The Perfect Storm For Interim and Fractional Sales Leadership

How Fractional and Interim Sales Leadership Supports a Scaleup Business

“Twas fate that blew the wild wind

And delivered me to the perfect storm.

The thunder screamed, the lightning blazed,

The day that I was born.”

From The Perfect Storm by jllukasik

The OECD defines a scaleup company as a company having an average annualized return of at least 20% in the past three years with at least ten employees at the beginning of the period. Other definitions may be a better fit for scaleup in specific niches. Mostly scaleups are seen as high-tech startups. But they can also be much less visible in the economy, for instance, a small local business growing and expanding.

A scaleup business may be marked by any of these situations: cash flow problems, the founder wearing multiple hats, unable to afford senior, full-time sales leadership, after initial sales success unable to get the hockey stick going, etc.

This is a perfect storm for an interim or fractional sales leader, coming in with the experience to fix those and any other situation. Below is a short list:

·       Improved sales effectiveness, customer loyalty, and day-to-day sales management.

·       Optimized pricing strategies, with the training for the team on how to apply them.

·       Sales and market opportunity profiling, directing the sales team to prospects that have the greatest need, with fewer barriers to close, closing more deals, faster.

·       Devise and implement a compensation strategy that attracts top performers, encourages average performers to reach higher, and eliminates dead weight.

·       Internationalization demands excellent management skills and intercultural competence.

·       Growing sales through channel partners, a fast, and affordable way to increase reach.

·       Skilled sales hiring to add top talent to the team and to fill in territory gaps.

·       Creation of an ideal sales playbook paired with a process and the right messaging.

And why would an interim or fractional executive be the best fit?

·       Take the risk and timing out of a permanent sales leader hiring.

·       Control cost and only pay for what you need (part-time/fractional, specific period)

·       Interim and fractional executives are paid on the understanding of goals and objectives being performed and delivered, and not merely based on attendance.

·       And they maintain a high professional standard because their future work relies upon referrals and a successful track record.

Talk to us if this may be a fit for your organization.

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Photo by Anne Gosewehr