THE CRO HIRING PLAYBOOK

Nail Your Next CRO Hire.

This Guide Shows you How.

The CRO Hiring Playbook

This guide walks you through every step of the process: how to know when it’s time to hire, align your executive team, define the right candidate profile, avoid critical mistakes, and onboard a CRO who can drive immediate impact and long-term growth.

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62% of companies experience flat or declining revenue after hiring the wrong CRO.

Download our expert-built guide to avoid costly missteps and confidently select a CRO who can accelerate growth from day one.

Why We Wrote this Guide

With a 98% placement success rate and time-to-hire 3x faster than industry averages, Talentfoot has helped over 2,500 companies, from startups to Fortune 50s, hire revenue leaders who deliver. We created this guide to share what we’ve learned so your next CRO hire isn’t a gamble, it’s a growth catalyst.

Who This Guide is For

This guide is built for forward-thinking CEOs, Presidents, and Chief People Officers at high-growth companies ,whether you’re a PE-backed organization preparing to scale, a founder ready to step back from sales, or a business leader looking to unify your go-to-market strategy and accelerate revenue growth.

What You'll learn

How to Identify the signs when it's time to hire a CRO
Learn how to spot the signs -misalignment, plateaued revenue, and scaling challenges -before they become costly.
How to define the right candidate profile
Avoid hiring misfires by getting your CEO, CFO, and board aligned on what "great" looks like, before interviews even begin.
How to define the role, responsibilities, and KPIs
Get clarity on what your business really needs, whether you’re post-product market fit or preparing for enterprise expansion.
How to create a structured interview and onboarding process
Use our proven process to evaluate, onboard, and set your CRO up to deliver measurable revenue impact in their first 90 days.
How to spot candidate red flags
Learn how to look past the title and dig into the track record, leadership style, and results that actually matter.

Why Talentfoot

is the choice for SMB’s,
Mid-Market and Enterprise.

98%

fill rate

5

week time-to-hire.

2,500+

happy clients

NEED HELP HIRING INSTEAD?

Hire a CRO who drives lasting results.

Leveraging our deep industry knowledge, extensive network, and a structured and meticulous search methodology, we deliver “a new breed” of sales executive. These rare candidates possess the technological skillsets that future-proof our clients and enable them to outcompete their peers.

Hire Right with Talentfoot's Search Partners

When you need game-changing talent, experience matters. Our search partners average 15+ years recruiting senior roles, bringing deep expertise to every recruiting partnership. That's why 2500+ companies trust us to get the job done.

Skylar O'Donnell

Skylar

Executive Senior Partner
15+ years exp.
Role specialities: CRO, VP Sales & Marketing, Senior Sales Manager, Account Executives

Rich McNeil

Rich

Executive Senior Partner
15+ years exp.
Industry specialities: eCommerce, Marketing Services, AdTech, MarTech

Tim Bromley

Tim

VP of Client Engagement
20+ years exp.
Industry specialities: AI, Data Analytics, SaaS, IT Services

Leslie Goldhill Headshot

Leslie

Executive Senior Partner
25+ years exp.
Role specialities: CEO, COO, CMO, CRO, CIO

Mindy Headshot

Mindy

Accounting Search Partner
10+ years exp.
Role specialities: Senior Accountant, Accounting Director, Technical Accounting Manager.

Amanda Kelly - Marketing Executive Search Specialist

Amanda

Executive Senior Partner
15+ years exp.
Industry specialities: Professional Services, Marketing, Advertising, eCommerce

Your team listened very carefully to our brief, and provided us only with candidates who are highly qualified and highly motivated. You didn’t just throw a bunch of names in our face and make us do the work. We were very satisfied with the candidates we interviewed and ultimately thrilled with the one we have hired.

Your team really listened to our needs and probed when things weren’t clear or consistent. You also suggested changes to our process which ended up working better for us.

Talentfoot has a deep understanding of the marketing needs of today's business environment, identify great candidates, assess their capabilities and follow-up to finalize the search.

Your team was awesome. You thoroughly understood the role and the company he presented me to. You were always available and quick to find answers for me. It’s not easy to come by great executive recruiters and you are definitely one of the best!

Talentfoot and Patrick spent the time to learn about our organization, our wants, our needs, and our weaknesses, helped shape the search criteria, and gave real feedback on the candidates you produced. Other firms should be embarrassed. They are poseurs compared to our experience with Talentfoot.

We were very pleased with Talentfoot’s work on the search, with many extremely high-caliber candidates to evaluate and work through throughout the process. The team did a great job of telling our story to build and maintain candidate interest and moved the process forward efficiently. We are thrilled to have our first choice candidate come on board.

Executive Search That Delivers

HOGAN Assessments

Scientifically-backed evaluations to ensure candidates have the DNA and personality traits to fit into your culture.

Passive Talent Access

Tap into our exclusive network of top-performing accounting professionals who aren’t actively searching for jobs.

Performance-Based Fee

Designed to fit your company’s size, stage, and specific recruitment requirements.

Competitive Insights

Unlock competitor compensation models, hiring trends, growth goals, corporate culture, and more.

Multi-Step Vetting

Rigorous vetting process to secure only the most qualified candidates.

Comprehensive Onboarding Support

Structured guidance to integrate talent and increase speed-to-performance.

Our Search Process

Our Search Process

Search Consultation and Strategy

We take a deep dive into the role to understand what’s required to achieve success in, then we build a comprehensive position profile and targeted search strategy around that.

Customized Recruitment Plan

Talentfoot develops a tailored strategy based on your company size, growth goals, industry, and ideal candidate profile.

Plan Execution

Through targeted headhunting, we curate elite candidate pools, vetted by science-based assessments and behavioral interviews, ensuring we deliver only top-tier talent for you.

Placement

We make hiring the talent you want easier with complimentary compensation planning, offer negotiation, and onboarding support.

Post-Hire Engagement And Support

Industry leading guarantee period, onboarding consultation and support, and accounting and finance team growth and performance strategy development.

Your next game-changing hire is closer and faster than you think – guaranteed.

Whether you’re a growth-focused start-up, scale-up, mid-market, or investor backed company, you’ll benefit from Talentfoot’s unmatched accounting executive recruiting success. With a 98% fill rate, we radically outperform traditional recruiters and staffing firms – and do it all in under 5 weeks.

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Client Success Rate
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JOIN THE BEST

Over 750 Directors, VPs, and
C-Suite Leaders placed

JOIN THE BEST

Over 750 Directors, VPs, and
C-Suite Leaders placed