Doug Shepard, Chief Revenue Officer at Bynder chats about the measurement metrics that should matter to most revenue teams in 2026 in this SalesTechStar catch-up:
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Hi Doug, what’s the best (and worst!) part of being a modern-day SaaS CRO?
My favorite part is merging cutting edge sales technology with critical thinking about deal strategy, competitive positioning, and building the greatest competitive differentiation: trust.
With the 2026 tech stack, revenue teams now have the visibility to move from reactive forecasting to predictive engineering. This does not reduce the need for sales coaching and training, instead, it frees up valuable time to focus more deeply on coaching, deal strategy, and execution. When done well, this leads to stronger performance, better collaboration, and a healthier sales culture overall.
As for the worst part, I’d say the “Agentic Noise.” The challenge isn’t the technology itself, it’s ensuring teams deploy it strategically to enhance personalization and trust rather than erode it. Managing high-scale automation that still drives high-stakes trust – is the most difficult needle to thread.
How have you handled revenue growth and cross-functional alignment (sales, marketing, CS) over the years, and what tips would you share with peers?
Alignment fails when departments have separate P&Ls and competing definitions of success. To fix this, Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success must operate under a single set of North Star metrics.
The Sales Executives are the people who build the loops between customer usage and product development. If the Customer Success team is not feeding data back to Product to reduce friction, teams are not aligned – they are simply co-existing.
What tips would you share with revenue and sales teams looking to enhance their data-driven approach in 2026?
I would avoid paralysis analysis and not let perfection stand in the way of progress.
First, install a data-first culture where CRM data quality is not treated as a tax on the selling organization, but as a critical part of its function within a fine-tuned GTM organization. Then, identify the stage of the sales process that is most impacted and deploy a targeted tool to improve the metrics in that specific area.now
Leverage the data to help you not only understand why a deal was lost, but to predict if you will lose it and identify the deal elements that you are missing. This position of strength or weakness analysis will give you time to fix those areas inside your control and alter the direction of the opportunity.
Read More: SalesTechStar Interview with Hein Hellemons, Chief Revenue Officer at Darktrace
What’s your near-term vision for scaling Bynder in 2026 and beyond?
From a CRO perspective, scaling Bynder in 2026 and beyond starts with avoiding paralysis by analysis and staying relentlessly focused on execution. Revenue teams don’t need more tools—they need better data, clearer signals, and targeted solutions that improve outcomes at specific points in the go-to-market motion.
My vision is to scale Bynder as a core part of a data-first revenue culture, where content is treated with the same discipline as CRM data. When content quality, governance, and accessibility are trusted, it stops feeling like a tax on the selling organization and becomes a true performance multiplier across sales, marketing, and customer success.
Practically, that means embedding Bynder where it drives the most impact.We help teams identify the stage of the revenue process where friction is highest – whether that’s enablement gaps, inconsistent messaging, slow deal cycles, or poor post-sale adoption. Then we deploy Bynder as a targeted solution to improve those metrics.
We’re also scaling through AI-powered, human-led execution. AI should remove manual overhead like search, tagging, and governance, freeing revenue teams to focus on strategy, personalization, and customer trust. The goal isn’t perfection; it’s progress, speed, and consistency at scale.
Ultimately, Bynder scales by helping revenue leaders simplify complexity, improve signal quality, and move faster with confidence. When content, data, and execution are aligned, growth becomes repeatable, and that’s the foundation we’re building for 2026 and beyond.
As a CRO, what measurement metrics should matter most today?
The metrics that matter most include the LTV / CAC ratio, which is the ultimate measure of business health. In addition, Net Revenue Retention is critical, as eliminating the leaky bucket is key to SaaS revenue growth. Time to value also matters—the clock starts the second the contract is signed, and if TTV is lagging, churn risk is spiking. Average selling price is another important metric, as expanding product aperture and price point drives accelerated growth. Finally, focusing on close-won percentage improvement by stage has a material impact on the overall health of the organization.
Five RevTech Tips for the C-Suite
- Identify and align on your “Single Source of Truth”. Arguing about data accuracy blurs the ability to identify trends.
- AI Powered, Human Led: Use AI to handle the volume (research, scheduling), but keep humans to lead key moments (negotiation, strategy).
- Value-Based Pricing Models: Align your revenue with your customer’s success and value that they derive from your product.
- Sales Enablement is critical: Sales Enablement is not a luxury, but a requirement for the execution of your strategy.
- Have Fun. Sales is the ultimate competition and success should be celebrated and the game enjoyed through the process.
Read More: Trust, Accuracy, And Conversion: Why Geospatial Precision Is Becoming A Core Salestech Metric
About Bynder
Bynder unifies the creation and sharing of assets to inspire teams, delight customers, and drive business outcomes. Bynder supports more than 1.7 million users across 4,000+ organizations, including Spotify, Puma, Five Guys, and Icelandair, and is recognized as a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Digital Asset Management.
About Doug
Doug Shepard is Chief Revenue Officer at Bynder, where he leads the company’s global revenue strategy to support continued growth and expansion. He brings deep experience building and scaling global revenue organizations, with a strong focus on customer outcomes, go-to-market execution, and strategic partnerships.