Not every portfolio company requires a Chief Marking Officer. But, according to Chief Outsiders’ Slade Kobran, in the right situation, CMOs can make a real difference with a clear mandate and specific metrics. 

A lot of businesses can flourish for years without a formal marketing strategy. Plenty of hardscrabble entrepreneurs find the right door to knock on, and even the right message, for the moment. But eventually, as business grows, they may hit a snag. That’s often the time that private equity firms step in to offer their capital and expertise. And given that growth is key to generating returns these days, a company’s marketing becomes a crucial element.

EBITDA is not just one of our favorite acronyms in the Private Equity world, it’s the basis of value.  Purchase prices are based on EBITDA and sale prices are based on EBITDA.  Operating Partner groups and Resource groups came into existence a few years ago because PE firms recognized that they could add resources and expertise to help their portfolio companies grow EBITDA and earn a better exit.

In 2017, a record-breaking $621 billion was raised for private equity funds — and in 2018, PE firms are expected to receive approximately $750 billion in allocations from existing and new investors. As PE capital steadily increases, SME merger and acquisition activity is forecasted to follow suit; experts estimate that deal making will hit $1.6 trillion in 2018 — $200 billion higher than 2017.

Referring to Chief Outsiders as a staffing company is quite descriptive. After all, they’ve placed CMOs into over 600 companies. With an increasing number of these placements in Private Equity portfolio companies. These CMOs join client executive management teams and immediately assume the roles of the marketing leader. What’s different from most placement firms is that these CMOs are fractional, and interim. They serve multiple companies at once, and are in and out of a business, having built their engine for growth, often in less than 12 months.

In the private equity world, there’s a fairly well-established recipe for success that works in most instances – keep an existing customer base, grow new business, manage expenses, maximize revenues – and sell for a higher multiple within three to five years.