The first call with a fractional exec: seven questions

A listing tells you six facts. It cannot tell you whether the person has room for you, how they work, or what it costs, because most practice sites do not say. Fifteen minutes on a call can. These seven questions get the answers a founder needs before the second call, in the order that saves the most time.

1. How many clients do you carry, and how many days a month would we get?

Fractional means shared. A CFO with three clients at four days a month each is a different service from one with nine clients at one day each. Ask for the number and the cadence, and ask what happens in a bad week when two clients need the same day. The honest answer names a trade-off. The evasive answer says “as much as you need.”

2. Who else do you work with in our sector, right now?

The “who they serve” line on the listing is what their site says. This question checks it against the present. You are not asking for names; you are asking whether the pattern-matching that makes fractional work valuable is fresh. A CFO who last closed an agency’s books in 2021 is learning on your time.

3. Who does the work?

Some practices are one person. Some are a named lead with a team of analysts, bookkeepers, or coordinators underneath. Neither is wrong, but you should know which one you are buying. Ask who joins the calls, who touches the numbers or the campaigns, and whether the person on this call is the person you will see in month four.

4. What does the first 90 days produce?

Ask for deliverables, not adjectives. For a CFO: a 13-week cash forecast, a pricing review, a monthly close you can read. For a CMO: positioning, a pipeline plan, a reporting rhythm. For a COO or Integrator: a meeting cadence, a scorecard, owners against every open problem. If the answer is “it depends,” ask what it depended on for the last client like you.

5. How is the fee structured, and what is inside it?

Retainer, day rate, or project. Only a few listings publish a fee, so this is where you learn it. Ask what the fee includes (calls, tooling, the team from question 3) and what triggers a change. Ask how they invoice and on what terms. A clear answer here predicts clear invoices later.

6. How does this end?

Fractional engagements end in one of three ways: the problem is solved, the seat becomes full-time, or it stops working. Ask about notice periods and about handover. A good fractional exec has a view on when you should replace them with a permanent hire, and says so before you ask. That is not a weakness in the offer; it is the offer.

7. What would make you say no to us?

Good fractional operators turn down work that does not fit. Asking this gives them the room to say it. If the answer is “nothing,” you have learned something too.

When the answer is a full-time hire

If question 6 turns into a conversation about a permanent seat, this directory is the wrong tool for the next step. It lists fractional operators only. A retained search or a hiring firm is the right tool for a full-time executive. Our sister company, SuperHired, does that work; it is the only advertiser on this site, and it is labeled wherever it appears.

Before the call

Open their practice site and read it like a client. Open your shortlist and write the one thing you most want to learn beside each name. Then ask these seven, in this order, and stop when you have heard enough.