7 Growth Team Roles You Should Fill ASAP To Maximize Revenue Growth
Building an effective growth team is like finding the right athletes for a football team.
A team with fifty running backs would lose every game. Just like you wouldn’t get far with a company of all web designers and developers. Having the right players in the correct positions is essential in sports and business.
And, to win the game of revenue growth, you need a diverse team of different players working within their strengths to avoid vulnerabilities and work towards growth. Understanding key growth team roles, essential for achieving maximum growth, and what each one requires is the first step towards building your winning team.
In this blog, we'll talk about how each position contributes to your team's overall success and tips on what to look for in future hires. This way, you can see the value of assembling a diverse growth team and get the knowledge you need to effectively fill every position.
After all, you’re not trying to build a specialty team to win a few plays, you want a well-rounded group with eyes on the long-term prize: growth! We've curated seven specific, must-have growth team roles that your team needs to win. Let’s dive into why you need them and how they work together to maximize revenue growth.
Growth Team Roles
- Head of Growth
- Growth Marketer
- UX Designer
- Developer
- Data analyst/ CRO
- Account Executive
- Customer Success Manager
Ready? Let’s dive in!
1. Head of Growth
The Head of Growth is a critical leadership position that requires a bold, innovative personality to direct and lead the growth team. As the team leader, the Head of Growth implements growth strategies and captures insights from growth experiments.
The Head of Growth must know everyone on the team's skills, where they are working, and what they are working towards. They are responsible for keeping the team and strategies aligned and on track and knowing when to pivot or make changes. They also own the customer lifecycle and should be their team's go-to resource and helper.
While this is one of the most vital roles on any established growth team, it’s likely one of the last roles you will hire or promote for. Head of Growth roles require significant experience to do well, so they’re usually a substantial investment for any marketing team to make.
Who Works Best In This Role?
A Head of Growth should have a proven track record of success, years of marketing experience, and a deep understanding of the data and metrics that drive business growth. They should be skilled in leading projects, making strategic decisions, and communicating effectively with team members.
Additionally, they should be someone who can foster a strong and positive and collaborative team culture. Their team should follow them because of the positive example they set With these qualities, the perfect person for this role can help drive growth and success.
2. Growth Marketer
If your Head of Growth is the Team Captain, consider your Growth Marketers (GMs) like receivers. This person or people are responsible for developing and executing campaigns focused on acquiring and retaining customers, increasing engagement, and improve traffic, leads, and revenue. Basically, they run with whatever you throw at them and consistently score.
A GM must strategically experiment with new tactics and technologies to stay ahead of the game. They also manage marketing budgets, track performance against KPIs, and leverage customer feedback to inform marketing and product development efforts.
If this feels like they guide and test the entire strategy process, you would be right! Of all the roles in this post, the GM should be your easiest go-to, that you trust to get things done, to start quickly exploring an idea or pursuing a new goal.
Who Works Best In This Role?
The perfect GM is creative, driven, and determined. They also have a strong understanding of marketing strategies, the ability to work towards achieving goals, and is comfortable working in a fast-paced, ever-changing environment.
Growth Marketers should also be excellent communicators and collaborators, allowing them to work effectively with cross-functional teams and customers alike. They must be willing to take feedback and make changes while constantly optimizing their work to deliver the best results and improve their performance.
3. Data Analyst
Your Data Analyst is your Quarterback (this analogy is working for us, okay). They provide valuable insights and direction based on data-driven decisions and keep the team moving. With multiple analysts on board, the team can stay on track and avoid missing any actionable insights. This approach helps prevent unprofitable strategies from being sustained for extended periods while ensuring that endeavors remain focused on the most promising growth areas.
Analysts love numbers and constantly look at and analyze data, just like how a QB memorizes the playbook. Tools like SQL, Tableau, Python, and other diagnostics are just a few of the tools in their arsenal. By using data to guide their decisions, Data Analysts give the growth team more confidence in their work and help them to deliver better results and achieve their goals.
Who Works Best In This Role?
The person best fit for the Data Analyst role should excel in working with numbers and formulas. They should have a deep understanding of data and be able to read trends to make informed decisions.
The ideal candidate should also have excellent communication skills to help people better understand complex data metrics. It’s difficult to break down complex data into simple applications to help others make informed decisions. That’s why, similar to finding a quarterback, it can be challenging to find the right Data Analyst to fit your team.
4. UX Designer
The UX Designer conducts research to gain insights into user needs and behaviors, so they can optimize the user journey help customers further down your sales funnel. They function like Linemen on a football team, identifying and removing blockers that might otherwise deter potential customers.
Typically, UX designers leverage A/B testing to test different design variations and make data-driven decisions to improve the user experience. They use persuasive design techniques, such as social proof and urgency, to influence user behavior and drive conversions. Continuously iterating and improving based on user feedback and data insights, UX designers ensure that digital products are intuitive, user-friendly, and meet the needs of their target audience.
A skilled UX designer can create a seamless and enjoyable user experience, leading to increased engagement and conversions. However, just like a missed block can have dire consequences, hiring the wrong UX Designer can negatively impact your ROI.
Who Works Best In This Role?
The role of a UX designer is best suited for people with a combination of creativity, analytical thinking, and empathy. An ideal candidate should strongly understand user research methods, design principles, and user interface design tools. They must be able to analyze user feedback and data insights to optimize the user journey, reducing friction and encouraging desired actions.
Communication skills are critical for UX designers to effectively communicate their ideas and collaborate well with cross-functional teams such as developers, product managers, and marketers. This type of collaboration ensures that they deliver an exceptional user experience that meets both the user's needs and business objectives. As you look for your next developer, search for specific skills like wireframing, creating mock-ups and user flows, and information or application architecture to help find your best fit.
5. Developer
Developers are your coaches. They build and maintain the high-quality software applications essential for your business to operate efficiently. They are responsible for writing code, debugging and testing applications, and ensuring software programs run smoothly. Just like coaches are responsible for writing the plays their team executes on the field.
Successful developers possess strong technical skills and are passionate about software development. They are typically detail-oriented and logical and have strong problem-solving skills. Proficiency in one or more programming languages, such as Java, Python, or C++, is a must for developers.
They must also be comfortable working with code repositories and collaborating with product managers, designers, and developers. This continuous learning on the latest development trends and technologies helps Developers deliver high-quality software applications that meet the needs of your business with room to grow.
Who Works Best In This Role?
The ideal candidate for the Developer role is highly skilled and proficient in one or more programming languages. They possess sharp attention to detail, are logical, and have strong problem and analytic skills. The best candidate is flexible, can adapt to changing requirements and technologies, and is committed to writing clean, maintainable, well-documented code.
6. Account Executive
Meet your team managers - Account Executives! AEs drive revenue growth by building and maintaining solid customer relationships and helping you close new business. Successful account executives deeply understand customers' needs, preferences, and pain points to provide tailored solutions and build customer trust.
Additionally, they identify opportunities to up-sell and cross-sell additional products or services to increase customer lifetime value. They’re continuously improving their sales processes to maximize efficiency and effectiveness and keep up with market changes. CRMs and social media are AE’s strongest tools as they need to grow their networks and build relationships before closing deals.
Who Works Best In This Role?
The ideal person for the AE role must possess strong communication, negotiation, and relationship-building skills because they’re responsible for building strong connections with customers to build trust and provide value.
They must be highly motivated, self-driven, and able to connect with various people. AE must also deeply understand your products and services and the customers' industries and markets. Look for quick, social learners and passionate individuals for your next AE. If you leave their interview wanting to be their friend, odds are your prospects will, too.
7. Customer Success Manager
Your Customer Success Managers (CSMs) are like the athletic trainers on your football team. They build strong relationships with customers and act as the liaison between your internal team, the work they do, and the customers, just like trainers make sure their players are set to succeed on the field.
By providing product training and support, CSMs help customers achieve their desired outcomes by keeping your internal team on track and relaying updates. This clear communication increases their loyalty and lifetime value.
Additionally, customer success managers collaborate with sales and marketing teams to develop targeted campaigns for upsell and cross-sell opportunities. Identifying product feedback and feature requests, they also help shape the product roadmap to meet and even anticipate customers' evolving needs.
Who Works Best In This Role?
An ideal CSM candidate has strong interpersonal, communication, and problem-solving skills. They should be empathetic, patient, and able to build strong relationships with customers and your internal team.
Like sales, knowing the market and your target audience is key to helping your CSMs communicate and connect with them. CSMs should also understand data and analytics to identify customer needs, track usage, and find potential issues and solutions before they become problems. This person will live in your CRM, task and project management tools, and whatever systems you use to communicate with your customers.
A Strong Growth Team Guarantees Maximum Revenue
We hope you feel more equipped to build your “football” team after reading this blog and now understand the specific skills and expertise each player contributes towards winning the game of growth.
Whether you build an in-house team or outsource to experts, the right combination of skills and expertise can significantly impact your business.
Oh, and if you’re in the market for an outsourced growth team to start running plays, we got one for you.
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