Sales Manager Now

Fractional Sales Management for B2B Media and Publishing

You've built the audience. You've built the content. But your AEs are renewing the same advertisers year after year while the new-logo pipeline sits empty — and you're still the one making the calls that close the accounts that matter.

Let’s get your business to the next stage of growth.

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The question is: what's your next move? Should you invest in more technology and lean operations, or in your revenue-generating department so they'll be more efficient and effective? — this is where we come in.

The Diagnosis

The Real Cost of a Media Sales Team That Isn't Finding New Sponsors

When Your AEs Become Account Farmers, Not Account Hunters

When comp plans reward renewal revenue without a new account requirement, your AEs stop prospecting. They stay busy maintaining what's already on the books while the new-logo pipeline quietly empties. The growth ceiling becomes the owner's Rolodex.

Chasing Advertisers Who Were Never Going to Buy

Without a defined advertiser ICP, your AEs build custom media proposals for companies that aren't a real fit — wrong audience, wrong budget, no buying history. The pipeline fills with Hopeium: prospects that feel close but never convert. No one calls it early.

Discounting the Package Instead of Defending the Platform

When a marketing director pushes back on rate, the AE cuts the package instead of defending the platform. Without a framework for selling audience quality and ROI to a CMO, they fold. Margins compress, and every renewal becomes a negotiation.

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The Fix

Why You Probably Shouldn't Hire a VP (Yet)

The Old Way

The Full-Time Trap

Recruiting a $200K VP of Sales from a competing trade publication is a math error for a 5-person media sales team.

  • Their advertiser rolodex belongs to a different publication — those relationships follow editorial loyalty, not the rep.
  • Consumes the entire sales leadership budget in their salary — nothing left to develop the team or the process.
  • Tendency to become the star closer — limiting the development of your current AEs.
  • Too much role for a 5-person media sales team — they get bored and start looking within a year.

Fractional Advantage

We Implement. We Don't Just Advise.

  • Advertiser ICP Clarity

    We define exactly which advertisers and sponsors are the right fit — by industry, budget range, audience alignment, and buying intent. Your AEs stop chasing cold inquiries that go nowhere and start protecting their time for companies they can actually close.

  • New Account Activity Accountability

    We hold the team accountable for hunter behaviors: new advertiser outreach, first meetings booked with marketing directors, proposals sent to new logos, and pipeline advancement by AE — not just whether renewals are tracking.

  • Value Selling Coaching

    We coach AEs to articulate platform value and audience ROI to marketing directors and CMOs — so they stop folding at the first sign of price resistance and start defending the investment with real data.

  • Account & Territory Assignment Strategy

    We align advertiser and sponsor prospects to the right AE based on account complexity, relationship fit, and growth potential. Strategic assignment improves close rates before a single proposal goes out.
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Our Methodology

No Magic. Just Process.

  1. Stop the Bleeding

    We audit where the team's time goes. We set ICP criteria for which advertisers and sponsors to pursue, enforce them, and stop the cycle of building proposals for prospects that were never going to convert.

  2. Build the Engine

    We install a weekly rhythm of meetings and one-on-ones focused on new account activity. We track what matters: new advertiser outreach, first meetings booked, proposals sent to new logos — and flag any AE with no new activity.

  3. Scale & Consult

    We build comp plans that reward new advertiser acquisition — not just renewals. We develop AEs' ability to sell platform value and audience ROI so they stop discounting. When it's time to grow, we help screen for AEs with real hunter instincts.

Scope of Work

What We Actually Do

We don't just "consult" or give advice. We take over the functional management of the sales department.

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  • Weekly Sales Team Meetings

    Accountability to activity and results reviewed, coaching and learning from each other. Issues solved and next actions set.

  • Prospect Qualification

    We establish and enforce ICP criteria for which advertisers and sponsors to pursue — so the team's time goes to accounts they can actually win.

  • Accountability Tracking

    We track new advertiser outreach, first meetings booked, proposals sent to new accounts, and pipeline progression by AE — the leading indicators that tell you growth is actually happening.

  • Hiring Support

    When it's time to add AEs, we help screen for candidates with genuine hunter instincts — not account managers in disguise.

How can you manage my media sales team if you've never sold advertising or event sponsorships?

Your AEs already know your audience, your rate card, and your editorial calendar. You need us to know Sales Management.

We manage attitude, activity, and conversations — and those are the same whether you're selling ad pages, digital packages, or conference sponsorships. The structure that holds a team accountable for new account activity week after week is what's been missing.

Your team handles the platform credibility. We provide the structure that converts it into signed advertiser agreements.

  • A dedicated sales manager embedded in your sales and company team
  • A clear, customized sales plan—plus someone to make sure it happens
  • Coaching and accountability that drive performance
  • Consistent systems for pipeline, reporting, and team rhythm
  • Leadership that frees you up to focus on the business, not just the sales team

Underneath it all is our Fractional Management proven framework consisting of Five Key Tenets—a practical approach that aligns your sales team with your business goals, compensation, systems, and culture. It’s how we turn good reps into a great team.

Trusted. Proven. —Built for Small Business.

  • BBB A+ Accredited
  • 19+ Years of Fractional Experience
  • 70+ Sales Teams Served Since 2006
“We didn’t just grow revenue—we built a culture of accountability and momentum.”
— Toby Wiik CEO - Standard Filter
“The transparency impressed me. The pricing was clear, the process was simple, and there was no song and dance. It felt like a partnership from the start.”
— Travis Dillard, CEO - Inflow Communications
“If you’re looking for somebody who’s going to really dig in and be a part of your business and understand your strategy, it’s a no‐brainer. I’d go with Sales Manager Now.”
— Michael Schneider, CEO - Bender Insurance Solutions
“Our manager coached people as much as metrics, so performance improved through better habits, confidence, and communication”
— Edward Johnson, VP Construction Risk - Bender Insurance Solutions
“Hiring Sales Manager Now has given me the ability to focus on growing the business, and having a part-time sales manager has just been a game-changer for us.”
— Steve Quirk, CEO - Quirk’s Media
“We learned that a fractional manager with 100% focus is far better than a full-time manager with only 25% focus.”
— John Ciniglio, CEO - TopTec Event Tents

Let's Just Talk.
No Pressure.

Our work fits best when you have an outside sales team responsible for finding and winning new advertisers and sponsors — not managing existing accounts or responding to inbound inquiries.

If your model is primarily renewing what's already on the books, or your AEs don't have a new-logo expectation built into their role, we'll tell you honestly that our process probably isn't the right fit.

But if you need a system to grow new advertiser and sponsor revenue beyond your current plateau, let's look at your pipeline together.

FAQ

What does this cost, and how long before we see results?
Our engagements are significantly less expensive than hiring a full-time VP of Sales — typically 60–70% less when you account for full compensation. As for timeline: the first 60 days are about getting in step — auditing how your AEs are spending their time, establishing ICP criteria for which advertisers to pursue, and setting up the accountability cadence. You'll usually see leading indicators improve — more new advertiser outreach, more first meetings booked — within the first 90 days. A sales team that runs itself takes 12–24 months to build. If you need a fix in 30 days, we're not the right fit.
You've never sold ads or event sponsorships. How will you manage a team that does?
We understand why this comes up — and we want to answer it directly. Managing a media sales team and selling advertising are two different jobs. Your AEs know the product: the audience data, the editorial calendar, the platform value. What most B2B media sales teams don't have is management structure — clear ICP criteria, a consistent prospecting cadence, someone holding the team accountable week over week for new account activity. We've managed teams where we were never licensed or certified in their industry — including insurance brokerages where we never went on a client call. The knowledge lives in your building. The structure is what we bring. Those two things together are what produce new-logo growth.
How long do we have to commit to this?
We don't do project work or short-term consulting. Sales management is a process, not a one-time deliverable. Most engagements run 12–24 months before we've built the structure, developed the team, and delivered real ROI. That said, we're not looking to stay longer than you need us — the goal is a sales team that manages itself over time. We work with clients who understand that building something durable takes longer than a quarter.
What does a typical week actually look like working with your team?
Each week there's a team meeting — focused on new advertiser and sponsor pipeline, not just renewals. Each month there's a one-on-one coaching session with each AE. Between those touchpoints, we're tracking the metrics that matter: new outreach, first meetings booked, proposals sent to new logos. We review that data and coach to it. It's not a heavy time commitment on your end — you participate in the team meeting and stay available when we need a decision. The rest is our job to run.
Is this the right fit for the size of our publication or event company?
Our work is built for B2B media companies and event organizers in a specific range: $3M–$20M in revenue, 2–8 outside AEs or sponsorship reps who are responsible for finding and winning new advertisers and sponsors — not just managing renewals. If you're below that range with only one rep, or larger with a well-staffed internal sales management team already in place, we'd tell you this probably isn't the right fit and point you somewhere better. If you're in that range and your AEs are farming instead of hunting, that's exactly the problem we solve.
We'd need you more involved than a few hours a week — how does that work?
This is the most important question you can ask, and we want to answer it honestly. Our model is built on quality of structure, not quantity of contact. Companies that believe they need daily involvement from a sales manager are usually companies where AEs haven't been held accountable to a clear process yet — so they need constant monitoring. That's a symptom of a management gap, not evidence that more hours will fix it. What changes behavior is a consistent system: clear expectations, a weekly meeting rhythm, and someone tracking the right metrics. If you genuinely need a full-time on-site presence, we'll tell you that's not us. If you need a system that produces a sales team that runs itself, that's what we build.
How long before our AEs actually change the way they work?
In our experience, you see behavioral shifts in the first 60–90 days — not because people change overnight, but because structure makes the right behaviors easier and the wrong ones visible. When an AE knows their new advertiser outreach is being reviewed every week, their habits change. When the pipeline meeting is focused on new logos and not just renewals, the conversation changes. Deep change — where a rep genuinely internalizes a new way of working — takes 6–12 months. Consistent pressure in the same direction is what produces it.
We get a lot of inbound interest from advertisers already. Do we really need someone managing outbound?
Inbound is great — it means your audience and your editorial reputation are doing their job. But inbound-only revenue is fragile. When one advertising category dries up, or a few anchor advertisers rotate their budgets to a digital channel or a competitor, there's nothing in the outbound pipeline to replace them. B2B media companies that grow consistently are running both: managing inbound well and proactively pursuing new advertisers and sponsors at the same time. If your AEs are only closing what comes to them, you're not growing — you're maintaining. And in B2B media and events in 2026, maintaining means slowly declining.