CRO: Chief Revenue Optimist

What does gender have to do with it? 

Everything and nothing. Prior to working in the mortgage industry, I was a Professor of Marketing. I received my Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, where I did my dissertation research on the impact that female executives have on firm strategy. 

In our research, my co-authors and I found that female executives are more likely to focus on relationship building and maintenance than their male counterparts (also referred to as having an ‘interdependent self-construal’ in academic jargon). Specifically, we found that female executives are more prone to consistently allocating resources (time, money, and attention) to customers across a variety of business functions, therefore increasing the customer orientation and long-term financial performance of their organizations. Importantly, the influence of any one female executive is amplified when other women are in the room — especially other women with high ranking roles. Because an interdependent self-construal stems from the differences between how women and men are raised in society (and every individual falls at a different point on a spectrum), these results are not about sex per se, but gender is a strong proxy. 

If we extrapolate these findings to consider the impact a female CRO may have on her company: she is more likely than a male counterpart to bring ingrained customer-oriented skills to bear in her role, and she is also more likely to bring visibility to perspectives provided by other women across business functions. 

Why do companies need a CRO? 

The CRO covers a wide variety of activities that are often subdivided among other executives, such as the Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Sales Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, etc. Given that framing, one might ask: why would a company want to house so much under one executive? 

For some companies (such as those in dynamic markets or industries undergoing intense innovation), having one person tasked with aligning all revenue generating activities and ensuring they build upon (and don’t detract from) one another is critical. Any CRO will benefit from having a strong Vice President or other executive to lead each individual business function. Still, the CRO is uniquely responsible for connecting and integrating strategies across functions and ensuring they act as force multipliers that lead to a strong (and efficient) revenue stream. 

At Calque we know the value of connecting and integrating. As a pioneer in a new product market (i.e., ‘buy before you sell’ programs) that is fluid and rapidly evolving, things are in much greater flux than more established corners of the mortgage industry — and that chaos requires a role capable of wrangling products and people into a singular purpose. In conversation with Michael Bremmer, Calque’s CEO who joined in Q1 2024, we decided to think broadly in order to maximize the impact of our efforts. It was important for our company to have a CRO in this time of change and growth–someone with line-of-sight to all revenue-generating possibilities — to help us integrate findings from each stage and choose the best path forward. 

An In-Depth Look At CRO Priorities 

Operating as a CRO can require a larger scale of reference than other leadership positions. In my previous role managing sales and marketing, I helped Calque achieve exponential growth in client acquisition over the last few quarters. That linear success is good, but it only scratches the surface of the opportunities available to us to grow revenue. 

In contrast to the hunting ethos required for managing sales, the CRO role requires more of a juggling act, except you’re throwing strategies around while spinning on a shifting market; I’m sure this metaphor hits home with other mothers who do this every day at home. For example, as interest rates come down and the market heats up, Calque could increase revenue by doubling down on sales, introducing new products, pursuing new customer segments, driving current product adoption, or clinching strategic partnerships, to name a few. The real work revolves around prioritizing what to do and how to do it. 

Below I’ve outlined a few core ‘juggling acts’ inherent to the CRO role and what each looks like for me specifically. 

Picking the ‘Right’ Revenue Generation Strategies

The mortgage industry is subject to many shifting factors, including regulatory changes, economic fluctuations, and technological advancements. In a constantly changing market, there is no shortage of options for how to drive more revenue. The trick is in deciding which strategies to pick and which to let go. This is not always an easy choice; it can be hard to turn your back on a strategy you know will be successful but isn’t ‘right’ given your firm’s specific situation such as budget, internal team capabilities, position in the market, market fluctuations, timing, etc. The art in the CRO role is listening to customer, employee, and stakeholder feedback along every stage of the funnel (while keeping your firm’s situation and market changes in mind) to piece together the ‘right’ strategic priorities. The CRO must ensure the organization remains agile and responsive. 

Given Calque’s position as a strong player in a very new product category, the ‘right’ strategies for us right now mitigate important risks while also ensuring pathways remain open for future growth. Risks count as important if they are big (e.g., ensuring we are always compliant in a changing regulatory environment) or pressing (e.g., newly onboarded clients want process innovations to make products easier for their loan officers to use). Strategies must either be feasible now (e.g., implementing AI to aid sales and marketing) or critical to building future pathways for growth (e.g., new products and market opportunities). 

Aligning Sales and Marketing

This is a biggie. It sounds easy because in theory we’re all trying to achieve growth; however, it’s hard to do in practice because sometimes how Sales and Marketing choose to drive growth conflicts, if the process isn’t managed. For example, if Sales and Marketing are siloed and told to grow revenue, Sales may choose to use promotional discounts to win more contracts while Marketing may decide to increase adoption among less price sensitive clients. While these strategies are both aimed at driving growth, they’re diametrically opposed to one another. The CRO ensures that Sales and Marketing co-create a cohesive strategy by building consensus around common goals (e.g., increase market share) and ensuring both departments use common measurements of those goals (e.g., potential revenue from new client additions this quarter based on their current origination volume). 

At Calque, I ensure both departments have a regular meeting cadence, share insights with one another, and use the same data dashboard to measure progress. This integrated approach ensures marketing can adjust quickly to sales feedback and vice versa, which enhances customer acquisition and retention efforts and contributes to long-term revenue stability.

Enhancing the Customer Experience

In B2B companies or in somewhat commoditized markets like mortgage, customer loyalty is often contingent on the quality of service provided. Consequently, the CRO needs to ensure his or her attention extends beyond revenue creation into revenue retention. By keeping the firm focused on continually improving the customer experience, CROs help shape culture and operational practices to optimize customer satisfaction and thus retention. 

At Calque, this involves training our sales team to prioritize transparency and responsiveness, which are vital in building client trust. We are also exploring technologies to enhance the customer journey (both for our core clients — lenders — as well as their borrowers) throughout every step of the process. By focusing on customer-centric strategies, we hope to cultivate a loyal client base that is more likely to return for future needs and refer others. Revenue isn’t just about the math; it’s just as much about the people, both internally and externally.

What does it all mean? 

The CRO can play a crucial role in a rapidly evolving industry like mortgage. Lowering rates will open up greater lines of business and technology, paving new ways to interact with customers. The need for strong leadership in revenue management will become increasingly important. The CRO can contribute to the organization’s financial health and ensure that it remains competitive and responsive to consumers’ needs by having a holistic look at all revenue opportunities from top to bottom. 

As companies look for executives to fill this crucial role, I urge them to widen their search and consider how diverse candidates might be uniquely suited to inform these activities and be a source of innovation. Creating and valuing cross-functional leadership roles like the CRO provides revenue-multiplying opportunities. To best manage the role, companies need to pick from the best and largest cache of candidates — and that means valuing the insights from underrepresented groups who can bring out underrepresented sources of value.