SuiteHop, an events industry company specializing in concerts and sporting events, needed to reignite growth in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Business Challenge Summary
Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, SuiteHop found itself at a critical juncture. While the events industry company had managed to recover from the halt in business during lockdowns, its growth had slowed considerably. Founder and CEO Todd Lindenbaum recognized that the experience had left him operating in a defensive, protectionist mindset that was holding the company back from pursuing growth opportunities.
The company needed strategic marketing leadership to restart its stalled-out growth engine, but as a small business, it faced resource constraints. With no dedicated marketing leader, the existing marketing team lacked the strategic guidance to execute growth initiatives.
Todd considered several solutions. Traditional marketing agencies had proven unsuccessful in the past, as they typically focused on commission-generating activities like paid advertising without developing a deep understanding of SuiteHop’s business model. Meanwhile, hiring a full-time CMO was financially unfeasible for a company of their size.
The Fractional CMO model was the ideal option, offering access to senior-level marketing expertise without the overhead of a full-time executive. “Being able to get some of a CMO’s time and all of his expertise made the most sense,” Todd noted. This approach aligned with his goal of maintaining profitability and stability while pursuing growth.
&Marketing’s Approach
- Expert Matching Process: SuiteHop received profiles of five pre-qualified Fractional CMO candidates through a streamlined matching process. After reviewing the candidates, one Fractional CMO’s background and experience immediately resonated with Todd, and an initial conversation confirmed he was the ideal fit for SuiteHop’s needs.
- Data-Driven Strategy Development: Their new fCMO kicked off the project by analyzing their business data. Using these insights, he developed detailed recommendations that formed the foundation of an 8-12 month growth strategy. The practical approach focused on breaking complex initiatives into manageable, actionable steps.
- Strategic Planning with Implementation Support: The SuiteHop team didn’t just need high-level strategy, they needed hands-on guidance around executing that strategy. This included detailed direction for specific initiatives like their win-back campaign. The Fractional CMO’s step-by-step guidance and mentorship empowered the internal team with the confidence needed to execute strategic initiatives independently.
&Marketing made finding the perfect fractional CMO remarkably simple and fast. They saved me a huge amount of time and effort; There’s no way I could have found someone of that caliber on my own. After just one conversation with your team and one conversation with him, it was clear he was exactly what our business needed and we were off to the races. His external expertise has unlocked tremendous growth for us and we laid out a solid long-term strategy. Its been a huge ‘unlock’ for me and my business!
Todd Lindenbaum, Founder & CEO of SuiteHop
The Results
1. Strategic Realignment
A comprehensive SWOT analysis provided a fresh perspective on SuiteHop’s strengths and growth opportunities. They developed a clear, actionable roadmap focused on 2-3 key initiatives and implemented a structured growth strategy with defined execution steps.
2. Organizational Development
They successfully recruited and onboarded a new head of sales to rebuild the sales growth engine, empowered the existing marketing team through mentorship and capability building, and established clear processes for strategy execution.
3. Technology and Infrastructure
They’ve created a long-term strategy for leveraging SuiteHop’s technology platform to expand distribution channels and identified opportunities for website and backend application improvements.
4. Business Partnership Value
&Marketing’s Fractional CMO established a trusted advisory relationship beyond a traditional consulting engagement, provided strategic thought partnership for the CEO during a critical growth phase, and delivered enterprise-level CMO expertise at a scale appropriate for the company size.
