Executive Search Success Story: Placing a Fractional CMO to Build Marketing Strategy and Pipeline for a Growth-Stage B2B Services Company

How JRG Partners placed a fractional Chief Marketing Officer that gave a $45M growth-stage B2B services company senior marketing leadership two days a week, delivering a marketing strategy, first demand generation engine, and measurable pipeline contribution within nine months, at a cost the company could sustain, while building the internal team that would eventually justify a full-time hire.

The Challenge

A founder-led B2B professional services company had grown to $45M on referrals and the founders’ networks, with a growth equity investor now expecting a scalable growth engine. The company had no marketing leader, no positioning beyond the founders’ pitch, a website that did not generate inquiries, and a small coordinator-level team producing collateral. A full-time CMO was outside the budget and premature for the company’s size, but the founders needed senior marketing judgment immediately. Executive leadership identified several critical vulnerabilities threatening the growth plan:

• No marketing leadership or strategy at $45M in revenue with investor expectations for scalable growth
• Growth dependent entirely on referrals and founder networks with no repeatable demand generation
• Positioning, messaging, and brand undefined beyond the founders’ personal pitch
• A website and digital presence generating no measurable pipeline
• A junior marketing team without senior direction or marketing technology
• A full-time CMO compensation package outside the budget and premature for the company’s stage

Recognizing that the company needed senior marketing leadership at a sustainable cost, the founders and investor engaged JRG Partners to place a fractional CMO with a twelve-month mandate to define strategy and positioning, build the first demand generation engine, implement marketing technology, and recruit and develop an internal team. The company required a search partner with access to senior marketing executives who had built growth engines in B2B services and were open to fractional engagements.

Why They Chose JRG Partners

Interim and Fractional Executive Practice

JRG Partners maintains a dedicated interim and fractional executive practice, structuring fractional CMO, CFO, COO, and other C-suite engagements with defined scope, time commitment, deliverables, and accountability for growth-stage and mid-market companies.

Growth-Stage and Founder-Led Experience

Our team has extensive experience serving founder-led and growth-equity-backed companies, with a clear understanding of when fractional leadership is the right answer, how to structure it for results, and how to transition to full-time leadership when the business is ready.

B2B Services Marketing Expertise

Our fractional network includes marketing executives who have built demand generation and brand in B2B professional and business services, bringing positioning, content, digital, and measurement disciplines suited to relationship-driven, long-cycle sales.

Our Executive Search Strategy

Phase 1 — Engagement Design

Our consultants partnered directly with the founders and investor to define the fractional engagement: two days per week, a twelve-month term, a marketing strategy and positioning due at day 45, a demand generation engine live by month four, and an internal Director of Marketing recruited by month six.

Phase 2 — Fractional Candidate Identification

Our team evaluated more than 65 fractional and advisory marketing executives, prioritizing former CMOs and VPs of Marketing with documented demand generation builds in B2B services at comparable scale. Only candidates with implementation track records advanced.

Phase 3 — Selection & Onboarding

Finalists presented an initial diagnostic of the company’s marketing opportunity to the founders and investor. The selected executive was engaged within 18 days, with a stakeholder and customer interview program completed in the first three weeks.

Phase 4 — Team Build & Sustainment

Under the fractional CMO’s direction, JRG Partners recruited a full-time Director of Marketing to own day-to-day execution, ensuring the program would continue after the fractional engagement concluded.

Key Outcomes

• Fractional CMO engaged within 18 days on a defined two-day-per-week, twelve-month structure.
• 65+ fractional and advisory marketing executives evaluated for B2B services experience.
• Delivered marketing strategy and positioning at day 45 and a live demand engine at month four.
• Grew marketing-sourced pipeline from zero to 25% of total within nine months.
• Delivered C-suite marketing leadership at roughly one-third the cost of a full-time CMO.
• Built an internal marketing team and a clear path to full-time leadership.