How to Choose a Fractional CRO
for Your Technology Company

The Situation

Not all fractional CROs are built the same.

The fractional CRO market has exploded over the last five years. Every former VP of Sales and revenue consultant now offers fractional services. For technology services companies specifically, this creates a dangerous signal problem: the credentials that look right (CRO title, enterprise sales background, SaaS exits) may have no relevance to the specific dynamics of technology services revenue.

What to Evaluate

Technology services experience is non-negotiable. The revenue dynamics of technology services - long relationship-based sales cycles, multi-stakeholder enterprise deals, the tension between delivery and new business, the specific disruption patterns of AI on the billable hour model - are different from SaaS, from product businesses, and from most other B2B categories. A fractional CRO who hasn't lived inside this industry will spend your money on a learning curve.

Methodology matters. A fractional CRO who runs on instinct and relationships is replicating the founder-led sales problem you're trying to solve. Look for someone with a documented, teachable methodology that your team can run after the engagement ends. Inversion Selling - the methodology Kevin French installs in every engagement - was specifically built for the buyer-controlled era that technology services companies are navigating.

Ownership versus advisory. The most important distinction is between a fractional CRO who owns the outcome and one who advises on it. Kevin French owns the number. His performance layer - a percentage of net new revenue above baseline - aligns his incentives with yours.