Fractional CRO & GTM Strategy
Referb works with B2B SaaS companies and professional services firms that have done everything right and still can't explain why growth has slowed. We find the disconnect and build the GTM infrastructure to move the business forward.
Who This Is For
Startups & PE-Backed Companies
Either you outgrew the GTM that got you here or you never really had one to begin with. Marketing, sales, and product are all doing their own thing and nobody is connecting the dots. That's the problem Referb fixes.
Professional Services Firms
The service is solid, the team can handle more volume, but the pipeline is unpredictable and nobody can clearly articulate who you serve or why you're different. You don't have a delivery problem. You have a growth infrastructure problem.
The Methodology
Most diagnostics look at one layer. A sales consultant looks at your pipeline. A marketing agency looks at your funnel. A product consultant looks at your roadmap. None of them are looking at how those three things talk to each other — which is almost always where the actual breakdown is.
Layer 01
Product-Market Fit
Is what you're selling actually solving the problem your buyers have? Are you positioned for the buyer who's easiest to close or the buyer who stays longest?
Layer 02
Messaging & ICP
Does your messaging describe outcomes buyers actually care about? Do marketing, sales, and product use the same language to describe who you're for and what you do?
Layer 03
Sales Process & Handoffs
Where does the deal slow down or fall apart? Who owns the handoff between marketing and sales? Between sales and success? That gap is usually where the revenue is leaking.
How We Work
What This Work Drives
These numbers come from real engagements — B2B SaaS companies and professional services firms where the revenue system was misaligned and the fix was building the infrastructure to connect it.
200%
Average YoY growth across seven engagements by aligning sales, product, and marketing around shared metrics
25%
Reduction in customer churn across three engagements by redesigning onboarding to deliver measurable value immediately
40%
Improvement in enterprise deal win rates by rebuilding messaging frameworks around business outcomes
35%
Increase in ARPU by implementing pricing models based on actual customer behavior
About Lakshmia Marie
I look at the full system because that's where the actual problem almost always lives. I've sat in most of the seats at the revenue table — product, marketing, revenue leadership across seven companies. That's not a resume flex. It's why I can see the disconnects that specialists miss.
Read the full story →"Revenue is coming in but you can't scale what you can't explain. I find where the system is broken and show you exactly how to fix it."
About
The first thing I notice when I walk into a room is never the data. It's the energy. I can feel the tension between stakeholders before anyone says a word. I can hear when two people are saying the exact same thing in completely different languages and neither of them realizes it. I can sense when something has been broken for a long time — not because anyone tells me, but because the silence around it is too practiced. The workarounds are too automatic. The frustration is too familiar.
The first thing I notice when I walk into a room is never the data. It's the energy. I can feel the tension between stakeholders before anyone says a word. I can hear when two people are saying the exact same thing in completely different languages and neither of them realizes it. I can sense when something has been broken for a long time — not because anyone tells me, but because the silence around it is too practiced. The workarounds are too automatic. The frustration is too familiar.
I can feel the tension between stakeholders before anyone says a word. I can hear when two people are saying the exact same thing in completely different languages and neither of them realizes it. I can sense when something has been broken for a long time — not because anyone tells me, but because the silence around it is too practiced. The workarounds are too automatic. The frustration is too familiar.That's not a skill I learned from a playbook. It's something I developed over years of sitting in almost every seat at the revenue table — product manager for an AI cybersecurity platform, product manager for a consumer mobile app, marketing across B2B SaaS and B2C campaigns, revenue leadership across seven companies. I've been the person in the room whose ideas didn't move until the title changed. I've watched the same thinking get dismissed as an employee and acted on immediately as a consultant. The information never changed. The structure around it did.
That observation became the foundation of Referb.
Most companies treat revenue like a sales problem. Hire the right closers, hit the number, move on. What that misses is that revenue is a systems problem. It lives in the space between marketing, product, and sales — in how those three functions talk to each other, hand off to each other, and hold each other accountable. When that system is broken, no amount of sales activity fixes it.
I learned this early. Before Referb, I ran a digital marketing agency for three years. Clients came in asking for social media management. What I kept finding was that they didn't have a functioning website, an email marketing plan, or a real fulfillment process. They believed that posts would produce sales. They couldn't — not without the infrastructure underneath them.
I also watched companies launch with incomplete products and insufficient support, win clients on promise, and then lose them when the reality didn't match. Then wonder why retention was suffering and new clients were harder to close. The answer was never mysterious. Companies are run by humans and they sell to humans. People remember how they were treated. They notice when a product improves only after they leave. They talk.
The pattern was always the same. It was never really a marketing problem or a sales problem. It was a foundation problem that showed up as one. Referb exists because someone needed to sit at the intersection of all three functions and tell the truth about what's actually broken.
What I almost always find underneath the tension is not a strategy problem. It's a communication and infrastructure problem. No shared process. No written handoffs. No agreed-upon definitions of who owns what. Just people who are smart and well-intentioned operating in a system that was never built to scale what they're trying to scale.
When I name what's in the room, one of three things happens. Some people push back — and that's fine, because the pushback usually points directly at what needs to move first. Some people go quiet — because hearing the truth out loud after carrying it alone for months takes a second to land. And some people exhale — because they've been waiting for someone to say it.
What I want every client to walk away knowing is that this problem is not unique to them. It's not a sign that they built something broken. It's almost always fixable — with communication, planning, real listening, and implementation that happens over time with the right guidance. That's not a consolation. That's the actual diagnosis. And it's the reason this work is worth doing.
I don't hand off a deck and disappear. I stay in the room until your team understands the how and the why well enough to run without me. That's the whole point.
I'm based in Chicago and deeply active in my community. When I'm not in the middle of a GTM audit or a leadership session, you can find me traveling somewhere new, hunting down a great meal, shopping, staying active, or unwinding with a cozy game. I'm also a proud dog mom.
If something on this page felt like it was written about your business, it probably was. That's the point.
Work With Me
I work with a small number of companies at a time. Before we talk about which offer makes sense, we talk about your situation. What's actually happening, what you've already tried, and what you most need to move. The right fit becomes clear from that conversation — not from a menu.
Not sure where to start? That's exactly what the first conversation is for.
30 minutes. No pitch. No pressure. Just an honest look at your situation.
This work is right for you if
This work is not right for you if
How we can work together
01 — Diagnose
A diagnostic across the full revenue system — product-market fit, messaging, ICP, and sales process. You walk away with a written report and a live readout with your leadership team. Not a list of everything that's wrong. A clear diagnosis of what's actually driving the revenue problem and what needs to move first.
02 — Align
A focused in-person session with your full leadership team. Diagnostic and directional. For companies that haven't done the audit yet and need a clear direction fast. The first half surfaces where the stories diverge and where the system is actually breaking down. The second half builds a prioritized plan in the room. Investment varies based on location and scope — discussed in the first conversation.
A focused in-person session with your full leadership team. Implementation and alignment focused. For companies that have already completed the GTM Audit and need to turn findings into action. The session resolves the internal disagreements the written report surfaced but couldn't fix on its own. Investment varies based on location and scope — discussed in the first conversation.
03 — Build & Sustain
The Audit tells you what's broken. The Sprint fixes one specific thing. This is a fixed-scope engagement built around a single foundation your revenue org is missing — one that's been identified, scoped, and agreed upon before work begins. Defined output. Hard end date. No extensions, no add-ons, no scope creep. The Sprint makes sense when the diagnosis is done and one thing needs to be built before anything else can move.
Embedded strategic leadership across the full revenue org. For companies that need a leader to hold marketing, sales, and product accountable to one shared revenue motion — and build the operational foundation to scale. Maximum three active retainer clients at any time.
Writing
The ideas that don't fit in a deliverable. The patterns that keep showing up across clients. The things most people in this space won't say out loud.
Posts are on their way. Check back soon.
Why your ICP is not the problem — your motion is
The handoff nobody owns is where the revenue is leaking
What companies get wrong about bringing in outside revenue leadership
Start the Conversation
Book a free 30-minute consult. No pitch. No pressure. Just an honest look at your situation and whether we're the right fit.
Every inquiry is reviewed personally. If there is a potential fit, you will hear back within 48 to 72 business hours with next steps. If there is not, you will hear that too. No ghosting, no automated sequences, no sales pressure.