Build it + Run it, applied in the first 100 days post-close.
The marketing operating system, installed in the first 100 days.
Most PE-backed home services platforms spend the first 90 days post-close discovering what the marketing function looks like, a full quarter of value-creation runway, evaporated. Sheppard installs the operating system the platform should have been running from the day the wire cleared.
90 days of discovery is 90 days too many.
Marketing typically sits last in the post-close integration queue, behind ops, IT, finance, and HR. By month four, the operating partner has spent a full quarter trying to understand what the marketing function looks like instead of operating it.
The platforms that compound, and the ones that defend their multiple at exit, start Day 1 with the playbook already written. Vendor map clean by Day 30. Attribution reconciling to the financial system by Day 60. Dashboards live and operating partner reading them by Day 90. EBITDA contribution building from Day 100 forward.
That's the difference between marketing as a value-creation lever and marketing as a discovery project.
What gets built in the first 100 days.
Seven workstreams running in parallel through the 100-day window. By Day 100, the marketing operating system is documented, live, and producing EBITDA-contribution reporting on the same cadence as financial close.
01
Vendor consolidation
Map every agency, freelancer, software vendor inherited at close. Renegotiate or replace based on performance vs. cost. Typical first-month result: 20–40% spend reduction with equal or better output.
02
Lead-operations platform
Salesforce / HubSpot / ServiceTitan / LeadSquared sync with audit trail. Failure monitoring with replay tooling. The lead pipeline most portcos don't have, installed and operating by Day 60.
03
Unified attribution methodology
Reconciled to the financial system so marketing-sourced revenue ties to actuals. Multi-touch with documented audit trail. Replaces whatever fictional attribution the previous CRM was reporting.
04
Sponsor-facing KPI dashboard
Marketing-sourced EBITDA contribution view. Monthly cadence aligned to financial close. Six leading indicators the operating partner can read in four minutes and act on in one.
05
Channel-mix rebuild
Rebalanced against unit economics, not legacy budget. Paid search, paid social, local SEO, lifecycle, content, brand, analytics, reputation, direct response, calibrated to platform-level economics.
06
Brand architecture decisions
Branded House vs. Endorsed Brand for add-ons. Local-equity preservation where it earns its keep; consolidation where it doesn't. Governance for the rest of the hold.
07
Operating cadence
Weekly portco standups. Monthly operating-partner reporting. Quarterly business reviews. The rhythm that prevents marketing from going quiet between board meetings.
Sponsor-facing KPI dashboard at the close of the 100-day install
From install into execution.
The 100-day install hands off into Execution, Sheppard runs the marketing function inside the portco through the rest of the hold, or manages the agency stack on the sponsor's behalf. Either way, the operating system is owned by the portco.
Most platforms engage Sheppard for one phase and grow into the rest. A pre-LOI marketing stack audit becomes the 100-day install becomes the hold-period execution function.
Same team carries context through every handoff.
Frequently Asked