Meet Jim Soss, Convex Chief Revenue Officer

We are thrilled to announce that Jim Soss has joined Convex as our new Chief Revenue Officer. Jim joins us from Integrate, where he served as CRO and achieved 3X revenue growth. His impressive experience within the B2B sales and marketing industry also includes stints as CEO at Fishbowl Inc., CEO at Red Aril, and Senior VP and GM at Responsys. Jim holds a B.S.E. from Princeton University and an M.B.A. with high honors distinction from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. We recently sat down with him to learn more about his background, his professional philosophy, and his vision for Convex.

Jim, what is it about your background that makes you a good fit for Convex?

I have dedicated my career to the digital transformation of sales and marketing through innovative technology, and I have been part of scaling companies that have made such an impact. At Convex, I can apply my experience with early adoption B2B verticals specific to the Commercial Services industry, and help prioritize proven, contemporary solutions for our customers. In short, I have the experience that allows Convex and our customers to see around the corners.

Also, as a full-journey revenue leader, I’ve faced and solved the same kinds of problems that Commercial Services leaders face every day. I have great empathy for my customers, and it has driven a strong outcome orientation within my approach. I know what it is like to manage through aggressive growth targets, deal with the challenges to attract and retain top talent, and respond to the pressure to improve sales productivity. I have an endless desire to delight customers. It all begins with a passion to be the partner that I would want in my corner: one who prioritizes outcomes and results.

What attracted you to Convex?

Convex is an amazing success story. It’s a successful company that needs support to manage the growth and increasing scale of the business. This is exactly what I do — specifically within the B2B revenue industry. I bring the knowledge, experience, and operating framework to drive and manage incredible growth. It is a perfect fit.

I also strongly believe in the need for industry-focused SaaS solutions as many verticals are underserved by generic solutions. Sales and marketing professionals within the commercial services industry have unique challenges and Convex has unique solutions. It is a great opportunity.

Convex is an organization with a strong culture that’s deeply committed to customers and staff. Yes, the goal is to grow the business. However, the focus is to build the business with a win-win-win mindset. That’s just the kind of environment in which I am at my best.

What is your #1 priority now that you’ve joined Convex?

My top priority is always to delight customers. It’s why I do what I do, and where my passion lies. To me, the title Chief Revenue Officer is about both making and keeping promises. At Convex, I have oversight of all revenue-related functions and my leadership is based on a customer commitment to outcomes and ROI achievement.

What is your business philosophy?

I consider myself an active, experiential leader. My role is to be out in front of the business having constant interaction with customers, partners, and the industry. In many ways, I need to “feel” the business to best lead our revenue team.

With my staff, I approach management with a servant leadership style in that my primary goal is to serve and put my team in the best position to win. At this stage in my career, I really enjoy the teaching aspect, and regularly prioritize the career development of staff.

What would you like to accomplish as Convex CRO within your first year?

Like my customers, I have specific objectives connected to the achievement of our revenue growth goals and our industry-leading customer satisfaction scores. But I’m also really excited about some of the new products we have currently in the pipeline, and I’ll be partnering with our customers to drive adoption in the months ahead.

An area of special interest to me is the orchestration of the functions and roles within my revenue team to best serve our customers’ journey to successful outcomes. With the rapid growth of Convex in 2022, I expect to further define and optimize this orchestration as we increase staff and enhance our customer service levels.

On the lighter side, did you pick up any interesting new skills during the pandemic?

Having not played with LEGO since my childhood, my family and I developed “advanced” LEGO building skills, which turned out to be a lot of fun. Over the last several months, we completed the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and Hogwarts.