Who are our sales leaders ?
Our Sales Leaders are experienced, highly qualified, hands-on, pragmatic and globally oriented executives with the skills and abilities to deliver an immediate and lasting impact: “been there and done that.”
They have a track record of taking initiative, are organizationally aware, with excellent project management and communication skills. Interim Sales Leaders differ from consultants because they assume executive responsibility with a clear mandate to act on the client’s behalf. They are generally seemingly over-qualified for the assignments they undertake and have extensive functional and industry experience. They have successfully addressed similar issues to those faced by their clients.
Most of the Sales Leaders are veterans, have over 20 years of industry experience and have chosen a career path that enables them to deploy their knowledge, talent, and experience across a variety of business environments.
They thrive on variety, on delivering value, on complex organizational challenges and on situations requiring the management of change. They chose Sales Leadership as their career, they chose independent employment in the growing gig economy.
A career Sales Leader is driven by the challenge of dealing with varying assignments, especially where they are contributing special skills that are only needed in the short term. Being task driven they are not interested in climbing the corporate ladder or in corporate politics.
Our Sales Leaders are entrepreneurs, independent by nature.
Does that sound like you?
Only for Vendux Executives (Password required)
Bill of Rights
As a Fractional and Interim Executive in partnership with Vendux, as a solopreneur running your own business in the gig economy, and as a human helping other humans, we believe this is YOUR Bill of Rights.
Download a PDF version.
I. DUE DILIGENCE:
Before you agree to take on an assignment, do your due diligence. Ask questions on topics like product-market fit, TAM, SAM, ICP, team, culture, stage of growth, revenue, capitalization, growth plans, etc.
II. ALIGNED COMPENSATION:
The clients' investment in your compensation needs to align with the value you deliver during the assignment. There is no one-size-fits-all. You can express your value in revenue, growth, and other improvements. And then look for alignment in the amount, the structure (base vs. variable vs. equity), and the payout (retainer vs. hourly).
III. LIQUIDITY:
Before you agree to take on an assignment, understand the liquidity of the organization looking to engage you. How are they capitalized? What is their burn rate? And most importantly, where is your compensation coming from?
IV. SEVERANCE:
As a contractor, you are in a constantly evolving position. If the engagement is open-ended, include a notice period, e.g., 30 days. The other part of your severance is built into the compensation.
V. COMMITMENT:
You are likely balancing multiple assignment start and end dates. Ask for a timeline, make sure the potential client understands that your availability is "as of today,” and that you make commitments on a first-come-first-serve basis.
VI. CULTURE:
Many clients look for a fit for their values, beliefs, and behaviors. Likewise, culture is an important criterion for you, too. Ask and observe during the interview process to make sure they are a fit for you.
VII. EXITING:
Move away from an assignment with adequate notice when you do not have faith in the founder, the team, or the product. You do not want to be associated with a failing venture.
VIII. SAY “NO THANKS”:
Be ready to decide not to take an assignment when it is not the right fit for you, even if the client wants you. And always be prepared to answer whether you are interested in this position permanently.
IX. EXPANSION:
Assignments are subject to change, and sometimes the agreed-upon investment of your time is not enough to get the job done. In that case, the assignment needs to be expanded, both in your resource investment as well as compensation.
X. GO TO MARKET:
Every assignment will inevitably end, and you need to be prepared to win new clients. So, before you leave, ask every client for a testimonial and for referrals.
how does it work ?
If you are a Sales Executive already engaged in interim, fractional, or contract work, or if you are interested in becoming a contracted Sales Leader, register with us. You likely spend a lot of your valuable time on business development activities in the marketplace. Consider us an extension of those activities. Being part of the Vendux Executive Roster increases your chances of being considered for opportunities you would not have otherwise. Vendux will create a custom profile that helps highlight your background and experiences, particularly those as a Sales Leader.
Once we receive your details, we will schedule an interview to learn more about you and your expertise. And we are available to address any questions you may have.
At that point, we have a detailed profile that we will begin to match against client opportunities. We will provide you regular updates, as well as make changes to the profile as necessary.
Once a match is made, we will bring you and the client together to determine the final fit.
what roles do we fill ?
We are not concerned about titles. To ensure the success of our engagement, however, we aim to have our Sales Leader head the sales/commercial team of the company, business or project, reporting to the CEO, Executive Director or Head of the Division.
Some of the roles we fill are:
SVP Sales
EVP Sales
VP Sales
Sales Director
CCO - Chief Commercial Officer
CBO - Chief Business Officer
CSO - Chief Sales Officer
VP Business Development
VP Customer Service / Success
VP Global Sales
VP Sales Operations
CRO - Chief Revenue Officer
Global Head of Sales
Sales Coach
Executive Director of Sales
Senior Commercial Officer
VP of Growth
Head of Partnerships
VP Revenue / Sales Operations
Sales Advisor
What does a fractional or interim sales leader do ?
As a Fractional or Interim, our Sales Leader temporarily fills the shoes of a permanent employee, and hence, applying their expertise, they perform all the functions of the role they fill. This includes and is certainly not limited to:
Recruiting, hiring and training new sales staff
Developing a bonus structure to achieve the desired results
Contributing to a successful pricing strategy
Leading sales meetings
Motivating, coaching and conducting “one-on-ones” with individual contributors
Ensure retention of top sales talent
Assessing the need for changes to processes, systems, and people, and implementing the necessary changes
Pipeline management and forecasting
Lead business reviews with Board
Developing and implementing social selling strategies
Review and implementation of different sales channels and partners
Review and territory redeployment
Performance management
Customer acquisition and retention
Recruitment of the right permanent leadership
who are our clients ?
The simple answer is all companies that need to manage issues outside their current capacity or their capabilities. We bring impact to companies:
founded by technology or business experts without experience in structuring and running a successful sales team (Check out our Training Course)
requiring a sales-driven turn around.
looking for an executive open to transition Temp-to-Perm. The Sales Leader can fill the role permanently following the end of the assignment.
in transition, as a result of a recent or upcoming M&A / Due Diligence / Spin-off activity, a new investor, a defined exit strategy, …
in turmoil. Our Sales Leaders bring order to chaos, motivate and enable a team to row in the same direction.
that run the risk of falling apart and losing salespeople, clients, and business as remote locations are keeping them isolated.
needing to complete a project and lacking the capacity or capability.
with involuntary turn-over that need to build trust and reliability in and around their sales team.
where the current executives take on too much and lack the bandwidth to provide sales leadership.
where the business has outgrown the existing sales leadership talent.
looking to build a strong network of partnerships.
aiming to increase their growth rate… quickly.
looking to expand internationally and lack the in-house expertise.
who do not (yet) need or can afford a full-time Sales Leader, looking for part-time or fractional leadership.
who need to fill the role of Sales Leader quickly and have no time to wait and undertake a lengthy executive search.
experiencing a sudden sales leadership void.
entering the scale-up phase.