The long-awaited return of the podcast kicks off 2025 with exciting energy. Mario, the familiar voice to longtime listeners, resumes his role as host, this time joined by a new co-host, Noam. Together, they bring fresh perspectives and a renewed commitment to digging deep into the nuances of business leadership. For their first episode after a one-year hiatus, they invited a special guest: Frederic Aouad, the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) at Stay22.

Frederic introduces himself warmly as the first guest of the newly relaunched show. From the start, the focus is clear: understanding how a CRO creates alignment within an organization, especially from a revenue perspective. Frederic begins by sharing his background, setting the tone for the following rich conversation. Born and raised in Montreal, Canada, in a Lebanese immigrant family, Frederic frames his life through the lens of his roles as a husband and father of three.

A self-professed fan of combat sports like Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Judo, Frederic also studied political science purely out of passion. His career path led him from hotel sales at Starwood (now Marriott) to go-to-market leadership roles with Corporate Stays in the short-term rental sector. Eventually, in late 2019, Frederic transitioned into tech at Stay22, looking to combine his travel and hospitality expertise with evolving technology opportunities.

At Stay22, Frederic oversees all go-to-market functions, bringing a comprehensive view of aligning different teams toward shared objectives. His story lays the foundation for a deeper conversation on leadership, goal-setting, and team alignment.

Aligning Short-Term Goals with Long-Term Vision

After a light-hearted story about golf injuries that brings a sense of lightness to the conversation, the podcast dives into the complex issue of balancing short-term goals with long-term vision. This balance is critical for any organization, but Frederic explains it’s especially vital in revenue-generating. Ideally, short-term goals act as building blocks toward a bigger vision, ensuring that daily activities contribute meaningfully to the overarching objectives.

Frederic emphasizes that while natural alignment is the dream, reality often proves messier. Short-term decisions sometimes conflict with long-term strategy. Here, leadership plays a pivotal role. Leaders must identify when these misalignments occur and address them effectively. Frederic suggests that one way to promote alignment is through distributed decision-making, a concept where individuals are empowered and incentivized to make decisions that mirror the company’s intended outcomes.

Creating an environment where personal financial interests align with company goals is not just beneficial—it’s essential. If people see that their growth and economic success are tied directly to the company’s health, they are more likely to work toward common goals. Designing systems that support this alignment is a sophisticated task. Achieving practical alignment across all teams, even in straightforward business models, presents ongoing challenges. Leaders must continuously evaluate and redesign processes to create environments where everyone’s objectives flow naturally toward the company’s broader vision, from the newest hire to the C-suite.

Incentivizing Revenue Teams for Alignment at Stay22

Frederic shares how Stay22 has approached the complex task of incentivizing revenue teams to work in unison. Stay22 operates on a cost-per-acquisition (CPA) or affiliation model, meaning its revenue grows alongside its clients’ success. This creates an inherent alignment of interests—when Stay22 wins, its partners win, too. However, internal team alignment requires intentional structure.

To keep the sales team motivated and aligned, Stay22 implemented a sliding commission scale. Salespeople are assigned user acquisition targets, and their commissions rise based on their performance against those targets. Hit higher targets, and you earn more—simple and powerful. The model ensures that the focus remains on bringing in users and revenue, not just hitting arbitrary quotas. This is why sales managers should use some of these 12 training techniques to better train their sales teams and salesmen.

Importantly, Stay22 didn’t stop with the sales team. They extended similar commission structures to the marketing department, tying a portion of marketing compensation to successfully closing deals they influence. This prevents marketers from celebrating vanity metrics like lead generation alone. Instead, marketers are motivated to ensure their high-quality leads convert into real revenue.

The ultimate goal? To unify all revenue functions—marketing, sales, partnerships, and client success—under a shared set of incentives. When a deal closes successfully, both marketing and sales benefit. This creates necessary conversations about deal quality and lead nurturing, bringing both teams closer to the heart of what matters: results. By working together, these departments don’t just chase individual goals—they build a stronger, healthier company.

The CRO’s Role in Building Efficient Systems

Compensation plans, while vital, are not enough to drive alignment and performance. Frederic stresses that the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) must also create systems that guide people toward success. Employees need more than financial motivation—they need clear structures, defined expectations, and regular communication about what success looks like.

The CRO’s responsibility is twofold: first, to design incentive systems that reward the proper outcomes, and second, to make sure everyone understands how to achieve those outcomes. This includes setting up routines, establishing good habits, and promoting behaviors that lead to success. Building efficiency between sales and marketing teams is not about dictating actions but enabling intelligent decision-making through visibility and data.

Frederic highlights the importance of regularly examining data to understand what is working and what is not. Teams can identify patterns and make iterative improvements without worrying too much about causality versus correlation. For instance, Stay22 found success through a webinar series that yielded high conversion rates, prompting them to double down on that strategy.

Efficiency comes from pragmatism—lean into what works, cut what doesn’t, and be willing to test and adapt continuously. System-building is not about perfection from the outset; it’s about creating an environment where iterative learning and improvement are baked into the culture. Companies can significantly boost their conversion rates, collaboration, and overall success by continually refining the process based on real data.

Challenges in System Design: Complexity and Attribution

Building incentive systems comes with its challenges, and Frederic does not shy away from discussing them. One major pitfall is overcomplicating the system. When performance compensation plans become too intricate, they create confusion rather than clarity. Instead of motivating behavior, they muddy the waters, leading to disputes—especially around attribution.

Attribution is a classic battleground between marketing and sales. Who brought in a deal? Frederic argues that this question, while common, misses the point. When marketing and sales touch a customer, both should share credit. Proper attribution models can allocate credit fairly without wasting energy on turf wars. Ultimately, what matters is that the company is acquiring customers efficiently.

Another crucial concept Frederic introduces is feedback loops. In well-designed systems, positive feedback loops reinforce desired behaviors, while negative feedback loops discourage counterproductive actions. Recognizing and designing for these loops is critical to long-term system success.

Drawing an analogy to designing an engine, Frederic points out that systems should function smoothly without excessive complexity. Simplicity, clarity, and efficient energy use make a system robust and scalable.

Designing an effective business system borrows principles from engineering and physics: reduce friction, maximize efficiency, and build feedback loops that naturally reinforce the desired outcomes. With the right balance, teams can focus less on internal struggles and more on achieving shared victories.

The Importance of People and Adaptable Strategy in Systems

As effective as a system may be, its success ultimately rests on the people within it. Frederic underlines a crucial truth: a great system with the wrong people will still fail. This is not about individuals being good or bad—it’s about finding the right fit between the person and the system they are part of.

Energy within a system can be either positive or negative. If the wrong people occupy key roles, they can create bottlenecks, resistance, and inefficiencies. When a system becomes “overheated,” it’s the CRO’s job to cool things down. Leadership must ensure that the right individuals are in the right seats to keep the system functioning optimally.

According to Frederic, the CRO’s role is akin to that of a head coach in American football. Winning doesn’t depend solely on having the best players but on having players who work together, understand their roles, and execute within the broader strategy. Different companies and industries require different approaches. Some may need a high-powered marketing machine; others may need a relentless sales force. The CRO must understand the game their company is playing and build the right team accordingly.

Strategic flexibility is key. Even with a brilliant plan, the CRO must be willing to adapt if talent, industry dynamics, or operational realities shift. Over time, the team composition and strategies must evolve to stay aligned with the company’s goals and market opportunities. The best CROs design innovative systems and curate teams that can bring those systems to life with energy, resilience, and purpose.

Watch the full podcast episode on YouTube to hear the whole conversation with Frederic Aouad. The full interview is also available here.

You’ll find even more insights and real-world examples from a top CRO’s perspective!