by Frank Cespedes | Aug 8, 2016 | Articles, Uncategorized
Most sales models include a conversion funnel in which reps try to convert a marketing-generated lead into a prospect and then a customer through sequential steps. In this model, sales people are expected to make the process as friction-less as possible for the...
by Frank Cespedes | Jun 8, 2016 | Uncategorized
By: Kim Mi-yeon Frank Cespedes teaches at Harvard Business School. His new book, Aligning Strategy and Sales: The Choices, Systems, and Behaviors that Drive Effective Selling (Harvard Business Review Press) has been called “the best sales book of the year” (Strategy +...
by Frank Cespedes | May 11, 2016 | Uncategorized
By Frank Cespedes and Daniel Weinfurter For decades, Sales and Academia remained worlds apart and the business world did fine. But Sales is changing, Academia is out of touch, and this is bad for business and the academy. Compared to professions like engineering or...
by Frank Cespedes | Mar 29, 2016 | Uncategorized
By Frank V. Cespedes & Jared Hamilton Alfred P. Sloan, GM’s CEO from the 1920s to the 1940s, and the architect of the U.S. auto distribution system, summed up the car buyer’s challenge well: “The automobile…is a highly complex mechanical product. It represents a...
by Frank Cespedes | Feb 26, 2016 | Uncategorized
By Frank V. Cespedes and Jacco van der Kooij You see Pareto’s Principle applied to sales all the time — the top 20% of a sales force produces 80% of a company’s revenues and margins — and it’s applicable in a variety of sectors. In B2B contexts, for example, rep...
by Frank Cespedes | Feb 1, 2016 | Uncategorized
By Frank V. Cespedes and Steve Thompson When formulating a strategy, markets and segments are important categories to consider. But a market never buys anything. Only customers buy. To borrow a telecom industry metaphor, a deal with a customer is the “last mile” in...
