A succinct walk-through of who we target, how we sell, how we deliver, how we win — and the three decisions we need to make today.
Alex
Jack & Nick
April 2026
02 · The Diagnosis
The honest assessment · And the path forward
We're a company that's all heart and no math.
Real client relationships. Real good work. Cecile trusts us. Concern keeps renewing. All of that matters. But relationships alone don't build a business with healthy margins — and right now, ours aren't healthy.
The root cause is structural: we bill hourly for strategic work — so we're paid for time, not outcomes. Inefficiency is rewarded. Efficiency is penalized.
What we're building to fix it
01 · The model
A productized retainer model
9 documented programs sold as 3 retainer tiers. No more hourly.
New clients land in 2.0 immediately. Margin lifts now — not later.
04 · The pipeline
A platform layer
Canopy as a bolt-on now. Orion sequenced for Phase 2.
03 · The Shift
From → To
Productize. Don't staff.
Symphonic 2.0 isn't a rebrand — it's a structural change in how we sell, price, and deliver. AI compresses our delivery time. The new model lets that efficiency flow to margin instead of disappearing.
From — Symphonic 1.0
Custom hourly agency
$135/hr blended rate, capped revenue
Custom-from-scratch every time (~30 hrs/client)
Sell time, defend hours
Margins erode as we get faster
No documented IP, ~1x exit value
To — Symphonic 2.0
Healthcare engagement program partner
$3K / $5K / $7.5K retainers, fixed price
Systematized delivery (~15–20 hrs/client)
Sell outcomes against an annual roadmap
Margins improve as we get faster
Documented IP → 3–5x exit multiple
04 · Who We Target
The ICP
Healthcare orgs with marketing budgets and growth pressure.
Marketing Directors, CMOs, Chief Innovation Officers, Practice Administrators. Typically the first marketing hire — over-stretched and looking for partnership, not contractors.
Why us, not a generalist
Healthcare orgs are underserved by generalist agencies who don't understand their world. We're built specifically for ACOs, IPAs, medical groups, and FQHCs. That specificity is the differentiator generalists can't claim.
05 · What We Sell
The product
Nine engagement programs. Documented. Repeatable.
Each program is a Strategy Brief + Delivery Playbook. 80% templatized, 20% customized. This is the IP layer that makes us a product company instead of a labor pool.
PA-01
Patient Acquisition
Awareness → Volume
PR-01
Provider Reputation
Trust & Authority
ME-01
Member Engagement
Retention & Loyalty
SR-01
Staff Recruitment
Internal Comms
CO-01
Community Outreach
Local & Network
NG-01
Network Growth
Referral & Partnerships
CN-01
Care Navigation
Education & Compliance
BF-01
Brand Foundation
Identity & Positioning
DP-01
Digital Presence
Web & SEO
06 · How We Price
Three tiers · One model
No more hourly. Ever.
Each tier is a defined bundle of programs delivered against a 3-month sprint under an annual roadmap. New clients land in 2.0 immediately — no exceptions.
Foundation
$3K/ mo
Essentials
1–2 active programs
Annual strategy roadmap
Monthly reporting
Core content execution
Target margin: ~20%
Growth · Most common
$5K/ mo
Partnership
2–3 active programs
Quarterly strategy sprints
Bi-weekly check-ins
Multi-channel execution
Target margin: ~25%
Premier
$7.5K/ mo
Enterprise
3–4 active programs
Full strategic partnership
Weekly collaboration
Custom + priority delivery
Target margin: ~28%
07 · How We Engage
The client journey
Discovery → Build → Launch → Operate.
Every client goes through the same four phases. The scope varies by tier — the process doesn't.
Phase 01 · Wks 1–2
Discovery
Voice profile, audience, data access, integrations needed.
First program outputs deployed. Monthly rhythm begins.
Phase 04 · Ongoing
Operate
Monthly execution per playbooks. Quarterly strategy reviews. Continuous optimization.
08 · How We Work
The four-layer system
How a $5K retainer actually gets delivered.
Four stacked layers. The top three are visible to the client. Layer 4 is the AI Operating Model — the production engine that makes the math work.
01
Annual Roadmap
Built at the start of every year. Defines which programs are active and what outcomes we're driving toward.
02
Quarterly Sprints
90-day execution cycles. Each sprint ends with the next sprint already drafted — no momentum gap.
03
Engagement Programs
The 9 productized playbooks. Two to four run concurrently per client depending on tier.
04
AI Operating Model
ClickUp-native. Memory layer + agent fleet + cadence engine. Voice profile + compliance check + human review on every output. Detailed next slide.
09 · The Moat
Layer 4 · The AI Operating Model
The competitive moat isn't AI itself. It's the operating model around it.
Built on ClickUp. Three components working together. This is what lets us deliver 30–40% more output per hour without quality drift — and what a new contractor inherits the moment they're added to a client Space.
Persistent context every agent reads from before writing a word.
A · Agent Fleet
16 agents
Strategy & Intake · Execution · Reporting & Insight · Internal Operations. Most run as ClickUp Super Agents inheriting workspace context. Heavy generation runs external in n8n.
Native first. External only when necessary.
C · Cadence Engine
Three rhythms
Weekly digest (Mon 8am) · Monthly report PDF (1st of month) · Approvals (status-triggered, one-click from email).
Client receives email. They don't log in.
10 · The Transition
How we get from here to there
Four moves. Protect what works. Build what's next.
The model only works if we sequence it right. Existing relationships stay protected. New revenue lands in the new model. Margin improves immediately — independent of any product build.
01
New clients enter the retainer model — immediately
Every proposal we send from this point forward is a retainer proposal. No hourly for new engagements. This is the line in the sand. Zero product build required.
02
Existing clients stay calm — and migrate at renewal
Concern is our oldest relationship. Now isn't the time to present sticker shock to Cecile, especially through the Priya transition. We deliver excellently, protect the relationship, and plan the model conversation for the natural renewal window. Strategy, not weakness.
03
AI + playbooks close the efficiency gap now
We don't need Orion to improve margins on existing clients. Documented programs and AI-assisted production reduce delivery hours by 30–40% immediately. Margin improves on every client — old and new — while we build the new client base.
04
Streamline the stack, the process, and the visibility
We can't get a handle on the numbers without a handle on how work moves. ClickUp consolidation, standardized PM processes, simple per-client P&L view. Not a software product — a system we actually use.
12 · The Products
Beyond services
Two products on the horizon. One now. One later.
Symphonic 2.0 is a services business — but services scale into products when the underlying playbook stabilizes. Canopy slots in as a bolt-on today. Orion is real, but it's a Phase 2 conversation.
Phase 1 · Now
Canopy
Healthcare network website platform — Astro.js + Sanity CMS, deployed via our site factory. Built for ACOs, IPAs, MSOs, medical groups.
How it sells: Bolt-on for existing retainer clients ("your site should match your comms"). Network upsell for MSO/IPA clients like MPM — they manage multiple member groups, all needing shared infrastructure.
Pricing: $6K–$12K setup + $750–$1,500/mo hosting & support retainer.
Where it lives: /canopy on the Symphonic site. Signal value: this team thinks in systems, not just campaigns.
Phase 2 · Later
Orion
HubSpot-integrated platform with prebuilt healthcare communication journeys — automated nurture, member engagement workflows, provider cadences.
Why not now: Building custom tech while running an agency = two jobs, neither done well. No pilot to design against. Capital tied up before the model is fixed.
Why it's powerful in Phase 2: 6–8 retainer clients = real problems to design against. Strong base funds the build. Existing clients = first beta customers.
Decision: The platform should emerge from proven service — not precede it.
13 · The Roadmap
Sequencing
Three phases. No parallel tracks.
Clear sequence. Each phase earns the right to move into the next. We don't build Orion before we have 6 retainer clients — and we don't take new hourly clients while we're trying to fix the foundation.
Phase 01 · Now
Fix the foundation
New clients on retainer model only
AI + playbooks reduce delivery hours now
Tighten tech stack & PM system
Build per-client P&L visibility
Site live and converting
Canopy bolt-on to right existing clients
Phase 02 · Next
Scale the model
5–8 retainer clients at target pricing
Canopy deployed to 1–2 anchor clients
First real Canopy case study published
Existing clients migrated at renewal
Orion scoping begins with real client input
Phase 03 · Later
Platform layer
Orion built against real client needs
Funded by stable retainer base
Canopy at 5+ deployments
All clients on the new model
Symphonic positioned as a platform company
14 · The Asks
What I need from you two today
Three decisions. Then we go.
We don't need alignment on everything. We need alignment on these three things to move. Everything else follows.
01
New clients go retainer-only, starting now.Every new proposal is a retainer proposal. No hourly for new engagements. This is the one non-negotiable structural change that makes everything else possible.
02
Concern stays on the current model through the Priya transition.We don't rock the boat now. We continue delivering excellently, protect the relationship through leadership change, and plan the model conversation for the natural renewal window.
03
Canopy gets a pilot — one paid deployment in the next 90 days.The target stays open to the best-fit relationship. The goal is validation: does Canopy resonate with the right buyer at the right price? If yes, we have our first case study and a real product. If no, we save the build cycles and double down on services.
15 · Close
We have what we need to start
The model is defined. The programs are documented. The new site direction is built. The only thing left is making the decisions and moving.