How it works
A conversation, a diagnosis, then the work.
The process is short because the first few weeks should produce something useful, not a proposal for something useful later.
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01
A conversation
Thirty minutes, in person or on a call. You tell me where the business is, what is getting in the way and what you have already tried. I ask the questions I would ask if I were joining tomorrow. You leave knowing whether this is the right kind of help, and what I would do first. If it isn't, I will say so and point you somewhere better.
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02
A diagnosis
A fixed-fee review over three to four weeks. I speak to leadership, the team and some customers, and go through the numbers, the pipeline, the brand and the spend. It ends in a short written document: what marketing is for in this business, what is working, what to stop, and what to do in the next ninety days. We go through it together with the board, and you can act on it with or without me.
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03
An agreement on days
If there is work to do and we both want to do it, we agree the shape. One, two or three days a week, for a fixed term, with a plan we have both signed and a date to review it. The fee is agreed against those days before we start, so there are no surprises on the invoice.
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04
The work
I take responsibility for marketing. I sit in the leadership meetings, own the plan and the budget, lead the team, manage the agencies and report to the board. On the days I am not there, the team knows what they are doing and why. When the business needs a full-time marketing leader, I help hire one and hand over properly. The aim is to leave a marketing function that runs without me, not one that depends on me.
What you get
Ownership, not advice.
The difference between a consultant and a fractional CMO is that one recommends and the other is accountable.
You get a senior marketer on the leadership team who is answerable for the plan and the numbers. You get decisions made, and made to stick. You get a team that is led rather than managed, and agencies that are held to a standard. And you get the board conversation about marketing that most mid-market businesses never quite manage to have.
What I'll ask of you
A seat at the table and a straight answer.
This works when the CEO wants it to. I need to be in the leadership meetings, not briefed afterwards. I need access to the numbers, including the awkward ones. I need the authority to make decisions inside the marketing budget and the backing to make them stick. And I need you to tell me when you disagree, early, so we can sort it out in the room rather than in the review.
In return, you will always know where marketing stands, what it is costing and what it is returning. That is the deal.
Questions
Questions about how an engagement runs
What happens in the first conversation?
Thirty minutes, no slides. You describe the business and the problem as you see it, with any numbers you have to hand. I ask questions. You leave with a clear view of whether I can help and, if I can, what I would do first. If I am not the right person, I will say so and point you somewhere better.
How long does an engagement last?
A fixed term, agreed at the start, at an agreed number of days a week. Terms are set by what the business needs to get done rather than by a standard contract length, and they can be extended, reduced or ended by agreement as the work changes.
Do you work on site or remotely?
Both. Leadership work happens best in the room, so most engagements include regular days on site, in London or anywhere in the UK. The rest of the time I work alongside the team remotely, in the tools the business already uses.
What happens when the engagement ends?
The business is left with a marketing function that is led, a plan the board understands, agencies that are briefed and managed, and, where that is the right next step, a permanent marketing lead I have helped to find. The aim is a function that runs without me, not one that depends on me.
Talk to Chris
Start with a conversation.
Thirty minutes, no slides, to talk through where the business is and whether senior marketing thinking would move it on. If it would, I will tell you what I would do first.