Who Owns Customer-Led Growth (CLG) Inside an Organization?
Learn who should own customer-led growth, how CLG aligns marketing, sales, and customer success, and what governance keeps teams focused on revenue.
Inside most B2B organizations, customer-led growth is owned by a named executive sponsor (commonly the Chief Customer Officer, Chief Revenue Officer, or CMO) and governed through a cross-functional CLG council. Marketing typically owns the CLG strategy and programs, Customer Success owns adoption, health, and expansion motions, Sales owns opportunity execution, and RevOps owns data, orchestration, and measurement. No single team “does” all of CLG—the executive owner is accountable for outcomes, operating model, and cross-functional alignment.
What Does It Mean to Own CLG?
The CLG Ownership Playbook
Use this sequence to decide who owns CLG, align teams around the customer lifecycle, and keep everyone focused on measurable revenue outcomes.
Define → Assign → Align → Operationalize → Measure → Refine
- Define CLG for your business: Decide whether CLG focuses on retention, expansion, or full-lifecycle growth and how it connects to your revenue strategy.
- Assign an executive CLG owner: Pick the leader who can best span marketing, sales, and CS (often CCO/CRO) and give them clear NRR and growth targets.
- Stand up a CLG council: Bring together leaders from Marketing, Sales, CS, Product, and RevOps to co-own roadmap, budget, and prioritization.
- Map lifecycle ownership: For each stage—Acquire, Onboard, Adopt, Expand, Advocate—document who leads, who supports, and what success looks like.
- Operationalize CLG programs: Build plays for renewals, expansion, advocacy, and recovery; align campaigns, outreach, and CS motions to those plays.
- Measure and optimize: Create a single CLG dashboard that tracks NRR, product adoption, expansion pipeline, and advocacy; test and iterate monthly.
- Refine governance over time: Adjust ownership as you scale, adding dedicated CLG roles (e.g., VP of Customer Growth) when complexity demands it.
Customer-Led Growth Ownership Matrix
| Capability | From (Ad Hoc) | To (Operationalized) | Primary Owner | Primary KPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLG Strategy & Governance | No named CLG owner; projects driven by urgency | Executive CLG sponsor with a formal council and charter | CCO / CRO / CMO | Net Revenue Retention (NRR) |
| Customer Insight & Segmentation | Isolated NPS, usage, and deal data | Unified view of segments, value, health, and propensity to grow | RevOps / Analytics | Coverage of actionable customer segments |
| Lifecycle Programs | Random campaigns and 1:1 outreach | Designed programs for onboarding, adoption, expansion, and advocacy | Marketing & Customer Success | Activation rate · Expansion revenue |
| CLG Measurement & Dashboards | Multiple dashboards; conflicting numbers | Single CLG dashboard tied to board-level metrics | RevOps | Dashboard adoption by leaders |
| Product Feedback & Roadmap Influence | Anecdotal feedback, lost in tickets | Structured loops from CS and Sales into product roadmap | Product Management | Revenue tied to CLG-informed features |
| Advocacy & Community | Ad hoc references and reviews | Managed advocate program with stories, referrals, and communities | Marketing / CS | Advocates · References · Referrals |
Client Snapshot: Clarifying Ownership to Accelerate Revenue
A global B2B provider created a CLG council led by the CCO, with Marketing, Sales, CS, Product, and RevOps sharing one revenue scorecard. Within a year, they saw double-digit NRR improvement and more predictable expansion pipeline. Their shift mirrors the revenue marketing transformation seen in our Comcast Business case study and the maturity patterns reflected in the Revenue Marketing Index.
When you treat CLG as a governed operating model—not a side project—you can align teams around the customer, tie programs directly to revenue, and mature your revenue marketing capabilities quarter over quarter.
Frequently Asked Questions About CLG Ownership
Turn Customer-Led Growth Into a Revenue System
Clarify CLG ownership, align your teams around the customer lifecycle, and measure what really drives net revenue retention.
Take the Revenue Marketing Assessment (RM6) Benchmark with the Revenue Marketing Index