Author Archive - Rick McPartlin
“Why can’t we hire a VP Sales who can deliver?”
Posted by Rick McPartlin on July 7th, 2009
Last month, Jane wrote “I’m lying awake worrying about sales,” which addressed three late-night revenue-related stresses many CEOs face, including “Is my sales manager doing a good job?” and “Is my star salesperson going to quit?” This month, I’m tackling a related issue — turnover in the VP Sales role.
A lot of CEOs share with me their frustration over this painful situation. “We need a sales leader who can build our team, lead us into the market and close business,” they say. “I’ve spent a million dollars hiring, firing, and starting over. How can I stop the churn and hire someone who will deliver?”
Here’s the problem: A great sales VP won’t accept a job where there is no revenue generation strategy, infrastructure or organizational alignment. Top people know that this chaos impedes their success, and they can spot issues a mile away.
Even if they do join a chaotic company, great sales leaders eventually find themselves in lose-lose situations at exactly the time you need their expertise most. They take the blame for organizational problems and leave you to start the vicious cycle again.
“I have people who handle marketing and sales. What’s a Chief Revenue Officer and do I really need one?”
Posted by Rick McPartlin on May 5th, 2009
You have a sales team and a marketing director, but they’re in constant combat. Your revenue growth is flat. Margins are shrinking. And whether you realize it or not, you’re drastically overpaying for results. It’s a common problem, but the companies who solve it can remove 10-15 points of cost while driving their top line to generate predictable results.
How can you solve this issue? By becoming a Chief Revenue Officer, or CRO. No, you don’t necessarily need to hire a CRO – you just need to add “CRO Thinking” to your own job description and “act like a CRO.”
