Resources

Although experts agree on the importance of strong customer relationships, sales force management practices often result in behaviors that weaken relationships. The current use of sales contests with quantitative objectives in relation to revenue or profit margins testifies to this divergence. Sharma (1997) emphasizes the need for a better understanding...Read more

Organizations are increasingly emphasizing online sales channels over traditional offline sales channels. This research examines how training influences a salesperson's ability to manage such a technological change in the firm's sales strategy. Findings suggest that formality of training has a positive effect and voluntariness has a negative effect on the...Read more

This study examines the influence of sales management control (outcome based, behavior based, and knowledge based) on the innovativeness of sales departments. Using data from Japanese sales departments, the results indicate that sales departments tend to be innovative when salespeople are evaluated based on their behavior and knowledge rather than...Read more

Sales compensation plays a crucial role in sales force execution and growth, especially as companies seek to emerge from the market stall. In this Sales Management Association webcast, two sales compensation experts will examine current trends and best practices among firms utilizing sales compensation in today’s challenging environment. Ted Briggs,...Read more

Sales team productivity matters at IBM Software Group, where management believes “teams are where value is generated.” Building upon research that shows high performance for sales teams correlates to a high level of collaboration, IBM Software Group recently studied the role of “social software” in improving collaboration, productivity, and operational...Read more

In highly competitive markets, the use of analytics by sales management separates the best organizations from their lower-performing peers. Combining rich new data with analysis and decision-making tools, sales management analytics help firms identify the right opportunities, deploy resources quickly, and execute profitably. In this Sales Management Association webcast, Mike...Read more

How do best-practice firms figure out whether they are getting an adequate return on sales compensation investments?  By measuring and managing correlation between their sales forces’ performance and pay.  In this archived webinar, Sal DiFonzo and Mike Rose review several commonly used sales compensation analysis tools that quantify sales compensation...Read more

There's lots of talk today about incentive measures and risk management. Even if you’re not a TARP recipient, your company’s board and executive management could take greater care in deciding which performance measures get used to calculate incentives. Sales incentives are another matter, but the issue still pertains. During a...Read more