Templates
CRO 30/60/90-day plan
A new CRO's first 90 days run in three stages. Days 1 to 30 are for learning: the CEO and CFO, the board's expectations, every manager and live deals. Days 31 to 60 set the standard and the weekly rhythm. Days 61 to 90 are for the decisions on people, pipeline and priorities, reported back with a plan.
Days 1 to 30: learn
- Meet the CEO and CFO. Agree what success looks like at day 90 and at the end of the year, and how it will be measured.
- Learn what the board expects, and when the next board update is due.
- Meet every manager one to one. Ask what is working, what is in the way and which deals decide the quarter.
- Join live deals: buyer meetings, deal reviews and the forecast call, as an observer.
- Compare the last four quarters of forecast with actual results, by manager.
- Talk to customers, including at least one who left, and ask why they bought and what nearly stopped them.
- Change nothing structural yet: no compensation, territory or reporting-line changes in the first month unless something is broken.
Days 31 to 60: set the standard
- Write down what each pipeline stage means and what evidence a commit deal needs, and use the same definitions everywhere.
- Start the weekly rhythm: a pipeline review, a forecast call and one-on-ones on a fixed schedule.
- Assess the team on evidence: what each person did, separated from what their territory and quota plan handed them.
- Choose two or three priorities for the rest of the year, and say what you will stop doing.
- Give the first board update: what you found, what you are changing and what the number looks like.
Days 61 to 90: decide
- Make the people decisions the evidence supports, one at a time, and handle each one with care.
- Close the biggest gap in next quarter's pipeline, with owners and a weekly check.
- Put coaching on a schedule: each manager coaches each seller on one skill and one live deal.
- Report back to the CEO and CFO with the plan for the next two quarters and the measures you will be held to.
Measures to report at day 90
- Forecast accuracy by manager, against the last four quarters.
- Pipeline coverage for next quarter.
- Win rate and average sales cycle on deals created since you started.
- Share of sellers with a one-on-one in each of the last four weeks.
Run this on your own pipeline.
Management OS tells the revenue leader where to act to hit the number: which deals are real, who needs coaching and how, and where your own involvement moves it.