As data mining around customer interaction becomes the new nectar of the metric-minded number-crunching set – it’s time for CFOs to influence C-suite decision making .
What if an emerging class of new data mining tools and metrics promised to unlock untold revenues for your organization—but, members of the C-suite determined that the team of professionals possessing the experience and skills needed to deploy the new class of tools was best kept in their traditional roles?
Unfortunately, such is the case for certain finance and accounting professionals who listen to the growing buzz surrounding the opportunity dubbed “customer success” with growing career-building intrigue and envy.
It’s just such an organizational quagmire that has led an increasing number of finance chiefs to take a leadership leap. In fact, not since corporate boards first formulated the modern C-suite has the leadership reach of a C-suite member been more fluid than it is within the ranks of today’s chief financial officers.
Of course, some would argue that it was the media that first coined the expression C-suite—a slang term intended to identify a firm’s top executives, whose titles frequently began with the word “Chief.” As for the word “suite,” one may guess that there was little need for such spacious accommodations until a third Chief (COO, CIO, etc.) came along and helped to end the era of dynamic CEO/CFO duos. Or so the number three Chiefs may have wished to believe.
The reality is that the dynamic duo leadership model today remains largely intact inside most midsize and large enterprise firms, and so too does the influence of finance leaders.
It’s no secret that accountants spend a lot of their time on activities that frequently don’t benefit their organizations, and it’s no secret that data-mining around customer interaction is quickly becoming the new nectar of the metrics-minded number-crunching set. It’s a development that few CFOs will be able to ignore for very long.
Other Posts By Jack Sweeney
The Growth Ultimatum & The Rise of the SaaS CFO
How Did You Become a CFO? Retooling Your Finance Narrative to Look Ahead
The CFO & The Mustard Seed: A Parable of Finance and Innovation