Headline
Turning a struggling GTM engine into a scalable revenue system in 6 months
Client Industry
B2B Payment Software
Engagement Period
February to July 2025
Challenge
When we were engaged, the client’s go‑to‑market functions were fragmented and under-resourced. Revenue operations across Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success had no common data model or cadence. Sales was understaffed and reactive, Marketing delivered activity without measurable pipeline impact, and Customer Success was stretched thin, juggling onboarding, support, and renewals. Customer sentiment was poor and churn was rising.
Key issues at a glance
- Disconnected RevOps and minimal reporting
- Sales team of three, no SDR, weak pipeline discipline
- Marketing limited to tactical social, no SEO or lead attribution
- Customer Success was run by two generalists with high churn and low NPS
- Weak product feedback loops and slow responses to customer‑critical issues
Objectives
- Stabilize retention and customer sentiment.
- Build a predictable pipeline and shorten sales cycles.
- Stand up a measurable GTM system that leadership can scale.
What We Did
1) Leadership and Structure
- Hired dedicated department leads for Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success to create clear ownership and cross‑functional alignment.
- Introduced a weekly operating rhythm across GTM, with dashboards and review cadences for pipeline, campaigns, and customer health.
2) Sales Transformation
- Grew the team from 3 to 5 and added an SDR function.
- Implemented CRM discipline, opportunity hygiene, and stage definitions.
- Launched weekly sales planning and daily standups.
- Introduced account-based motions with 4,000 profiled leads.
- Tightened Sales → CS handoff for faster implementations and fewer drop‑offs.
Sales quick wins
- Pipeline reporting live in week 2
- Templates and activity automations for consistent follow‑up
- Demo preparation and qualification checklists
3) Marketing Engine
- Rebuilt Marketing into a performance unit with clear roles in content, email, and social.
- Stood up tracking across campaigns and web, and optimized 60+ blogs for SEO.
- Pivoted to value-led programs that educated and converted: an industry report, webinars, and a curated HR mixer.
Flagship programs
- The Hidden Crisis industry report
- Quarterly webinar series
- HR Mixer demand-gen event
4) Customer Success System
- Restructured CS into three specialist pods: Implementation, Retention & Advocacy, and Support.
- Introduced customer segmentation by size to tailor engagement and success plans.
- Deployed an Azure ticketing stack with social integration.
- Created a CS Playbook and Book of Business with weekly reporting.
- Instituted multi‑touch feedback (NPS, CSAT, exit surveys), monthly product training, and onboarding gifts to boost adoption and advocacy.
5) Product and Engineering Alignment
- Diagnosed bottlenecks in issue resolution and roadmap fit.
- Recommended hiring an experienced, customer‑centric Head of Product and a strong Engineering Manager to instill delivery discipline and align initiatives to revenue impact.
- Proposed internal SLAs for escalations, quarterly roadmap sessions with GTM, and a focus on core usability and automation (bulk upload error handling, payroll approvals, license management).
- Outlined Command Centre enhancements for feature usage, logins, and churn‑risk signals to power proactive CS and upsell plays.
Results
Commercial outcomes
- Revenue up 54% (Mar–Jul)
- Demo volume up 65% with 48 new businesses signed
- Average deal size up 125% with a shift to higher‑value plans
- Premium plan mix up from 19% to 28%
Pipeline and demand
- 3,800+ leads generated in 4 months
- Cost per lead reduced from $50 to $2.50
- Campaign performance anchored by the industry report, webinars, and HR Mixer
Retention and customer health
- 20 at‑risk customers re‑implemented with 85% retained
- NPS improved from a deeply negative baseline with new check‑ins and surveys
- 13 expansions across 11 accounts
Operating system
- CRM adoption across GTM with reporting cadence
- ABM synced with Sales and Marketing
- Structured Sales → CS handoff reducing friction in onboarding
Before & After Snapshot (main deliverables only)
Area | Before | After |
Sales | 3‑person team, no SDR, low demo‑to‑sale conversion | 5‑person team with SDR, CRM discipline, ABM live |
Marketing | Tactical social, no SEO, no attribution | 3,800+ leads in 4 months, CPL down 95%, 60+ blogs optimized |
Customer Success | 2 generalists, reactive, rising churn, NPS deeply negative | 7‑person specialist team, 85% at‑risk retention, improving NPS |
RevOps | Minimal data and weak cadence | Weekly dashboards, defined handoffs, shared metrics |
Lessons for Operators
Retention is a revenue strategy. Fix onboarding and handoffs before scaling paid acquisition.
Structure drives outcomes. Clear ownership and operating rhythms beat heroics and ad‑hoc firefighting.
Marketing must earn its seat. Value‑led programs and tight tracking cut cost and raise quality fast.
What Comes Next
- Add two BDMs to sustain target run‑rate
- Shift to multi‑month and annual plans for stronger cash flow and retention
- Implement predictive churn analytics and lightweight automation across support
- Formalize Product–GTM quarterly planning with SLA-backed escalation paths
Services Used
- RevOps design and operating model
- Sales process build and CRM implementation
- Demand generation and content programs
- Customer Success org design and playbooks
- Product and Engineering alignment plan
Interested in similar results?
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