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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(4,206)
- People (5)
- News (806)
- Research (2,676)
- Events (20)
- Multimedia (48)
- Faculty Publications (1,849)
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- February 2011 (Revised June 2013)
- Case
Businesses for Sale by Briggs Capital, 2010
By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff
Briggs Capital was a regional mergers and acquisitions advisory firm that helped owners to sell their small firms. The case presents a company that was for sale in the fall of 2010—a troubled manufacturer of post and beam style homes and log homes. Using the actual... View Details
Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Entrepreneurship; Financial Condition; Investment; Financial Services Industry; Boston
Ruback, Richard S., and Royce Yudkoff. "Businesses for Sale by Briggs Capital, 2010." Harvard Business School Case 211-088, February 2011. (Revised June 2013.)
- 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
Simons, Robert L., and Hilary Weston. "Mary Kay Cosmetics: Sales Force Incentives (A)." Harvard Business School Case 190-103, March 1990. (Revised October 1999.)
- February 1990 (Revised March 1992)
- Supplement
Automobile Dealer Sales and Service: Critical Incidents
To be used in conjunction with Ford Motor Co.: Dealer Sales and Service. View Details
Schlesinger, Leonard A. "Automobile Dealer Sales and Service: Critical Incidents." Harvard Business School Supplement 690-061, February 1990. (Revised March 1992.)
- 22 Feb 2021
- Book
Reaching Today's Omnichannel Customer Takes a New Sales Strategy
Selling is changing, but broad generalizations and false dichotomies about ecommerce, big data, and other trends—hallmarks of current sales advice—are keeping business leaders from making sound decisions, says Frank Cespedes, author of a... View Details
Keywords: by Kristen Senz
- September–October 2016
- Article
What Senior Executives Should Know About Sales
By: Frank V. Cespedes
Business is more complex, data more abundant, and more specialists are needed to stay up-to-date with functional best practices. As a senior executive, you can worry all you want about disruption, but you need a salesforce aligned with strategy to do something about... View Details
Cespedes, Frank V. "What Senior Executives Should Know About Sales." European Business Review (September–October 2016): 10–13.
- April 2018
- Article
Effective Sales Training: What Are the Foundational Elements?
By: Frank V. Cespedes
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
Cespedes, Frank V. "Effective Sales Training: What Are the Foundational Elements?" Top Sales Magazine (April 2018), 22–23.
- November 1989 (Revised February 1992)
- Case
Ford Motor Co.: Dealer Sales and Service
Since Henry Ford founded Ford Motor Co., Ford vehicles have been sold and serviced the same way. By the late 1980s Ford began to consider making changes in its sales and service process. Two developments forced Ford to reconsider these processes. First, Ford found... View Details
Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Distribution Channels; Customer Focus and Relationships; Service Industry; Auto Industry; Retail Industry; United States
Schlesinger, Leonard A. "Ford Motor Co.: Dealer Sales and Service." Harvard Business School Case 690-030, November 1989. (Revised February 1992.)
- July–August 2006
- Article
A Portfolio Approach to Sales
By: Das Narayandas and Robert C. Dudley
Narayandas, Das, and Robert C. Dudley. "A Portfolio Approach to Sales." Harvard Business Review 84, nos. 7/8 (July–August 2006).
- January 2020 (Revised March 2020)
- Teaching Note
Commercial Sales Transformation at Microsoft
By: Doug J. Chung
Teaching Note for HBS No. 519-054. View Details
- May 1988
- Case
Capital Cities/ABC, Inc: Spot Sales
By: Frank V. Cespedes
Cespedes, Frank V. "Capital Cities/ABC, Inc: Spot Sales." Harvard Business School Case 588-071, May 1988.
- 09 Aug 2018
- Cold Call Podcast
Two Million Fake Accounts: Sales Misconduct at Wells Fargo
- November 2006 (Revised December 2006)
- Module Note
Personal Selling and Sales Management
Develop a better understanding of what salespeople do, what motivates them to succeed, and how to effectively manage their efforts. View Details
Keywords: Salesforce Management
"Personal Selling and Sales Management." Harvard Business School Module Note 507-039, November 2006. (Revised December 2006.)
- August 1985 (Revised December 1987)
- Case
Waters Chromatography Division: U.S. Field Sales (A)
Provides background information on the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) industry and the Waters Chromatography Division, an operation engaged in the development, manufacture and sale of HPLC instrument systems and chemical products. An overview of Waters'... View Details
Bonoma, Thomas V. "Waters Chromatography Division: U.S. Field Sales (A)." Harvard Business School Case 586-011, August 1985. (Revised December 1987.)
- August 9, 2022
- Article
Preparing Sales for a Changing Economy: Part 1
By: Frank V. Cespedes
Companies spend more per capita on sales training than any other function, but the return on investment is disappointing. One recent estimate indicates “that 85-90% of sales training fails to translate into a lasting improvement in productivity.” A major reason is... View Details
Cespedes, Frank V. "Preparing Sales for a Changing Economy: Part 1." TrainingIndustry.com (August 9, 2022).
- January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
- Exercise
E-Commerce Analytics for CPG Firms (A): Estimating Sales
By: Ayelet Israeli and Fedor (Ted) Lisitsyn
The E-Commerce Analytics group at the traditional CPG firm was in charge of compiling various online sales reports, as well as making data-driven recommendations for sales and marketing tactics. In a series of exercises, students address different data challenges for... View Details
Keywords: Data Analysis; Data Analytics; CPG; Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG); Estimation; Online Channel; Retail Analytics; Retail; Retailing Industry; Data; Data Sharing; Bricks And Mortar; Ecommerce; Direct-to-consumer; DTC; Analytics and Data Science; Sales; Marketing; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States
Israeli, Ayelet, and Fedor (Ted) Lisitsyn. "E-Commerce Analytics for CPG Firms (A): Estimating Sales." Harvard Business School Exercise 521-078, January 2021. (Revised March 2021.)
- August 22, 2017
- Article
Find the Right Metrics for Your Sales Team
By: Frank V. Cespedes and Robert Marsh
This article reports the results of a survey of key performance indicators (KPIs) used by more than 800 sales groups across industries. The most common KPIs are closed deals and salesperson performance against quota, which, on average, firms measure monthly. But a... View Details
Cespedes, Frank V., and Robert Marsh. "Find the Right Metrics for Your Sales Team." Harvard Business Review (website) (August 22, 2017).
- April 2017
- Article
How Sales Can Wield Its Most Effective Weapon: Pricing
By: Frank V. Cespedes
This article discusses certain core ways that sales people can use, but sometimes abuse, pricing authority and the implications for effective sales management. View Details
Cespedes, Frank V. "How Sales Can Wield Its Most Effective Weapon: Pricing." Quotable (April 2017).
- 2022
- Chapter
Coordinating Marketing and Sales in B2B Organizations
By: Frank V. Cespedes
This Handbook is targeted at academics and graduate students who want an overview of the academic state of the business-to-business marketing domain and at B2B practitioners who want to be aware of the current state of knowledge in their domains. This chapter examines... View Details
Cespedes, Frank V. "Coordinating Marketing and Sales in B2B Organizations." Chap. 7 in Handbook of Business-to-Business Marketing. 2nd ed. Edited by Gary L. Lilien, J. Andrew Petersen, and Stefan Wuyts, 117–137. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022.
- August 1988
- Background Note
Note on Sales Promotion Design
By: John A. Quelch
Quelch, John A. "Note on Sales Promotion Design." Harvard Business School Background Note 589-021, August 1988.
- June 1987
- Supplement
Sales Promotion Management, Video Index
By: John A. Quelch
Quelch, John A. "Sales Promotion Management, Video Index." Harvard Business School Video Supplement 587-108, June 1987.