CRO & CSO Services Case Study
sales-i
sales-i Needed a Fractional CRO/CSO
How sales-i realigned its strategy, rebuilt its pipeline, and secured a successful exit.
“Bruce’s leadership helped transform our company in a single year.”
– Founder, sales-i
Overview
sales-i is a SaaS tool that analyzes hard-to-reach data and turns it into opportunities to upsell, cross-sell to exactly the right person. Designed for high-volume B2B sales teams, the platform enables more insight-led conversations by transforming raw data into actionable intelligence. But despite a strong value proposition, growth had hit a plateau. Revenue was stagnant, customer attrition was high, and the company was struggling to shake off the perception that it was only an SMB player.
Challenges
While the sales and customer success stats were trending down, specific performance issues were apparent:
- Monthly recurring revenue (MRR) per deal averaged just $800.
- Conversion rates from BDR outreach to qualified opportunities were underwhelming.
- Customer satisfaction suffered due to the absence of a formal customer success team.
- Attrition rates were climbing, reaching 18%.
The company needed a reset. Not just operationally, but from the top as the company lacked the experienced revenue leadership needed to reposition and scale effectively.
Goals
With pressure mounting, the company identified three immediate priorities:
- Increase average deal size by reframing the company’s market perception with larger customers and strategic partners.
- Build a structured customer success function to improve retention and satisfaction.
- Improve sales efficiency.
Solutions
To address these challenges, sales-i brought on Bruce Kopkin, a TechCXO Partner and Fractional CRO/CSO, as interim General Manager for a one-year engagement. Reporting directly to the CEO and updating the board monthly, Bruce focused on operationalizing growth, aligning sales strategy with enterprise expectations, and creating long-term value.
Bruce’s key actions included:
- Repositioning the platform as an enterprise-ready sales tool with a sharper focus on strategic value for larger clients.
- Hiring the company’s first Customer Success Manager and establishing policies to drive satisfaction, engagement, and renewals.
- Expanding the partner ecosystem, including a key alliance with SugarCRM.
As a fractional GM, Bruce applied an enterprise lens to reposition the company, prioritize client retention, and rebuild its growth engine. He also expanded the company’s go-to-market footprint through new channel partnerships.
As interim General Manager, Bruce Kopkin brought a systems-based approach to revenue that realigned sales, customer success, and go-to-market strategy. His leadership repositioned the business, rebuilt pipeline performance, and laid the foundation for a strategic acquisition.
Partner, Fractional CRO & CSO
Bruce served as the lead TechCXO revenue executive, aligning sales, marketing, and customer success to reposition sales-i, drive enterprise growth, and enable a successful acquisition.
Outcome
The impact of his embedded engagement was both immediate and transformative:
- The average MRR grew from $800 to $7,200, with one deal closing at $100,000 MRR.
- A renewed customer focus led to 100% client renewals and 112% net revenue retention (NRR)
- Overall revenue growth surged to 220% year-over-year.
The efforts didn’t just improve metrics, but completely repositioned sales-i in the market in under a year. And perhaps most validating of all, the platform caught the attention of strategic partners, including SugarCRM, who ultimately acquired the company.
Position redefined
sales-i shifted from a transactional sales tool to an enterprise-ready platform. With strategic repositioning, improved messaging, and new channel partnerships, the company reintroduced itself to the market and changed the conversation.
Retention reclaimed
By establishing a formal customer success function and prioritizing satisfaction, sales-i went from 18% attrition to 100% renewals and 112% net revenue retention, laying the groundwork for sustained growth and acquisition.
“Bruce’s leadership transformed our company in a single year into an enterprise player with 220% YoY revenue growth, and positioned us for a long-desired acquisition.”
- Founder sales-i
