Pandell: from 10% growth
to an acquisition-ready business

The Challenge

Pandell was not a struggling startup. Profitable, privately held, and built without a venture round, it had a proven land and financial SaaS platform, more than 500 energy company clients across Canada, the USA and abroad, and a team of 150. What it had was a ceiling: revenue growth had settled at roughly 10% a year, and President and CEO Greg Chudiak wanted 30%.

The gap was not ambition. It was knowing which changes would actually close it. "We wanted to set ourselves up to push revenue growth towards 30%," Greg explains. "We knew that meant reviewing our systems, how we approached the marketing and sales process, and how we scaled the team. But the question was — how? We didn't know what we didn't know."

The company had already started using its sales and marketing data to improve processes and set goals. What it lacked was confidence that it was measuring the right things. "But we weren't sure if we were on the right track. Are we tracking the right things? Do we have the right stages in the marketing and sales cycles? What should we prioritize? When?"

Why Fractional, Not Another Consultant

Greg valued an outside perspective, but previous consulting engagements had been a poor return. "We'd worked with multiple marketing consultants, but those engagements weren't very successful," says Greg. "We had to spend so much time educating them, and they didn't provide much detailed information back to us."

Pandell needed someone with real B2B SaaS operating background who could move at pace, build a scalable process with defensible metrics across the whole sales and marketing cycle, and — critically — align and mobilize teams across the organization rather than hand over a deck.

On an advisor's recommendation, Pandell engaged Michael Gaudet, Principal of Eighty Twenty CMO, for a 12-week engagement. "What initially stood out was his software industry experience and the marketing analytics associated with it," Greg explains. "To not only operate in strategy but also guide execution takes detailed knowledge. That made it easier to buy in."

What Was Done

Discovery, then a plan with owners and dates

Michael started by getting under the skin of Pandell's business and revenue goals — time with Greg on corporate strategic direction, goals and existing resources across people, process and technology, then discovery conversations with team leads across design, sales and marketing. That became a high-level plan, broken down into the milestones to hit, the timelines for each, the tasks that would drive them, and the stakeholders to involve.

A CRM consolidated for scale

Pandell had long run a homegrown CRM alongside a third-party marketing system. Rather than dismiss the in-house solution, Michael ran an objective needs assessment around reporting and scalability. "Mike made a key recommendation to consolidate that into a full CRM solution," says Greg. "We now have a roadmap to implement that will bring our Directors and reps current performance information and, for myself, the ability to put together stronger forecasts."

A revenue forecast built from the bottom up

One of the larger wins was pairing a top-down forecast with a detailed bottom-up model built on Pandell's real numbers — a baseline forecast, then an optimized forecast showing what was achievable if specific sales and marketing hires and system improvements were made.

"That's a key tool for me as a business executive who owns the revenue side and commits to it, making sure our shareholders and advisors understand that we accomplished what we said we would," says Greg. "We can gauge things from a high level and then determine how to drive the results we need."

Teams rebuilt around ARR

• Roles and structure reassessed — where current team members added value, where the gaps were, and what the shape of sales, marketing and client services needed to become for rapid scaling.
• Leaders levelled up — Michael worked with each lead to think in ARR terms and apply practices from leading B2B SaaS organizations, so the work would continue after the engagement ended.
• Pipeline stages defined end-to-end — definitions, criteria and clear owners for each stage, so performance could be measured rather than estimated.

"Mike worked with each of the leads to think in a more ARR-centric way and leverage the best practices from leading B2B SaaS organizations," says Greg. "He inspired them to feel empowered as true drivers of revenue, rather than operating as siloed support functions."

The Result

In 12 weeks Pandell got a clear read on where it actually stood, the specific improvements that would deliver the growth it wanted, and a sequenced route to get there. With a metric-driven mindset embedded across the team and a consolidated CRM on the roadmap, Greg estimated the business would double or triple revenue over the following two to three years.

The operating change was as significant as the plan. "When the plan's in place, I'll be able to step back from a lot of the day-to-day and really look at things from a high-level metrics perspective," says Greg. "Understanding sales and marketing better has helped me become a much better President and CEO."

Pandell was subsequently acquired by ESG Global.

In Their Own Words

"Mike was a great investment for us and delivered more than I was expecting. Because he was so good at building relationships and held our people accountable for their deliverables, he got so much done."

"Mike brings a fresh pair of eyes and true industry experience, which is hugely valuable. You meet lots of guys who are good strategic thinkers and can help you at a high level, but Mike couples strategic thinking with much more detailed knowledge and experience."

"That blueprint is gold for me. I now know what we need to do, and how to get there."