I help founder-led B2B businesses fix stalled revenue. No full-time CRO salary. No strategy deck that never turns into pipeline. I step in as your fractional CRO: I build your revenue engine, run it with your team until it holds, then hand it over.
Currently taking on a small number of new fractional CRO engagements.
“She brings a special balance of insight, experience and creativity to any and every situation. She is the epitome of professionalism.”
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I'm Sarah Slack, founder of Towles Consultancy. Thirty years in sales, twenty plus of them in sales leadership, across businesses of every size, from FTSE 100 to businesses run by their founders.
That range is the point. Most operators have only worked at one scale. I've built revenue functions from nothing and run them inside organisations with boards, investors, and complex stakeholders. The judgement transfers. The stakes just change shape.
I founded Towles for businesses that need revenue and cash flow moving quickly, and don't have the budget or the timeline to hire a Chief Revenue Officer permanently. I step in as fractional CRO. I build the commercial function, set the standard, and do the work myself.
No strategy decks that never turn into pipeline. No advice from a distance. I'm in the detail, in the room when it's hard, until the result lands.
Senior revenue leadership inside the business, without a permanent hire.
Turning ambition into a repeatable plan for accelerating growth.
Raising what a sales team is capable of, not just what it's doing.
Turning strategy into a plan the business can actually run.
A pipeline the board can trust, and a forecast that holds.
The judgement calls that decide how a deal really lands.
Getting the sequence right: the right buyers, a sales process that works, and pricing that holds.
Raising the bar without knocking confidence.
Most engagements start with fractional CRO leadership. The other two are there when the business needs them, often working alongside it.
For founder-led businesses that need revenue moving quickly but aren't ready for a permanent Chief Revenue Officer. I build and run the commercial function directly: sales strategy, pipeline, forecasting and team performance, with the discipline of 20+ years in sales leadership, from enterprise accounts to the boardroom.
Book a call about Fractional CRO Leadership →Turning underperforming sales functions into scalable, well run operations. Proven building a retail sales division from scratch, with sales operations, structured training and clear performance frameworks built around how the business actually sells.
Book a call about Sales Transformation →One to one coaching for senior leaders, alongside team coaching for organisations. Delivered through Towles Consultancy since 2020 and grounded in a Henley accredited coaching practice, raising the bar without knocking confidence.
Book a call about Executive Coaching →Every engagement follows the same shape: build, embed, hold. I'm in the business most at the start, building the engine with your team, then I step back as your people take it over.
I find where the pipeline leaks, set the rules for how deals move forward, rebuild the forecast and run the first pipeline reviews myself.
I coach whoever leads sales, sit in the reviews that matter and step in on the big deals, while your team runs the cadence we built together.
A regular check on the forecast, support ahead of board meetings, and a sounding board when something shifts.
I only take one business through the Build phase at a time, so every founder gets the attention the start needs.
Fractional CRO and sales leadership for founder-led businesses, building and running the commercial function directly: sales strategy, pipeline and team performance. Alongside executive coaching for senior leaders.
Two years as Chief Revenue Officer of an AI-driven people performance platform, then moved to its board.
Partnered with senior leadership to build a retail sales division from the ground up, including coaching frameworks and sales operations.
Senior leadership team member driving commercial growth across a global leadership development and organisational transformation business.
Managed some of the organisation's largest enterprise accounts, then promoted to lead the sales teams and ultimately the most senior sales team in the business, responsible for its largest and most complex customers.
Enterprise relationships built and led across a 30 year career
FTSE 100 and global enterprise organisations across financial services, retail, logistics, broadcasting, and the public sector.
“Working with Sarah over the last three years has been one of the most valuable investments I've made in myself and my career.”
“She brings a special balance of insight, experience and creativity to any and every situation. She is the epitome of professionalism.”
“Sarah helped develop my management skills, and both inspired and mentored me throughout my time working for her. She is a truly exceptional individual, focused and driven.”
“Sarah thrives on positivity, always seeking the best possible outcome. An infectious, caring and energetic leader.”
Fractional work is front-loaded: about a day a week while we build, a few days a month as your team takes it over, then a day a month or less once it runs without me. Executive coaching is delivered as a programme of at least six sessions. The work is best suited to businesses with £2m to £25m turnover, usually with a small sales team where the founder is still in the big deals, or investor-backed teams preparing for their next stage.
A short conversation to understand the challenge and the shape of the work. Following our call, I aim to come back to you within 48 hours with either a proposal or a clear outline of next steps.
Book a scoping call →Every engagement is costed to what's actually needed, from a single advisory day through to an ongoing fractional role.
The structure, whether day rate or monthly retainer, is set out clearly upfront. No surprises once the work begins.
Still working out what shape of engagement is right for you?
Book a callI lead your revenue function for part of each month, the way a permanent Chief Revenue Officer would. That covers the whole revenue engine: how leads arrive from marketing, how deals move through sales, and how customers renew and grow. Sales is usually where the fastest gains are, so that's where I start. I own the number while we build it. Then your team owns it, and I make sure it holds.
A permanent CRO means a full-time senior salary and a long recruitment process before anything moves. Working fractionally, you get that experience straight away, for the days the business actually needs. It also means the foundations are in place before you do recruit permanently, so your new recruit isn't left to fix them.
For the first six to eight weeks I'm in the business about a day a week, building the framework with your team. Then it drops to a few days a month as your people take it over. If you need someone in every meeting every day, that's an interim role, and I'll tell you on the first call.
Both. I work hands on with the team to put the sales process and frameworks in place, and alongside whoever leads it, so they can hold the team to account once I step back.
Most often businesses with £2m to £25m turnover, usually with a small sales team where the founder is still in the big deals, or investor-backed teams preparing for their next stage. I've worked at every scale, from FTSE 100 to businesses run by their founders.
No. For me the type of sale matters more than the sector. I've sold across the full range, from sales closed on the day to highly complex solutions with long, multi-stakeholder timelines, in both B2B and B2C. That includes SaaS and tech in HR outsourcing, telecoms, financial services, retail, logistics and the public sector.
AI is a real help with productivity, and I'm seeing it move the front end of the pipeline. What I'm not seeing is deals closing any quicker. Like satnav before it, AI makes it easy to stop using skills we once relied on. I call it the laziness curve. My work puts the art of selling back, so the extra pipeline turns into revenue.
There are two routes: a defined day rate with clear parameters, or a retainer shaped around agreed outcomes. Either way, my first question is what good looks like for you, because that decides how I help deliver it. Executive coaching runs as a programme of at least six sessions.
Ten handwritten letters a week, a fountain pen and a lot of patience. Why the effort a buyer can see still opens doors, and where AI fits alongside it.
Read on LinkedIn →Why a deal should only move stage on what the buyer actually did, and why the first honest forecast is always a little uncomfortable.
Read on LinkedIn →Why so many sales recruits inherit a foundation problem that was never theirs to fix, and what has to be built first.
Read on LinkedIn →
