Home / Solutions / Fractional CMO
01 · StrategyA paid seat at your executive table. From day one, not month six.
When the CMO or Head of Marketing seat empties, the search takes six months and the targets do not wait. I step into the seat, diagnose the root cause rather than patching symptoms, align the revenue teams around the real buyer problem, and hand your permanent hire a running engine with the playbook already written.
The six month gap is the most expensive line item nobody budgets for.
A recruiter needs three to six months to find the right executive. That person then needs a quarter to learn the business. Somewhere in those nine months, pipeline decisions get deferred, a campaign calendar drifts, two good people leave because nobody is protecting the function, and the number slips.
None of it appears as a single catastrophic event, which is exactly why it goes unmanaged.
What I own while I hold it.
| Area | What that means in practice |
|---|---|
| Revenue leadership | I hold the number. Forecast, pipeline discipline, and the weekly operating rhythm that keeps sales and marketing honest with each other. |
| Team stabilisation | Direct reports keep a leader. The function does not enter a holding pattern, and your best people stop updating their CVs. |
| Funnel repair | The buyer journey gets mapped end to end and scored properly. Breaks between teams, attribution gaps and dead stages get found and closed rather than argued about. |
| Board and investor comms | Board ready reporting from month one. PE and VC stakeholders get a straight account of what is working and what is not. |
| Hire preparation | I write the role spec, sit on the interview panel if useful, and document the playbook so your permanent hire inherits a machine. |
The seat versus everything else you could do.
| Leave it vacant | Hire a consultancy | Fractional CMO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time to impact | Six to nine months | Four to eight weeks to a deck | Week one |
| Accountability | Diffused across the exec team | Ends when the invoice does | Holds the number directly |
| Team leadership | None | None | Direct reports keep a leader |
| What you keep | Lost momentum | A document | A running engine and a written playbook |
| Cost profile | Hidden and compounding | Large fixed fee | Predictable recurring day rate |
How an engagement runs.
Week zero. Fit call.
Thirty minutes. Where growth stalled, what has been tried, what the board expects. If the seat is not the right answer I will tell you on that call.
Weeks one and two. Spot the gaps.
Your buyer journey reviewed end to end, using your actual systems. You get the scored view and the friction map whether or not we proceed further.
Weeks three to twelve. Stabilise.
Operating rhythm installed, forecast rebuilt, the two or three highest value leaks closed first.
Ongoing. Run and document.
The function runs. Every decision and process gets written into the playbook as we go, not retrospectively. The same measures get re scored quarterly so the board can see the trajectory.
Exit. Handover.
Your permanent hire onboards into a documented, functioning engine. The how to stays with you.
About the seat.
What does a fractional CMO actually do?
A fractional CMO holds the marketing leadership seat part time, with full accountability for marketing, the pipeline, the team and the operating rhythm, rather than advising from outside the business.
How is a fractional CMO different from a consultant?
A consultant produces recommendations and leaves. A fractional executive takes the seat, leads the team and is measured on the same outcomes as a permanent hire.
What is the minimum engagement?
Six months. Anything shorter cannot stabilise a marketing function honestly.
Do you work outside the UK?
Yes. Engagements run across North America, the UK and Europe, remotely with periodic onsite time.
What happens when we hire permanently?
I write the spec, support the search, and hand over a documented playbook so the new hire starts inside a running engine.
Your seat is empty. Your targets are not on hold.
Thirty minutes, no deck, no pitch. If the seat is not the right answer, I will say so on the call.
Book a thirty minute call Not sure the seat is the answer? Compare the three engines.