Resources

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

February 2008 Michael Rose, Ph.D. Concerned with overall sales perfromance, Charlie Delta Pharmaceutical (pseudonym) implemented new reporting controls, including a streamlined sales management dashboard.  Integrating CDP's corporate vision with sales strategy, the new dashboard provides insight into wholesale inventories, new product activity, and sales and volume by product.   CDP...Read more

S. Scott Sands Watson Wyatt Worldwide Sales incentive compensation design projects are time-consuming, complicated, and involve the competing interests of many stakeholders.  What is the best way for Sales Management to participate in the process Veteran sales compensation consultant S. Scott Sands provides an “insider’s view” of the typical sales...Read more

This slide presentation provides a work plan for Echo Foxtrot Manufacturing's (pseudonym) sales incentive compensation redesign project.  Employing a cross-functional work team, Echo Foxtrot organized project into three phases: Assessment, Design, and Implementation. These slides provide a helpful illustration of project objectives, a project work plan, expected project outcomes, and...Read more

See also: spreadsheet analysis template that accompanies this resource. Sales incentive compensation programs require periodic calibration to ensure an uninterrupted positive return on investment for management.  Many firms wait for the first signs of a sales compensation problem to appear before examining their program’s health.  But by then, problems may...Read more

Setting Sales Force Goals For Growth Using Maintenance, Acquisition, and Penetration (MAP) Planning Overview Alpha Bravo Distribution [ABD]* sells industrial and construction supplies within the continental US. Its Commercial Markets sales force covers small and medium-sized customer firms, and represents slightly more than half of company volume. ABD’s Commercial Markets...Read more

This Excel workbook provides templates for creating your own versions of the analysis approaches described in the Sales Management Association Research Brief: “Quantifying Incentive Compensation Plan Effectiveness.”  Each analysis template includes step-by-step instructions and a charting tool that displays results.