Revenue slows down rarely because your teams are idle. In most cases, sales and marketing stay active but move in different directions. Campaigns go live, leads come in, deals close now and then, but forecasts feel shaky and growth feels uncertain. When this happens, you usually respond by adding tools, hiring more reps, or pushing agencies harder. The real gap is not effort. The real gap is ownership of revenue.
This is where a Fractional VP of Sales and Marketing becomes relevant. This role is not temporary support and not a consultant who gives advice and leaves. A fractional VP is a senior revenue leader who owns strategy, alignment, and results without asking you to commit to a full time executive hire.
This article explains when you should hire a fractional VP of sales and marketing, what the cost looks like in dollars, and what return you should realistically expect from this role.
A Fractional VP of Sales and Marketing owns your full revenue system. This includes marketing, sales, and in many cases revenue operations. Unlike a marketing leader who focuses only on lead volume or a sales leader who focuses only on closing, this role connects both teams under one revenue plan.
The word fractional refers only to time, not responsibility. The vice president sales and marketing sets direction, defines the go to market approach, aligns messaging with sales conversations, builds predictable pipeline systems, and makes revenue performance visible. They work directly with you and your leadership team as a decision maker, not as an external advisor.
Most fractional VPs work a fixed number of days every month. During that time, they identify what is broken, decide what needs fixing first, and lead execution through your existing teams and partners. They do not replace your people. They make your people work better.
Hiring a Fractional VP of Sales is not about headcount. It is about pressure on revenue and growing complexity. Certain signals show clearly when senior revenue leadership is missing, but a full time hire feels risky.
One clear signal is uneven pipeline quality. Leads arrive, but sales struggles with fit, long cycles, or weak conversion. Marketing reports activity, while sales reports frustration. This gap exists because no one owns both sides together.
Another signal is heavy founder involvement. If you are deeply involved in closing deals, approving campaigns, and resolving revenue decisions, growth depends on your availability. A Fractional VP of Sales and Marketing steps in to take control of these decisions and builds systems that work without you being involved every day.
This role also becomes necessary when early traction stops turning into repeatable growth. Early customers may have come through referrals or direct selling, but scaling that success fails. Messaging feels unclear, ideal customer profiles are not tight, and hiring more salespeople does not improve results. This stage requires senior leadership rather than more effort.
Hiring early can also justify a fractional approach. You may need senior thinking but cannot justify a full time salary yet. A fractional model gives you experience without long term financial risk.
When sales and marketing operate separately, the damage does not show up in one report. It shows up slowly through wasted spend, lost revenue, and internal frustration. Many companies underestimate how expensive this disconnect becomes over time.
The first cost is wasted marketing dollars. Marketing focuses on surface level metrics instead of revenue impact. Campaigns appear successful, but sales cannot convert those leads. Money keeps flowing into channels that do not influence closed deals, pushing customer acquisition costs higher without return.
According to HubSpot, companies with aligned sales and marketing teams see 36% higher customer retention and 38% higher sales win rates compared to those without alignment.
The second cost is lost revenue due to weak conversion. When messaging does not match sales conversations, prospects enter the funnel with incorrect expectations. Sales calls turn into explanations instead of closing discussions. Deals slow down, cycles stretch, and win rates drop. Even a small drop in conversion can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in a year.
There is also an operational cost. Sales spends time chasing poor fit leads. Marketing spends time defending metrics sales does not trust. You spend time settling disagreements instead of planning growth. Over time, this friction lowers morale and increases attrition risk among strong performers.
Forecasting becomes unreliable. Marketing cannot predict pipeline contribution accurately. Sales forecasts rely on instinct instead of data. This uncertainty affects hiring plans, spend decisions, and investor confidence. According to Gartner, poor forecasting accuracy can lead to revenue misses of over 10% annually in growth stage companies.
These costs add up quietly. What looks like a marketing issue or a sales problem is a leadership gap where no one owns revenue across both functions.
Sales and marketing alignment is about shared responsibility for revenue. When both teams work from the same strategy, every activity supports the same customer profile, message, and outcome.
Aligned teams agree on what a qualified lead looks like. Marketing knows what sales can close. Sales trusts the pipeline being delivered. Messaging stays consistent from first touch to final conversation, reducing confusion and speeding up decisions.
Efficiency improves when teams are connected. Marketing spend becomes easier to justify because its revenue impact is clear. Sales focuses on the right deals, improving win rates and shortening cycles. Forecasts become reliable, making planning easier.
This level of alignment requires a senior leader who sits above both teams and owns outcomes rather than activity. A Fractional VP of Sales and Marketing fills this role by design. They connect strategy with execution and remove the gaps that slow growth. Without this connection, growth slows and costs keep rising.
The cost of a fractional VP depends on experience, scope, and involvement level. Most engagements use a monthly retainer because the role owns outcomes rather than tasks.
At the lower end, limited scope or early stage engagements range from $4,000 to $6,000 per month. These focus on strategy, direction, and leadership support.
Mid range engagements usually fall between $7,000 and $12,000 per month. These include hands-on leadership, team management, pipeline rebuilds, and go to market restructuring. This range fits most growth stage SaaS companies.
Highly experienced leaders handling complex sales cycles or global markets may charge $15,000 or more per month. These roles replace both a VP of marketing and a VP of sales. Compared to a full time executive cost of $400,000 or more annually, fractional leadership costs 30% to 50% less while delivering faster results.
Pricing depends on scope complexity. Inbound models differ from outbound enterprise sales. Multi channel marketing and long deal cycles increase workload.
Team maturity also affects cost. Leading junior teams requires deeper involvement. Building systems from scratch takes more effort than optimizing existing ones.
Accountability also influences pricing. Some engagements focus on alignment and strategy. Others include ownership of revenue targets, forecasts, and board reporting. Greater ownership increases cost.
Return from a Fractional VP of Sales and Marketing appears in stages. Early returns come from removing friction rather than instant revenue spikes.
Within the first 60 to 90 days, you see clearer ideal customer profiles, sharper messaging, and stronger alignment. Lead quality improves, cycles shorten, and forecasts stabilize.
Mid term ROI appears through pipeline growth and better conversion. Marketing spend becomes focused. Sales spends time on deals that close. Customer acquisition costs stabilize or fall.
Long term ROI comes from systems that remain after the engagement ends. Dashboards, playbooks, and hiring clarity stay in place. Revenue becomes predictable, supporting fundraising and scaling. Many companies recover the cost of a fractional VP within months through efficiency gains alone.
The first 90 days focus on clarity. A Fractional VP of Sales and Marketing starts by understanding how money moves through your company. This includes reviewing revenue trends, deal velocity, churn patterns, and the time taken to move a lead from first touch to closed deal. Decisions rely on numbers rather than assumptions.
They examine how buyers experience your brand. Marketing messages, sales scripts, demos, proposals, and follow ups are reviewed. Any mismatch between promise and delivery is corrected to remove friction.
Once clarity is built, the focus shifts to structure. Ownership across sales and marketing becomes clear. Roles are adjusted so accountability is defined. Reporting lines are simplified.
The final phase establishes control. Review rhythms, decision processes, and correction cycles are set. Performance issues surface early. By the end of 90 days, revenue movement is visible and controlled.
The purpose of fractional leadership is stability rather than dependency. As systems mature and teams gain confidence, involvement reduces because decisions no longer bottleneck at the top.
At this stage, options expand. Some companies continue with lighter oversight focused on forecasting. Others move toward a full time hire with far less risk. Because roles, expectations, and metrics already exist, the next leader steps into a working system.
Knowledge transfer ensures continuity. Processes, reporting structures, and decision frameworks are documented.
Hiring a Fractional VP of Sales and Marketing is a strategic choice. It brings senior revenue leadership when clarity and alignment matter most.
You control cost, gain measurable impact, and build systems that last beyond the engagement. When revenue matters and guessing feels expensive, fractional leadership becomes the most efficient next step.
A fractional VP of sales and marketing usually costs between $8,000 and $25,000 per month, depending on scope and experience. This remains significantly lower than a full time executive salary.
To become a fractional sales leader, you need senior experience owning revenue, consistent results aligning sales and marketing, and the ability to lead outcomes within limited time commitments.