Revenue Operating Partner and Fractional CRO, Austin, Texas
For founder-led and investor-backed B2B companies up to $75M in revenue. We find what’s constraining revenue, build the sales system your team needs, and lead it until it runs without the founder in every deal.
What changes
The number the board and bank see is the number that lands.
Results stop depending on who is on the deal.
A visible 90-day view of what is coming and what is stuck.
The business can sell, and be valued, without one person carrying it.
Who we work with
Founder-led companies
CEOs and owners of established B2B companies, often in manufacturing, industrial and commercial services. They call after missed growth expectations, a leadership change or a market expansion the current sales organization cannot carry.
We take the sales leadership load off the founder and build a team that can carry the number.
Investor-backed companies
Private equity firms, family offices, portfolio-company boards and M&A advisors with a value-creation plan that depends on revenue: post-acquisition priorities, a first 100 days or preparation for an eventual exit.
We build the revenue organization and the executive-level reporting the board can trust, and leave a team that owns it.
The problems we address
Typical reasons to engage include missed growth expectations, leadership changes, post-acquisition priorities, market expansion and preparation for an eventual exit.
The CEO, a few sellers, a handful of relationships or accounts carry the number.
The board and the bank get a number; nobody is sure it will land.
Each seller works their own way. Results depend on who is on the deal.
Roles, compensation, CRM and management routines were built for a smaller company.
What must change, in what order, and someone capable of helping execute it.
How we work · Revenue Ascent™
01 · Expedition Prep
Experienced advice
Executive-level guidance to work through decisions, clarify priorities and agree on next steps. No embedded executive needed.
Clearer priorities. Better revenue decisions.
Ongoing advisory, typically a fixed monthly retainer.
Learn more
02 · Trailhead
A clear assessment and plan
A 30-day diagnostic of what is constraining revenue and what to address first, before committing to a larger solution.
Leave with clarity, not guesswork.
Fixed fee, typically 30 days. 75% in advance, 25% on completion.
Learn more
03 · Base Camp
Help putting it into practice
Design and install the sales process, CRM, scorecards, compensation, hiring profiles and management routines, alongside the team that will run them.
A repeatable system leadership can manage and sales can execute.
Defined project, typically 4 to 6 months, with a monthly retainer.
Learn more04 · Summit Push
Someone to lead sales
Embedded Fractional CRO and Revenue Operating Partner: lead the team, strengthen the organization and prepare for a permanent sales leader.
Senior revenue leadership without the commitment of a full-time CRO.
Embedded, part-time, typically 12+ months, with a monthly retainer based on scope and complexity.
Learn moreJohn E. Spencer leads every engagement. Vetted specialists in areas like CRM, compensation and recruiting are brought in when the work calls for them.
Case studies
Food serviceTexas
Double-digit revenue growth and new accounts in all five major Texas cities.
A Texas-based food service company with over 50 years of success recognized it needed outside expertise to address growing gaps in sales infrastructure and revenue. Sales leadership had been managed directly by the President, a model that was no longer sustainable for future growth.
Sales infrastructureSales team rebuildFounder-led
Read the case studyManufacturingNorth Carolina
Pipeline grew 5X in six months, gross margin rose 7 points, and the owners completed the exit they wanted.
A change in ownership and a realization that they needed an experienced sales and business leader. The company was operating from transaction to transaction without a strategy or plan.
Sales strategyExit preparationOwnership transition
Read the case studyClient results
The sales infrastructure like the weekly sales meetings, KPIs and CRM kept the Sales team focused and looking forward. John became part of our senior staff and contributed to all elements of the company given his broad experience. I recommend companies consider a Fractional or Outsourced Sales leader as the next logical step to advance the sales vertical, prior to hiring full-time.
Paul Brown
President, Mcliff, Family Office
Why John E. Spencer
John E. Spencer’s background includes more than 10 years as a U.S. Air Force officer and more than 28 years in commercial leadership across major corporations, family-owned businesses and investor-backed companies.
That experience combines the discipline of larger organizations with direct experience working alongside owners and management teams in smaller businesses. He preserves what works, challenges what needs to change and helps put the agreed plan into operation.
John works inside the business: with the CEO and management team, leading the sales organization, installing process and aligning leadership around measurable performance. Companies engage him when forecasts lack credibility, sales performance is inconsistent, or growth is constrained by founder dependence.
The result: a sales organization that hits its plan, a forecast leadership can rely on, and a business worth more because it no longer depends on one person.
ACG Austin San AntonioPresident
Powered by Sales XcelerationAdvisor
ProVisorsGroup Leader
redM AustinPresidentCertifications and partners
Tell John where revenue stands today and what the plan requires. You will leave the call knowing whether advice, a diagnostic, a build or embedded leadership is the right next step.
Sometimes you need an outside perspective. Sometimes you need hands-on help. We’ll agree on the scope, investment, and what completion looks like.
