Fractional VP of Sales for MSPs
You have a sales problem. You are not sure whether it is the rep, the system, or both. What you do know is that you cannot afford to keep guessing, and you are not ready to hire a full-time sales leader.
That is what this engagement is built for
Chris Duncan
When Sales Leadership Is the Missing Piece
Most MSP owners reach a point where the sales function is too complex to manage without dedicated leadership, but not large enough to justify a full-time executive hire.
The symptoms are recognizable. Revenue is inconsistent quarter over quarter. The pipeline looks active but does not close at the rate it should. The rep or team lacks direction and accountability. The founder is still closing deals that should not require them. Sales activity is happening, but there is no system behind it.
The instinct is to hire. But a full-time VP of Sales is a significant commitment — compensation, benefits, ramp time, and the risk of the wrong hire. For most MSPs between $1.5M and $10M, that hire is premature.
The fractional model solves that gap. You get experienced sales leadership embedded in your organization, operating on the Fieldwork Method, without the full-time cost or the hiring risk.
What a Fractional VP of Sales Engagement Actually Looks Like
This is not an advisory role. I am not showing up to review your numbers once a month and send a slide deck.
I come in as the operating sales leader for your organization. That means working directly with your rep or team, running the system audit, diagnosing where the breakdown is occurring, and building the structure that your team will actually use.
The engagement runs on the Fieldwork Method. Every decision — targeting, messaging, outreach, deal management, pipeline review — is grounded in the same diagnostic framework I used to build and scale a sales organization inside an MSP from scratch.
Learn how the Fieldwork Method works → Sales Science
The work falls into four areas:
System Audit and Diagnosis Before anything tactical begins, I run a structured audit across all three layers of the Fieldwork Method. Performance Readiness, Pipeline Ignition, and Momentum Blueprint. The audit identifies exactly where the sales system is breaking down and determines the priority order for fixing it.
Learn more about Performance Readiness →
Pipeline and Targeting Building or rebuilding the top-of-funnel system. Ideal customer profile, Displacement Delta analysis, Trigger Event identification, outreach motion, and messaging. The goal is a pipeline that produces qualified opportunities from the right accounts at a consistent rate.
Team Leadership and Accountability Direct oversight of the rep or team. Pipeline reviews, deal coaching, activity tracking against the Success Formula, and the accountability structure that keeps execution consistent without requiring the owner to stay in the middle of it.
Transition Planning The engagement is designed to end with your organization running the system independently. Every engagement includes documentation, knowledge transfer, and a transition plan so the sales function does not collapse when I step back.
Is This the Right Fit?
This is a fit if:
- You have a rep or team in place and revenue is still inconsistent
- You are scaling past founder-led sales and need the system to survive the transition
- You have tried training or coaching before and it did not hold
- You want embedded leadership, not an outside advisor
- You are between $1.5M and $10M and ready to build a real sales system
- You need someone who has done this inside an MSP, not just consulted on it from the outside
This is not a fit if:
- You are pre-revenue or your service offering is not yet validated
- You want someone to manage the sales team permanently without building internal capability
- You are looking for a short-term fix or a motivational program
- You need guaranteed results in 30 days
Built From the Inside, Not the Outside
I spent eight years as Head of Sales at an MSP in the Pacific Northwest. I built the sales organization from the ground up, drove 7x MRR growth, and helped the company earn recognition as one of Oregon’s Best Companies to Work For in 2022, 2024, and 2025.
I also founded and exited Sonitrol of Savannah, which I sold to Stanley Black and Decker. That is a different industry but the same discipline — building a sales system that produces consistent, predictable revenue without depending on one person to close everything.
The Fieldwork Method is what came out of those experiences. It is not a framework I designed in a consulting context. It is the system I used to actually build MSP sales teams, distilled into a reproducible diagnostic and execution structure.
When I come into your organization as a Fractional VP of Sales, I bring that system with me.
How We Work
Step 1 — Discovery Call A 30-minute conversation to understand the current situation. No pitch. The goal is to determine whether there is a real problem worth diagnosing and whether the fractional model is the right fit.
Step 2 — Readiness Assessment Before any tactical work begins, I assess whether the salesperson or team has the capacity to execute. This is System 0 of the Fieldwork Method in practice. It determines whether we go straight into system building or whether there is a readiness issue that needs to be addressed first.
Step 3 — System Audit A structured review across Pipeline Ignition and Momentum Blueprint. Targeting, messaging, outreach, deal management. The audit identifies the specific breakdown points and sets the priority order for the engagement.
Step 4 — Engagement Embedded sales leadership based on what the audit reveals. Direct team oversight, pipeline management, deal coaching, and system building. Scope and cadence are determined by the audit findings.
Step 5 — Transition and Handoff Documented systems, trained team, and a clear handoff plan. The goal is a sales function that runs without me in it.
Ways to Work Together
Sales Team Training
Individual Sales Coaching
Structured training built on the Fieldwork Method, delivered directly to your team. Covers the systems and procedures relevant to your specific gaps, identified through the audit process.
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One-on-one coaching for the MSP owner, sales leader, or rep who needs to close the gap between where they are and where the system requires them to be.
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What does a Fractional VP of Sales actually do inside an MSP?
A Fractional VP of Sales operates as the embedded sales leader for your organization on a part-time or flexible basis. In an MSP context, that means running the system audit to identify where the sales breakdown is occurring, building or rebuilding the pipeline and targeting system, providing direct oversight and coaching to the rep or team, managing pipeline reviews, and creating the accountability structure that keeps execution consistent. The role is operational, not advisory. The goal is to build a sales system that your team runs independently by the end of the engagement.
How is a Fractional VP of Sales different from a sales coach?
A sales coach works with an individual to improve their skills and performance. A Fractional VP of Sales operates at the system level, building and running the sales organization as a whole. That includes strategy, targeting, team management, pipeline oversight, CRM structure, forecasting, and transition planning. Individual coaching may be a component of the fractional engagement, but it is one element of a broader operational role, not the primary deliverable.
When does an MSP need a Fractional VP of Sales versus a full-time hire?
The fractional model makes sense when the sales function is too complex to manage without dedicated leadership, but the organization is not large enough to justify the cost and commitment of a full-time executive hire. For most MSPs between $1.5M and $10M, a full-time VP of Sales is premature. The fractional model provides the same caliber of leadership at a fraction of the cost, with the flexibility to scale the engagement up or down based on what the business needs at each stage of growth.
How long does a Fractional VP of Sales engagement typically last?
Engagement length depends on what the system audit reveals and the scope of work required. A focused engagement addressing a specific breakdown, such as rebuilding the pipeline system or transitioning from founder-led sales, typically runs three to six months. A more comprehensive engagement covering multiple systems and including team development runs longer. Every engagement includes a transition plan so the organization can run the system independently when the engagement concludes.
What is the Fieldwork Method and how does it apply to a fractional engagement?
The Fieldwork Method is a structured MSP sales framework developed by Chris Duncan at CDAERIS Agency. It is organized into three systems: Performance Readiness, which assesses whether the salesperson is ready to execute; Pipeline Ignition, which covers everything required to build and fill a qualified pipeline; and Momentum Blueprint, which covers the active deal cycle through close. In a fractional engagement, the Fieldwork Method is the operating system. Every decision about targeting, messaging, team management, and deal oversight is grounded in the same diagnostic framework used to build and scale a sales organization inside an MSP.
Can a Fractional VP of Sales work with an existing sales rep or team?
Yes. The engagement is built around your existing team, not as a replacement for it. The system audit identifies where the performance gap is occurring, and the engagement addresses it directly through a combination of system building, direct coaching, pipeline oversight, and accountability structure. The goal is to improve the performance of the existing team and leave them with the system and skills to sustain that performance independently.
What does the transition look like at the end of a fractional engagement?
Every fractional engagement at CDAERIS Agency includes a documented transition plan. That means the sales systems, targeting criteria, messaging frameworks, pipeline review cadence, and CRM structure are all documented and handed off in a form the team can use without external support. The transition is planned from the beginning of the engagement, not added at the end. The measure of a successful engagement is a sales function that runs without the fractional leader in it.
How does a Fractional VP of Sales help an MSP move past founder-led sales?
Founder-led sales fails to scale because the system lives in one person. The knowledge, the relationships, the close instinct, and the process are all inside the founder rather than documented and transferable. A Fractional VP of Sales addresses this by externalizing the system, building a repeatable pipeline and deal management process, transferring the skills and accountability to the rep or team, and creating the structure that allows the founder to step back without revenue collapsing. The transition from founder-led to team-led sales is one of the most common engagement types and one of the highest-leverage investments an MSP owner can make.
What size MSP is the right fit for a fractional sales leadership engagement?
The primary focus at CDAERIS Agency is MSPs between $1.5M and $10M in revenue. Below that range, the service offering is often not yet validated enough for a sales system to produce consistent results. Above that range, the complexity of the engagement typically requires a more extensive embedded model. Both situations are worth a conversation to determine whether there is a fit and what the right engagement structure looks like.
Does the Fractional VP of Sales engagement include recruiting or hiring support?
Hiring support can be included as a component of the engagement depending on what the system audit reveals. If the audit determines that the performance gap is a people problem rather than a system problem, identifying the right hire and defining the role correctly becomes part of the work. However, the engagement always begins with the audit. Hiring before diagnosing whether the current team can perform in the right system is one of the most common and costly mistakes MSP owners make.
Ready to Find Out What Is Actually Broken?
The first step is a 30-minute conversation. No pitch. No commitment. Just a clear look at where the sales system is breaking down and whether this engagement is the right fit.
From Inception to Expansion
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