs.
Day 61-90: Implementing Targeted Interventions
In the final month, the CRO’s focus intensifies on implementation. Based on earlier findings, they roll out “grounded-in-truth” interventions to drive change, often targeting high-impact areas that will yield visible results. This phase can feel like “fire-fighting”—prioritizing high-stakes deals, rallying standout performers, and pushing to hit quarterly goals. Yet, the goal extends beyond short-term wins; it’s about establishing a resilient framework that will support sustainable growth and performance improvements.
The Post-90-Day Reality Check
The months following the initial 90 days are equally crucial. It can take multiple quarters to fully gauge the effectiveness of the strategies deployed, as well as to address any newly surfaced challenges. Misalignment within teams, unintended behaviors like “sand-bagging” and “gaming-the-system,” and systemic inefficiencies often reveal themselves over time. By this point, however, valuable time and resources may have already been spent. The impact of an underperforming sales organization can be especially harmful in firms at early or late growth stages, where tolerance for error is minimal.
The High Stakes of Early CRO Decisions
The CRO’s first 90 days represent a critical window for setting a productive course. Success hinges on the ability to synthesize narrative insights with unfiltered data to identify actionable patterns and drive forceful improvements. Without a precise and nuanced approach, a CRO risks steering the organization headlong into performance issues that could have been navigated from the outset.
