Service — The Scaling Retainer
Questions to ask before buying the scaling retainer (fractional cmo)
Before buying the Scaling Retainer, ask what exists at the end, who does the work, and what happens if the answer is that you should not buy anything else.
6 min read · Reviewed by both partners
These questions are worth asking of any firm, including this one. The answers separate a product from a pitch.
For reference: a fractional CMO function with both partners, governed monthly against one number, at from $5,000/mo.
Step by step
What is the written output?
If there is no artifact, you are buying meetings. Meetings are not a deliverable.
Who personally does the work?
Ask for names and ask whether they will be in the room after the sale. This is where most disappointment originates.
What would make you tell me not to buy?
A firm that cannot answer this has never declined an engagement, which tells you what the incentive is.
How will we know it worked?
For this deliverable: the one number the owner agreed to own, reviewed every month.
What does it cost, exactly?
From $5,000/mo. Any answer containing ‘it depends’ should be followed by ‘depends on what, specifically?’
Common mistakes
Asking about process instead of output
Every firm has a process slide. Very few have a defined artifact.
Not asking who does the work
It is the single highest-signal question available and it is rarely asked directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions to ask before buying the scaling retainer (fractional cmo)?
These questions are worth asking of any firm, including this one. The answers separate a product from a pitch.
How does Growth-Scaling apply this in a real engagement?
It sits under The Scaling Retainer in the Growth Scaling Method. The next step for an owner is the $1,500 Assessment, which reads your own numbers against everything described above.
How is this priced?
Three fixed steps at $1,500 apiece make up the $4,500 Foundation. Anything ongoing is scoped in writing by the Plan, with a $5,000 monthly floor.
Who is doing this work day to day?
David Mitroff and Steven Lockhart, jointly. The firm is deliberately structured so the people in the pitch are the people on the account.
References
- www.federalreserve.gov — primary source
- www.uspto.gov — primary source
- www.sba.gov — primary source
Ask us these directly
We would rather answer them before you buy than after.
Growth-Scaling is a marketing and business-scaling firm. It is not a licensed practitioner in any client vertical and does not provide medical, legal, financial, or contracting services; all industry content on this site is marketing and growth guidance for owners in those fields. Figures describing past engagements refer to specific businesses under specific conditions and are not a prediction of any future result. No outcome is promised.
Written by Steven Lockhart, reviewed by David Mitroff, Ph.D. Figures and regulatory details reflect the cited public sources; requirements vary by state and situation. Growth-Scaling is a marketing and business-scaling firm, not a licensed practitioner in any client vertical.