Karen Snow, Senior Vice President and Head of U.S. Listings and Revenue at Nasdaq, brought her wealth of knowledge to TalkingSense recently. In the episode, she shared with 6sense CMO Latané Conant what it takes to be a CRO for a publicly-traded company.
Should We Give Up On the IPO?
In uncertain financial times, Conant asked, should we just give up on the IPO?
Not at all, Snow explained. “Listen, what I would say is that time is a luxury. We’re in an environment right now where it gives people more time to get ready, and from a CRO perspective, you really want to be laying the groundwork, doing all the things that you need to do to be public company ready.”
She then identified some of those central tasks:
- Drive predictable growth
- Align and connect revenue functions
- Develop the revenue model
- Create a long-term management structure
- Work on go-to-market strategy and messaging
- Refine budgeting
- Get sales team systems in place
“You don’t want to be fixing the plane while you’re flying it,” Snow said of this to-do list.
Motivating Your Sales Team
“Most salespeople are attainment-driven,” Conant said. “So how do you keep spirits high on the team?”
Perspective is key, Snow said, and she’s fortunate enough to have people on her team who have been through slower cycles and can share that experience with those who haven’t.
And in the meantime?
Set them up for success by removing friction and encouraging collaboration, Snow explained. Let them grow and stretch, and feel like they’re part of the company’s overall success so they continue to feel a sense of purpose.
Snow also added, “I want them to have the ability to focus their time and energy in a way that can really drive their own personal results. Our compensation plans are structured in a way that it’s highly motivating for them. We really try to highlight people who are doing well and we have a winning culture.”
How Has Sales Changed?
You can go back five or ten years and see how much sales has changed, Conant said, but also how much it has stayed the same. What does Snow see as the primary difference?
Information flow, Snow said, pointing to a job she had in equity sales that has all but disappeared now because of the accessibility of data.
“As it relates to our business today, buyers are much more informed than they used to be. So when you think about bringing sales into the conversation, they really need to be additive.”
But, as Snow explained, that information benefits CROs, too. Information flows both ways, and by using an ABM (account-based marketing) platform like 6sense to capture details about buyer activities, CROs have an unprecedented ability to drive revenue.
Conclusion
Snow and Conant had much more to say about building successful revenue teams and what it means to be a revenue leader. Get public-company-ready by checking out their conversation now.
