CRO Handover · 14 October 2026 · 2 min read
Page 1: The band you've actually inherited
Every new CRO is told where the go-to-market stands. Page one of the handover file checks whether the evidence agrees.
By Jeremy Heap, Founder, RepAgentic
Before a new US president takes office, every federal agency prepares a briefing for the incoming team, including the most pressing issues they'll face straight away. A new CRO rarely gets the same. They get a version of events.
That version usually comes with a band attached, even if nobody uses the word. "It's working, it just needs more fuel" is a Scale story. "Good team, needs tightening" is Optimise. Either may be true. But the band you're told you've inherited and the band the evidence supports can be different, and the gap between them is where day 90 surprises come from.
Why the band you're told feels right
The people briefing you built what you've inherited, or have lived with it. Their view is honest, but it's an inside view, shaped by the wins they remember and the problems they've learned to work around. And an overall picture that looks healthy can hide one capability that isn't, the pattern I covered in An average GTM score hides the problem you actually have.
What to settle in week one
Page one of your handover file answers three questions:
- What band does the leadership team believe we're in?
- What band does the evidence support, capability by capability?
- Where the two disagree, which capability comes first?
The third question matters most. Fix the earliest capability holding the rest back, and the band moves. Start in the wrong place, and your first quarter goes on symptoms.
Tomorrow, page two: the accounts you really win.
The band you're told about is a starting point. The band the evidence shows is the handover.
Where this starts
What band have you actually inherited?
The free RepAgentic Outside-In Read reads your go-to-market from public evidence, places it on the four-band maturity scale and names the first area to fix. Add your own view in eight quick answers, and your read shows the band you'd give yourself beside the band the evidence supports. Typically within one business day.