Sales Pro Impact

Fractional Sales Management

Fractional Sales Management

Fractional sales management serves companies with small sales forces of two to fifteen salespeople. These small sales forces are difficult to cost effectively manage due to the diseconomy of scale in the department.

Typically, this diseconomy of scale is handled one of five ways:
Fractional sales management comes at the diseconomy of scale inherent in any small sales force from a different perspective. First, good sales management adds profit to organizations. Bad sales management or no sales management subtracts profit. Therefore, do not bother hiring a low-quality sales manager or ignoring the function. Second, rather than try to fill a part-time sales manager position internally with a half-salesperson half-sales manager or part-time owner/manager, use a part-time sales manager. No rule says the sales manager must work forty hours a week to be effective. Third, acknowledge that the sales department has a diseconomy of scale that cannot be fixed with a perfect solution. Once you stop searching for the perfect fix, you will pick the “best bad option” vs. holding out for perfection.
Fractional sales managers only work a portion of a week, so they have to work on only the highest impact activities. It’s unfortunate that all needs cannot be addressed, but by completing the most profitable projects and tasks, the sales manager position can be staffed with a high-skill employee and remain cost-effective.

Steps for How to Work with Me

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Step One

Schedule a 15 minute virtual meeting to discuss the Sales Audit and my services to see if it is a fit for your company by clicking on the button below.
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Step Two

Schedule a face-to-face 90 minute Sales Audit meeting to discuss your sales process.
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Step Three

Within 7-10 days of the Sales Audit meeting, have a follow up to review the results of the Sales Audit and recommendations.

Where Did the Idea of a Fractional Sales Management Originate?

About thirty years ago, mid-sized business owners realized that they needed the talent of a CFO but could not afford one on a full-time basis. By creating a service that bridged the gap between bookkeeper and CFO, the outsourced CFO business was born. Companies such as B2BCFO began to lead the way in this fractional CFO industry. Today, B2BCFOalone has over 600 outsourced CFOs.
Many of the mid-sized and small businesses that struggle with CFO issues have similar struggles in the sales management area. It is nearly impossible to cost-effectively manage a 2-10 person sales force with internal resources.
A fractional sales manager divides their time between 5-10 local businesses, spending a portion of their week with each. By sharing the cost of a talented sales manager, businesses get the intellectual property, best practices, and management skill they need, but at a cost, they can afford.

What Type Businesses Can Use Fractional Sales Management?

Fractional sales managers can be a good solution for business-to-business sales teams of less than twelve. B2Cs can also benefit, but companies with longer sales cycles and a less transactional sales process tend to benefit more significantly.
Here are just a few examples of the types of industries and companies that have benefited from fractional sales management:

What to Expect from a Fractional Sales Management

Below are some of the direct and indirect benefits companies experience from a part-time sales manager.

Direct benefits can include

Indirect benefits can include

Pros and Cons of Fractional Sales Management

Even though fractional sales management has many benefits, it’s not for every company. Sure, a part-time sales manager can provide most of the benefits of a superstar sales manager for a fraction the cost, but there are some points of note for the model.
The biggest adjustment is losing the “babysitting effect.” For many CEOs, it’s very comforting knowing that Old Stan is down the hall babysitting the sales function and salespeople. He may not be adding much value, but at least he’s at his desk all day. A fractional sales manager is only in the office half a day each week.
By definition, a fractional sales manager cannot do all the tasks which a full-time person can. They are not working every day. However, a fractional sales manager has the talent to accomplish objectives that are well beyond the skill of Old Stan. That is the trade-off. A company that needs skill applied to the sales function, and not just time, will benefit the most. This is most companies. Sales babysitters can only babysit. They can’t close marginal deals. They can’t motivate the team. They can’t manage well. They can only hold people accountable and make sure they work.
Another issue that can creep into a part-time sales management engagement is the speed of implementation. A company with no sales manager or a sales babysitter is not accomplishing any initiatives. The part-time sales manager has the skills needed to create and drive initiatives, but they are not doing it full time. Sometimes the business owner forgets that slow, steady progress is much better than none. Savvy fractional sales managers have learned to remind the business owner that they have gone years without these initiatives, so a few months more isn’t that long to wait for massive change.

Is This a Trend?

Yes. Thirty years ago, no one had heard of a part-time CFO. Ten years from now, outsourced sales management will be commonplace. The economics of the fractional sales management are too powerful to ignore.
We predict that this trend will play out the same as the CFO trend did. Successful corporate sales experts will receive buyouts or retire. A portion of these will desire a position where their skills can be put to use but without the hassle of corporate employment. This rich talent pool can be repurposed to the benefit of small businesses to create a pool of fractional sales managers.