Most business transformation stories start with crisis. A company faces bankruptcy. Customers are fleeing. Competitors are winning. Leadership brings in a turnaround specialist to fix what’s broken.
This isn’t one of those stories.
WITHIN was doing fine in March 2021. The Denver-based performance branding agency worked with respectable clients, generated steady revenue, and maintained profitability. But “fine” wasn’t enough. The company wanted to move upmarket—winning Fortune 500 relationships instead of mid-market contracts, commanding $1.8 million engagements instead of $250,000 projects.
They hired Taylor Thomson to figure out how.
His title: Director of Revenue Operations and Business Development. His mission: transform how WITHIN sold, onboarded, and served clients. His timeline: no deadline specified, but executive patience wouldn’t last forever.
Three and a half years later, Thomson is Head of Finance. The transformation he engineered produced results that speak clearly: 620% increase in average annual contract values, 33 percentage point improvement in trial-to-term conversion rates, and $7.6 million in incremental annual revenue.
Here’s how he did it.
Phase 1: Discovery (Months 1-3)
Thomson spent his first three months at WITHIN doing something that might look like procrastination: listening and documenting.
He sat in on sales calls to understand how WITHIN positioned itself. He reviewed closed-won and closed-lost deals to identify patterns. He interviewed account managers about client relationships. He analyzed financial data to see where revenue actually came from versus where leadership thought it came from.
“I think the thing that’s probably been the most helpful about that background is just the ability to put together different pieces of articles I might see or information I might capture and be able to apply it in other ways,” Thomson reflects on his approach.
He discovered several disconnects.
Marketing generated leads based on campaign metrics—clicks, conversions, form fills. But many of those leads never converted to sales opportunities because they represented companies too small to afford WITHIN’s services or too large to value what WITHIN offered.
Sales pursued deals based on contract value. But they weren’t systematically screening for clients likely to renew or expand. Some closed deals looked great on booking reports but turned into high-maintenance relationships that barely broke even.
Client success operated reactively, addressing issues as they arose. But there was no systematic process for onboarding, no early warning system for identifying at-risk accounts, and no formal mechanism for identifying expansion opportunities.
Finance tracked all of this but in separate systems. Revenue reports showed bookings. Retention reports showed churn. Profitability reports showed margins. But nothing connected these to understand the full picture of how WITHIN created and captured value.
Thomson documented all of this in a memo to leadership. Not with recommendations yet—just observations about how the current system worked and where value was being lost.
Phase 2: Quick Wins (Months 4-6)
While developing his comprehensive transformation plan, Thomson needed credibility. He needed to show he could execute, not just analyze.
He started with something simple: improving how business development followed up on marketing leads. The existing process was haphazard. Leads came in through various channels. Someone would eventually reach out. Maybe. If they weren’t too busy. Without any consistent messaging or timeline.
Thomson implemented a basic cadence: leads received first contact within 24 hours, second contact 48 hours later, third contact after five days. He created email templates that business development could customize. He built a simple dashboard showing follow-up rates.
Results came quickly. Response rates improved. More leads converted to conversations. More conversations produced opportunities. The business development team appreciated having a clear process rather than making it up each time.
Thomson repeated this pattern in other areas. Small process improvements that addressed obvious inefficiencies without requiring major systems changes or organizational restructuring.
He standardized how sales documented client conversations in Salesforce. Previously, some reps took detailed notes while others barely logged activities. Thomson created templates that captured essential information consistently.
He implemented weekly pipeline reviews where sales and business development discussed opportunities together. Previously, handoffs happened informally. Now there was a forum for answering questions and sharing context.
These changes didn’t transform WITHIN’s business model. But they demonstrated Thomson could execute and built momentum for bigger initiatives.
Phase 3: Foundation Building (Months 7-12)
With credibility established, Thomson began the harder work: building infrastructure for the transformation he envisioned.
First, he needed a unified view of revenue operations. WITHIN lacked any single source of truth about how marketing, sales, and customer success connected.
Thomson built the company’s first comprehensive revenue dashboard. The tool tracked lead generation, lead qualification, opportunity creation, deal closure, onboarding completion, and client retention—all in one place.
“We developed the company’s first-ever comprehensive revenue model and dashboard, providing invaluable insights to executive leadership and supporting overall business strategy,” Thomson explains.
The dashboard revealed patterns invisible when each function reported separately. Marketing campaigns that generated impressive lead volumes produced terrible conversion rates. Sales tactics that closed deals quickly resulted in clients who churned within months. Onboarding processes that seemed efficient left clients confused about what they’d purchased.
Second, Thomson needed teams to coordinate around shared goals. He implemented Service Level Agreements across departments.
Marketing committed to delivering minimum lead volumes meeting defined quality criteria. Business development committed to follow-up timeframes and documentation standards. Sales committed to qualification criteria and handoff protocols. Client success committed to onboarding timelines and satisfaction targets.
“We implemented a series of department-wide Service Level Agreements (SLAs), fostering collaboration and communication among teams to drive efficiency and alignment,” Thomson notes.
The SLAs created accountability but also made work visible. If marketing delivered 100 leads but only 20 became opportunities, the data clarified whether lead quality was poor or follow-up was inconsistent.
Third, Thomson needed better forecasting. WITHIN’s existing approach treated revenue as somewhat mysterious. Some months were good. Some weren’t. Hard to predict. Harder to plan around.
Thomson built models connecting operational metrics to financial outcomes. If marketing generated X leads meeting Y criteria, and business development converted Z%, then sales could expect A opportunities worth B dollars with C win rate. The model wasn’t perfect, but it was better than guessing.
This foundation work took six months and produced no immediate revenue impact. But it created the infrastructure necessary for what came next.
Phase 4: Business Model Transformation (Months 13-24)
With systems in place to measure and manage performance, Thomson tackled the bigger question: how should WITHIN change its business model to move upmarket?
The challenge wasn’t just winning bigger deals. It was serving larger clients successfully. Fortune 500 companies had different needs, expectations, and decision processes than mid-market brands.
Thomson started with onboarding. WITHIN’s existing process assumed clients understood what they’d purchased and how to use it. That worked fine for experienced marketing teams. It failed spectacularly for enterprise clients buying performance branding services for the first time.
He redesigned onboarding from scratch. New clients now received detailed roadmaps showing exactly what would happen each week. Account managers followed scripts ensuring critical conversations occurred at the right moments. Regular check-ins identified problems before they became deal-breakers. Success metrics got defined collaboratively rather than assumed.
“We revamped the new-client onboarding process, resulting in a remarkable 33 percentage point increase in trial-to-term conversion rate, equating to $7.6mm in incremental revenue year-over-year,” Thomson notes.
The 33-point improvement in conversion rates came from systematic process improvement, not sales brilliance or lucky timing.
Next, Thomson changed how WITHIN positioned itself. Previously, the company marketed individual services: social media management, paid search, display advertising. Clients could buy these à la carte.
The new approach sold comprehensive programs: performance branding strategies that unified brand marketing with performance marketing across all channels. This required higher initial commitments but delivered more value and made WITHIN harder to replace.
Average contract values began climbing—not because WITHIN raised prices but because clients were buying bigger programs.
Thomson also changed targeting criteria. Instead of pursuing any company willing to spend $250,000 annually, WITHIN focused on companies spending $1 million+ on marketing annually, in specific industries where performance branding delivered measurable impact, with marketing teams sophisticated enough to appreciate the approach.
This narrower focus meant rejecting some opportunities. Sales initially resisted. Why turn away revenue? Thomson argued that mediocre clients consumed resources that could serve great clients better. The data eventually proved him right.
Phase 5: Scaling What Worked (Months 25-36)
The business model transformation succeeded. Contract values climbed. Retention improved. Profitability increased. But success created new challenges.
WITHIN needed to scale operations without losing the execution quality that drove results. More clients meant more account managers, more strategists, more operational support. Hiring and training couldn’t happen haphazardly.
Thomson built talent systems to parallel his revenue systems. He created role definitions specifying exactly what each position required. He developed training programs ensuring new hires understood processes. He implemented regular reviews so performance issues got addressed quickly.
He also built technology systems to leverage the growing team. WITHIN invested in best-in-class tools: Salesforce for CRM, Outreach for sales engagement, Pathmatics for competitive intelligence, and others.
“We have a really great tech stack,” Thomson says. “We’ve been able to invest in best in class technology to help us be more efficient.”
But the technology served process rather than replacing it. Automation handled repetitive tasks. Humans handled judgment and relationships.
Thomson also launched client satisfaction survey programs that achieved over 50% quarterly response rates—roughly triple the industry average.
“We spearhead robust client satisfaction survey initiatives, achieving an average response rate of over 50% quarterly; designed company-wide dashboards for comprehensive analysis and reporting of survey results,” Thomson explains.
The survey data fed back into operations. If clients mentioned communication issues, account managers adjusted their cadences. If services underdelivered, product teams prioritized improvements. If competitors were winning on specific capabilities, leadership evaluated whether to build, buy, or partner.
The surveys weren’t just measurement—they were continuous improvement infrastructure.
Phase 6: Leadership Transition (Months 37-42)
Thomson was promoted to Head of Revenue Strategy and Operations in January 2024. The promotion recognized his success transforming revenue operations but also positioned him for broader leadership.
He spent six months in this role before being promoted again to Head of Finance in June 2024. The rapid progression reflected WITHIN’s recognition that his capabilities extended beyond operations.
As Head of Finance, Thomson now manages company-wide P&L reporting and analytics, oversees accounting operations, develops forecasting strategies across business units, and orchestrates annual compensation planning.
“As the Head of Finance, I navigate financial forecasting, technology management, and strategic planning, fueling growth and operational excellence,” Thomson notes.
But he didn’t abandon revenue operations. His finance role incorporates those responsibilities rather than replacing them. He continues overseeing the revenue dashboard, maintaining the SLA systems, and driving client satisfaction initiatives.
This integration of finance and operations reflects Thomson’s belief that they can’t be separated. Finance can’t forecast accurately without understanding operations. Operations can’t optimize without financial visibility.
What Made This Work
Transformation stories often attribute success to vision, leadership, or culture. Thomson would point to something more mundane: systems.
He built infrastructure that made work visible, created accountability, enabled coordination, and continuously improved. The systems weren’t fancy—dashboards, SLAs, process documentation, feedback loops. But they worked.
“I navigate financial forecasting, technology management, and strategic planning, fueling growth and operational excellence,” Thomson explains. “Embracing innovation, I continually refine our processes and tools to stay ahead in a dynamic business landscape.”
The continuous refinement matters as much as initial design. Thomson didn’t implement systems and move on. He monitored what worked, identified what didn’t, and adjusted accordingly.
He also invested in capability building. While pursuing his transformation agenda, Thomson completed his MBA at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, graduating in May 2024 in the top 15% of his class.
The education happened simultaneously with execution, informing practice while practice tested theory.
Lessons for Others
Thomson’s transformation of WITHIN offers several lessons for leaders pursuing similar change.
First, invest time in discovery before committing to solutions. Thomson spent three months listening and documenting before proposing changes. That foundation ensured his recommendations addressed actual problems rather than assumed issues.
Second, build credibility through quick wins while planning bigger initiatives. Thomson’s early process improvements demonstrated execution capability and built support for more ambitious projects.
Third, create infrastructure before changing strategy. The revenue dashboard, SLAs, and forecasting models enabled the business model transformation. Without that foundation, the transformation would have failed.
Fourth, connect operations to finance explicitly. Thomson’s ability to link operational metrics to financial outcomes enabled better decision-making at all levels.
Fifth, scale systems not just headcount. As WITHIN grew, Thomson built infrastructure to leverage the growing team rather than just hiring more people to do the same work.
Sixth, continuously improve rather than treating transformation as one-time event. The client satisfaction surveys, dashboard reviews, and process refinements maintained momentum after initial changes succeeded.
What Comes Next
Thomson’s revenue operations team is expanding from three people to substantially more over the next several months. The growth will support work across enablement, technology, analytics, performance management, and operational workflows.
“We’re growing both teams, but revenue operations is a big focus of ours, and so we’re growing the revenue operations team pretty quickly over the next three to six months,” Thomson notes.
The expansion reflects WITHIN’s commitment to the systems approach Thomson pioneered. Rather than treating revenue operations as a support function, the company views it as core infrastructure deserving investment parallel to sales and marketing.
Thomson is also becoming more visible in the revenue operations community, speaking at conferences and sharing insights about what works. His growing profile positions him as a thought leader in the space, potentially expanding his influence beyond WITHIN.
But the core work remains: building systems that help organizations understand what’s happening and make better decisions about what to do next.
The results—620% increase in contract values, $7.6 million in incremental revenue, 33-point improvement in conversion rates—validate the approach. But Thomson would argue the systems matter more than the numbers. Build the right infrastructure, and results follow naturally.
That philosophy drives his work at WITHIN and increasingly informs how others think about revenue operations and finance leadership. The transformation story continues.