Client Context
A UK-registered mining technology company had built the only independent mine-site benchmarking platform in the precious metals industry. Major gold miners — several top-10 global producers — were using the platform to anonymously compare KPIs across operations, identifying cost savings and productivity opportunities. The platform had helped clients identify over $500 million in annual cost savings, with 10–20% labor cost reductions at the site level.
But the company was at a critical inflection point. The founding team had built a credible product with blue-chip clients, but lacked the commercial leadership to retain those clients systematically, expand into new mining verticals, and professionalize the business for an eventual acquisition. Revenue was concentrated in a handful of renewals. There was no formal go-to-market strategy, no sales collateral beyond the product demo, and no systematic approach to enterprise business development. The company needed a senior commercial leader — but couldn't justify a full-time CRO given its size and runway.
What We Did
— Stepped in as fractional Chief Revenue Officer with a defined mandate: protect $160K in existing annual recurring revenue, build a pipeline of $120–200K in new business, and create the commercial infrastructure required for exit readiness
— Conducted a full commercial diagnostic: mapped the customer lifecycle, identified retention risks, and assessed the competitive landscape across precious metals, base metals, and energy mining verticals
— Built the company's first structured go-to-market strategy organized around four value pillars: Credibility (industry endorsements, thought leadership), Stickiness (customer success, data depth), Appeal (new verticals, government partnerships), and Competence (team capabilities, product roadmap)
— Developed enterprise sales materials from scratch: client success stories, ROI frameworks, competitor positioning, and tailored pitch decks for tier-1 miners including presentations to Rio Tinto and other major producers
— Led the development of a communication strategy encompassing brand positioning, LinkedIn presence, website restructuring, industry event strategy, and media engagement — transforming the company from invisible to visible in the mining technology space
— Secured an endorsement letter from the World Gold Council, co-signed by four of the industry's largest producers — creating a powerful credibility asset for new client acquisition
— Identified and pursued a government co-funding opportunity through a national energy efficiency program, developing an adjacent energy benchmarking product that opened an entirely new revenue stream
— Delivered monthly high-level reports and quarterly detailed analyses, establishing the reporting discipline and KPI tracking infrastructure that institutional buyers expect in due diligence
— Built relationships with industry bodies, trade associations, and government mining departments to create a partnership ecosystem that would survive beyond the fractional engagement
Outcomes
- 100% customer retention achieved during the engagement period — no client churn despite a pandemic-disrupted market and a major competitor entering the space
- $280K in new revenue pipeline built across the core benchmarking platform and the new energy efficiency product line, representing a 75% increase over the existing revenue base
- World Gold Council endorsement secured with signatures from Agnico Eagle, IAMGOLD, Kinross Gold, and Yamana Gold — a first-of-its-kind industry validation
- Government co-funding partnership established with a national energy program, de-risking the new product line and adding institutional credibility
- Exit-ready commercial infrastructure delivered: structured sales process, client success stories, competitive positioning, financial reporting, and a documented go-to-market playbook that a potential acquirer could evaluate and scale
- Enterprise pipeline developed with two of the world's largest mining companies evaluating the platform for copper and base metals benchmarking — representing a 10x addressable market expansion
"We had the technology and the clients, but we didn't have the commercial muscle to grow or the infrastructure to sell. The fractional CRO engagement gave us both — and did it at a fraction of what a full-time hire would have cost. We went from hoping clients would renew to knowing exactly how to retain, expand, and win new business." — CEO, Mining Technology Platform