Tom FerrariVP - GTM & Technology Search, UltraTalent · Placing elite sellers & builders at startups

CROs: The Biggest Sales Leadership Mistakes & How to Avoid Them!

26 Jul 2025 · 3 min

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2:56

In this concise dialogue, the speakers dissect why Chief Revenue Officers (CROs) and other sales leaders frequently fail. They argue that the root cause is a mismatch between a leader’s title and the actual remit they inherit, leading to misguided actions. The conversation highlights three core missteps: (1) ignoring the specific authority and responsibilities attached to the CRO title—some roles grant full autonomy to align the organization, while others are merely titular with pressure to hit numbers; (2) failing to baseline the existing team and sales processes before implementing changes, which deprives leaders of a clear starting point for measurement and improvement; and (3) not fully understanding the market context when moving between CRO positions, especially when the market differs. These oversights cause leaders to chase numbers without a solid foundation, resulting in systemic failure. The speakers stress that proper role clarity, thorough baselining, and deep market insight are essential to avoid these pitfalls and to enable sustainable revenue growth.

That's how companies fail.
So what are the top 5 to 7 reasons why CROs or sales leaders at different levels of the organization, why do they fail?
It's easier than we think, but it's easy to identify. It's very hard to deliver and execute. The fundamental flaw starts with the fact that when a sales leader takes on a team, Or a VP takes on a geography and/or a CRO takes on the full book of revenue for a company. The understanding of what you're inheriting is the most important part to define what your next best action is. You can go CRO to CRO in different companies and the job is completely different. Because one CRO remit might have full autonomy and authority to create that integrated approach where everybody is aligned. Another CRO remit might just be the title, but you're really a chief sales officer where you're given what you're given and you must go make the number no matter how it's designed. The former is way better than the latter. Like, you don't want the CRO title with the sales Leader remit. It doesn't work. That's how companies fail. So titles matter. But the the reason that failure occurs at any line, whether it's a first line, a midline, a geo, or a CRO, they start to chase the number. The first thing they do, they don't baseline their team. So that's the first miss. So you you better instead of jumping in and thinking you know what to do before you've baselined and unpacked. Everything that wraps around the sales process. Okay, we avoid it. It's the only fixed mechanism that you can maneuver within to change the way your teams perform and the way your supporting functions help you. Because that is a— it's a mechanism for measurement of objective progression of sales. So 2 things. One, the remit matters. 2, baselining your team, whether it's a first-line, midline, geo, or CRO. 3, understanding your market deftly, because if you're changing roles, sometimes CRO to CRO, you're changing markets. So it all— it's all dependent on you coming into the role and understanding what you're inheriting before you start to think. Yeah. You can go get it done by going really fast because you can never recover once you stop.