Case Study: Ready Credit Builds Foundation for Growth with Disciplined Chief Outsiders Approach

“Chris and Chief Outsiders put in place the process that allows us to get to market much quicker than before. It's money well spent to bring in a person with experience who builds confidence and spends the time to understand your business.”

Brian Hedberg, CEO, Ready Credit Corporation

Ready Credit eliminates cash handling while still accommodating cash-paying customers. Following a private equity acquisition, company leadership sought marketing expertise to take the business to the next level. Recommended by the new PE owners, Chief Outsiders Fractional CMO, Chris Wallner, used market insights to develop a repeatable go-to-market process to enable expansion into new verticals. Execution of the process while monitoring marketing’s top 10 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) put the company on track for sustainable growth and increased valuation in less than a year.

Background

Removing the Cost of Cash

Ready Credit Corporation helps businesses that accept cash by removing the cost of managing it. Hence, all their customers can have the same positive experience.

“We spent an enormous amount of time developing a patented process for instantly and anonymously issuing a prepaid card from a self-service device,” related Brian Hedberg, CEO, Ready Credit. “We created an experience that customers want to repeat and differentiates us from others in the business.”

Focused Marketing Effort Needed

However, focusing on the consumer experience came at the expense of developing a strong marketing presence to drive business through the sales funnel. “We were bringing together several different vendors, but weren't orchestrating them very well,” reported Hedberg.

Ready Credit needed someone to be decisive about the focused go-to-market strategy the company needed and to put together a robust website to drive qualified marketing leads.

PE Firm Taps Chief Outsiders

When Clarion Capital Partners acquired Ready Credit two years ago, they identified that it would be opportune to bring in an organization like Chief Outsiders. The right resources could help develop go-to-market plans, build a robust website, and position Ready Credit as thought leaders in the industry.

Clarion Capital had experience with Chief Outsiders and Fractional CMO, Chris Wallner. “They were looking for someone with fintech familiarity who understood their business,” stated Wallner. “I used my experience and track record to demonstrate how I would deliver results to grow their business.”

“Chris had the right blend of confidence and emotional IQ,” related Hedberg. “He spent time understanding the organization first and then was very decisive about the process and the strategy and how we were going to move forward.”

Growth Strategy

Collecting Insights

Soon after the Clarion Capital acquisition, Wallner started working with Ready Credit leadership. He visited the company several times and participated in day-to-day activities. Employing a hands-on approach, he collected insights by interviewing customers and evaluating the competition.

He spent the first few months getting to know the people and culture and understanding the mission and vision of the company. “He endeared himself to the organization,” reported Hedberg. “Involved in every meeting, I relied on his feedback on the temperature of the culture as we made changes to our marketing plan.”

Hundred Day Plan

Prior to Wallner’s arrival, the initial verticals the company wanted to pursue had been identified. “Then we had to create an approach that we could duplicate from one vertical to the next,” explained Wallner. “It was a very collaborative, open, and courageous team, including the board.”

Wallner prepared a hundred-day plan that he presented to the board, including:

Q1 Key Initiatives

• Hire a Digital Marketing Manager
• Digital Marketing Audit
• Marketing Calendar
• Publish Content and Create Campaigns for New Verticals
• Marketing and sales automation system to replace Salesforce

Q2 Focus

• Launch Campaigns for New Verticals
• Publish Top 10 Marketing KPIs Monthly
• Test and Optimize Channels, Campaigns, Videos, Webinars, etc.
• Start Website Relaunch
• Prioritize Marketing Tactics
• Set Agency Marketing Sprint

“Chris brought confidence to the process of building a marketing strategy and plan,” related Hedberg. “Then he put together a very detailed process for us to go to market with any one of the verticals that we wanted to attack for new business.”

Visibility and Accountability

A key step in the plan was to identify KPIs to measure Ready Credit’s success with the processes. “I liked that he didn't spend time identifying the widest variety of KPIs,” said Hedberg. “He focused on those that identified what was working and what was not.”

Hedberg reported mostly smooth sailing. “Chris understood how the business was functioning from a cultural standpoint,” he said. “But he also brought the confidence from working with other organizations to know what needed to be done.”

Ready Credit originally targeted airlines and had great success with additional verticals. The one page matrix below was used to clearly lay out the steps to success:

“The discipline that went with preparing a good marketing plan helped the staff and added structure to the marketing effort for pursuing different verticals,” reported Wallner. “This is a very organized approach for how to take on those verticals.”

New Website

Wallner, set the plan with leadership and the new digital marketing agency to move Ready Credit’s three websites to a single new website designed with a clear strategic intent to engage visitors, showcase the brand’s value proposition, and drive conversions. The new website provides an immersive and informative experience, guiding users through the buyer’s journey, encouraging them to act.

Results

Ready to Scale

With the strength of its leadership team, Ready Credit is positioned well to scale. “Chief Outsiders’ contributions to the marketing, go-to-market plans, and the website have put them on track for growth,” reported Wallner. “We put their trajectory on track to deliver results and to improve future company valuation.”

Ready Credit’s EOY goals anticipated a significant increase in Marketing Qualified Leads and Sales Qualified Leads per month.

“Thanks to the support of Chief Outsiders and the work that Chris did helping us to focus on our marketing efforts, the company is now doing very well,” related Hedberg. “Our time with Chief Outsiders was extremely helpful and beneficial.”

Process Culture Established

Wallner’s work left an indelible mark. “Chris established a marketing process culture to grow our business,” related Hedberg. “He set up how we go to market, down to the detailed diagrams and steps that helped us open new channels and emerging payments.”

“And to do all that in a very succinct way was extremely important for us,” he continued. “You want timely results and to establish processes and procedures that withstand the test of time and are embraced by your business.”

“It has been incredibly rewarding for me to see that we're able to evolve our company. The engagement with Chief Outsiders has been tremendous. For the first time as an organization, we have a robust website.”

KPIs = Clear Communication

Identifying the top marketing KPIs brought transparency to marketing performance, simplified communication, and brought accountability to the sales force and marketing agency. “You know what's working and what's not,” Wallner explained.

The 10 KPIs dashboard showed color-coded results for:

• Content Delivery
• Website Sessions
• PPC Metrics
• Marketing Qualified Leads
• Sales Qualified Leads

“This concise list of KPIs track how successful the firm is in pursuing the verticals they target and what the runway looks like going forward,” explained Wallner. “I can pull it up and the CEO, leadership team and board can quickly see if we’re doing better or worse. That's clear communication.”

A Disciplined Approach

A disciplined marketing approach requires understanding where the opportunities are and having a process to pick and optimize the tools. “You can't do it all,” stated Wallner. “You must choose carefully the things that will have the highest impact and deliver them at the right time.”

“Before, there were random acts of marketing and sales,” reported Wallner. “We left Ready Credit with a marketing strategy and plan that delivers carefully choreographed marketing activities that build on one another and drive sales.”

“I would like to recognize the tremendous impact that Chris Wallner has had,” said Hedberg in a statement to the board. “In less than one year, he has guided us to think differently about how we go to market and crafted a digital marketing program that elevates our presence.”