Research Brief • Coaching for Performance
Conquering the Competition: New Strategies for an Age-Old ProblemApril 03, 2012
Competition remains one of the most pressing challenges facing sales organizations. And perhaps more concerning, competition is increasing versus years past. In fact, 85 percent of global executives surveyed by McKinsey & Company describe their business environment as more competitive than it
Research Brief •
The Perfect Pipeline: How To Measure and Manage a Productive Sales PipelineMarch 29, 2012
There are many different types of interactions that take place between sellers and managers, but there is one particular meeting that stands out as near-universal among business-to-business sales forces: the sales pipeline review meeting. During this discussion, the rep and manager go through ind
Academic Research •
Challenges of CRM Implementation in Business-to-Business Markets: A Contingency PerspectiveMarch 23, 2012
In this paper, the authors discuss the importance of customer relationship management (CRM) systems in complex and simple selling settings and examine how CRM is implemented in both contexts. Specifically, they suggest that CRM strategies can be implemented from the top-down, originatin
Research Brief • Strategy & Planning, Sales Technology, Sales Operations
Modern Selling: Managing by Exception, Enabled by AnalyticsMarch 08, 2012
Trying to recover ground lost during the recession, many sales organizations are pursuing traditional tactics to increase revenues. They are putting more “feet on the street” and raising quotas or even doing both. They’re hoping that more quota or “demand”
Research Brief • Sales Operations
Sales Operations Maturity: Why Does It Matter?March 05, 2012
Executives and senior managers leading transformation initiatives in sales operations need a way to assess the current state of their organizations. The concept of operations maturity constitutes a useful framework for this. The leaders of consulting firm Sales Economics, Inc. expl
Research Brief • Sales Operations
Beyond the Price WaterfallMarch 05, 2012
The Price Waterfall is a great tool for understanding the effect of pricing and discounting – but it’s only a starting point. It is of limited value if it is not preceded and accompanied by efforts directed at the other influences on the pricing operation. Properly link
Local Chapter Meeting • Coaching for Performance
Motivating the Sales ForceFebruary 17, 2012
What's Working for Sales Leadership?
We're addressing this sales management effectiveness topic in upcoming chapter meetings. Learn more about SMA’s Local Chapters by signing up to attend a meeting (or consider helping us start a chapter!). What makes a motivated sales force? What role do sales leaders play in creating
Research Brief • Sales Operations
2012 Sales Operations Issues StudyJanuary 05, 2012
The most recent update to our annual Sales Operations Issues study includes input from sales operations professionals from 125 firms, with median annual revenue of US$400 million. Highlights include analysis of sales operations departments' accountabilities, roles, and most important issues,
Research Brief • Strategy & Planning, Sales Operations
Supply Chain Has an Operations Plan. Does Your Sales Force?December 21, 2011
Companies typically apply operations strategy to the supply chain, establishing clear principles and processes for operating, directed at specific goals such as reducing costs and speeding up delivery times. The leaders of consulting firm Sales Economics, Inc., explain that applying the same kind
Academic Research •
Management Practices in Solution Sales—a Multilevel and Cross-Functional FrameworkDecember 15, 2011
From The Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Winter 2011
Business-to-business sales has changed from being an isolated function with little cross-functional influence to becoming an integrated part of long-term customer management and from an operational practice to a strategically focused part of business strategy. This suggests a need to change the u
