CEO Blog: Creating insane clarity with a single page

As the CEO of Pipedrive, one of my key roles is to ensure that our strategy is crystal clear and easily understood by all our key stakeholders. Even a great strategy will lose its potency if it can’t be communicated easily and effectively to those executing it. To address this mission-critical need, we’ve embraced the concept of the single-page ‘Placemat’.?

Our placemat is a powerful tool that simplifies our strategy and delineates its most essential elements: the Why, the What, and the How.?

The Why: Our purpose and values

At the top of our placemat we see our Why; our purpose and values. This section summarises the driving force behind everything we do. It answers two fundamental and durable questions: why do we exist as a company? And what core beliefs and values propel us forward? By articulating our purpose, we provide a North Star that fires passion, inspires commitment and guides decision-making. So, what is our purpose? It’s to help small businesses grow; that’s what gets us out of bed every morning with a spring in our step.

The What: Our vision and goals

Beneath our purpose we detail the What, our vision and goals. Our vision is to be the leading sales CRM and intelligent revenue management platform for small businesses. At the heart of our vision is a mindset and practice of customer obsession; constantly asking how we can understand, frame and solve customer problems in our space. This dedication and focus has created the easiest and most effective deal management platform for small business salespeople.?

In this section we also define our long-term business target, including a 2028 annual recurring revenue (ARR) goal. By clearly defining specific and tangible objectives, we ensure that every team member understands the priorities and the outcomes we aim to achieve. It helps to align individual and departmental efforts with the broader Pipedrive goals, fostering a sense of direction and purpose.

The How: Our action plan

Finally, the How outlines our value creation pillars. These are the long-term pillars of our value creation momentum and include three key categories: value for our people, value for customers and value for shareholders. This year we also added a new value creation pillar focused on AI enablement, ensuring that both customer experience and internal ways of working are turbocharged by AI capabilities. Each value creation pillar has a specific data-backed KPI for 2024 delivery so everyone knows exactly what success looks like in the short-term.?

By providing a clear action plan, we empower teams to move forward with confidence, knowing exactly what needs to be done and how their efforts contribute to the overall strategy. It also enables us to monitor progress, adapt to changing circumstances, and remain agile in our approach.

The power of simplicity

The single-page placemat is a powerful tool due to its simplicity. In a world overflowing with information, distilling our strategy into a concise and accessible format ensures it’s not lost in the noise. It becomes a living document that can easily be referenced, shared, and discussed. It promotes transparency, accountability and a shared understanding that bridges the gap between strategic planning and execution.

By putting the Why, What, and How of our strategy on a single page, we create a cohesive narrative that is easy to grasp and rally around. This approach not only clarifies our direction but also unites us in our pursuit of common goals. It’s a testament to our commitment to clear communication, strategic alignment, and collective success. Together, we can turn our vision into reality, driving Pipedrive forward and most importantly ensuring success in our core purpose: to help small businesses grow.