Guide
How to Hire a Fractional CRO
A fractional CRO can fix your revenue without a $250,000 hire, but only if you pick the right one. Here is how, from someone who has been in the seat 30-plus times.
When you are ready for one
You are ready when revenue has stalled and nobody senior owns the number, when you need results before you can justify a full-time CRO, or when you have burned money on VP hires that did not move the number. If you just need more hands, hire reps. If you need someone to own the strategy, the team and the forecast, hire a CRO.
What to look for
- An operator who has carried a number, not a consultant who hands you a deck
- Hands-on experience in your kind of sale: B2B, your deal size, your motion
- Willingness to own hiring, training and replacing reps, not just advising
- A clear diagnosis-then-execution approach with a forecast they will stand behind
- Monthly terms and no long lock-in, so they keep earning the renewal
Questions to ask before you sign
- Walk me through a revenue function you rebuilt from zero and what you owned
- What will you do in week one, week two, and the first month
- How do you decide who to keep, train or replace on my team
- What does your forecast look like and what are you accountable for
- How many hours a day will you actually be in my business
What it costs
A fractional CRO is priced by how much of the week you need, not by a full salary. Expect roughly $6,000 a month for a couple of hours a day, up to around $22,000 for full-time and exclusive, billed monthly. Compare that to $250,000-plus all in for a full-time CRO once you add equity, bonus, severance risk and a long hiring cycle.
Common questions
How much does it cost to hire a fractional CRO?
Typically $6,000 to $22,000 a month depending on how many hours a day you need, billed monthly with no long-term lock-in, far below a $250,000-plus full-time CRO.
How fast can a fractional CRO start?
Quickly. A good one diagnoses in week one, gives you a plan and a real forecast in week two, and is running the motion by week three, instead of the months a full-time hire takes to find and ramp.
Fractional CRO or full-time CRO?
Hire fractional when the work is not yet a full week or you need results now without the cost and risk of a full-time hire. Move to full-time when the function is big enough to justify a senior salary all year.
Tell me where revenue stalled. I'll tell you why.
A 15-minute call, no pitch. You will leave with at least one concrete thing to fix, whether or not we work together.
Book a 15-Minute Call