Publications

Educators

14 Aug 2017
News

Study: More Frequent Sales Quotas Help Volume but Hurt Profits

July 2002
Article

The Sale of Ideas: Strategic Disclosure, Property Rights, and Contracting

By: James J. Anton and Dennis A. Yao

Ideas are difficult to sell when buyers cannot assess an idea's value before it is revealed and sellers cannot protect a revealed idea. These problems exist in a variety of intellectual property sales ranging from pure ideas to poorly protected inventions and reflect... View Details

Keywords: Intellectual Property; Contracts; Strategy; Valuation

January 1982
Case

Unitrode Corp. (C): Sales Forecasting of Major Procurements

By: Arthur Schleifer Jr.

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Sales

Web

Entrepreneurial Sales 101: Founder Selling - Course Catalog

HBS Course Catalog Entrepreneurial Sales 101: Founder Selling Course Number 1655 Senior Lecturer Mark Roberge Senior Lecturer Lou Shipley Fall; Q2; 1.5 credits 14 Sessions Paper/Project Senior Lecturer Mark Roberge Senior Lecturer Lou... View Details

Web

Field Course: Entrepreneurial Sales 103 - Course Catalog

HBS Course Catalog Field Course: Entrepreneurial Sales 103 Course Number 6665 Senior Lecturer Lou Shipley Spring; Q4; 1.5 credits Project/Paper To apply, please submit your CV and a paragraph of interest to this application form by... View Details

25 Jan 2017
Working Paper Summaries

The Effects of Quota Frequency on Sales Force Performance: Evidence from a Field Experiment

Keywords: by Doug J. Chung and Das Narayandas

April 12, 2023
Article

Using AI to Adjust Your Marketing and Sales in a Volatile World

By: Das Narayandas and Arijit Sengupta

Why are some firms better and faster than others at adapting their use of customer data to respond to changing or uncertain marketing conditions? A common thread across faster-acting firms is the use of AI models to predict outcomes at various stages of the customer... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; AI and Machine Learning; Consumer Behavior; Technology Adoption; Competitive Advantage

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Article

Your Sales Training Is Probably Lackluster. Here's How to Fix It

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Yuchun Lee

U.S. companies spend over $70 billion annually on training and an average of $1,459 per salesperson—almost 20% more than they spend on workers in all other functions. Yet, when it comes to equipping sales teams with relevant knowledge and skills, the ROI of sales... View Details

Keywords: Salesforce Management; Training

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December 2021
Article

Employee Responses to Compensation Changes: Evidence from a Sales Firm

By: Jason Sandvik, Richard Saouma, Nathan Seegert and Christopher Stanton

What are the long-term consequences of compensation changes? Using data from an inbound sales call center, we study employee responses to a compensation change that ultimately reduced take-home pay by 7% for the average affected worker. The change caused a significant... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Wages; Compensation and Benefits; Change; Performance; Resignation and Termination; Retention; Analysis

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November 1986 (Revised June 1987)
Case

Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Focuses on the compensation plan for Fieldcrest sales representatives. Management is reviewing the structure of the plan and must decide how to establish compensation goals and guidelines for the following year so that sales efforts are allocated among products and/or... View Details

Keywords: Markets; Competitive Strategy; Compensation and Benefits

Educators

13 Mar 2017
Research & Ideas

Hiding Products From Customers May Ultimately Boost Sales

copyright 2016 by Kris Johnson Ferreira and Joel Goh Ferreira and Goh launched the research after a conversation with an executive at flash sales boutique Rue La La, with whom Ferreira had conducted previous research on product pricing.... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail; Fashion

September 12, 2017
Article

What's the Right Kind of Bonus to Motivate Your Sales Force?

By: Doug J. Chung and Das Narayandas

Companies typically compensate their sales force by using some combination of salary, commission, and bonuses, but executives are often unsure which incentives provide the best motivation. Should bonuses be tied to quotas or should they be given unconditionally? Is it... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Salesforce Management

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November 1984
Supplement

Syntex Laboratories (A), Computer Supplement: Sales Force Strategy Model

Keywords: Strategy; Salesforce Management

January 1995
Background Note

The Mid-Sized Company President's Role in Marketing and Sales

By: Benson P. Shapiro

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Marketing; Sales

August 1986 (Revised May 1989)
Case

Honeywell Information Systems (A): The Indirect Sales Operation

December 1994
Supplement

Physician Sales and Service, Inc. (B): March 1993

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

04 Jan 2022
News

Is Your Sales Team Struggling to Sell Solutions?

October 2017 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Medicetra Medtech Company, Inc.

By: Doug J. Chung

Medicetra MedTech Company is a dental equipment distributor, and senior management is deciding whether to implement a new incentive compensation program for the sales force. For many years, Medicetra had paid salespeople only a fixed salary. Although the current plan... View Details

Keywords: Sales Compensation; Sales Force Retention; Employee Fairness; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Retention; Fairness; Performance Improvement

Educators