The first 90 days with a fractional CMO or COO: a week-by-week checklist

Before day one: set the terms

Most failed engagements fail before they start, because the owner and the executive never wrote down what the seat owns. Before the first working day, agree in writing:

• Responsibilities. For example: "owns the marketing plan, budget, vendors and monthly report" or "owns quoting, scheduling and the weekly operations meeting."
• Authority. What can the executive decide alone, what needs your sign-off, and what stays entirely with you? Spending limits are a good place to start.
• Hours. How many hours a month, and how they're typically spread.
• Outputs. The documents and numbers you should receive at days 30, 60 and 90.
• Boundaries. Hiring, pay, discipline, legal, accounting and tax matters stay with you and your professional advisers.

Then tell the team, in person, who's joining and why.

Days 1–30: listen, access, baseline

The first month is about understanding how the company really works and writing down where it starts.

What you provide

• Access to every relevant account: ad platforms, analytics, CRM or job-management software, phone system reports, shared drives.
• Time with key people: usually four to eight interviews of 30 to 45 minutes.
• A sample of real work: recent quotes, job files, customer complaints, vendor invoices.

What you should receive

• A baseline sheet. The current value of the 8 to 15 numbers that matter most, with gaps marked honestly.
• A short diagnosis. Two to four pages: what's working, what isn't, and the three to five problems that cost the most.
• A quick-win list. Small fixes that can be done in days, such as routing website enquiries to someone who answers them.

Warning signs

• No questions about your numbers in the first two weeks.
• Requests for a large budget before the diagnosis is written.
• Interviews only with you, not with the people doing the work.

Days 31–60: rhythm and plan

The second month is when the weekly operating rhythm starts and the plan gets written.

What you should receive

• The scorecard, live. One page, each number with one owner and a weekly target. See our guide to the weekly operating rhythm for what good looks like.
• A standing weekly meeting. Same day, same time, run from the scorecard, ending with written commitments.
• A written plan. For a CMO: a 12-month marketing plan and budget by channel, approved by you. For a COO: one-page process maps for the core workflows and a short list of handoff rules.
• Vendor briefs. Every marketing vendor or key supplier has a written brief with targets and a review date.

A worked check you can do at day 60

Take the quick-win list from month one and count how many items are done. If there were eight items and six are finished, the executive is getting things moving. If two are done and the rest are "in progress," ask why. Small fixes stalling usually means big fixes will stall too.

Warning signs

• The scorecard exists but the meeting keeps being cancelled.
• The plan is a slide deck of tactics with no numbers or dates.
• Vendors haven't heard from the new executive.

Days 61–90: the first measured fixes

The third month should show whether the seat changes outcomes, not just documents.

What you should receive

• Two or three fixes completed and measured. Each one tied to a scorecard number, with before-and-after values.
• A day-90 review. A short written note and a one-hour meeting: what changed, what didn't, what's planned for the next quarter, and whether the hours are right.
• A revised plan for quarter two. Adjusted for what the first quarter taught.

A worked example of a measured fix

A COO finds that quotes take five working days because pricing waits for the owner. The fix: a written pricing guide and a rule that jobs under $5,000 go out without sign-off. Baseline turnaround: five days. Day-90 turnaround: two days. Close rate over the same period moved from 28% to 32%.

That's the kind of evidence a day-90 review should contain: a specific change, a number before, a number after, and an honest note about other factors that might have contributed.

What the monthly note should look like

One page, four headings: planned, done, numbers, next. Planned lists what was promised last month. Done lists what was actually finished. Numbers shows the scorecard rows that moved, up or down, with a sentence on why. Next lists the commitments for the coming month. If a monthly note runs to five pages, it's hiding something; if it has no numbers, it isn't a management note.

Owner habits that make or break the quarter

The owner's behaviour matters as much as the executive's skill.

• Back the new rules in public. If the team sees you overrule the process for a favourite customer, the process is finished.
• Turn up to the weekly meeting. Your attendance tells everyone it's important. Your absence tells them it isn't.
• Let decisions go. If you granted authority over vendor briefs, don't rewrite every brief.
• Ask for the numbers, not the story. "What did the scorecard say?" is a better question than "how's it going?"

Deciding what happens after day 90

At day 90, you should be able to decide one of three things with confidence.

1. Continue as is. The outputs are in place and the numbers are moving.
2. Adjust. Change the hours, the scope or the focus based on what the quarter showed.
3. Stop. The work is handed over and your team can run it, or the fit isn't right.

All three are reasonable outcomes. A retainer with no lock-in, like ours, exists so you can make that call freely. If you're about to bring in a fractional CMO or fractional COO, print this checklist and use it. If you'd like help setting the terms before day one, the operating review is a good place to start, or call, text or email to talk it through.