A Fractional CMO for industrial & manufacturing companies that are losing bids they should win.
You build a better product.
Yourcompetition has a better website.
You are losing bids you should win.
Communication-IMPACT is M.J. Plebon's Fractional CMO practice in Montreal, built for industrial and technical B2B companies. I build the online pipeline that puts your specs in front of buyers before they call anyone, then I train your team to run it without me.
Every engagement starts with a fixed-fee 30-Day Diagnostic and runs on a 90-day SLA with a kill clause.
I'm M.J. Plebon. I spent 15 years in engineering sales and executive leadership before I ran my first digital campaign. I know your world. And I know where pipelines leak.
Why do industrial companies lose bids to competitors with weaker products?
Industrial companies lose bids to weaker products because buyers now do most of their research online, before they contact a vendor. By the time a B2B buyer first reaches out, they are about 70% of the way through their decision, according to the 6sense 2024 B2B Buyer Experience Report.
If your specs are hard to find, you are not on the shortlist, no matter how good your engineering is.
You built this company on relationships, trade shows, and referrals. Those still matter.
Right now, an engineer at one of your target accounts is searching for exactly what you make. If your specs do not show up, your competitor's do. Your rep never hears about the project.
Three problems show up in almost every company I walk into.
For the CEO:a pipeline that lives in a few people's heads
Your referral network built a great business. It also depends on a few veteran people.
When a buyer or investor looks at your company, a pipeline that rests on three relationships looks fragile.
That hits your valuation.
For the VP of Sales:bids lost before the phone rings
Your reps lose bids to companies with weaker products. The buyer did their research online and found someone else first.
Most of the decision was made before your rep got the call.
For the CFO:marketing spend nobody can trace
You spend money on marketing.
Nobody can tie that spend to a single qualified RFQ, or tell you what a real customer costs to acquire.
Until someone can, every marketing dollar is a guess.
What does a Fractional CMO from Communication-IMPACT build?
A Communication-IMPACT engagement builds three things inside your company: search work that puts your specs in front of real buyers, sales tools your reps use to defend your price, and a trained team that runs it all after I leave. I do not sell open-ended retainers. By month 12, the plan is for your people to run the engine on their own.
My number one rule of marketing: Nobody gives a rat's ass about you. Your buyers care about their problem.
So everything I build starts with what they are searching for, not what you want to say about yourself.
Intent-based industrial SEO that finds real buyers:
Picture a plant manager at 10 PM with a broken compressor and a deadline in the morning. He is not searching for a broad industry term. He is typing a part number, a spec, or a tolerance. I find those searches, the ones people type when they have a real problem and a real budget, and I put your specs in front of them.
Sales tools your reps will actually use:
ROI calculators. Technical comparison pages. Spec portals.
When a cheaper competitor shows up at the table, your reps have the numbers to defend your price.
They spend less time on admin and more time closing.
Your team runs it when I leave:
I teach your people everything I know.
Every process, every framework, and every procedure gets written down. By month 12, your team runs the engine and I am out. That is the plan from day one.
Where AI fits:
I use AI behind the scenes to move faster and keep your costs down.
Your engineers check every technical fact before anything goes out. I train your team on the same tools, in plain language.
You do not need to become AI experts to get the results.
The 90-Day Service Level Agreement
How does the 90-day SLA with a kill clause work?
The Communication-IMPACT 90-day SLA ties my fee to one number: qualified RFQs on your VP of Sales' desk. Your VP of Sales defines what qualifies before I start. If the work does not produce the agreed number in 90 days, you can end the agreement with no penalty and keep everything I built.
If a number does not show up in your pipeline, I do not report it.
Step 1: You define a qualified lead
I sit down with your VP of Sales. You tell me exactly what a qualified lead looks like: company size, titles, technical criteria.
We agree on the number before I start.
Step 2: I build the assets
Search work, sales tools, and content, all aimed at the buyers you defined.
Step 3: We run a 90-day clock
If those assets do not produce the agreed number of qualified RFQs in 90 days, you invoke the kill clause.
You walk away with no penalty, and you keep everything I built.
Who is M.J. Plebon?
M.J. Plebon is a Montreal Fractional CMO and the founder of Communication-IMPACT. He trained as a Chemical Engineering Technologist, ran a $13M Canadian division of a global process equipment manufacturer as President, and took an environmental technology from concept to $30M in revenue. He has taught digital marketing at Concordia University since 2015.
I started as a Chemical Engineering Technologist. I spent 15 years in engineering sales, factory energy surveys, and process equipment before I built my first digital campaign.
As VP of Sales, I led a 55-person team across three offices, including 20 technical sales engineers. As VP of Business Development, I co-authored seven technical papers and built the lead generation operation behind a $30M scale-up.
I already know the difference between a boiler and a compressor. Your engineers give me one 30-minute technical briefing each, then they go back to work.
Communication-IMPACT works with industrial and technical B2B companies with about 20 to 200 employees.
Most are established manufacturers and equipment makers with long, technical sales cycles, whose buyers read the spec sheet before they read the brochure.
The industries I know best:
- Process equipment and steam systems
- Food production and packaging
- Pulp and paper
- Oil and gas
- Pharmaceutical manufacturing
See how I work with manufacturers
Where do I start? The 30-Day Digital Pipeline Diagnostic
Every Communication-IMPACT engagement starts with the 30-Day Digital Pipeline Diagnostic, a $15,000 fixed-fee audit of your online presence against your top competitors.
You get a written blueprint you own. If the math works, we build the engine together. If it does not, you keep the blueprint and we shake hands.
Before I build anything, I spend 30 days comparing your digital footprint with your top competitors. I show you where you are invisible, where they are winning, and what it would take to close the gap.
Questions industrial executives ask before hiring a Fractional CMO
These are the five objections I hear in almost every first meeting, from the VP of Sales, the CFO, engineering, the owner, and anyone who wants to start small.
The short version: you define lead quality, you can walk away at 90 days, your engineers spend about 30 minutes each,
I train your current staff, and every engagement starts with the Diagnostic.
The VP of Sales Objection
The Question: "My reps ignore marketing leads.
Most are students, tire-kickers, or offshore spam. How is this different?"
The CFO Objection
The Question: "We have been burned by marketing retainers before.
What happens if the pipeline does not grow?"
The Answer: You invoke the kill clause.
I do not do open-ended 12-month retainers. The mandate is tied to qualified technical RFQs over 90 days.
If we miss the number we agreed on, you end the agreement with no penalty. I carry the performance risk.
The CEO / Engineering Objection
The Question: "Our process is complex. How much of my engineers' time will this take?
The Answer: About 30 minutes each.
I spent 15 years in process equipment, energy efficiency surveys, and industrial sales.
Your engineers give me one technical briefing, I turn it into sales material, and they check the facts before anything is published.
The SMB Owner / Operations Objection
The Question: "We already have a junior marketing coordinator.
Are you replacing them?"
The Answer: No. I train them.
A full-time CMO adds a full executive salary and severance risk to your P&L. As your Fractional CMO, I build the strategy, then I personally mentor the people you already have.
When I leave, you have a trained internal team and no extra executive on payroll.
The Commodity / Entry-Level Objection (Universal)
The Question: "Can we hire you just for SEO or a new website?"
The Answer: No. I do not sell one-off marketing tactics.
A new website or an SEO package on its own will not defend your margins or raise what your company is worth.
Start with the 30-Day Digital Pipeline Diagnostic. I find the pipeline leaks FIRST!!!
If the math makes sense, we build the engine.
If the answer is NO, then Bye Bye.
Written by M.J. Plebon, Fractional CMO and founder of Communication-IMPACT, Montreal. Last updated October 21, 2026.