Susan Kelly Headshot

Susan Kelly

Partner & CMO
Works with CEOs at technology, SaaS, and education companies, leveraging digital transformation and the latest technologies to drive revenue growth.

About Susan

A roll-up-the-sleeves growth strategy and marketing executive, Susan brings proven abilities to manage people, projects, and technology from strategic concept to implementation to increase share value. Susan has more than 20 years of experience working with owner-managed, PE-backed businesses, and global corporations ranging from <$5M to >$600M.

Part of the new digital frontier, where strategy and aesthetics meet technology and analytics, she leads organizational change to replace and upgrade operational platforms and streamline demand generation functions. Experienced in using the latest tech stack and digital technologies, she helps restructure processes and automation to commercialize product/service offerings, target ideal customers, and measure their experience while lowering the total cost of communication and marketing programs.

Susan has led several company-wide digital transformations, sales and marketing reorganizations, and operation restructurings focused on outpacing the competition, meeting client goals, and delivering results in accelerated timeframes.

How Susan has Helped Businesses Grow

  • Drove business services revenue in all major verticals creating a $300 million end-to-end outsourcing practice at Xerox for marketing and communication services leveraging the latest technologies.
  • Increased enrollments 15% every semester, connecting thousands of learners to top-tier universities by building the outsourced marketing function for accredited institutions.
  • Led several ‘rip and replace’ digital transformations using best-in-class enterprise SaaS applications for companies ranging from $5 million to $200 million.
  • Grew sales with contract value exceeding $200 million leading Xerox’s Patient Communications Services team to architect, manage and support partners/channels and cross media communications platform for hospitals, PBM’s, insurers, and ACO’s.
  • Increased ESOP share value 73% for motivated sale to private placement, repositioning a $100 million print and fulfillment business as a digital marketing firm.
  • Delivered technology service offerings for channel partners through software development, commercialization, and go-to-market strategies that scaled B2B, B2C, and B2G businesses.
  • Managed global sales and marketing teams of 300+ targeting software manufacturers, resellers, MSPs, retailers, ISVs, VARs, VADs, and PC OEMs.

Executive Experience

  • SVP Marketing, New Horizons
  • CMO/EVP, Apollidon Learning
  • VP Global Alliances, Xerox
  • VP Enterprise Communications and Marketing Services, Xerox
  • CEO, K/P Corporation
  • SVP Sales and Marketing, Software Services Group, R. R. Donnelley

Clients Served

  • Northeastern University
  • Corsica Technologies
  • National Society of Learning and Success
  • New Horizons Worldwide, LLC

Education

  • MBA, York University
  • BA, Technology, Ryerson University

Testimonials

“We engaged Susan because of her expertise with top-tier education institutions and her ability to quickly assess challenging situations. In three months, she produced quality deliverables that helped accelerate an execution path to incorporate student experience best practices, capture quick wins, and identify growth options to scale the college."

Dr. Radhika Seshan, Dean, College of Professional Studies, Northeastern University

 

“The experience with Chief Outsiders has been great, and Susan has felt truly like part of our team working with our Leadership team and our Board. I appreciate the work it took to jump in as CMO, and totally restructure and stabilize our Marketing team while managing the day-to-day requirements. Her relentless focus on demand generation and implementing lead gen processes accelerated the company’s top-line growth. It’s been a valuable relationship and we continue to engage her advisory services."

Brian Harmison, CEO, Corsica Technologies

 

“We faced multiple challenges due to evolving student populations and emerging demands, so we had many concerns about how to move forward, Susan played a key role in our exploration by posing the big questions, doing the research and examinations to get answers, and helping us define the current state of our business and what the future state could look like. She was a guiding light on this effort, an important partner for me on this project, and a great & supportive team member,  especially as we initiated complex restructuring efforts and developed a data culture. I greatly value Susan’s support on our effort and I have very high regard for her perspectives, experience, and strategic insights.  She’s done a terrific job!"

Charles Kilfoye, Ed.D, Senior Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, Graduate School of Education, Northeastern University

Download Susan's Resume Here

Expertise

Industry Experience
  • Business Services
  • MSP/MSSP
  • Automotive
  • Franchises
Specialties
  • Growth Strategy
  • Digital Transformation
  • Sales/Marketing Automation/MarTech
  • AI
  • Lead Generation
  • Data Analytics
  • Service/Product Commercialization
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