Got questions?

Straight answers about how Tarsus Growth Company works, who we build for, and what to expect.

39 questions

What is an AI growth agency, and what does Tarsus do?

An AI growth agency builds working systems that help a business grow, then keeps them running. Tarsus Growth Company is one: we build ours with AI, inside the tools a business already uses, for established businesses that want to grow and run leaner. Our main offer is Tarsus AI, alongside Tarsus Launch for people starting a business and AI workshops and training for teams. We don't sell advice.

What is efficiency growth?

Efficiency growth is growing a business while making it easier to run. At Tarsus that means winning customers, keeping them, and cutting the repeated work that wears a team down. A business often thinks it needs more customers when the real trouble is where people drop off and never come back. We look for gaps like that across the customer journey, operations, sales, hiring, and training, and we build systems that close them.

Where is Tarsus based, and where do you work?

Tarsus is based in West Chester, PA, and we offer our AI services there first. We work in person across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Maryland, because the team can visit. We take clients anywhere in the United States, and we work online with the ones farther away.

Is Tarsus Growth Company related to Tarsus Pharmaceuticals or Tarsus Group?

No. Tarsus Growth Company is an independent AI growth agency based in West Chester, PA, and it isn't affiliated with Tarsus Pharmaceuticals or Tarsus Group.

Is Tarsus the right fit for my business?

We build for established businesses that want to compete at a higher level: accounting firms, dentists, law firms, credit unions, retail stores, and ecommerce brands, to name a few. Your situation matters more to us than your size. If you have customers and want to grow or run with less effort, tell us what you're dealing with and we'll talk through what we could build for you.

Do you work with small businesses?

Yes. We work with established businesses of any size, small businesses included, as long as the business already has customers and gives us access to its systems.

Can a business that is not on your Who we serve page still work with you?

Yes. The Who we serve page shows the kinds of business we build for, and it isn't a limit. If your business has customers, tell us what you do and we'll be straight about what we could build for it. The one business we turn away is one that won't give us access to its systems.

How do Solutions and Who we serve fit together, and what is a solution page?

A solution page covers one thing we build, like booking and scheduling, review management, or a knowledge base, and what changes in a business once it's in place. A Who we serve page covers one kind of business, like a dental practice or an accounting firm, and links to the solutions that business uses. Start from whichever side makes sense for you. Pick your kind of business to see what we build for it, or pick a solution to see which businesses it's built for.

Do you work with agencies?

Yes. Marketing, creative, social media, and paid media agencies are among the businesses we build for. If you run an AI or automation agency, we can do the work through your agency, and it can be white-label.

How does a Tarsus engagement run?

Every engagement moves through Decode, Align, and Grow, and Tarsus AI and Tarsus Launch add a Build phase before Grow. In Decode we learn your goals, your tools, and where the business loses customers or time; in Align we agree on scope, price, access, and how we'll prove the work; in Grow we prove and keep improving what we built. You get a written update every week and a review every month, so you're never guessing where things stand.

Is there a contract, and is there a final handoff?

Tarsus AI and our ecommerce work run month to month, so you're not locked in past a month. Tarsus Launch runs for a fixed term, set out before work starts. There's no final handoff. After setup we stay on for upkeep and improvements, and you keep everything we built, whether or not we keep working together.

What do you need from us to get started?

We need access to the accounts and data the work touches, and someone on your side who can make decisions. That's usually the owner, managing partner, or practice owner, or the head of marketing, growth, or technology. Beyond that, it depends on what we're building, and we spell out exactly what before anything starts. A business that won't give us access to its systems is one we turn away, because we can't build inside tools we can't reach.

Will you replace our in-house team, or work alongside it?

We work alongside your team, not in place of it. What we build lives inside your tools and accounts, so your team keeps using them day to day. What we add is the systems work and the upkeep.

Do we keep control of our accounts, tools, and data if we work with you?

Yes. Everything we build lives inside your accounts, tools, and data, and you own all of it from day one. You don't have to switch platforms for us, since we build inside the ones you already use. If you ever stop working with us, you keep everything, because none of it was ever ours to take.

How much does it cost?

We don't publish prices on the site. We go through price, along with scope, access, and proof, on a call and in Align, before any work starts. You pay for ad spend and software directly to those providers.

Can you work with sensitive or regulated data?

Yes. We can work with regulated data, such as patient, member, or client records.

What AI services does Tarsus offer?

Our AI services are called Tarsus AI. It builds working AI systems, and each one handles a defined job in your business, like booking and scheduling, document processing, reporting, or lead follow-up. They're built to fit how your kind of business runs and set up inside the tools you already use. We build one defined workflow first, then stay on, month to month, keeping it running and getting better.

What can an AI agent for our business actually do, versus what's just hype?

An AI agent built for your business is software built around your processes. It follows rules you define, works from your data, and does steps that used to need a person, like drafting a document, routing a request, or answering a routine question. It can't replace judgment on something you haven't defined a process for. Before we build anything, we work out what's realistic for your business, so you aren't sold a general capability.

Do we need something custom, or can off-the-shelf AI tools already handle this?

For a lot of straightforward tasks, an off-the-shelf AI tool already does the job, and we'd rather tell you that than build something you don't need. Custom work starts to make sense when the task depends on your data, your systems, or a process specific to how your business runs. An off-the-shelf tool can't see any of that.

What are an AI framework, a knowledge base, and an AI workflow?

An AI framework is a written plan for where AI fits in your business, so every system we build follows the same rules. A knowledge base is one place, built from your documents, that the AI reads from so its answers stay consistent. An AI workflow is a repeated task that runs without someone having to remember it, and we keep it current month to month.

Can AI help with sales, marketing, hiring, and training?

Yes. For sales, we build systems that find leads and follow up with them. For marketing, we build systems that support content, creative, and paid media work. For hiring and training, we build systems for screening candidates and running courses, and our AI workshops and one-on-one training help your team use them.

Can AI help us keep customers coming back?

Yes. We build systems for follow-up after a visit or purchase, appointment reminders, review requests, and outreach to customers who have gone quiet. For a dental practice that can mean patients who are overdue for a visit, and for an accounting firm it can mean clients who stop responding. The Who we serve page for your kind of business shows what we build for it.

Why is our customer retention dropping and nobody can tell me why?

Usually because the data that would explain it lives in separate tools that do not talk to each other. Your storefront, your email platform, and your support tool each see part of the customer, and nobody owns the full picture.

How do I know if we actually need a customer data platform, or is our email platform already doing that job?

It depends on what you actually have connected, and it's worth finding out. An email and SMS platform covers a lot of behavioral messaging, and some setups connect more of your storefront and support data into it than others. Check whether what you have covers your full customer record instead of assuming either answer.

Our acquisition costs keep climbing. What can we do about it, and should we fix retention first?

Acquisition cost comes from two places: how well you bring in the right customers, which is where Reach fits, and whether the customers you win come back, which is where Retain fits. A customer file that keeps buying spreads what you paid to win each customer across more orders. So before you spend more on new customers, check whether the ones you win come back. That doesn't mean you should stop acquiring customers.

How do you decide who gets which email or offer, instead of just blasting segments?

Rather than sending to a fixed segment, we decide per customer, based on what that customer has actually done: what they bought, how recently, and how they have engaged. What that looks like for your business depends on your data, and we scope it specifically rather than apply one template to every brand.

Why does 'first-party data' matter right now, and what if we don't have much of it?

First-party data is what you collect directly from your customers, through your storefront, email, and support tools, as opposed to data bought or borrowed from someone else. It matters more now because third-party data is getting harder to count on. If you don't have much yet, that's a starting point we work from, not a disqualifier.

Can we hire you for just one of Reach, Convert, or Retain?

Yes. Reach, Convert, and Retain are three separate products. Buy one, two, or all three, depending on what you need.

What is marketing technology, and does my business need it?

Marketing technology is the set of tools a business uses to reach, convert, and keep customers, like an email platform, a storefront, and a customer data platform. Most businesses already have some. What matters is whether the tools connect and whether anyone can see the full customer record. That's the work we do on the Ecommerce side.

What is an AI workshop?

An AI workshop is a session that teaches your team what AI is and how to use it in the business. Our workshop is AI Workshop: The Basics, and we run it in person or online. You don't have to hire us afterward, but when a team wants to go further, a workshop can lead to a build. To arrange one, book a call with Jason.

What is one-on-one AI training?

One-on-one AI training is private training for one person, built around what that person wants to use AI for. You can do it in person or online. We quote it on a call.

I want to start a business. What is Tarsus Launch, and where do I begin?

Tarsus Launch helps people who've decided to start a business get it going and grow it. Start with the problem you want to solve and who has that problem badly enough to pay for a fix. The idea doesn't need to be fully formed. Then we build the offer, the pricing, and the systems around it with you.

I have an idea but no technical background. Is that a dealbreaker?

No. Tarsus Launch is built for people who have the idea and the drive but not yet the technical or operational foundation. We build the plan, the offer, and the systems alongside you.

How long until we'd actually see results?

It depends on the work and on how much data you have to start with. A smaller customer file means directional results that take longer to read clearly. With a larger one we can prove results faster, because there's enough data to test against. For a Tarsus AI build, we agree in Align on what we're measuring, so you know what a result looks like before we start.

Can you guarantee results, and what do you never claim?

No. We never promise a specific lift or claim proof that your volume can't support. What we can prove depends on how much data you have: where there's enough customer volume, we run a holdout, a group of customers deliberately left untreated, so we can measure the real difference a change made. We also don't claim movement in numbers we don't control, like acquisition cost and return on ad spend, and before we make any claim we tell you honestly which case applies to you.

How do you actually prove it's working, instead of just reporting activity?

Where your data supports it, we run a holdout: a group of customers left out of a change, so we can compare them with everyone else and see the difference the change made, not just that it happened. Where it doesn't support a full holdout, we measure against a baseline set before we start and label those results as directional. For a Tarsus AI build, we agree in Align on what we'll measure and how, so you can check the result against something written down.

Why trust an agency's numbers instead of just building this ourselves?

You don't have to take our numbers on faith. Where your data supports it, we prove results with a holdout instead of reporting activity, and everything we build lives inside your accounts, so you can see what's running and why. Building it yourself is a perfectly good option. The tradeoff is your team's time against ours, not trust in a number.

How do I book a call with Jason?

Select Schedule a call on the Contact page and pick a time on Jason's calendar. It's a 30-minute call with Jason Hagen, our founder, with no forms and no gatekeepers in the way.

What happens on the first call?

The first call is about understanding your environment and the problem you're having. We ask about your goals, the tools you use, and where you lose customers or time, and then we talk about how we can help.