Building an All-Star Fractional Sales Team
Your GTM Network is more than just a group of like-minded individuals on LinkedIn. You should be able to leverage your network to support your sales efforts and do ‘work’ for you. My goal in extending my reach across the industry is to find GTM leaders who will accelerate our pipeline and support sales cycles. It’s important to know who to connect with and how to approach this relationship, otherwise, you’ll end up spending wasted time on networking (it takes real time!).
First off, you need to make sure you have the best of the best on your team. For the best results, your ‘fractional BDRs’ should have practical knowledge about not just the industry but in the same category(s) you’re selling into. The best case scenario is if you onboard a GTM employee from an adjacent business or one that you often work with. These BDRs have typically already grown a similar network, which you can capitalize on and vice versa. You can also evaluate their network (and their work) by tapping into social media. Identify who’s already in their circle, if they’re actively engaging thoughtfully with others, sharing knowledge on these platforms, etc. You’re filtering for top performers, otherwise you’ll likely waste your time on opportunities with low ROI.
To get the other party on board you’ll have to make sure that values are aligned. In conversation, make it evident that working with you will help them 1) scale their network 2) gather more market intelligence 3) bring in additional opportunities or whatever else piques their interest. You’re selling yourself here, and the benefit they get from being in your circle.
For some, a mutual relationship may not be enough, and they may be the wrong candidate for your ‘fractional BDR role’. In this case, you should start thinking about fitting them into another profile. At Snag, we have our GTM network, and we have our Referral program. If your connection is still someone you think can benefit your growth then consider onboarding them to a Referral program. In these programs the standard is to offer 10% of ACV for all deals they bring across the table, you can even think about paying them directly for their ‘BD’ work. Although, we like to stick to performance-based payouts.
Our Referral program, and channel partner strategy have significantly helped us boost revenue in the last 2 years. I’ll talk about both in more detail in my next posts.
Follow along here and on X if you’re interested in learning more about navigating sales in our increasingly digital world.
