I have a go-to philosophy in my working world: don’t get seduced by the exciting stuff before making sure the basics are nailed. It’s a mantra that’s served me well, and many of the CROs I coach feel the same.

Let’s be honest: there’s a lot to get excited about if you’re a CRO. AI-powered everything, expanding global markets, innovative products… insert your distraction here. And of course, there are always plenty of people around with another “great idea” to help you accelerate revenue growth.

But, let’s be honest, a vast majority of these ‘opportunities’ fail to materialise. And while they’re failing to materialise, they’re wasting a bucket load of management time and acting as a massive distraction.

The moral of the story is, of course, create the vision and the strategy…and stick to the plans and initiatives that underpin them. Sometimes we need to pivot in an area, but by and large, pop on the blinkers and get on with it.

When we think of the world of a CRO, what exactly are the strategic basics? I like to define them as these four cornerstones:

1. Optimising the Organisation

According to Salesforce’s State of Sales Survey (5th Edition), salespeople spend only 28% of their week actually selling. Meanwhile, 85% of leaders say they’re struggling to get budget for headcount.

Your team is your most important and usually most expensive asset. So it’s crucial to build a motivated, customer-focused group who spend their time aligned to the right customers, and who are not swamped by unproductive admin tasks that could be streamlined or automated.

Here are some common issues I see:

• Poorly designed operating models with no link to segmentation strategy
• Front-line teams spending disproportionate time on non-customer tasks
• Misalignment and poor collaboration across silos
• Lack of visibility into skill and capability levels across the team

2. Retaining and Growing Customers

Customers are the crown jewels of any organisation. Keeping profitable customers for life, minimising attrition, and growing with them is a science, not an art.

You need specific tools, behaviours, and processes that promote customer-centric activity and deliver profitable growth. The impact of churn is well documented. Acquiring a new customer costs between 7 to 10 times more than retaining one.

Common blind spots include:

• A lack of understanding, risk control, and strategy around customer attrition
• No scientific, growth-orientated segmentation model to prioritise sweet spots
• No fit-for-purpose playbook to create consistency and transparency
• No credible customer success plans in place

3. Winning New Customers

Acquiring new customers is essential for growth. Success starts with knowing who to target, how big the opportunity is, and how to go after it with a structured, controlled plan.

Treat it like a systematic process, run to a consistent rhythm of activity across marketing and sales.

Some of the missing basics I see:

• Poor understanding of new business potential and the sweet spot
• Lack of a standardised sales approach
• Underuse of external ecosystems for lead generation and customer insight
• Inconsistent or misaligned reward and recognition schemes

4. Leading and Controlling the Team

High-performing organisations require authentic, customer-centric leadership. This is non-negotiable.

As a CRO, you gain credibility by walking the talk — spending time with customers, reinforcing the vision, and focusing on the right things. You must prioritise customer-facing activity over internal distractions and apply tools and data to stay in control.

Some common leadership gaps I encounter:

• Misaligned goals and KPIs across teams and regions
• Governance processes that measure too much, but not the right things
• Data overload with no clear insights (“no cockpit”)
• A pipeline the CRO doesn’t trust

✅ Back to Basics: Your Four Cornerstones

Accelerating revenue growth is a complex job, full of moving parts and competing demands. It’s easy for CROs to get distracted by internal noise or the latest external shiny object.

Which is why stripping strategy down to the core basics is often the smartest move. Here’s a quick summary:

🧱 The 4 Strategic Cornerstones:

1. Optimising the Organisation Build a fit-for-purpose, growth-orientated operating model that maximises customer-facing time.

2. Retaining and Growing Customers Keep profitable customers for life. Reduce churn and grow profits through upselling and cross-selling.

3. Winning New Customers Identify high-potential prospects and accelerate new customer conversion.

4. Leadership and Control Embed customer-centric leadership, ensure cross-functional alignment, and keep your finger firmly on the pulse.

🚫 Don’t let shiny object syndrome steal your time and focus. ✅ Focus on the basics and do them brilliantly.

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