QStory Case Study

Think of it as head-renting instead of head-hunting. Rather than spending time and money trying to hire a full-time leader, Interim & Fractional leadership involves hiring leaders on either a short-term or part-time basis usually to carry out a specific purpose. They are experienced senior-level operators that can be parachuted into your company on short notice to drive high-performance in particular aspects of your business.

Unlike a coach or a consultant, Interim & Fractional leaders are hands-on doers whose remit is to get stuck in and get things done. For more information, check out our: Definitive guide to Interim & Fractional Leadership.

At ScaleWise, all our Interim & Fractional leaders have scaled at least one company (Seed to Series C) in senior GTM roles, usually at VP or C-Suite level in sales, marketing, customer success, partnerships or revenue operations (RevOps). Many have worked with other scale-ups in Interim & Fractional roles too. As such, they’re adept at quickly diagnosing issues, prioritising solutions and having an immediate impact.

Instead of joining with a wide-ranging brief, Interim & Fractional leaders focus on pre-agreed objectives. During the engagement, they will implement and execute a pre-agreed plan, so it’s crucial to agree on these objectives, deadlines and KPIs beforehand. Interim & Fractional leaders can also help interview and onboard their permanent replacement, ensuring they hit the ground running.

For example, the five most common tasks for an Interim & Fractional VP of Sales include restructuring the sales process, devising a coherent commercial strategy with company-wide buy-in, improving sales team performance and advising on sales hires (i.e. SDRs, AEs or even their full-time replacement).

Unlike full-time hiring (which can take up to 6 months), Interim & Fractional leaders are placed within 1–4 weeks and can have an immediate impact. This short time frame is possible thanks to ScaleWise’s unrivalled network of GTM leaders and the idiosyncrasies of the Interim & Fractional model (i.e. they don’t need company-wide onboarding and can dive into pre-agreed tasks straight away).

ScaleWise’s matching process vastly minimises the risk of a bad partnership. However, if the Interim & Fractional leader is not working out, it’s easy to terminate the relationship as there’s no long-term contract (you take out a month-by-month contract with ScaleWise, not the leader).

At ScaleWise, we find the reverse is usually true. Companies either hire their Interim & Fractional leader full-time (this happens in 35% of cases at ScaleWise) or they decide they no longer need support in one area (i.e. sales) and want support in another area (i.e. marketing). With ScaleWise, moving from an Interim & Fractional sales leader to an Interim & Fractional marketing leader is simple.

Interim & Fractional leaders are not hands-off consultants, but highly-experienced commercial leaders who join with a clear mandate and instantly command respect from the team due to their previous experience. Employees respond well to their ‘external’ status as it doesn’t disrupt the internal team dynamic (and avoids office politics) and enables them to objectively make swift strategic decisions (not decisions based on bias or nostalgia).

However, it’s important for the leadership team to support the Interim & Fractional leader and make it clear to employees that they have the authority to make changes (it helps if an internal leader introduces an Interim & Fractional leader to all the key divisions within the business at the start).

Interim & Fractional leaders placed through ScaleWise are contracted to ScaleWise, not your company. That means we can place them quickly and easily without you needing to negotiate payment terms or waste any time setting up contracts and billing relationships with lots of different leaders. It also makes it easier to change GTM support if required (i.e. using an Interim & Fractional Customer Success leader after working with an Interim & Fractional CMO).

Unlike a coach or a consultant, Interim & Fractional leaders are hands-on doers who get stuck in and get things done. At the outset, they will agree working schedules, practices and processes with you, including days of the week, communication channels, check-ins and access to the wider team.

For example, a leader might work part-time (i.e. three days’ work spread out across the week to ensure responsiveness to company needs) in a hybrid capacity for a few companies concurrently. No matter the working agreement, though, it’s crucial to schedule frequent catch-ups (i.e. one hour per week) to discuss updates, barriers and progress.

Interim & Fractional leaders are scaling professionals. To get roles, they need a strong catalogue of past successes, positive case studies of their previous Interim & Fractional work, and supportive references. As such, they always commit to the role whole-heartedly.

Yet, more importantly, they are motivated by enjoyment. They have often chosen a portfolio career as they love taking on new challenges and sharing their insights to help companies grow, so the more fulfilling the role, the more the Interim & Fractional leader will go above and beyond.