Fractional Selling

Recognizing specific scenarios where a fractional approach aligns with your business needs can provide strategic advantages and ensure optimal results. Here are key situations where hiring a fractional sales representative might be the ideal solution:

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• Building and growing your current sales team: If you are hiring for your current sales team, going the fractional or contract to hire route could prove ideal. During a 3-month contract, employers can judge for sales skills and cultural fit in their environment and then decide to hire the salesperson as their employee. This de-risks sales hiring.

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• Difficulty in Finding Full-Time Sales Talent: Hiring salespeople is a struggle. Not every salesperson is suited for every business. Employers that struggle to find full-time sales talent can benefit from the flexibility and affordability of hiring fractional sales representatives. Fractionals offer a cost-effective solution, allowing employers to access top-tier sales talent without the commitment of hiring full-time employees.

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• Refining and Optimizing a Repeatable Sales Process: Fractional sales talent can help employers refine and optimize their sales processes by providing fresh perspectives and innovative approaches. By collaborating with experienced sales professionals, companies can identify areas for improvement, streamline operations, and develop repeatable sales processes that drive consistent results.

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• Expanding into New Markets or Territories: When testing new markets or territories, redirecting your current sales talent could prove costly and risky. Instead, employers can leverage the expertise and networks of fractional sales representatives to test. Fractional Sellers with experience in specific industries or regions can provide valuable insights and connections, helping employers navigate the complexities of market entry and establish a strong presence.

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• Need for Immediate Sales Staff: Businesses experiencing a sudden increase in demand or requiring additional sales support can benefit from hiring fractional sales talent. The ability to quickly onboard experienced sales professionals allows employers to meet immediate sales needs and capitalize on opportunities without the delays associated with traditional hiring processes.

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.

Measuring success of a fractional sales engagement starts with defining the goal of the engagement. It can be new leads, more revenue or team alignment depending on the role you are hiring the fractional sales talent for. Similar to hiring a full-time employee, a fractional sales engagement also has the same metrics and KPI’s. Below are a few examples:

• Fractional SDR: The goal of a Fractional SDR is to book new meetings but in order to book meetings they have to prospect. Prospecting metrics are a combination of the number of calls they have made, number of emails sent to new prospects and the number of LinkedIn connections and messages. A combination of prospecting activity should result in a number of meetings booked each month.

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• Fractional Full-Cycle AE: The goal of a Fractional Full-cycle AE is to win new revenue. In addition to a Fractional SDR’s metrics focused on prospecting, the Fractional Full-Cycle AE will also be measured on the number of demos they have conducted that have resulted in new revenue won for the employer. This will vary depending on the employer's sales cycle. Some employers might have  a ‘proof of concept’ as part of the sales process and that should also be measured.