Glenmont Consulting
SERVICE FILE 01 — FRACTIONAL_CMO

Senior marketing leadership. No full-time hire.

A full-time CMO runs $250K+ before equity. Most companies between $5M and $100M don't need the headcount — they need the judgment, a few days a week, from someone who has run the whole loop before and stays accountable for the number.

WHAT'S IN THE FILE

Marketing strategy and the annual plan — built from your numbers, not a template

Budget ownership: spend, vendors, and tools challenged line by line

Team leadership — existing staff, agencies, and freelancers pointed at one plan

CEO / board reporting that says what happened, why, and what changes

Execution oversight with AI-speed builds — pages, tools, and campaigns shipped in days

Hiring support when it is time to build the in-house team

A FIT WHEN
  • Revenue is $5M–$100M and marketing has outgrown the founder’s spare attention
  • PE-backed and the board wants a growth plan with math behind it
  • You have vendors and channels but nobody owns the outcome
  • A full-time CMO is premature, but senior judgment is overdue
NOT A FIT WHEN
  • You want a full-time executive in the office five days a week
  • Marketing means "post more on social" and the budget reflects that
  • You need a pair of hands to execute someone else’s strategy
PICK YOUR ROUTE MOST PROJECTS FIT ONE
ROUTE_01 Diagnostic first

“Prove it before we commit.”

Thirty days: full read of the funnel, spend, team, and numbers — ending in a written diagnosis and a ranked plan with math. Then you decide about ongoing.

TIMELINE: 30 DAYS

AFTER: ROUTE 02 — OR KEEP THE PLAN AND RUN IT YOURSELF

ROUTE_02 Full fractional

“Somebody owns marketing. Starting now.”

Strategy, budget, vendors, team, reporting, and execution oversight — the standing weekly rhythm, the monthly memo, one person accountable for the number.

TIMELINE: ONGOING · ~1–2 DAYS/WK EQUIVALENT

AFTER: SCALE DOWN, OR HIRE FULL-TIME WITH OUR HELP

ROUTE_03 Interim bridge

“The CMO left. The plan can’t.”

Hold the seat through the transition — keep campaigns, vendors, and the board cadence running while the search happens. We’ll help you hire, then hand off clean.

TIMELINE: 3–9 MONTHS

AFTER: STRUCTURED HAND-OFF TO YOUR FULL-TIME HIRE

ROUTE_04 Advisor-light

“We have hands. We need judgment.”

Monthly working session plus async counsel: priorities, budget calls, vendor reviews, campaign teardowns. Your team executes; nothing ships un-sanity-checked.

TIMELINE: MONTHLY

AFTER: UPGRADE TO ROUTE 02 IF EXECUTION STALLS

NOT SURE WHICH? THAT'S LITERALLY WHAT THE FIRST CALL IS FOR.

THE MATH — YEAR ONE SAME SENIORITY
Year-one cost: full-time CMO vs. fractional A full-time CMO runs $300K to $500K per year fully loaded. A fractional engagement runs $60K to $180K per year for the same seniority of judgment. Full-time CMO SALARY + BENEFITS + EQUITY $300K–$500K/YR Fractional CMO FLAT MONTHLY RETAINER $60K–$180K/YR

SAME SENIORITY OF JUDGMENT. NO RECRUITER FEE, NO SEVERANCE RISK, NO SIX-MONTH RAMP. FIGURES FROM THE GLENMONT PRICING GUIDE.

COMMON QUESTIONS
What does a fractional CMO cost?

Typically $5K–$15K per month depending on scope and cadence — a fraction of the $250K+ fully-loaded cost of a full-time hire. Glenmont engagements are flat monthly retainers with defined scope, so there are no surprise invoices.

How is this different from hiring an agency?

An agency executes channels; it rarely owns strategy, budget, or the number. A fractional CMO sits on your side of the table — setting direction, managing the vendors (including agencies), and answering for results. With Glenmont, execution capacity comes built in.

How many hours do we get?

Engagements are scoped by outcomes and cadence, not a stopwatch — typically the equivalent of 1–2 days a week with a weekly operating rhythm, monthly reporting, and availability when something breaks.

How fast does it start working?

The first 30 days produce the diagnosis and the plan. Fixes start shipping in the first weeks — because the build capability is in-house, "we should fix the homepage" becomes a shipped homepage, not a project brief.

Is there a minimum commitment?

Long enough to be judged fairly: the first 90 days deliver the diagnosis, the plan, and the first shipped fixes. After that it’s a standing monthly rhythm that continues only as long as it keeps earning itself.

What if we already have a marketing team?

Even better. Pointing existing people, agencies, and freelancers at one plan is most of the job — teams usually get sharper under someone who can rank the work and defend the priorities.

Do you manage our existing agencies and vendors?

Yes. Keeping the good ones honest and cutting the rest is part of budget ownership. Vendors perform differently when the person reviewing their work has done their job before.

Somebody should own growth.

30 MINUTES · NO DECK · BRING YOUR NUMBERS

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