What a Fractional CRO Actually Does — and How It Differs from a Full-Time CRO or VP of Sales

If your company has reached a point where growth feels harder than it should be, you’re not alone.   Many founders reach $5–30M in revenue before realizing the limits of a founder-led go-to-market motion.

(If you haven’t already, check out our post 5 Signs Your Business Has Outgrown Founder-Led Sales — it’s a good place to start.)

Once you recognize the gap, the next question usually follows fast:“Who should actually lead revenue for us — a VP of Sales, a CRO, or a Fractional CRO?”

Let’s unpack what each role really does, when to consider them, and how to make the right call for your stage of growth.

The CRO Role: In Theory vs. In Practice

The Chief Revenue Officer is responsible for aligning all revenue-generating functions — sales, marketing, and customer success — around a single go-to-market strategy for your existing, revenue generating offerings.

In a perfect world, a CRO:

• Owns the entire revenue number.

• Creates alignment between marketing, sales, and post-sale teams.

• Develops data-driven forecasts and KPIs.

• Guides pricing, pipeline management, and strategic partnerships.

In practice, most leadership teams bring in a CRO too early or too narrowly. They end up hiring someone who’s really a senior salesperson — not a strategic growth architect.

That’s why understanding the difference between a VP of Sales, a Full-Time CRO, and a Fractional CRO matters.

VP of Sales: The Execution Specialist

A VP of Sales focuses primarily on sales performance — building, managing, and scaling a sales team.

They are excellent at:

• Recruiting and training reps.

• Managing pipelines and hitting quotas.

• Running sales meetings and reporting performance metrics.

• Driving outbound and inbound conversion consistency.

Where they fit:

• Companies with a proven go-to-market model and consistent lead flow.

• Founders who already have a marketing leader and structured operations.

• When the goal is scaling a known process, not redefining it.

Where they fall short:

If your marketing isn’t aligned, your pipeline data is inconsistent, or you don’t yet know which GTM motion scales best, a VP of Sales won’t fix those systemic issues — they’ll just push the team harder inside the same constraints.  

Full-Time CRO: The Integrator

A full-time CRO sits at the executive table and builds the integrated revenue strategy across sales, marketing, and customer success.

They are responsible for:

• Defining and executing GTM strategy.

• Setting and managing revenue forecasts.

• Driving cross-functional alignment.

• Leading RevOps and analytics for full-funnel visibility.

• Overseeing customer lifecycle management.

Where they fit:

• Companies $30M+ that need a permanent executive to own long-term GTM structure.

• Businesses preparing for private equity investment or M&A.

• Complex organizations where sales, marketing, and product functions are mature but siloed.

Where they fall short:

• The hire is expensive ($250K–$400K+ with bonus and equity).

• The learning curve can take 3–6 months before measurable ROI.

• It’s a big commitment if the business is still evolving its growth model.

Fractional CRO: The Strategic Accelerator

A Fractional CRO bridges the gap between founder-led growth and fully institutionalized revenue leadership.  You get senior-level strategy and execution oversight — without the full-time cost or risk.

They are best at:

• Diagnosing where growth is stalling (pipeline, messaging, process, or alignment).

• Designing a phased GTM roadmap that fits your current maturity stage.

• Implementing structure: ICP clarity, playbooks, pipeline governance, tech stack alignment.

• Coaching internal teams while building toward future hires.

• Translating data into a predictable revenue operating rhythm.

Where they fit:

• Companies between $5–30M, often founder-led or with small sales teams.

• Businesses that have marketing activity but lack alignment and accountability.

• When the founder wants to step out of day-to-day selling, but without losing control of the GTM vision.

Where they shine:

• Flexibility: Engage for 6–12 months to build structure and hand off cleanly.

• ROI: Immediate impact on forecasting, conversion rates, and accountability systems.

• Talent bridge: Helps you recruit and prepare for the eventual full-time CRO hire.

How the Roles Compare

Function	VP of Sales	Full-Time CRO	Fractional CRO
Primary Focus	Sales execution	GTM integration	GTM design + interim leadership
Scope	Sales team only	Sales, Marketing, CS	Sales, Marketing, RevOps
Strategic Impact	Low–Medium	High	High
Best Stage	$10–50M with process maturity	$30M+ enterprise	$5–30M scaling mid-market
Time to Impact	3–6 months	6–9 months	4–8 weeks
Cost Commitment	Full-time	Full-time	Part-time (20–40%)
Ideal For	Scaling existing model	Long-term GTM maturity	Diagnosing + accelerating growth

When Founders Ask, “Which One Do I Need?”

Here’s the quick logic tree we use with clients:

• If your challenge is closing more of the same kind of deals, you likely need a VP of Sales.

• If your challenge is aligning marketing, sales, and success into one growth engine, you need a CRO (full-time or fractional).

• If your challenge is figuring out what’s broken and building the roadmap, start with a Fractional CRO.

The fractional model isn’t a shortcut — it’s a smart, staged investment. It allows you to add the expertise you need right now, without the overhead of hiring too soon.

The Strategic Role a Fractional CRO Plays

At Inimity, our role isn’t just to “fix sales.” It’s to design the operating system that supports long-term growth. That often includes:

• Aligning GTM strategy to business objectives.

• Building cross-functional accountability rhythms.

• Creating sales and marketing scorecards that tie activity to revenue.

• Introducing revenue forecasting and performance dashboards.

• Coaching leadership to eventually own and scale the system.

Think of it as revenue architecture — building the framework that future hires will grow inside of.

Choosing the Right Model for Your Growth Story

The right revenue leader depends on where you are in your journey:

• If you’re building your first repeatable GTM system → Fractional CRO

• If you’re scaling a proven sales process → VP of Sales

• If you’re integrating multiple teams under one growth vision → Full-Time CRO

Each path is valid — but the cost of getting it wrong can set growth back 12–18 months.

Ready to Design the Right Revenue Leadership Structure for Your Stage?

At Inimity, we help founders assess their GTM maturity and identify the leadership structure that will deliver the most leverage right now — without overhiring or overspending.

Contact us to discuss your growth path today.