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Show Results For
-
All HBS Web
(4,121)
- People (5)
- News (786)
- Research (2,613)
- Events (18)
- Multimedia (44)
- Faculty Publications (1,798)
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- Article
Sales Productivity, Not Just Sales Technology
This article discusses the reasons behind the rapidly increasing investments in “Sales Enablement” (SE) technology, including the declining costs of that technology, a change in company cost structures, and a consequent shift in the focus of productivity improvements...
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- February 2017
- Article
Rethinking Sales Compensation
Compensation is probably the most discussed aspect of sales and the single biggest portion of the more than $900 billion that U.S. companies alone spend annually on sales efforts. But research indicates that less than 10% of companies believe that their sales incentive...
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Cespedes, Frank V. "Rethinking Sales Compensation." Top Sales Magazine (February 2017).
- May 2016 (Revised June 2017)
- Case
Sales Compensation Vignettes
This case study is comprised of two vignettes about startup companies considering whether and how to change their sales compensation plans. ElMenus.com is a restaurant app venture in Egypt seeking to lower customer churn while confronting new competition. BigBelly is a...
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Cespedes, Frank V. "Sales Compensation Vignettes." Harvard Business School Case 816-092, May 2016. (Revised June 2017.)
- Article
Channel Integration, Sales Dispersion, and Inventory Management
By: Santiago Gallino, Antonio Moreno and Ioannis Stamatopoulos
We study the effects of the introduction of cross-channel functionalities on the overall sales dispersion of retailers and the implications of these effects for inventory management. To do that, we analyze data from a leading U.S. retailer who introduced a...
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Keywords:
Retail Operations;
Online Retail;
Channel Integration;
Sales Dispersion;
Long Tail;
Empirical Operations;
Inventory Management;
Omnichannel Retail;
Marketing Channels;
Integration;
Sales;
Logistics;
Operations;
Management;
Retail Industry
Gallino, Santiago, Antonio Moreno, and Ioannis Stamatopoulos. "Channel Integration, Sales Dispersion, and Inventory Management." Management Science 63, no. 9 (September 2017): 2813–2831.
- August 2021
- Article
Improving Sales Hiring
Sales hiring presents inherent challenges not found to the same extent in talent management in other functional areas. Moreover, common hiring practices make a tough job needlessly harder. This article suggests practical ways to improve sales hiring: Hire for the Task,...
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Cespedes, Frank V. "Improving Sales Hiring." Top Sales Magazine (August 2021), 20–21.
- March 2017
- Teaching Note
Sales Compensation Vignettes
This Teaching Note supports the case study comprising two vignettes about startup companies considering whether and how to change their sales compensation plans. The case allows students to compare and contrast the objectives, structure, and process of sales incentives...
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- Article
Sales Methodologies and Selling
Sales methodologies play an important role. A common approach in a sales force allows for consistency, dissemination of best practices, acceleration of learning, and it helps the firm to scale because management then has common metrics to monitor and evaluate. However,...
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Cespedes, Frank V. "Sales Methodologies and Selling." Top Sales Magazine (November 2019), 26–27.
- April 2021
- Article
The Effects of Quota Frequency: Sales Performance and Product Focus
By: Doug J. Chung, Das Narayandas and Dongkyu Chang
This study investigates the comprehensive and multidimensional effects of quota (goal) frequency on sales force performance. We develop a theory of salespeople’s behavior—aggregate effort and the product type focus—in response to the temporal length of a sales-quota...
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Keywords:
Sales Force Compensation;
Field Experiment;
Quotas;
Quota Frequency;
Commissions;
Bonuses;
Goals;
Salesforce Management;
Compensation and Benefits;
Goals and Objectives;
Behavior;
Performance
Chung, Doug J., Das Narayandas, and Dongkyu Chang. "The Effects of Quota Frequency: Sales Performance and Product Focus." Management Science 67, no. 4 (April 2021): 2151–2170.
- December 2019
- Article
Brokers and Order Flow Leakage: Evidence from Fire Sales
By: Andrea Barbon, Marco Di Maggio, Francesco Franzoni and Augustin Landier
Using trade-level data, we study whether brokers play a role in spreading order flow information. We focus on large portfolio liquidations, which result in temporary drops in stock prices, and identify the brokers that intermediate these trades. We show that these...
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Keywords:
Predatory Trading;
Back Running;
Fire Sales;
Brokers;
Stocks;
Price;
Information;
Knowledge Dissemination;
Ethics
Barbon, Andrea, Marco Di Maggio, Francesco Franzoni, and Augustin Landier. "Brokers and Order Flow Leakage: Evidence from Fire Sales." Journal of Finance 74, no. 6 (December 2019): 2707–2749. (LEAD ARTICLE.)
- September 2018
- Article
Assembling the Sales Team
Data and analytical tasks have lengthened productivity ramp-up times in many sales contexts, making each hire a bigger sunk cost for a longer time. Most companies adopt two common practices: They hire on the basis of “experience” and/or look at their best reps and try...
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- 1998
- Book
Sales Management
By: Benson P. Shapiro and Frank V. Cespedes
Shapiro, Benson P., and Frank V. Cespedes. Sales Management. Business Fundamentals. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing, 1998.
- Article
Sales Managers Must Manage
A common complaint from C-level executives about their sales colleagues concerns the latter’s ability to manage, not sell. Nearly every firm has examples of successful salespeople who are poor managers because they persist in their behaviors as reps rather than...
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Cespedes, Frank V. "Sales Managers Must Manage." Top Sales Magazine (February 2019).
- January 2019 (Revised October 2019)
- Case
Commercial Sales Transformation at Microsoft
By: Doug J. Chung
Industry leaders should adapt to changes in the business context and consider different ways to grow. Advances in technology had shifted software demand to the cloud. As a result, Microsoft announced a strategic shift in direction from its existing ‘Windows first’...
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Chung, Doug J. "Commercial Sales Transformation at Microsoft." Harvard Business School Case 519-054, January 2019. (Revised October 2019.)
- April 2006 (Revised April 2012)
- Background Note
The Company Sale Process
Lays out the steps, the timeline, and the process by which a company is sold. Focuses on the sale of companies with enterprise values greater than $100 million. These transactions are large enough to require the help of a financial adviser and attract both strategic...
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Fruhan, William E., Jr. "The Company Sale Process." Harvard Business School Background Note 206-108, April 2006. (Revised April 2012.)
- July 2023
- Teaching Note
Belden and Digital Transformation: From Product Sales to Solutions Sales
Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 823-002. Belden manufactures devices such as switches, cables, adapters, and connectors. Faced with market changes, the firm initiated a new Enhanced Solutions Delivery (ESD) initiative. In November 2022 executives are evaluating the...
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- May 2023
- Article
Where Sales Technology (Really) Helps
Interest in Sales Enablement (SE), the catch-all term for attempts to increase sales productivity with AI and other technologies, is driven by multiple factors. One is the declining costs of the tools. Also, selling is now data-hungry work and not just in tech sectors....
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- Research Summary
Personal Selling and Sales Management
By: Das Narayandas
Das is currently investigating benchmark practices in personal selling and sales management across a variety of industries. He is also conducting field studies to understand how firms are leveraging interactive technologies to support their field sales efforts.
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- April 2014
- Article
The Cost of High-Powered Incentives: Employee Gaming in Enterprise Software Sales
By: Ian Larkin
This paper investigates the pricing distortions that arise from the use of a common non-linear incentive scheme at a leading enterprise software vendor. The empirical results demonstrate that salespeople are adept at gaming the timing of deal closure to take advantage...
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Keywords:
Incentives;
Motivation;
Compensation;
Gaming;
Sales Force Management;
Motivation and Incentives;
Salesforce Management;
Software;
Compensation and Benefits;
Information Technology Industry
Larkin, Ian. "The Cost of High-Powered Incentives: Employee Gaming in Enterprise Software Sales." Journal of Labor Economics 32, no. 2 (April 2014): 199–227.
- January 1992
- Background Note
Managing Sales Interfaces: An Introduction
Concerns issues involved in coordinating sales efforts with product management and customer service activities. First, discusses environmental factors that increase integration requirements among these groups, and why these factors make the field sales force a crucial...
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Keywords:
Product Marketing;
Social Marketing;
Multi-Sided Platforms;
Groups and Teams;
Salesforce Management
Cespedes, Frank V. "Managing Sales Interfaces: An Introduction." Harvard Business School Background Note 592-068, January 1992.
- March 2010 (Revised May 2010)
- Case
Chrysler's Sale to Fiat
By: C. Fritz Foley, Lena G. Goldberg and Linnea Meyer
This case provides students with an opportunity to analyze the restructuring of Chrysler in the midst of the financial crisis of 2008–2009. It describes how debtors can use section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to sell assets quickly. It allows for discussion of who...
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Keywords:
Mergers and Acquisitions;
Restructuring;
Financial Crisis;
Insolvency and Bankruptcy;
Laws and Statutes;
Business and Government Relations;
Sales;
Auto Industry;
United States
Foley, C. Fritz, Lena G. Goldberg, and Linnea Meyer. "Chrysler's Sale to Fiat." Harvard Business School Case 210-022, March 2010. (Revised May 2010.)