Background: When a small business hires an outsourced sales manager, s/he is referred to as a Fractional Sales Manager. Alwyn Lasrado explains this phenomena along with its advantages.

Small businesses (SMEs) run by entrepreneurs are faced with very similar challenges as to what large companies face.  The difference lies in the fact that while large companies have the financial wherewithal to address those challenges with time tested solutions or even trial and error solutions, the small business entrepreneur is forced to be cautious.

Also read: Evolving sales competencies for 2019

Technology has immensely helped level the playing field for SMEs and startups and although not all have adapted well, the primary challenge remains constant i.e. growing revenues and increasing profits. Most SMEs don’t have a sales team large enough to warrant a sales manager role nor the budget for a superstar sales manager and therefore they do without one or hire someone under-skilled. More likely, the business owner ends up doing sales and managing his small sales team as well.

Fractional Sales Management or Outsourced Sales Management can help improve sales performance while minimizing risk at a fraction of the cost of a traditional full time sales manager.

However, the entrepreneur continues to wear multiple hats juggling various responsibilities including possibly managing operations, finance, administration, HR etc. apart from sales. But business growth needs a focused approach and thus needs proper sales management. And being good at sales is not the same as being good at sales management. Good sales management is about getting ordinary salespeople to perform at extraordinary levels.

Fortunately, for small businesses, there is now a way to get around this dilemma by a fairly recent phenomena (at least in the Indian scenario) called Fractional Sales Management or Outsourced Sales Management which can help improve sales performance while minimizing risk at a fraction of the cost of a traditional full time sales manager.

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The Fractional Sales Manager helps bring in the expertise – not just consulting, but putting practical sales processes in place, to help SMEs manage, nurture and close leads into firm orders.

Some of the key issues that Fractional Sales Management addresses are:

• Proven sales expertise from strategy to execution to leadership.
• Assessment of salespeople and sales processes.
• Coaching and sales skills development by focusing on individual salesperson performance.
• Sales process development that seeds best practices and focuses on creating a proven and repeatable sales.
• Reports and Data Management ensuring actionable items across sales cycle and implement measurable improvements.
• Under-use of technological sales tools (e.g. CRM)
• Flexibility combined with Lower risk and greater ROI (return on investment).

Sales Management is a skills position. There are things that a ‘3x’ paid Sales Manager can do from a talent perspective that a ‘x’ paid sales manager just cannot do.  Sales management leadership is responsible for the critical performance drivers. The Fractional Sales Manager can accomplish more in 1/2 day per week than many sales managers can accomplish in a week’s time.

Is your organisation targeting, deploying, executing, engaging, and enabling enough? Reach out to us for a free assessment (it will take less than 5 minutes) to evaluate where you stand.

Also read: 5 basic skills will determine how much you sell

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