Partnership

Keep the leak closed as the company grows.

A fractional Chief Commercial Officer seat for the whole commercial organisation. We keep reading the system as your company changes shape, carry the next fix through with you, and measure each one.

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Deliverables

A standing seat for a commercial system that will not sit still.

A company that took eight months to fix its handoff between qualifying and closing opens a second region the following year, and the handoff has to be designed again for people who were not there the first time. The Diagnosis from last year describes a company that no longer exists.

A Partnership re-reads the system on an agreed cycle, makes the next fix with the people inside it, and reads each cycle against where that cycle started. It runs the system your revenue comes through, not the people in it, across marketing, sales, customer success and RevOps. The skill is built into your own leaders rather than rented.

Process

Four steps in each cycle.

Every cycle runs the same way. Each one starts from the last cycle's result rather than from zero.

  1. 1Re-readThe system as it is now
  2. 2DecideThe next fix
  3. 3Carry throughMaking the fix
  4. 4Measure and transferThe exit condition
Step 101 / 04

Re-read

The system as it is now"A diagnosis of a system that keeps changing shape goes stale."

Each cycle opens by reading your system again, against the previous cycle's result: what held, what moved, and which kind of leak is costing most at this stage rather than the last one.

What happens
  • The previous cycle's fixes checked at their check dates
  • New strain found as the company changes stage
  • The evidence carried forward, not restarted
  • The cost figure updated where the evidence has moved
OutcomeA current reading, with the last cycle's result beside it.
TimingThe opening of each cycle
Step 202 / 04

Decide

The next fix"The seat does not pick the next fix. The cost of leaving it does."

The next fix is chosen with the people inside your system, by what it costs you to leave alone, and its owner and check date are fixed before anything moves.

What happens
  • One change to the system at a time
  • Decision rights written down, including what never moves to the adviser
  • A standing agenda and an escalation rule for the cycle
  • A line to call before a decision, not after
OutcomeOne agreed fix, owned inside the company.
TimingAfter the re-read
Step 303 / 04

Carry through

Making the fix"A fix the seat makes alone leaves with the seat."

The fix is made where the cost sits, with the owner inside your company doing the work and the seat beside it rather than instead of it.

What happens
  • Help across roles, handoffs, data and who decides what
  • Coaching for the leaders who own the change
  • A standing seat at the table through the cycle
  • The same person from the first interview to the last review
OutcomeThe change running, in your hands.
TimingThe body of the cycle
Step 404 / 04

Measure and transfer

The exit condition"A partnership that cannot end has stopped being useful."

The cycle closes with its result read against where it started, what your team learned to do recorded, and the question of a next cycle asked out loud.

What happens
  • Results against the same measure the starting point used
  • Whatever is still open, and why, written into the next cycle
  • What your team can now do itself, recorded
  • The exit condition reviewed at the end of the term
OutcomeA measured cycle, and a decision about the next one.
TimingThe close of each cycle
What we look at

What one day a week holds.

The day is fixed in the calendar, so the system is read on a rhythm rather than in a crisis. Most of it is spent inside your team, not in a report about it.

  1. 01

    The operating rhythm

    The reviews of pipeline, forecast and retention, run with your leaders at a set interval.

  2. 02

    The fix in progress

    Time with the owner of the current change, on live work.

  3. 03

    Your leaders

    Coaching for the people who will run the system when the seat is no longer needed.

  4. 04

    The scorecard

    The cycle's measures read against where the cycle started, on one page.

  5. 05

    The early signs

    Resignations, sick days and rework, watched between cycles before they become the next leak.

  6. 06

    The next decision

    At the end of each cycle: what to fix next, or whether the seat is still worth its cost.

Is this for you?

For a company that keeps changing shape, with leaders who want the fix.

  • You want the system read and kept moving by one senior seat, one or two days a week
  • Each change of shape in your commercial organisation leaves tired people and redone work behind it
  • You want the fixes made with the people inside the system rather than handed over
  • You want your own leaders to end up able to do this without a seat at all

A contained problem with a known location belongs to a narrower service, and the first call says which. See the Diagnosis →

The evidence

What a gap in commercial leadership costs.

How long commercial leaders stay, how rarely a change holds while the numbers are met, and what the economics under them do meanwhile all have a number on record. A standing seat is priced against them.

  1. 01

    56%

    C-suite leaders reporting to the CEO who say they are likely to leave their role within two years; 27% within six months. A diagnosis handed to a leader who leaves goes with them.

    Gartner, survey of 200 CxOs, October 2024, press release 5 February 2025

  2. 02

    30% to 60%

    The share of managers’ time spent regulating dysfunctions and covering tasks that slid from other roles, in ISEOR’s self-analyses by several thousand directors, managers and supervisors. That is the time a seat that reads the system wins back.

    ISEOR (Savall and Zardet), Le concept de coût-valeur des activités, Sciences de Gestion n° 64, p. 69

  3. 03

    $0.69 to $1.00

    Sales and marketing spend per dollar of expansion ARR at the median, from 2022 to 2024, with the 75th percentile at $1.67: the cost of keeping and growing a customer rose by nearly half in two years, and the system that priced it is two years old.

    Benchmarkit, 2025 SaaS Performance Metrics Benchmarks, N=23, 38 and 21 by year, 2025

  4. 04

    11%

    Sales organisations that have kept driving commercial success while carrying out a transformation, after an average of four transformations in two years. Most changes cost the quarter or stall, and a seat that stays is what carries one through.

    Gartner, survey of 234 heads of sales and senior sales leaders, May to June 2024, press release 18 December 2024

What happens next

After twelve months, the scorecard decides the next cycle.

  1. 01

    Start on its own, or after Operation or Build

    On its own, the first cycle opens with a reading of the whole system, so there is a starting point before anything moves. After Operation, the seat starts from the first finding and the first fix already made, and goes straight to the next one. After Build, it starts from the written system, and keeps it read while it produces its first pattern.

    Explore Operation →

  2. 02

    Twelve months, then the result decides

    Twelve months is the minimum, so each fix reaches its check date before anyone judges the seat. What the scorecard shows at the end decides the next cycle, and nothing else does.

  3. 03

    Continue or hand over

    After the minimum, either side can end it, and each cycle starts from the last one. Where it ends, the skill built into your team is meant to make us unnecessary, not permanent.

FAQ

Partnership FAQs.

Is this a fractional Chief Commercial Officer arrangement?
Yes. It is Kihon's fractional Chief Commercial Officer engagement: a standing seat at the commercial table, one or two days a week. What sets it apart: it covers the whole commercial organisation rather than sales alone, and each cycle is measured against where it started.
How much does a Partnership cost?
Two levels: one day a week at €6,000 a month, or two days a week at €11,000 a month. The minimum is twelve months, long enough for full cycles: re-read, decide, carry through, measure. The re-read each cycle is inside the monthly fee, not added to it.
Do I need Operation first?
No. Partnership can start on its own, with a full read of the system before anything is changed, or it can follow Operation or Build. One day a week suits a company that wants the system kept read and moving; two days a week is for a company that wants the seat closer to its week.
What if we want to stop?
You can, after the twelve-month minimum, and nothing renews by default. The decision is taken on the measured result alone: if the scorecard does not justify the next cycle, the seat goes, and the last handover records what your team now does without it.
Get started

The next cycle, before the leak reopens.

Tell us where the commercial organisation is changing shape. The call says whether a Partnership is the right next step, or whether Operation alone is enough.

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