What is Fractional Sales Management?

Fractional Sales Management is a slightly less wordy way to describe part-time sales management, 1-on-1 sales coaching, and sales team leadership. Just like fractional CFOs, CMOs, and other part-time organizational management roles, Fractional Sales Management gives small and mid-sided firms access to an experienced sales professional without the full-time salary burden. It recognizes the importance of developing and managing an organized and rigorous sales function in all firms, particularly in growing, small and mid-sized businesses who are beginning to realize the complexities of selling to more and more clients.

Sales? That’s a four-letter-word around here.

Well, if your business needs clients and revenue, then you need to sell. Here’s a simple way to define Sales vs. Marketing: Sales is more aligned with one-to-one interactions, while Marketing addresses one-to-many interactions. Your Doer-Sellers who are having important, one-on-one conversations with prospective client’s aren’t marketing, they are selling. It’s a different conversation.

But keep in mind that sales isn’t what it once was. Buyers—your clients—have access to research and knowledge like never before. As a result, they are the ones in control of the buying process, not you. The best salespeople are the most helpful partners, not the slick, tricky, used car salesmen of years gone by. And if you have a number of people at your firm who sell at least part of the time, they could use a little part-time guidance.

We’ve never had a sales manager. What do they do?

A Sales Manager:

• Leads, manages, and coaches the people in your firm who sell, even part of the time
• Defines and manages your sales process
• Creates a regular cadence around sales outreach and activities
• Leads account-specific planning efforts and sets action items
• Delivers just-in-time, 1-on-1 coaching and group training
• Implements and administers the appropriate sales tools, including a CRM system
• Mentors staff to develop a sales culture across the organization
• Develops regular reports to monitor progress
• Works with the marketing team to identify and drive good sales-oriented content
• … and more!

Isn’t this just a part-time salesperson?

Most sales managers have sold in the past but now have evolved into good managers of people and processes. They aren’t the ones doing the selling. Whether your firm has employees that sell all the time or just some of the time, keeping that group organized and working well as a team is important. Unfortunately, small and mid-size firms find it hard to rationalize the overhead expenses of a full-time sales manager.

Shouldn’t we just hire a rainmaker to sell for us?

Rainmakers are typically good at selling, but they might not be great sales team managers or mentors. Most rainmakers prefer to operate independently with little coordination with and guidance from others. With or without a rainmaker at your firm, sales management is critical to the overall success of your sales efforts. Plus, relying on a single rainmaker isn’t the best way to manage all of your long-term client relationships. Here are my two cents on hiring a rainmaker.

What types of companies can use Fractional Sales Management?

All companies need some type of sales management, as the B2B sales process has become increasingly complex. Small to medium-sized businesses are excellent candidates for a Fractional Sales Manager.

Wainwright Insight focuses on the Doer-Seller model in professional services firms where the “salespeople” are the practitioners—the experts. In these firms, the clients want to deal directly with the professionals, and this approach reinforces that. All of these types of companies rely on relationship selling, not transactional selling. This means your sales leaders are building long-term, trust-based relationships and not selling widgets by the truckload.

Our firm leaders are really experienced at selling. How does this help us?

Most professional services firms have senior leaders who have experience winning new business and keeping long-term clients. These leaders may not see the immediate benefits of selling as a team, but all successful, mature organizations come to understand the power of an organized, focused, firm-wide approach to sales excellence.

Plus, your senior team members might not be mentoring the future “sales leaders” at your firm. This approach is a deliberate effort to coach younger leaders who will be responsible for revenue generation in the future.

We don’t have a sales team. Does this approach work?

It’s really semantics. All firms have a group of people who are involved in many or all steps of the sales process. And honestly, the group is probably larger than you think. A foundational element of my approach is to get more people aware of—and involved in—the sales process, not less.

How long is this engagement?

Depending your needs, Fractional Sales Management can be a limited-term engagement over many months or, more likely, an open-ended relationship. Noting the limited time per-week spent with your team (about 1/2 day per week), the minimum duration required to assess your sales situation, develop a new or revised sales process, coach your team members, and get your sales “engine” up and running well is about 12-18 months.

What does hiring a fractional sales manager cost?

The honest answer is… it depends. And I’m not just saying that. Every client is different. But consider this:

A professional Sales Manager with 15 to 20 years of experience is an expensive proposition for a small or mid-sized firm, commanding a healthy six-figure salary. A Sales Trainer who delivers a handful of lengthy training sessions over the course of a few weeks can be quite expensive, and a big investment in time for your busy staff members. Both of these things are significant investments—and potential barriers—for small and growing professional services firms.

The more important questions to ask are: What will it cost to realize your goals? What percent of your revenue would you spend for your team to become dramatically better at sales?

Depending on the specific client situation, needs, and other factors, the price of a Fractional Sales Manager can be as much as $5,000 to $6,000 per month, but may be half of that depending on the options chosen and the desired outcomes of your professional services firm.

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