Growth is the north star for every go-to-market (GTM) team. More and more companies are learning that aligning their sales, marketing, and customer success efforts is crucial for driving revenue. And in this new era of “efficient growth”, marking the end of “growth at all costs”, organizations have turned to Chief Growth Officers (CGOs) to achieve this alignment.
But is a CGO always the best or most feasible solution? For many companies, especially those at a certain size or stage, leveraging the Revenue Operations (RevOps) function may be the more strategic and cost-effective choice. Let’s explore why.
The Role of a CGO: Owning the Holistic GTM Function
The CGO is tasked with owning a holistic view of the entire GTM function. Unlike traditional roles siloed into sales, marketing, or customer success, a CGO brings these areas together under a single umbrella with a laser focus on growth. This role isn’t about managing isolated departments; it’s about aligning every revenue-driving team toward shared goals and KPIs.
In this alignment, a CGO ensures that sales and marketing are not only on the same page but also measuring their success with the same set of metrics. The result? A unified approach to growth goals and a seamless execution strategy that keeps all GTM efforts focused on what’s most important: driving sustainable revenue growth.
CGO vs. RevOps: More Similar Than You Might Think
When we compare the role of a CGO to that of Revenue Operations, the overlap is striking. Both roles are designed to break down silos, optimize processes, and drive alignment across all GTM functions. However, RevOps operates as the engine behind the scenes, managing the single source of truth that guides sales, marketing, customer success, and beyond. By ensuring that all teams are leveraging consistent data and metrics, RevOps helps GTM teams align around a shared growth strategy.
Like a CGO, RevOps maintains just enough distance from the day-to-day logistics of relationship management to offer a high-level, holistic perspective. Both are ready, willing, and capable to jump in if necessary, but their priority is maintaining visibility. This vantage point is invaluable for change management, process optimization, and ensuring that KPIs across teams are not just understood but also actionable. In short, both functions aim to drive revenue by fostering alignment, but they do so in slightly different ways.
When to Hire a CGO, and When to Go with RevOps
Not every organization needs a CGO. In fact, even some large companies don’t see a clear need for this role. While private equity-backed firms or large enterprises with expansive growth ambitions may require a CGO to manage multiple GTM channels and strategies, many organizations can achieve similar outcomes with a robust RevOps function.
Why? Because finding someone with the depth of experience across sales, marketing, customer success, and operations to excel as a CGO is no small feat. The CGO role requires a rare combination of skills and experience that isn’t always available in the talent pool.
For companies under a certain size or stage, particularly those where industry expertise is a key hiring factor, leveraging a strong RevOps team is often the smarter choice. RevOps can provide the alignment, data-driven insights, and process optimization needed to accelerate growth—without the overhead of another C-suite executive. By focusing on optimizing the processes, technologies, and metrics that drive revenue, RevOps enables companies of all sizes achieve high-priority outcomes without the need for a CGO.
Conclusion: Leveraging RevOps for Aligned Growth
Whether your company is scaling rapidly or seeking incremental growth, it’s crucial to align your GTM teams around shared goals and a unified strategy. The CGO role may be the right fit for some organizations, but for many others, a strong RevOps function can deliver the same benefits without the complexities of adding another executive layer.
Want to dive deeper into this topic? Check out our latest episode of the Growth Driver podcast featuring AJ Gandhi, where we explore his experience as a CGO.