Due North Executive Search’s Post

Think of a Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) as the general in the fierce and ongoing war for talent. They might have the strategy and the battle plan, but it’s their army—their team—that needs to be strong, skilled, and ready to take on the world. In today’s cutthroat environment, attracting and retaining top-notch talent is like seeking out the elite special forces for your squad. A CCO’s vision is crucial, but without sharpshooters in sales, strategists in marketing, and empathetic allies in customer service, that vision might as well be a mirage. Here’s where the real battle lies: in creating an environment where the best of the best want to stay and fight by your side. It’s about more than just salaries and perks; it's about crafting a culture where innovation thrives, voices are heard, and everyone’s dialed into the same mission. This talent war isn’t won with a single victory. It’s an ongoing campaign where the CCO must lead from the front, inspiring their troops to build and maintain the commercial strongholds that will ensure the company not only survives but thrives. And let’s not forget—each soldier in this war has a unique superpower. From the creative geniuses to the analytic wizards, a CCO’s team is their arsenal. The stronger and more diverse this arsenal, the better the CCO can navigate the battleground of market competition. So yes, a CCO’s success is measured by their leadership, strategy, and decisions. But the true testament of their prowess? The team they assemble and how they marshal their troops in the relentless war for talent. That’s where the real victories are won. #warfortalent #cco #toptalent #marketingrecruiter

How to help your CEO understand your CRO role... This afternoon we had our first session back of 2024, discussing a topic many CRO's have wrestled with over the last few years, hosted by Warren Zenna of the The CRO Collective. A Chief Revenue Officer is a strategic revenue leadership role, overseeing all revenue roles, the challenge is 90% of CRO's are not hired with that remit.. They're hired to run sales. Which usually results in them failing in 16 months.. There's also challenges around when companies should bring on a CRO - When is it too early? What is a sufficient level of operational complexity to justify a CRO? Lastly, even if you are ready to hire a CRO, is your organisation CRO ready? How do we build precision in the definition of what a CRO is? Members can listen to the conversation on croconnected.com next week. Also feel free to connect with Warren Zenna to carry on the conversation

Iv interviewed thousands of sales candidates and I’ve seen this again and again: they’re not leaving a role where they’re winning unless your company offers something more. Competitive compensation is key, but so are leadership, product strength, and real growth opportunities. If you don’t have all that, why would they move? #SalesRecruitment #SalesTalent #RecruitmentStrategy #TalentAcquisition #RecruitmentTips

These are great insights for sales candidates, coming from the mind of a successful CRO. This is from a conversation I had with a CRO who has had six successful exits. How do you build and manage a high-performing sales and revenue team? You start at the top. You make sure that your leadership team is solid, trained, coached and developed to carry out the values and objectives of your organization. Then, you build out the profiles of each type of sales role that you have and the exact type of salesperson to fill that role. You execute a recruiting strategy that finds and hires the best people that fit your criteria. You make sure that your compensation are good or great and definitely competitive to your competition. You set the standards with a thorough training program and put in place good systems and processes to ensure high performance. Last but not least, you acknowledge and highlight the best performers publicly.

To the Sales Leadership Teams, Are you wondering how to lose your top sales representatives? I recently had a conversation with a high-performing salesperson who has been with his current employer for over two years. He joined the company through recruitment. Recently, the leadership team introduced a new commission plan that is evidently not advantageous for the sales representatives. As a result, I have received messages from the majority of the sales team, each requesting assistance in finding new job opportunities. If you have top performers on your team, I advise against altering their compensation plans. Instead, provide incentives that encourage them to continue producing outstanding results for your company.

Not investing enough (or at all) in marketing is like asking ground troops to go to battle without proper reconnaissance, aircover and equipment. Can you do it? Yes. Will the mission be successful? Maybe. Are those types of successes sustainable? No. Please stop putting your business in unnecessary and challenging positions. #b2bmarketing #revenuegrowth ----------------------- 🔔 I'm Sarah Eppler, a marketing leader and business strategist. I help CEOs, founders and leadership teams of growing B2B businesses accelerate revenue growth and increase profitability. Follow me for actionable insights that boost marketing and overall business performance.

It's #SmallBusinessSaturday! Be sure to support a local #smallbusiness today & enjoy this tip for busy #business leaders & #marketers: A record number of Americans are quitting their jobs. But before you opt to join them, you should consider the risks and costs. We help #smallbusinessowners looking for grow in #marketing & #sales. Follow us for more!

I think this is worth sharing from 2x perspectives as it is such a short statement but has deeper meaning. A middle manager is exactly that and under pressure from every angle. Competent ones are able to assess their direct realm and perfomance of such, in a professiinal manner with realism. They will also have the strength to defend with integrity against decisions which may be metric based and out of kilter with the situation. Theur team members have to be able to have faith and confidence in their manager to be open about problems and take advice and direction. Highly competent middle management is difficult to find and often under rated with regards to what they deliver to the company. Truly good ones will launch a plethora of careers and foster great culture #itsalwaysaboutthepeople

We need more leaders like this

Calling all UK Revenue Operations Professionals: Salesloft is hosting an exclusive event on 21st May in London. It's a unique gathering of the top revenue and sales operations professionals in the UK, and an opportunity to connect, share insights, and learn from industry experts. Some of the topics we'll be discussing: > How do you identify and resolve inefficiencies or bottlenecks in the revenue generation and enablement process? > What are the top revenue operations teams doing to accelerate business, and how do they do it? > What role do data and analytics play in informing revenue strategy and decision-making? > How do you collaborate and share insights with other departments like finance, product, and executive leadership? Don't miss out on this opportunity and RSVP here: https://bit.ly/3wKrWkN #revenueoperations #salesoperations #londonevents