Frequently Asked Questions About Fractional Sales Management and One-On-One Coaching for Owners and Sales Managers.

Yes. As your sales manager, we lead the hiring process and manage toward performance. We conduct regular reviews of results against expectations, develop improvement plans if needed, and if necessary in coordination with your HR person let an employee go.

We sure can. The CRM is a critical component of our Virtual Shared Sales Management approach and we review that closely when we are Getting In Step with a new client. If you would like a CRM review or recommendation you can schedule a meeting here.

Yes, if you’d like us to. Site visits can be very beneficial to getting off to a faster start. There would be charges in addition to our monthly fees for site visits, and fees would vary based on the travel time of your manager. Any visit fees would be agreed upon before we get started, so there are no surprises. Our monthly fees listed on our fee schedule are based on virtual meetings through video and audio calls.

We foster a culture of constant learning. We facilitate training and learning in our sales meetings, but we don’t provide a formal day or two-day training program. If a team can use more formal training we will find the best source to contract with. We will then reinforce that training to make it part of the culture. To get a sense of our selling beliefs and values you can review our Service-Minded Selling Fundamentals.

We can work with either. What is most important is what a sales team needs from a manager. If a team can or should be able to perform independently with little supervision there is a good chance we can help. If the manager role requires constant availability to answer questions or speak with customers, we would not be a good fit.

See the list of industries we have worked with below. We’ve asked ourselves if we should be niche or industry specialists and have decided that we do not. When we engage with a new industry we bring a fresh perspective that complements the expertise that resides at each business. We like to say we don’t bring in “our” best practices as most industry specialists will, but rather discover what will be “your” best practices.

Yes. We have been assigned the Sales Leadership Role on an EOS leadership team. Our owner, Rene Zamora, has also implemented EOS before EOS moved to a Franchise model. We understand EOS and love the results. **When we are part of a Leadership Team attending L10, quarterly, and annual meetings there are additional fees.

Selling and managing are two very different skill sets. That’s why the best salesperson does not often make a good sales manager. They don’t have sales management skills. A salesperson does need to be a product expert or have a team that can back them up. Our role is to make sure each salesperson has the resources available (within the company or through vendors) to equip them with the knowledge to instill confidence in buyers.  We do not become product or service experts, but we do quickly understand the value connection between what is offered and what the value is to the customer.

Our Process Video will explain this perfectly. It will explain what our approach is during our first three months to Get in Step, Tune Things Up, and move into ongoing improvement as we work to achieve your goals.

When we are asked this question it’s usually because an owner does not want to lose or disrupt a well-performing salesperson, but at the same time, they would like to see them perform better, be less disruptive or be a team player. Yes, we have handled these veterans often. I don’t believe we’ve lost one and they do become more team-oriented, improve their approach, and often will learn to help others. We are experienced people managers and leaders who can work well with all personalities as long as they can meet expectations and support the company values and goals.

We took on our first client in July of 2006. We were located in Central Washington and our client was in Dallas, TX. The model has not changed, but it has been refined to be better. We still manage person to person in a virtual-shared approach.

We work on a month-to-month basis just like an employee. There are no sticky contracts. We do take our time getting to know a new prospective client because we both want a long-term working relationship. Our average client tenure is over 3 years.

We charge a flat monthly rate based on the number of salespeople on the team. Most teams fall between $3900 – $5400 a month. You can find our fees detailed on the pricing page and a cost comparison between a full-time traditional sales manager role and our virtual shared approach.

The ROI is different for each business. Some need fast growth, while others are looking for sustained growth. Some business owners find that having us on board allows them to focus on other aspects of the company which ends up contributing back to more sales growth. Before we agree to work together we will determine the key objectives assigned to our performance so we can measure your ROI.

Yes. We can also help assess if we think they are the right person for the role. Contrary to popular belief, some good salespeople can become good managers and still sell, but they need training and guidance. It’s very rare one can just make it work on their own. 

It usually takes 3-6 months depending on your time availability to put in the work. During implementation, there is always more work to be done setting your systems up so you spend less time managing later. A key component of using this system is to manage effectively while using less of your time.

The cost is $3000 a month. We have weekly work and coaching sessions to develop your systems and process for a Part-Time Sales Management System. We are also available for questions in between meetings via email or phone. The more time you can put in between our sessions, the faster your system will be complete.

We meet for an hour each week in what I call a work session. We focus on putting together your process and systems to allow you to manage your sales team effectively Part-Time. We will build sales processes, create job descriptions, design your CRM and more during our meetings. In between the meetings you will finish work we start or start additional projects. We work through the Five Elements of The Part-Times Sales Management System. The faster you work the less time you spend. 

Our owner or sales manager coaching is focused on implementing our Part-Times Sales Management System. Since the owner or manager usually has other responsibilities the role of sales management is part-time. Learning the tools and approach will make any manager better at managing multiple groups more effectively. 

PTSM is how we manage at Sales Manager Now. Our business model works when we can have sales teams performing at a higher level in less management time. All our management efforts result in people selling more. The specifics are all spelled out in our book, Part-Time Sales Management. In a nutshell, the system is designed around five key elements: Beliefs, Expectations, Accountability, Meetings, and Conversations.