Resources

Hiring the right people is one of the most important tasks that managers have.  When it comes to hiring salespeople, the stakes are particularly high.  A great hire can make a critical difference both in terms of revenues and the morale of a sales force.  A hiring mistake is costly...Read more

Tom Knight Axiom Consulting Partners Sales forces find it more difficult than ever to get their message heard in a cluttered and competitive marketplace.  In the consumer packaged goods industry alone, 60,000 new products were introduced to grocery store buyers since 2000 – each with presentation materials that average 16...Read more

Andris A. Zoltners, Prabhakant Sinha, and Sally E. Lorimer   This paper presents a Sales Force Effectiveness Framework that organizes the complexities of sales organizations, providing a holistic approach to de ning and assessing sales force effectiveness. Sales practitioners can use the framework to diagnose sales force issues and develop...Read more

Dawn R. Deeter-Schmelz, Daniel J. Goebel, and Karen Norman Kennedy   This study builds on previous research concerning sales manager  selection by examining the characteristics of effective sales managers from two perspectives—that of sales managers and sales representatives. Results of this exploratory study indicate that sales representatives assess the effectiveness...Read more

Dennis B. Arnett and Vishag Badrinarayanan Managing relationships with customers is often challenging because firms engage in many different types of transactions and their customers vary considerably as to their wants and needs. To meet these challenges, firms are turning increasingly to formal customer relationship management (CRM) programs. Because of...Read more

Gary K. Hunter and William D. Perreault Jr. Sales managers need a practical means for evaluating returns from investments in sales technology implementations (including sales automation and sales-based customer relationship management systems). This research proposes a behavioral process model approach that can be applied to evaluate sales technology implementations. We...Read more

Customer relationship management (CRM) is among the fastest growing business practices, and is often credited for substantial improvements in sales force effectiveness. This paper offers an investigation of CRM implementation and proposes a model that explains the roles of organizational learning, business process orientation, customer-centric orientation, and task–technology fit in...Read more

For global sales organizations with a diverse set of sales opportunities, few challenges are more daunting than providing adequate customer coverage. Siemens Corporation addresses this challenge with its Siemens One division, which integrates the multi-unit sales effort required for complex, strategic opportunities. Like many multi-division firms selling complex solutions, Siemens...Read more