Episode highlights:

The bigger and more impactful the problem that you’re solving is for a client, the more you’ll be able to charge for your services. Your compensation is tied to the size and severity of the problems you solve.

When companies like Deloitte are brought in to consult on how to fix a big problem, they’re brought in because they are known for solving big problems. How do you position yourself to become known for solving big problems?

One way to gain notoriety for fixing large issues is to stop solving small problems. To do this you can hire someone or outsource the labor. For Fractional CMOs, you really need to have a marketing technician as a direct report to tackle the issues thrown at you.

You should be able to give your direct report marketing technician 15 minutes of instruction and let that inform their next 40 hours of work. For example, you would ask them to set up an email tool and then they would choose the right one and implement it.

As a Fractional CMO, you need to make decisions that maintain a certain balance of speed and cost. While you never want to overpay, there are times when getting something done faster is worth paying extra for.

When you think about solving bigger problems, try to globalize the problem and think about how you can remove it completely so that it never rears its head again. Even if there are small exceptions that need to be made down the line, get a process in place.

When focused on the biggest problems, you provide the most value if you identify the critical KPIs to track, identify who owns those KPIs, and drive those people to deliver on those KPIs, every week, every month, and every quarter, that business will grow faster, with more predictability and less frustration.