Ever wonder what strategies set fast-growing companies apart? Or how they fuel continued revenue growth? In partnership with Vistage Research, a division of Vistage Worldwide, we recently surveyed 1,350 SMB CEOs, all Vistage members; to understand what high-growth companies* are doing differently than their slower-growing, stagnant, and declining counterparts. In a sneak preview, we revealed some of the strategies high-growth SMB CEOs have to grow their business.

The full research report, Customer Growth: Decisions for the SMB CEO, takes a look at the strategies and investments that high-growth small businesses are implementing across the marketing, sales and service to grow their customers. Here are some of the findings:

1. High-growth SMBs are 30% more likely to engage in more strategies that drive customer growth

We took a look at the top customer growth strategies of small and midsize businesses and found that high-growth companies do more of them, and they do it better. How are they doing it better? Well that leads us to our next finding...

2. They’re 2x more likely to have leaders in marketing, sales and service in place

Investments in such diversified growth strategies often times require specialized leadership. We found that high-growth companies are more likely to have dedicated leadership in marketing, sales and service. As an added benefit of the leadership and expertise in those lines of business, high growth companies are 20% more likely to report their use of technology as extremely effective.

3. They’re more likely to rely on new customers to fuel revenue growth

As they’re more likely to engage in more customer growth strategies, it’s not all too surprising that high-growth businesses rely more on new customers to fuel revenue growth. This is no easy feat, and again, leadership and technology play an important role in how effective growth strategies are carried out.

4. They’re more likely to invest in talent, technology and training

 To support their customer growth plan, high-growth companies are 28 and 29% more likely to invest in talent and training respectively, and 31% more likely to invest in technology. This makes sense because if you’re growing the business, you’re growing the talent and processes that come with supporting those new customers.

5. They’re more likely to chose a packaged application rather than a homegrown solution

 High-growth companies are ditching the spreadsheets and using specialized applications to growth their business. As small businesses begin to grow, purpose-built applications make it easier and more effective to manage customer engagement. Rather than dedicate the time and expense to building a solution, they purchase packaged applications with proven, best practice business processes.

To learn more about the winning strategies, initiatives and investments high-growth SMBs are leveraging to find, win, and keep more customers, download the full research here.

 Going to Dreamforce? Attend the breakout session featuring this research and hear from Joe Galvin, chief research officer at Vistage, present the findings alongside our panelists, Paul Leary, CEO of Bespoke Collection, Bettina Hein, CEO and co-founder of Pixability, and Summer Crenshaw, COO/CMO and co-founder of tilr, who will share their strategies and perspectives for customer growth in 2018.

*Companies reporting double-digit growth from the past year and projecting the same this year

Salesforce can help you find customers, win their businesses, and keep them happy so you can grow your business faster than ever. Learn more about our small business CRM solutions or follow us on twitter @SalesforceSMB and join the conversation with #SalesforceGROW