Many people use the terms Interim Sales Manager and Part-time Sales Manager interchangeably. In reality, these terms and positions are very different. Interim sales managers are typically a full-time employee acting to bridge the gap until a permanent sales manager or director can be found. Companies utilizing this role or service tend to be larger in size and have more salespeople than companies utilizing a Part-time sales manager.
The Part-time Sales Manager/Outsourced Sales manager and the Fractional Chief Revenue/Fractional Chief Sales Officer (CRO/CSO) is typically utilized by companies with 2-12 salespeople and $1M-$15M revenue to bridge the gap between the talented sales manager they need and the inexpensive sales manager they can afford. Part-time sales managers act similarly to a permanent sales manager but do not put in a 40-hour week. Instead, they assess the sales function and organizational processes, develop the team(s), develop or update sales processes, and transform the business in partnership with the SMB owner in all of their people, processes, products and profits.
It is the Part-time Sales Manager's goal to evolve the critical sales strategies, important sales management activities, and then develop and empower the team. Importantly, steps to prioritize workday requests and "noise" will allow for recognition of non-important, non-urgent items which will often be left undone. This is not usually an issue as many companies utilizing Part-time sales managers have no sales management activities and minimal to no activities are getting done. In the chart below, you can see the contrast between interim sales management and Part-time sales management
In deciding the executive presence you feel is appropriate, there are two levels of Part-time Sales Manager you can employ. A Part-time/Outsourced Sales Manager and a Chief Revenue/Sales Officer (CRO/CSO). This will often be dictated by currently existing structure of the organization, value placed upon external input to the senior management team, and the commitment to holistic customer-centric transformation of the organizational practices.
The Part-Time Sales Manager, or Outsourced Sales Manager's primary focus is on the sales function and sales people. Application of the "Assess-Develop-Transform" approach is department and function focused. Often the Sales Manager is invited to present progress and results to the ownership or leadership team, but is not involved as a member driving transformation across departments or organizational decisions.
The Fractional Chief Revenue Office or Chief Sales Offices provides the same level of detail and focus to the sales function. However, the scope of the role is expanded to include membership and input to the owner or leadership across functions, tying in the people and digital transformations across the organization. Often, but not always, the Fractional Chief Revenue Office (CRO) is employed in high-growth start-up, build-out and scale-up organizations with "Growth Hacking" in mind and will usually includes marketing oversight. The Chief Sales Officer (CSO) provide the same level of organizational involvement with functional oversight limited to only sales.
Whatever the SMB sales and revenue aspirations may be, it is best to understand the options available to meet the current and future needs. The good news is, there is likely an available option and engagement are always tailored to the SMB. It is best to reach out to your local Sales Management partner and start the discussion on what this looks like for your growth.