Inside the CFO and CRO Partnership Powering Growth at Planet DDS
This article was originally published on CFO.com with highlights republished on Planet DDS.
Chief financial officers and chief revenue officers can, at times, find themselves in seemingly contradictory positions: A CFO’s mandate to balance the books may sometimes be at odds with the CRO’s impulse to invest in new initiatives in the hopes of boosting sales farther down the road. At Planet DDS, CFO Stephen Fong and CRO Mike Huffaker have found a different rhythm. They’ve built a true partnership grounded in trust, transparency, and collaboration.
“There can be tension between the CFO and the CRO role within an organization. But Stephen and I view it as an opportunity to pressure-test ideas. Maybe because we’re both first-time in our roles, we don’t come with preconceived notions about that tension or how we should be operating. We really seek to find ways to collaborate and work together.” —Mike Huffaker, CRO at Planet DDS
Aligning Data, Strategy, and Growth
As Fong sees it, the most natural area for partnership between the CFO and the CRO is in financial planning and analysis. The pair meet at least monthly, going over things like revenue targets, hiring and headcount. “It does help that Mike is extremely analytical,” Fong noted, adding that Huffaker’s team has a “very business-owner mindset.” Any disagreements that come up largely have to do with timing, the two executives said. But the two aim for crossover through clear data and reporting, they said. That recently came to fruition in a plan to increase headcount on the account management team, for instance.
“We have a shared taxonomy of how we define things and how we look at things.” —Stephen Fong, CFO at Planet DDS
A Shared Vision for the Future
The Planet DDS primary customer base is multi-location dental groups and dental support organizations (DSOs). Since Huffaker signed on with the company in 2019, it’s grown from about 60 employees to 370 people today and increased revenue tenfold. Founded in 2003, the company this year crossed the $100 million mark in annual recurring revenue, Fong said. And he expects more growth in the years ahead, albeit perhaps at a slower rate than in the past. Wherever the company goes in the future, Fong and Huffaker said they aim to move forward in lockstep.
“We have very frank conversations about how things are going and where to invest. I think it tends to make decision-making and progress really smooth.” —Stephen Fong, CFO at Planet DDS
“The way I think about it is alignment, accountability, and autonomy in how we work together, leading the financial side of things.” —Mike Huffaker, CRO at Planet DDS
Turn Partnership into Performance
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