A fractional sales leader is a senior seller who builds the process your first reps can run, then leaves it with them. Fractional sales leadership and a fractional CSO are the same search at this size. I am not a recruiter and I do not stay on to manage the team.
| Fractional sales leader | Fractional CRO | |
|---|---|---|
| Job | The selling system: who to call, how a deal moves, how the first reps are coached. | The revenue system: ICP, pricing, forecast, and the handoff from marketing through retention. |
| When it fits | You have a founder who still sells, or a first hire who is guessing. | You already have a team and a number you have committed to, and the motion was never rebuilt. |
| What I sell | Neither title as a seat. The 20 Minute Teardown, then the 100-Point GTM Autopsy, then the program. | |
If you are choosing between a fractional CRO and a full-time VP, that comparison is here.
A 50 person company rarely needs another chief. It needs a process a new seller can follow without the founder in the room.
The same idea, in a post: when the first sales hire is not working and how to get out of founder-led sales.
It is not a network that assigns you whoever is free. It is not a recruiter. It is not someone who carries your quota. Four clients at a time, and I do not manage reps day to day. Fees and the six-month minimum are on the pricing page.
A fractional sales leader builds the sales process, the message, and the first operating rhythm, then hands them to the people who will run them. It is not a full-time VP and it is not an open-ended coaching retainer.
A fractional CRO is the revenue seat: forecast, pricing, the whole motion. A fractional sales leader is the selling system the first reps use. At $50 million to $200 million I still start with the autopsy, because the title is usually ahead of the process.
A 50 person company usually needs a written way to find, qualify, and close, not a second executive. Who you sell to, what a good deal looks like, and the next step every open deal must have. That is the work. The title can wait.
No. I do not place fractional executives and I do not run a bench. If the motion needs a system, that is the program after the autopsy. RAINCLOUD builds and runs the pipeline. It does not place the hire. If you need a hire, that is your search.
The teardown is free. The autopsy is $5,000 and takes five business days from access. It is required before the build, credited in full against the $25,000 build, and there is no cash refund. The paid audit is the trial. The fee schedule.