Publications

Program

Aligning Strategy and Sales

strategy and sales activities and discover how to synchronize your strategic priorities, go-to-market initiatives, and sales team to boost revenue and long-term success. This program is eligible for the... View Details

23 May 2022
News

Sales Management That Works: Frank Cespedes: Senior Lecturer for Harvard Business School

13 Nov 2022
News

How to Manage Sales In A World That Never Stops Changing

November 1994 (Revised May 1998)
Background Note

Strategic Sales Management: A Boardroom Issue

By: Benson P. Shapiro, Stephen X. Doyle and Adrian J. Slywotsky

Explains why sales management has become an increasingly important and complex topic for top managers. Demonstrates the financial impact of a superior salesforce and then describes a way to gain superiority. The focus is on a salesforce that is responsive to customer... View Details

Keywords: Salesforce Management; Strategy

July 2024
Article

AI, ROI, and Sales Productivity

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now a loose term for many different things and at the peak of its hype curve. So managers hitch-their-pitch to the term in arguing for resources. But like any technology, its business value depends upon actionable use cases embraced by... View Details

Keywords: ROI; AI and Machine Learning; Sales; Investment Return

25 Jul 2022
News

Modern, Research Based B2B Sales Strategies From Harvard Professor And Sales Author Frank Cespedes

May 2020
Article

Sales Leadership During and After the Crisis

Because customer acquisition and retention are the lifeblood of a for-profit enterprise, sales activities establish foundational conditions for a business. In turn, sales managers’ responsibilities in a crisis extend beyond keeping the lights on. Their leadership makes... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Leadership; Health Pandemics; Crisis Management

22 Mar 2022
News

Frank from Harvard Talks Sales

February 2020
Case

Drift: The First Sales Hire

By: Mark Roberge

David Cancel and Elias Torres, the co-founders of Drift, scaled their business to thousands of users and hundreds of thousands in revenue. However, they were falling short of the annual revenue target they communicated to the board of directors. Having scaled the... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Growth Management; Salesforce Management; Selection and Staffing

July 9, 2019
Article

Setting Better Sales Goals with Analytics

By: Doug J. Chung, Isabel Huber, Vinay Murthy, Varun Sunku and Marije Weber

Sales compensation is a critical lever in motivating a salesforce and driving growth in the business-to-business sector: Studies show that revising compensation in line with market trends can have a 50% greater impact on sales than advertisements have, for instance. A... View Details

Keywords: Analytics; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Goals and Objectives

Register to Read

01 Mar 2010
News

Slum for Sale

but in July 2009, the government postponed the call for bids just a few hours before deadline.) The case elicited a broad range of student responses when HBS associate professor Gunnar Trumbull taught it for the first time last December in the elective course View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development; Government

05 Dec 2023
Cold Call Podcast

What Founders Get Wrong about Sales and Marketing

Keywords: Re: Mark N. Roberge

09 Dec 2011
News

Harvard program puts focus back on sales

December 16, 2021
Article

Avoid a One-Size-Fits-All Approach to Sales Coaching

Coaching sales reps is about clarifying relevant behaviors and whether the issue is motivation or ability. Some reps may work hard, but lack certain capabilities while others demonstrate capability but seemingly lack motivation or effort. Good coaching helps to clarify... View Details

Keywords: Salesforce Management; Training; Competency and Skills; Motivation and Incentives

Find at Harvard

October 2005 (Revised February 2008)
Case

Sales Force Integration at FedEx (A)

By: David B. Godes

Federal Express' (FedEx) recent acquisition of RPS--a ground delivery firm--gave the firm the potential to offer a single source for a client's delivery needs. However, to deliver on this potential, the firm needed to deliver the integrated solution through a single... View Details

Keywords: Horizontal Integration; Salesforce Management; Transportation; Compensation and Benefits; Transportation Industry

22 Feb 2021
Book

Reaching Today's Omnichannel Customer Takes a New Sales Strategy

Management That Works: How to Sell in a World That Never Stops Changing, Cespedes, a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, offers research-based insight and context, and presents sales productivity not... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

March 1990 (Revised October 1999)
Case

Mary Kay Cosmetics: Sales Force Incentives (A)

By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston

Describes the incentive system by which Mary Kay Cosmetics motivates the sales force of 200,000 independent agents who comprise the firm's only distribution channel. Illustrates the powerful effect on sales-force behavior that results when creative types of employee... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Cost Management; Salesforce Management; Distribution Channels; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States

July 2012
Case

Barclays Capital and the Sale of Del Monte Foods

By: John Coates, Clayton Rose and David Lane

This case explores the reputational and legal issues that arise as Barclays Capital attempted to manage client conflicts by following established industry practice in the face of changing legal norms. In February 2011, Judge Travis Laster granted a preliminary... View Details

Keywords: Client Management; Fiduciary Duty; Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Investment Banking; Private Equity; Ethics; Finance; Reputation; Banking Industry; United States

April 2018
Article

Effective Sales Training: What Are the Foundational Elements?

Across industries, turnover in sales positions averages about 25–30% annually. This means that, at many firms, the equivalent of the entire sales force must be replaced and trained every four years or so. No other function has an ongoing talent management task of that... View Details

Keywords: Salesforce Management; Training