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Capsule CRM Case Study

Capsule

Capsule CRM

Using ScaleWise to hire a fractional demand gen leader with specific tech skills.

How ScaleWise’s fractional demand gen leader revamped Capsule CRM’s marketing tech stack, instilled a proactive customer acquisition mindset and embedded new resourcing methods.

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Business type

Customer Service Software

Solution type

Interim & Fractional

Size of commercial team

44

Company stage

Bootstrapped

Capsule is a Manchester-based software company best known for its CRM product. Launched in 2009, Capsule helps 10,000+ global SMBs stay organised, build strong customer relationships, win new business and enhance retention. Capsule CRM’s 40-strong team is set to release a new email marketing product (Transpond) in 2024.

Capsule CRM Need

With over half the internal team focused on development, Capsule CRM was primarily a product-led business driving new sales via digital inbound marketing. But, with increasing competition in the CRM space, Capsule CRM was keen to get in front of more prospects, improve organic visibility, enhance both digital inbound and outbound marketing, and start growing in a more scalable way.

 

With a small but growing marketing team, Capsule CRM sought a software marketing expert to help drive their new approach.

ScaleWise Impact

Capsule CRM CEO, Steve Ledgerwood, and Head of Marketing, Daniel Duran, reached out to ScaleWise and discussed their requirements. In particular, they wanted to keep overheads to a minimum by bringing in fractional expertise and putting more emphasis on the tech stack.
ScaleWise narrowed down Capsule CRM’s exact needs into a specific brief for a fractional demand gen leader. ScaleWise then used its network of B2B SaaS leaders to draw up a shortlist of three candidates with the required digital marketing skills. Capsule CRM interviewed each candidate and decided to hire Tom Parker as a fractional demand gen leader two days per week.
Thanks to ScaleWise’s precise matching process, ScaleWise’s fractional demand gen leader had the following impact:

1. Revamped tech stack to run marketing to prospects.

With Capsule CRM keen to improve their digital inbound and outbound marketing, Tom sourced and set up a marketing tech stack to drive Capsule CRM’s new demand gen approach. From aggregating prospect data to accurate targeting of geos and personas, the tech stack enabled Capsule CRM to run five different types of marketing campaigns concurrently, including digital outbound via email, automated prospecting via Apollo and always-on awareness campaigns based on social media interactions. Tom also incorporated AI into the demand gen function, saving the team time and providing more relevance in communications.

2. Instilled proactive customer acquisition mindset.

Tom helped Capsule CRM proactively target new customers by instilling a business-winning mindset. This involved encouraging the marketing team to try new tactics to differentiate their product in an increasingly congested CRM marketplace. For example, Capsule CRM ran its first ever webinar to engage with potential customers directly and raise brand awareness with longer-term prospects. Tom helped Capsule CRM programme the webinar (leveraging new tech solutions), plan for various personas and advised during discussions around content, retention and new business.

3. Embedded new resourcing methods.

Demand gen is not just about implementing new technology. Tom also introduced Capsule CRM to new ways of hiring talent. For instance, Tom embedded a new model of scalable recruitment consisting of outsourced SDRs (advising how to source, engage and manage the outsourced sales reps), and provided a sounding board for Capsule CRM’s Head of Marketing for new marketing ideas.

Daniel Duran

Daniel Duran

Head of Marketing, Capsule CRM

“ScaleWise gave us a better articulation of what we thought we were looking for. They got the brief spot on, provided us with three excellent, but varied, candidates and changed our mindsets about how it’s possible to scale in the future.”

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Frequently Asked Questions

Think of it as head-renting instead of head-hunting. Rather than spending time and money trying to hire a full-time leader, Interim & Fractional leadership involves hiring leaders on either a short-term or part-time basis usually to carry out a specific purpose. They are experienced senior-level operators that can be parachuted into your company on short notice to drive high-performance in particular aspects of your business.

Unlike a coach or a consultant, Interim & Fractional leaders are hands-on doers whose remit is to get stuck in and get things done. For more information, check out our: Definitive guide to Interim & Fractional Leadership.

Interim & Fractional leaders both provide flexible GTM support based on your specific needs. Interim leaders usually work full-time (4-5 days per week) for a set period of time (i.e. 4-6 months) to bridge an ‘interim’ leadership gap. Fractional leaders work a fraction of the time for a fraction of the cost, usually working between 2–4 days per week on a rolling basis. As Interim & Fractional leaders flexibly work between both roles depending on the requirement, we consider them as one leadership solution.
We’ll help you define what you need and produce a detailed role brief with realistic goals. This goes beyond a job description, capturing the specific leader profile required and clear deliverables. Then we’ll produce a shortlist of suitable candidates (based on your needs, culture and leadership style) from our wide network of experienced Interim & Fractional commercial leaders. Finally, we’ll organise interviews to ensure there’s a cultural chemistry and expertise alignment from the outset.

At ScaleWise, all our Interim & Fractional leaders have scaled at least one company (Seed to Series C) in senior GTM roles, usually at VP or C-Suite level in sales, marketing, customer success, partnerships or revenue operations (RevOps). Many have worked with other scale-ups in Interim & Fractional roles too. As such, they’re adept at quickly diagnosing issues, prioritising solutions and having an immediate impact.

Instead of joining with a wide-ranging brief, Interim & Fractional leaders focus on pre-agreed objectives. During the engagement, they will implement and execute a pre-agreed plan, so it’s crucial to agree on these objectives, deadlines and KPIs beforehand. Interim & Fractional leaders can also help interview and onboard their permanent replacement, ensuring they hit the ground running.

For example, the five most common tasks for an Interim & Fractional VP of Sales include restructuring the sales process, devising a coherent commercial strategy with company-wide buy-in, improving sales team performance and advising on sales hires (i.e. SDRs, AEs or even their full-time replacement).

Unlike full-time hiring (which can take up to 6 months), Interim & Fractional leaders are placed within 1–4 weeks and can have an immediate impact. This short time frame is possible thanks to ScaleWise’s unrivalled network of GTM leaders and the idiosyncrasies of the Interim & Fractional model (i.e. they don’t need company-wide onboarding and can dive into pre-agreed tasks straight away).

ScaleWise’s matching process vastly minimises the risk of a bad partnership. However, if the Interim & Fractional leader is not working out, it’s easy to terminate the relationship as there’s no long-term contract (you take out a month-by-month contract with ScaleWise, not the leader).

At ScaleWise, we find the reverse is usually true. Companies either hire their Interim & Fractional leader full-time (this happens in 35% of cases at ScaleWise) or they decide they no longer need support in one area (i.e. sales) and want support in another area (i.e. marketing). With ScaleWise, moving from an Interim & Fractional sales leader to an Interim & Fractional marketing leader is simple.

Interim & Fractional leaders are not hands-off consultants, but highly-experienced commercial leaders who join with a clear mandate and instantly command respect from the team due to their previous experience. Employees respond well to their ‘external’ status as it doesn’t disrupt the internal team dynamic (and avoids office politics) and enables them to objectively make swift strategic decisions (not decisions based on bias or nostalgia).

 

However, it’s important for the leadership team to support the Interim & Fractional leader and make it clear to employees that they have the authority to make changes (it helps if an internal leader introduces an Interim & Fractional leader to all the key divisions within the business at the start).

Our Interim & Fractional leaders turn into permanent employees every 1 in 3 placements. If you’re looking for a leader that will eventually transition to full-time, it’s worth being upfront about this in the matching stage.

Interim & Fractional leaders placed through ScaleWise are contracted to ScaleWise, not your company. That means we can place them quickly and easily without you needing to negotiate payment terms or waste any time setting up contracts and billing relationships with lots of different leaders. It also makes it easier to change GTM support if required (i.e. using an Interim & Fractional Customer Success leader after working with an Interim & Fractional CMO).

Unlike a coach or a consultant, Interim & Fractional leaders are hands-on doers who get stuck in and get things done. At the outset, they will agree working schedules, practices and processes with you, including days of the week, communication channels, check-ins and access to the wider team.

 

For example, a leader might work part-time (i.e. three days’ work spread out across the week to ensure responsiveness to company needs) in a hybrid capacity for a few companies concurrently. No matter the working agreement, though, it’s crucial to schedule frequent catch-ups (i.e. one hour per week) to discuss updates, barriers and progress.

Interim & Fractional leaders are scaling professionals. To get roles, they need a strong catalogue of past successes, positive case studies of their previous Interim & Fractional work, and supportive references. As such, they always commit to the role whole-heartedly.

 

Yet, more importantly, they are motivated by enjoyment. They have often chosen a portfolio career as they love taking on new challenges and sharing their insights to help companies grow, so the more fulfilling the role, the more the Interim & Fractional leader will go above and beyond.

ScaleWise has supported the portfolio companies of top-tier investors​

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