Join us in Manhattan for a forum on incentive compensation effectiveness. This event features lunch, informative discussion panels, and short format workshops. Attendance is limited to 30 senior leaders in sales operations, incentive compensation management, and sales force effectiveness. Lunch will be served. Please register early. Optimizing Incentives to Drive...Read more
Sales forces are change-intensive organizations, as are the markets and customers they serve. This research reviews critical change management practices in business-to-business sales forces, focusing on management’s efforts to anticipate and lead high impact change initiatives. Research outcomes will include management’s change priorities, best practices in change implementation, and analysis...Read more
Many business-to-business firms use sales engagement or marketing automation platforms. These solutions track buyers' online behavior, and guide and automate many selling activities. Firms marketing these solutions claim they improve sales effectiveness and productivity, but their true benefits to sales organizations remain unclear. In new research, a team of academic...Read more
In high-performing sales organizations, effective sales compensation plans share a common decision logic and design framework. These rules are generally well known among incentive design specialists, but are missing from many business-to-business firms’ sales compensation programs. Ignoring these time-tested design guidelines and rules often results in ineffective sales compensation plans....Read more

Improving ROI on Sales Compensation Investments 
27 February 2025
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Sales compensation is the sales organization's biggest expense by far, and an important growth investment for most business-to-business firms. But sales compensation programs routinely fall short of expectations. Sales Management Association’s research shows only about one-third of sales organizations consider their sales compensation programs effective. Firms with effective sales compensation...Read more

Research First Look: Prioritizing Sales Learning and Development Investments 
20 February 2025
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Sales organizations face persistent pressure to adapt — to changing market conditions, shifting customer preferences, new competitive influences, and many other factors. Adapting often requires salespeople to develop new knowledge, capabilities and skills. This research examines the range of sales learning and development investments management makes in an effort to...Read more
A conference for commercial and sales effectiveness leaders Sales Management Association’s B2B Commercial Effectiveness Conference offers learning, best-practice sharing, and networking for leaders focused on commercial excellence, go-to-market strategy, and sales force effectiveness. 10-11 June 2025 Visit the Commercial Effectiveness Conference website for full information.
Sales leaders often talk about sales culture, but how many work proactively to shape positive cultures in their organizations? Many assume culture is a construct too vague to define, let alone manage. In doing so, they miss an opportunity to harness one of the most impactful drivers of sales productivity....Read more
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