Fractional Sales Leadership

Here are four indicators that a Fractional VP of Sales might be the right fit:

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• Rapid Growth: If your company is experiencing rapid growth and needing experienced sales leadership to navigate this critical phase.

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• Sales Performance Slump: If your sales numbers are lagging. A Fractional VP of Sales can diagnose the problems and implement strategies to get your sales engine back on track.

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• Leadership Gap: When you have a gap in your sales leadership. A Fractional VP of Sales can provide interim leadership and stability while you search for a permanent replacement. Or you can hire the Fractional VP of Sales after an initial contract.

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• Limited Budget: If a full-time VP of Sales is out of your budget. A Fractional VP of Sales offers a cost-effective alternative with access to proven sales expertise.

Not all sales talent is built equally and definitely not all fractional sales talent is. When hiring fractional sales talent look for the doers as opposed to the ones that will tell you what to do. Look for these few areas when considering hiring fractional sales talent:

• Past experience: Since time is of the essence in a fractional engagement, having past experience selling to the buyer persona that the employer is selling to will make the engagement that much more productive. But, it’s not just familiarity with the buyer persona, it’s also experience with a similar sales process that will make the engagement successful. 

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• Time availability: Having clearly defined metrics and KPI’s will help the employer to clearly define the time it will need from fractional sales talent. Most fractional sales talent dedicate 15 to 20 hours each week to work with a company. Anything lesser than this time commitment will not give the company the results they are expecting. 

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• Commitment: The commitment varies depending on the goal of a fractional sales engagement. If the goal is to hire the fractional salesperson as an employee then that should be done in 3 months. This will keep both the employer and the salesperson accountable. If there isn’t a clearly defined end then an employer should engage with fractional sales talent for a minimum commitment of 3 months and then go quarter to quarter thereafter. This commitment should be clearly explained to the fractional sales talent.

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• Past fractional sales experience: While past results aren’t a guarantee of future performance, having past experience in a fractional sales capacity will help the salesperson know exactly what it takes and what they need to succeed. It will also help the employer understand at a high level what to expect and what they need to succeed.

Correct compensation is crucial to attract and retain top fractional sales talent. Structuring an effective compensation plan not only aligns incentives with performance but also ensures that the arrangement is mutually beneficial. 

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A monthly or a quarterly retainer model ensures that there is ‘skin in the game’ for both the sales talent and the company. For a Fractional Sales Leader tying in additional bonuses to milestones or deliverables is recommended. Typical monthly retainers for Fractional VP’s of Sales range between $8,000 and $12,000 but could also go up depending on the complexity of the business and the need.