For small and medium businesses, investors are looking to invest in companies that provide them with the quickest ROI possible. They are looking for companies that have a solid infrastructure and consistency in revenue production. These investors will look at every aspect of your business as part of their due diligence. They will look at your people, your processes, and your revenue pipeline. They will want to see your short-term, and long-term goals as well as your strategic plan on how to obtain those goals.

One of the first things that the investors evaluate is your Sales infrastructure. Early-stage company owners usually try two methods to address their sales infrastructure requirements. First, they piece together a sales infrastructure using the most inexpensive solutions available (spreadsheets) to support their sales efforts. Most of the time the investors see this as a weakness as it will not scale to support the company’s sales efforts as they mature. Second, they hire a very expensive seasoned Sales Executive and ask them to address this issue. To attract a quality candidate for this position, the company is going to have to commit to a high salary and most of the time equity in the company. a significant number of the times, the revenue being generated is not sufficient to support or justify the cost of this individual and eventually, this effort fails as well.

More and more companies are looking at a third option that Investors see as a viable solution to this problem. They outsource the role of Vice President of Sales to consultants. This solution provides the companies with the experience and knowledge they need to build a sustainable sales infrastructure that can grow their revenues and company without the expense of a full-time employee in this role. This model works whether the company is focused on a direct sales or channel sales model. The consultants usually have a vast knowledge of sales infrastructure tools that are available for relatively small investments and can grow over time with your company. They can utilize these tools to build out the sales infrastructure that the investors recognize as a value add not a disadvantage.

WP Consulting is one of many consulting companies that offer a Virtual Vice President of Sales solution to businesses to help them attract the investors your company needs. Please contact us if you are interested in learning more about this solution.