Pitfalls of a Fractional Executive

I have been a fractional sales leader for 22 months.

I don't think you know this, but when I launched my business after leaving the corporate world, I didn't know "this thing" was called "fractional".

I was calling myself "VP Sales on demand". 🔥

Then, a friend, Daniele, told me that the proper wording for it was "Fractional." Thanks, Dany!

During these months, I have worked with many clients and talked to many 'fractionals'.

Due to layoffs, corporate politics, and burnout, many sales leaders have decided to take a fractional career.

But very few, in my honest opinion, have nailed this or made a living out of it.

If you leave a corporate job and want to do this yourself, you must aim for 3X your full-time ex-employed salary.

Otherwise, it gets complicated.

Because of taxation, VAT, and expenses (mine are low, but still), you have to aim for that amount of money.

You will work a lot at the beginning and potentially for the first year, so you need the financials to back you up.

Or you may drop it off for the next corporate job.

But despite all the above, I still see very few fractionals who stand out. (My bar is high, I know.)

Usually, for three main reasons, I want to expand with you today.

Value---> Wannabes vs Those Who Have Done It

You can call yourself fractional, but you are not a fractional if you haven't done the "thing" 10-100-1000 times before.

You are just somebody who wants to figure it out first while getting paid.

Well, that's not the best for me.

Do you want to be a Fractional CMO? Good! But have you been a CMO before?

Do you want to be a Fractional CFO? Yes! But have you led 3-5-10 or 10 finance teams before?

The risk of being a wannabe is very high if you don't have the experience you claim.

But the risk is even more significant: customers will find out because you can fake it for one year, maybe two, not more.

Pricing ---> Too low, too many offers

Assuming you are not a wannabe (well done, my friend), another pitfall I often see is pricing and your offering.

I see fractionals with too low pricing (it's easy; you can increase it), but more importantly, they have multiple offers.

Customer A asks for X. I will give them X.

Customer B asks for Z. I will give them Z.

That's a problem, my friend, because you don't specialize yourself; you are just a consultant.

You are consulting for everything and....nothing.

Get down to 1-2-3 max packages, raise your price (aim for 3X your full-time hourly rate), and be consistent.

Social Media ---> Talk to your audience 3x a week at home or go home.

They keep saying, "I don't know how you can do it (consistently posting on LinkedIn). I cannot do it. I'm not an extrovert like yourself."

First of all - who told you I'm an extrovert?

LinkedIn has been my main source of revenue since I launched my consultancy.

70% of >350K came from Linkedin. 70%.

And I never sold directly to any of those.

They all came for my video, for my posts, and for a comment.

I didn't sell directly to any of those. I didn't pitch anything.

That's the power of your professional brand.

Ignoring that or not acting upon it can sink your gig before even starting.

Summary

I think fractional is here to stay, and we will see more of us in organizations in the future.

Companies struggle with budgets and finding the right talent, but fractional is the answer.

But it's up to us to make that answer trustworthy, sustainable and valuable.

We must consistently protect our category and raise the bar for better client outcomes.

Thanks for reading this far. See you all next week.