Case study · a PE-backed industrials platform

from cost center to revenue engine

How a PE-backed industrials platform turned a flat, cost-center marketing function into a revenue engine that beat its entire prior year in three and a half months.

+951% closed-won revenue, YoY
5.0× blended marketing ROI
marketing-qualified leads
−71% cost per lead

The situation

the exit was in sight. the growth wasn't.

A strong platform late in its hold, with the exit in sight. But organic growth had stalled and the value-creation plan still needed more. Marketing ran as a cost center, generating volume that never converted, so the qualified pipeline that should have carried the company to its exit number simply wasn't there.

WHAT WE WALKED INTO

0.89×marketing ROI
stallingorganic growth
thinqualified pipeline
at riskthe exit number

What we did

we ran the full commercial engine.

Not a strategy. Operators inside the business, owning every lever that moves revenue, multiplied by AI.

MARKETING

rebuilt demand from scratch

Fixed channel mix and ROI, killed the waste, and pointed every dollar at pipeline that converts. Blended marketing ROI went from 0.89× to 5.0×, and qualified leads doubled.

SALES

doubled quote-to-close

Deal volume nearly quadrupled in the quarter.

PRICING

repriced for value

Average contract value rose 167% as we repriced and repackaged for value.

AI

automated the busywork

AI handled lead scoring, routing, and reporting, so the team spent its time selling. Cost per lead fell 71% while volume rose 86%.

REPORTING

reconciled to the deal model

Every lever reported live against the plan the deal was underwritten on, so the sponsor always saw the truth.

The results

the entire prior year, beaten in 3.5 months.

Q1 2026 versus Q1 2025, every commercial metric up and to the right.

Closed-won revenue+951%
Marketing-qualified leads2× (doubled)
Deals won+294%
Avg contract value+167%
Cost per lead−71%
Blended marketing ROI0.89× → 5.0×

REVENUE · FULL-YEAR 2025 VS 2026 YTD

prior full year all of 2025 2026 · 3.5 mo

The full year, matched in three and a half months. And still compounding.

Not the market

this wasn't a rising tide.

Same company, same product, same market it had the year before. The only thing that changed was who owned the commercial engine.

reconciled to the deal model

Every result tied back to the plan the deal was underwritten on, not a vanity metric we picked after the fact.

no new tailwind

No price hike, no new product, no market re-rating. The same inputs, run through a real growth engine.

owned and instrumented

Each lever was run by our team and measured live, so the gains trace directly to the work, not to luck.

What's next

and the pipeline is still converting.

Qualified leads doubled, and on long enterprise sales cycles much of that pipeline is still working its way to closed-won. The company is on track to hit its exit targets, with growth set to keep compounding into next year.

your portfolio company could be the next one.

Tell us where the deal is and where growth needs to be. We'll show you the plan to close the gap.

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