More from the Author

• Article | Top Sales Magazine | April 2018

  Effective Sales Training: What Are the Foundational Elements?

  Frank V. Cespedes

  Citation:

  Cespedes, Frank V. "Effective Sales Training: What Are the Foundational Elements?" Top Sales Magazine (April 2018), 22–23.  View Details

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• Article | Harvard Business Review (website)

  How a Fast-Growing Startup Built Its Sales Team for Long-Term Success

  Frank V. Cespedes and David Mattson

  It’s common for leaders of sales teams to focus almost exclusively on short-term tactics and current operations while failing to think and act in a way that supports the longer-term needs of their businesses—and it’s hard to fault them. The biggest problem with a short-term approach is that managers develop blind spots around crucial processes such as recruiting, hiring, and training and development. This is a problem because it can stall a company’s scaling efforts. To prevent this from happening, companies must make core processes like recruiting, interviewing, and development a real priority in daily practice. As Aristotle emphasized a long time ago, “Excellence is a habit.”

  Keywords: Business Startups; Salesforce Management; Management Practices and Processes;

  Citation:

  Cespedes, Frank V., and David Mattson. "How a Fast-Growing Startup Built Its Sales Team for Long-Term Success." Harvard Business Review (website) (December 4, 2017).  View Details

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• Article | Harvard Business Review (website) | August 22, 2017

  Find the Right Metrics for Your Sales Team

  Frank V. Cespedes and Robert Marsh

  This article reports the results of a survey of key performance indicators (KPIs) used by more than 800 sales groups across industries. The most common KPIs are closed deals and salesperson performance against quota, which, on average, firms measure monthly. But a closed deal is an outcome and lagging indicator. This article discusses how some firms deconstruct their sales conversion funnels to identify relevant leading indicators and coach/develop selling behaviors. Thus managing sales performance and not only reviewing quotas and after-the-fact outcomes.

  Keywords: Sales; Performance Evaluation; Measurement and Metrics; Salesforce Management;

  Citation:

  Cespedes, Frank V., and Robert Marsh. "Find the Right Metrics for Your Sales Team." Harvard Business Review (website) (August 22, 2017).  View Details

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