Over the last two decades, Chief Revenue Officer Levi Aron spent a lot of time obsessing over details in various operating roles across the world. But these days, he’s all about seeing the forest from the trees.
“It’s crucial that you understand the entire picture so you can make informed decisions while being conscious of downstream effects,” Aron said.
The CRO came to New York City-based restaurant management platform SevenRooms at the beginning of the year, bringing with him a penchant for data, buy-in and big-picture thinking.
Across the country, he’s not the only one prioritizing growth at scale. Tech companies are increasingly investing in revenue operations so they can better understand how to centralize processes leading up to each sale.
At SevenRooms, that investment seems to be working.
“Our account managers and customer success teams ensure the value proposition and ROI for the customer is carried all the way through the exchange,” Aron said.
Tell us briefly about your professional background. How did you become a chief revenue officer?
I have worked in a range of operational positions for more than 20 years. In the last seven years, I have held executive positions with a focus on the hospitality technology sector. From 2013 to 2015, I served as general manager at Yumtable, a subsidiary of Catch Group. My role entailed scaling the Australian restaurant bookings website and mobile app to more than 2,300 restaurant partners across the region. In 2015, I became the Australian CEO and country manager of Deliveroo, at the time a little-known delivery startup headquartered in London. During my tenure there, I oversaw the company’s Australian launch and was responsible for scaling.
In early 2020, I moved from Australia to New York City and joined the SevenRooms team as the company’s first CRO. I knew I wanted to be in a position where I was able to work on a global level while making an impact locally. SevenRooms offered me the opportunity to do just that while empowering on-the-ground teams to feel a part of the growth, no matter their location.
What are your job responsibilities?
From a technical perspective, my job is to drive customer-centric revenue growth across the entire company, leading the sales, customer success and revenue operations functions for SevenRooms. However, to me, this role is more than that.
I start each day and each meeting by making human connections. I ask my team about their weekends and their lives, ensuring I understand what really makes them tick. In a world of back-to-back Zoom meetings and conference calls, it’s important to make sure you’re taking your team’s temperature and operating in sync.
Then, I jump straight into the data. It’s important that as a team we understand how we grow and progress. Data combined with experience and intuition brings that all to life. By taking the time to understand the trends in front of me, I am able to not only get an idea of how sales are growing but also what’s driving that growth, ensuring we have product-market fit. While some teams may work in silos from time to time, it’s crucial that you understand the entire picture so you can make informed, data-led decisions while being conscious of downstream effects.
Data combined with experience and intuition brings that all to life.’’
What are the three most important skills needed to be a good chief revenue officer and why?
In order to be a strong chief revenue officer, you must first have an appreciation for data. You must understand how to utilize data to make strong business decisions that will help you achieve your objectives at a rapid pace. You also need to develop the mindset that revenue is more than sales. While sales is an integral part of revenue, a good chief revenue officer understands the entire customer journey and the flow of information. They really need to see that entire return on investment, which an entire team plays a role in.
At SevenRooms, a successful account, whether SMB or enterprise, doesn’t stem from a single sales representative. Our account managers and customer success teams ensure that the value proposition and ROI for the customer is carried all the way through the exchange. By making sure each team knows how the other team is supporting their success, we’re able to reach our goals across the board.
Lastly, the most important skill you can have as a CRO is a high-level of effective stakeholder engagement across an organization, no matter how big or how many different levels there may be. This skillset will keep everyone aligned and focused on shared goals and company objectives.
