Every business has a gap. The question is whether you’re closing it.

Every CEO knows the numbers.

They know the revenue target they set, the forecast, and whether they’re ahead, behind, or somewhere in between.

The challenge is rarely understanding where the business stands, it’s determining what needs to happen next.

That’s where the gaps come in:

• The gap between where the business is today and where leadership expects it to be.
• The gap between the opportunity in the marketplace and the results the company is achieving.
• The gap between the strategy that helped build the company and the strategy needed to take it to the next level.

One thing we’ve learned from building a business and working alongside other business leaders is that successful CEOs rarely miss the obvious challenges. They usually know exactly where the gaps are. The harder part is deciding how to close them.

The gap isn’t always the problem you think it is

When a company realizes it has a growth gap, the instinct is usually to look for a solution quickly.

• Increase marketing spend.
• Launch a new campaign.
• Redesign the website.
• Add more sales activity.
• Explore new channels.

While these look like decisions, and sometimes can be the right ones, they’re actually just tactics. Instead of focusing on new activities, our clients have the best success when we help them do the hard thinking to solve the problem vs. address one of the symptoms. 

Here’s what this actually looks like: 

A company may believe it has a lead generation problem because revenue has plateaued. But after a closer look, the real issue is that its differentiators aren’t being communicated effectively. They’re generating opportunities, but prospects don’t clearly understand why they should choose them over competitors that appear to offer essentially the same thing.

If the response is to spend thousands more on paid advertising, it doesn’t solve the problem. It just sends more prospects into a system that isn’t converting them effectively in the first place.

Examples like this have taught us that gaps are rarely closed by doing more of the same, they’re closed by understanding what created them in the first place.

The challenge of leading while running the business

One of the realities of owning a business is that the urgent often takes priority over the important. Leaders spend their days managing customers, employees, financial decisions, operational challenges, and the unexpected issues that arise every week.

While that focus is necessary, it’s also why strategic questions can sometimes get pushed aside.

• Are we reaching the right customers?
• Is our message still relevant?
• Are sales and marketing working toward the same objectives?
• Are we investing resources in the opportunities most likely to move the business forward?

These aren’t always easy questions to answer from inside the organization. Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to see what’s become difficult to recognize.

Why companies are looking differently at marketing leadership

Over the past several years, I’ve seen more companies rethink what marketing leadership looks like.

They don’t always need another full-time executive, or even necessarily more marketing activity. What they need is experience, perspective, and strategic guidance.

That is where a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer can make a meaningful difference.

A Fractional CMO works with leadership teams to understand business objectives, evaluate market opportunities, identify obstacles, and create a marketing strategy aligned with growth goals.

It goes beyond just managing campaigns and updating dashboards, the role helps answer bigger questions:

• Where is the opportunity?
• What is standing in the way?
• Which investments are most likely to create measurable results?
• How do marketing and sales work together more effectively?

And the value? That comes from helping leadership make better decisions.

A different kind of marketing partnership

At BroadBased, our Fractional CMO services are built around a simple belief: marketing should begin with understanding the business challenge. 

I understand the questions business owners face because I’ve faced many of them myself.

Growth is rarely a straight line. Markets change and customer expectations shift. The strategies that helped a company succeed in one chapter may not be the same strategies that will carry it into the next.

Closing a gap requires more than additional effort.

It requires perspective.

Every business has a gap between where it is today and where it wants to be. The companies that successfully navigate that gap are the ones willing to ask the harder questions, challenge assumptions, and make strategic decisions before the opportunity passes.

The question is not whether your business has a gap, it’s whether you have the right strategy and leadership in place to close it.