CFOs, boost your win rates (here’s how) 📈

‘Teamwork makes the dreamwork’ is more than a catchy cliché. If you aren’t investing in collaboration and partnership within your company, your bottom line is most likely suffering.

One of the most critical collaborations occurs between the CFO and CRO — and we don’t mean only touching bases to ask for something. 

CFOs and CROs can work together to drive results that deliver value while staying aligned with company objectives. When alignment is prioritized, ROI soars and the whole team can breathe a sigh of relief.

In a world of high-impact tech and innovation, our best assets are still one another and how we relate to each other — we’re stronger when we take the time to invest in our relationships. 

So, CFOs — do you know your company’s go-to-market strategy like the back of your hand? Have you and your CRO put your heads together?

If not, this is your sign to make the first move.

Collaborative Strategy, Not Siloed Operations

CROs have a deep understanding of industry, company focus and go-to-market strategy. They know the mission, direction and demographics inside and out. 

CFOs hold the reins of measuring productivity, aligning with corporate goals and business metrics. They could recite the numbers and initiatives in their sleep.

When these two roles come together and collaborate instead of operating in silos, deeper understanding blooms and targets are exceeded. 

When everyone is on the same page the results speak for themselves.

How to Build a Strong CFO-CRO Partnership

Like most effective strategies, the core of it is simple. No fuss, no ribbons — brass-tacks tried and true relationship building that increases ROI through our strongest asset: each other.

Here are a few ways to lay the groundwork for a successful CFO-CRO partnership:

Practice empathy. Empathetic listening helps more than relationships — it also improves business outcomes. When you seek to understand and take the time to explain, the way forward becomes clearer.

Join sales calls. Developing a deep understanding of why a specific strategy is an efficient model (vs surface-level awareness) can mean the difference between growth and decline. CFOs — don’t be afraid to jump in on those sales calls to get that understanding.

Learn the GTM strategy. If a CRO is expected to know the balance sheet and financial statements, the CFO should know the sales playbook. 

CFOs, now is the time to start building a partnership with your CRO with intention and consistency. Protecting your company is about more than spreadsheets and metrics — it’s about relationships and collaboration.

Whether you’re already practicing these tips or somewhere in the middle, this week’s episode of The CFO Show –– with guest Puneet Arora, previous CRO, and current Yellow.ai global president –– is for you.

Puneet walks through how he’s personally witnessed the effects of a solid CFO-CRO partnership, what that looks like in the big picture, and unpacks his view on why these practices are so essential for long-term growth. Tune in wherever you get your podcasts.

In case you missed it…

FP&A professionals spend so much of their time gathering data, and only a small portion analyzing it. Integrating digital transformation in finance has the potential to shift this dynamic by automating data collection and allowing more time for in-depth analysis and interpretation. We will be joined by Stacy Brown, VP at Marcum Technology to break down how finance can benefit from investing in digitization, and the role CFOs need to play in leading digital transformation within their organizations.

What’s next…

Business leaders have been under increased pressure to perform with limited resources, and research shows finance is among the top occupations seeing employees burn out from the added load. Discover helpful tips for avoiding burnout for accounting and FP&A teams from next week's guest, Ruchi Kasliwal, who holds extensive experience building and leading Finance and Accounting teams from the ground up.