Tony Douglas and Kenneth Le Meunier-FitzHugh
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198706632
- eISBN:
- 9780191826061
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198706632.003.0006
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Strategy, Marketing
Sales leaders are being faced with developing new skills so that they can contribute strategically to the organization. Sales teams are required to make complex offers, understand what customers ...
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Sales leaders are being faced with developing new skills so that they can contribute strategically to the organization. Sales teams are required to make complex offers, understand what customers value, and provide market information. To create and manage a well-motivated, flexible sales team, sales leaders need to develop new competences and capabilities in leadership by providing the structure, focus, drive, and sales strategies required by the sales team to succeed. This chapter will uncover some critical sales leadership roles that have been found to directly relate to the effectiveness of sales in organizations, including managing internal communications, aligning activities across different sales teams, knowledge management, and networking with partner organizations to help develop the organizations’ customer orientation.Less
Sales leaders are being faced with developing new skills so that they can contribute strategically to the organization. Sales teams are required to make complex offers, understand what customers value, and provide market information. To create and manage a well-motivated, flexible sales team, sales leaders need to develop new competences and capabilities in leadership by providing the structure, focus, drive, and sales strategies required by the sales team to succeed. This chapter will uncover some critical sales leadership roles that have been found to directly relate to the effectiveness of sales in organizations, including managing internal communications, aligning activities across different sales teams, knowledge management, and networking with partner organizations to help develop the organizations’ customer orientation.
Kenneth Le Meunier-FitzHugh and Tony Douglas
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198706632
- eISBN:
- 9780191826061
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198706632.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Strategy, Marketing
This book considers how the sales function informs business strategy. There are many books that address how to manage the sales team tactically, however, this text addresses how sales can help ...
More
This book considers how the sales function informs business strategy. There are many books that address how to manage the sales team tactically, however, this text addresses how sales can help organizations to become more customer-oriented. Many organizations are facing escalating costs and growing customer power, making it necessary to allocate resources more strategically. The sales function can provide critical customer and market knowledge to help inform both innovation and marketing. Sales build customer knowledge; network both internally and externally to create additional customer value; and manage customer relationships and selling. The text considers how sales organizations are responding to increasing competition, more demanding customers, and a more complex selling environment. Possible solutions to the many challenges facing organizations are discussed. The book considers the changing nature of sales and how activities can be aligned within the organization, as well as market-sensing, creating customer focus, and the role of sales leadership. Short case studies by a range of organizations operating in various industries are provided. Sales and senior management play an important role in ensuring sales teams’ activities are aligned to business strategy and in creating an environment that allows salespeople to successfully new business opportunities and build long-term profitable business relationships. The book also considers how academic sales literature has changed in the last five years and integrates it with examples from sales practice to provide a more complete picture of the role of sales within the modern organization.Less
This book considers how the sales function informs business strategy. There are many books that address how to manage the sales team tactically, however, this text addresses how sales can help organizations to become more customer-oriented. Many organizations are facing escalating costs and growing customer power, making it necessary to allocate resources more strategically. The sales function can provide critical customer and market knowledge to help inform both innovation and marketing. Sales build customer knowledge; network both internally and externally to create additional customer value; and manage customer relationships and selling. The text considers how sales organizations are responding to increasing competition, more demanding customers, and a more complex selling environment. Possible solutions to the many challenges facing organizations are discussed. The book considers the changing nature of sales and how activities can be aligned within the organization, as well as market-sensing, creating customer focus, and the role of sales leadership. Short case studies by a range of organizations operating in various industries are provided. Sales and senior management play an important role in ensuring sales teams’ activities are aligned to business strategy and in creating an environment that allows salespeople to successfully new business opportunities and build long-term profitable business relationships. The book also considers how academic sales literature has changed in the last five years and integrates it with examples from sales practice to provide a more complete picture of the role of sales within the modern organization.
Christine Corbet Boyce and Beth Linderbaum
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- April 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190879860
- eISBN:
- 9780190051075
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190879860.003.0024
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
This chapter describes a global pharmaceutical company that used 360 Feedback and other talent assessments to address critical strategic challenges in its business. The company collected behavioral ...
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This chapter describes a global pharmaceutical company that used 360 Feedback and other talent assessments to address critical strategic challenges in its business. The company collected behavioral data on approximately 400 sales leaders as part of a system-wide talent assessment that allowed a newly appointed leader to craft a talent strategy that would support his business strategy. By linking 360 Feedback data, personality assessments and sales results, the organization’s senior leadership team was able to critically examine its system-wide talent profile in the context of its ambitious commercial strategies. This system-wide profile was then used to shape short- and long-term plans for developing talent and shifting the culture at all levels to better align with business goals.Less
This chapter describes a global pharmaceutical company that used 360 Feedback and other talent assessments to address critical strategic challenges in its business. The company collected behavioral data on approximately 400 sales leaders as part of a system-wide talent assessment that allowed a newly appointed leader to craft a talent strategy that would support his business strategy. By linking 360 Feedback data, personality assessments and sales results, the organization’s senior leadership team was able to critically examine its system-wide talent profile in the context of its ambitious commercial strategies. This system-wide profile was then used to shape short- and long-term plans for developing talent and shifting the culture at all levels to better align with business goals.
