Best Fractional Chief Sales Officers in Houston

Houston Fractional CSO Services & Fractional Chief Sales Officers

The Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metroplex is a revenue environment that rewards realism. This is a city built on energy, industrial scale, healthcare, logistics, advanced manufacturing, and enterprise services—industries where sales cycles are long, buying committees are layered, and trust is earned over time, not through slick decks.

Houston companies tend to grow through relationships, resilience, and execution. Leaders here value operators who understand how to sell into regulated environments, complex enterprises, and capital-intensive organizations. That mindset has made Houston a natural home for fractional revenue leadership, where experienced sales executives step in to guide growth without the risk or rigidity of a permanent executive hire.

At Digital Reference, we spend our time studying how credibility, transparency, and leadership behavior shape real business outcomes. Our work sits at the intersection of revenue leadership and trust, which gives us a clear view into which fractional executives actually move the needle—and which ones simply borrow the title.

To support founders, CEOs, and operators navigating critical growth moments, we’ve curated this list of exceptional fractional Chief Sales Officers serving the Houston area. Each professional featured here brings a distinct approach to revenue leadership, grounded in experience and shaped by the realities of the Houston market.

‍

🌵 How Digital Reference Curated This List of Houston’s Top Fractional Chief Sales Officers

This list is not ranked, sponsored, or pay-to-play.

Every fractional CSO included here was selected through a deliberate research and evaluation process, including:

• In-depth review of LinkedIn career histories
• Analysis of roles held, industries served, and growth stages supported
• Evaluation of revenue philosophy, leadership posture, and execution style
• Alignment with Digital Reference’s core values: radical authenticity, transparency, and trust-based leadership

Houston’s business culture is direct and results-oriented. Companies here don’t want abstract frameworks — they want leaders who understand how revenue actually flows through complex organizations. That reality shaped how we evaluated and selected each consultant on this list.

‍

🌟 Meet the Top Houston Fractional Chief Sales Officers

The following professionals represent a curated group of fractional Chief Sales Officers actively serving the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land market. They work across business models and growth stages, from solo operators and freelancers to leaders embedded within established firms.

What unites them is a shared commitment to credible leadership, operational clarity, and sustainable revenue growth in one of the most demanding sales environments in the country.

‍

🔴 Cosmin Gabriel

Fractional Officer Instructor & Founder at Fractional Officer

Cosmin Gabriel brings a rare dual perspective to fractional revenue leadership: operator and educator.

As the founder of Fractional Officer, Cosmin has positioned himself not only as a practicing fractional executive, but as someone deeply invested in professionalizing the fractional leadership model itself. His work focuses on helping organizations—and aspiring fractional officers—understand what effective fractional leadership actually looks like in practice.

Cosmin’s background reflects a strong emphasis on:

• Revenue systems thinking
• Executive-level decision making
• Clear role definition between founders, boards, and fractional leaders

Rather than treating the fractional CSO role as a lighter version of a full-time job, Cosmin consistently frames it as a high-impact, outcome-driven engagement with clear expectations and accountability.

Key characteristics of Cosmin’s approach include:

🔹 A strong educational lens that demystifies fractional leadership

🔹 Clear articulation of CSO responsibilities across growth stages

🔹 Emphasis on strategic alignment before tactical execution

🔹 Advocacy for transparency between companies and fractional executives

In a market like Houston—where many companies are new to fractional leadership models—Cosmin’s clarity and structure help organizations avoid misalignment and set realistic expectations from day one.

‍

🔴 Leonardo Mirandola

Freelance Fractional CSO & Scientific Advisor

Leonardo Mirandola operates at a fascinating intersection of science, strategy, and revenue leadership.

As a freelance fractional CSO and scientific advisor, Leonardo brings analytical depth to sales leadership—particularly valuable in industries where decisions are data-heavy, regulated, or technically complex. His background suggests a comfort with precision, experimentation, and evidence-based decision making, rather than intuition alone.

Leonardo’s work often resonates with organizations that:

• Sell technically complex or specialized offerings
• Operate in regulated or compliance-driven environments
• Require close collaboration between sales, product, and leadership
• Value analytical rigor alongside relationship-based selling

Notable traits in Leonardo’s profile include:

🔹 A scientific mindset applied to revenue strategy

🔹 Comfort navigating ambiguity and complex stakeholder groups

🔹 Ability to translate technical value into commercial outcomes

🔹 Executive-level advisory capability beyond pure sales execution

In Houston’s innovation corridors—spanning energy tech, life sciences, and advanced manufacturing—Leonardo’s hybrid profile makes him a compelling fractional leader for companies that need credibility with both technical and commercial audiences.

‍

🔴 Patrick Kerim

Fractional VP of Sales at EnterpriseCP  and Rapid Mac

Patrick Kerim brings a multi-company, multi-industry revenue leadership perspective that reflects real operational range.

Serving as a fractional VP of Sales for both EnterpriseCP and Rapid Mac, Patrick demonstrates the ability to adapt his leadership style to different organizational contexts while maintaining accountability for outcomes. His work reflects deep experience managing sales teams, shaping go-to-market strategies, and aligning revenue operations with broader business goals.

Patrick’s leadership style often emphasizes:

• Scalable sales processes
• Clear performance expectations
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Execution discipline

Distinctive elements of Patrick’s profile include:

🔹 Experience operating across multiple organizations simultaneously

🔹 Comfort leading distributed or evolving sales teams

🔹 Focus on operationalizing revenue strategy

🔹 Strong alignment between sales execution and company objectives

In Houston’s diverse commercial landscape, Patrick’s adaptability and operational grounding make him well-suited for companies balancing growth with operational complexity.

‍

🔴 Mike Dowhan

Fractional VP of Sales at Bedrock Sales Strategy

Mike Dowhan operates within one of the most recognizable fractional sales leadership ecosystems through Bedrock Sales Strategy, a firm known for embedding experienced sales executives into growth-stage organizations.

Mike’s background reflects a strong emphasis on sales infrastructure, leadership coaching, and scalable execution. His work often centers on helping companies transition from informal or founder-led sales motions to structured, repeatable systems that support growth.

Common themes in Mike’s approach include:

• Building predictable pipelines
• Strengthening sales management capability
• Introducing accountability without bureaucracy
• Aligning leadership expectations with sales reality

Key differentiators in Mike’s profile:

🔹 Access to Sales Xceleration’s broader playbooks and peer network

🔹 Hands-on engagement with leadership teams

🔹 Experience guiding companies through revenue inflection points

🔹 Focus on sustainable, not just short-term, gains

For Houston organizations looking for a fractional leader backed by a broader firm infrastructure, Mike offers a blend of individual expertise and institutional support.

‍

🔴 Allen Thornton

Vice President of Strategic Sales (Fractional) at Agentforce

Allen Thornton brings a strategic, enterprise-minded approach to fractional sales leadership that resonates strongly in the Houston market. His career reflects deep experience operating at the intersection of sales strategy, executive alignment, and complex deal execution—particularly in environments where growth depends on precision rather than volume.

As a fractional Vice President of Strategic Sales at Agentforce, Allen focuses on helping organizations sharpen how they pursue, structure, and close high-value opportunities. His work tends to center on deal strategy, account planning, and leadership-level sales execution, rather than surface-level activity metrics.

What stands out in Allen’s background is his ability to work comfortably with:

• Executive stakeholders and founders
• Strategic and enterprise buyers
• Long sales cycles with layered decision-making
• Revenue motions where credibility and trust matter as much as pricing

Allen’s leadership style aligns well with Houston’s relationship-driven business culture. He understands that in industries like energy, enterprise services, and complex B2B environments, how you sell is inseparable from who is doing the selling.

‍

Why Fractional CSOs Matter in Houston — And Where Digital Reference Fits

Houston’s growth story has always been shaped by people who deliver results under pressure. That’s especially true in revenue leadership, where the wrong hire can stall momentum and erode trust internally.

Fractional CSOs give Houston companies:

• Executive-level insight without long-term risk
• Speed during moments of transition or uncertainty
• Objective leadership grounded in experience

At Digital Reference, we believe the future of leadership evaluation is transparent, signal-rich, and rooted in behavior—not just titles. Our platform helps organizations better understand how leaders actually perform, communicate, and build trust over time.

If you’re evaluating fractional revenue leadership—or building a more credible leadership bench—we invite you to explore:

• Best Fractional Sales Directors & Fractional VPs of Sales
• Fractional Sales Leader for SMBs: Dustin Marchand
• Best Sales Motivational Speakers in the USA

The professionals featured here reflect the kind of authentic, accountable leadership Houston companies value. And as the region continues to grow, Digital Reference remains committed to helping organizations make smarter, more trustworthy leadership decisions—especially when revenue is on the line.