Frequently asked questions
Straight answers about interim and fractional sales leadership, sales audits, board advisory and MEDDPICC training from Jonathan Hobday.
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Working with Jonathan
What does Jonathan Hobday do?
Jonathan Hobday is an interim, fractional and advisory sales leader for B2B SaaS companies, their boards and their investors in the UK and Ireland. He leads sales functions when a sales leader leaves, audits sales functions for boards, coaches new CROs and trains sales teams in MEDDPICC under the name Jonny Rocket.
Who does Jonathan Hobday work with?
Jonathan Hobday works with chief executives, chairs and boards of B2B SaaS companies, with PE operating partners and VC platform leads, and with newly appointed CROs and VPs of Sales. Executive search firms also call him when a client needs interim sales leadership while a permanent search runs.
How does an engagement with Jonathan Hobday start?
Most engagements start with a confidential 30-minute conversation about what the board has committed to and what is in the way. Many then begin with the three-week Revenue Engine Diagnostic, because the right answer depends on what is actually happening. When a sales leader seat is empty, interim cover can start first.
How are Jonathan Hobday's engagements priced?
Every engagement has a fixed scope and a fixed fee, agreed in a short written proposal before work starts. Ongoing work is paid monthly in advance, with a three-month minimum. There is no hourly billing and no work on commission or for equity alone. Fees depend on scope and are discussed in the first conversation.
How quickly can Jonathan Hobday start?
Jonathan Hobday is available at short notice. After a first conversation about what is at risk this quarter, a short written proposal follows, and work begins as soon as it is signed. He is based in Hertfordshire with fast access to London, and works with companies across the UK and Ireland.
Interim and fractional sales leadership
What is a fractional sales director?
A fractional sales director leads a company's sales function for part of each week, usually two days, for a fixed monthly fee. They hold the number, run the forecast and pipeline reviews and report to the board. Companies use one when the sales leader seat is empty, new or under review. See fractional sales leadership.
What is the difference between an interim and a fractional sales director?
An interim sales director covers a vacant sales leadership seat for a defined period, usually between one permanent leader and the next. A fractional sales director works part of each week over several months. Jonathan Hobday delivers both as a fixed-fee engagement of two days a week, or three by agreement, with a 90-day minimum.
Is a fractional CRO the same as a fractional sales director?
A fractional CRO and a fractional sales director do largely the same work: leading the sales team, the forecast and board reporting for part of each week. The title usually depends on whether marketing and customer success also report into the role. The scope matters more than the title, so it should be agreed in writing.
When should a company hire an interim sales director?
A company should hire an interim sales director when its sales leader has left, the permanent hire is more than a month or two away, and the quarter matters. Interim cover gives one named person ownership of the number, steadies the team and gives the board a clearer view of the role before the shortlist. See interim sales director.
What should a board do when its sales leader leaves?
When a sales leader leaves, the board should do five things in the first two weeks: name one person who owns the number, re-forecast the largest deals one by one, call the most important customers, talk to the team plainly, and decide what kind of leader it needs before the search brief is written. Read the full note.
How long does a fractional sales leadership engagement last?
A fractional sales leadership engagement with Jonathan Hobday runs for at least 90 days. The first 15 days produce a one-page view for the chief executive, the operating rhythm is in place by day 45, and at day 60 the next 90 days are scoped or a handover to a permanent leader is planned.
Sales audits and forecasting
What is a B2B SaaS sales audit?
A B2B SaaS sales audit is an independent, evidence-based review of how a sales function wins, forecasts and grows. Jonathan Hobday's Revenue Engine Diagnostic takes three weeks and gives the board a findings paper of no more than ten pages, a score for each of eight areas and a 90-day plan with named owners.
What does the Revenue Engine Diagnostic cover?
The Revenue Engine Diagnostic scores eight areas from 1 to 5 with evidence: market and ideal customer, offer and pricing, pipeline generation, qualification and deal method, forecast and operating rhythm, team hiring and ramp, partners and channel, and leadership and board reporting. It draws on interviews, CRM data and forecast history against actuals.
How can a board tell whether its sales forecast is reliable?
A board can test its sales forecast by asking two sellers to score the same live deal separately against the company's qualification method. If the scores differ, the forecast is a list of opinions rather than evidence. A reliable forecast needs one method applied the same way by every seller, inspected every week. Read the full note.
How should new sales hires be measured in their first months?
New sales hires should be measured on leading indicators rather than early revenue: meetings with economic buyers, how complete the qualification is on deals past the first stage, and the value of their first deals. Revenue in month two mostly reflects the territory they inherited. Read the full note.
Boards and investors
What does a commercial board advisor do?
A commercial board advisor gives the chair and chief executive an experienced sales voice at board level. Each month they test the forecast, the pipeline and the commercial story, review the sales section of the board pack before it circulates, and ask a standing set of questions so problems show early. See board advisory.
Is a board advisor the same as a non-executive director?
No. A board advisor holds a commercial advisory role, not a statutory directorship, so they carry no director's duties. Jonathan Hobday's board advisory suits boards that want sales leadership experience at the table without changing the board's composition, particularly before a fundraising round or an exit.
What is a portfolio go-to-market review?
A portfolio go-to-market review runs the same eight-area sales diagnostic across three to five portfolio companies, so their sales functions can be compared on one standard. Each company receives its own findings and 90-day plan, and the investment committee receives a cross-portfolio summary. See portfolio GTM review.
Sales training and MEDDPICC
What is MEDDPICC?
MEDDPICC is a B2B sales qualification method that asks eight questions of every deal: Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Paper process, Identify pain, Champion and Competition. A deal is qualified when a seller can answer each one with evidence from the buyer. MEDDPICC explained covers each letter.
What is the difference between MEDDIC and MEDDPICC?
MEDDIC has six letters: Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Identify pain and Champion. MEDDPICC adds Paper process, meaning legal, procurement and signature, and Competition, including the buyer doing nothing. Both additions cover the places enterprise deals were most often lost, which is why MEDDPICC is the version most B2B SaaS teams teach.
What is MEDDPICCS?
MEDDPICCS is Jonathan Hobday's extension of MEDDPICC for companies with more than one product. The added S stands for Solution: is the specific product, configuration and value story right for this buyer? MEDDPICC tells a seller whether there is a deal; MEDDPICCS tells them whether it is their deal.
What does the Sales Team Programme include?
The Sales Team Programme is practical B2B sales training for teams of up to 12, built on MEDDPICC and taught on the team's own live deals. It runs as a four-week bootcamp, quarterly workshops with deal clinics, or a kick-off session, and covers qualification, enterprise deal strategy, AI-enabled pipeline generation and forecasting discipline.
Who is Jonny Rocket?
Jonny Rocket is the name Jonathan Hobday is known by, and the name of his sales training and speaking brand. Jonny Rocket delivers the Sales Team Programme, workshops and sales kick-offs with the same commercial standards as Jonathan Hobday's advisory work, and more energy in the room.
About Jonathan Hobday
What are Jonathan Hobday's qualifications?
Jonathan Hobday is a Chartered Engineer (CEng), a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI), and a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (MIET) and BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT (MBCS). He holds a BSc (Hons) in Cybernetics and Control Engineering from the University of Reading, and is trained in Sandler, Force Management, MEDDPICC and SPIN.
What sales leadership roles has Jonathan Hobday held?
Jonathan Hobday has been a co-founder, a PLC main board member, a first sales hire, a first commercial hire, an RVP, a VP EMEA and managing director, a global sales leader, a CRO and an interim VP Sales. His employers include Computer Associates, Intralinks, Digital Fuel, Cortex, TalentMatched and Diligent. See About.
Does Jonathan Hobday use AI in sales?
Yes. Jonathan Hobday builds AI prospecting agents and sales tooling himself, using tools such as HubSpot, Apollo and Claude Code. That hands-on experience helps boards decide which parts of the AI story will change their sales model and which will not, and it informs the AI-enabled pipeline generation taught in the Sales Team Programme.
A question that is not answered here?
Thirty minutes, in confidence, on what you are seeing and what I would look at first.