More from the Author

• Article | Top Sales Magazine | September 2018

  Assembling the Sales Team

  Frank V. Cespedes

  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 to hire more like them. This article discusses factors that are making sales hiring more complex and why common practices are increasingly counterproductive. It then discusses how two key factors (the impact and performance variability inherent in a company’s sales tasks) vary in different sales models and the hiring implications.

  Keywords: Sales; Selection and Staffing;

  Citation:

  Cespedes, Frank V. "Assembling the Sales Team." Top Sales Magazine (September 2018).  View Details

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• Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | August 2018

  IguanaFix

  Frank V. Cespedes and Thomas Eisenmann

  Teaching Note for HBS No. 817-056. IguanaFix, based in Argentina, is a platform business that connects consumers with home improvement contractors. The founders are evaluating growth options and an investment offer. The case focuses on scaling issues for a venture engaged in both B2C and B2B initiatives in a business model where there are important links, but also trade-offs and choices, between these approaches. The teaching note discusses some core marketing tools primarily relevant to a B2C versus a B2B approach in a venture; the complementarities and resource-allocation implications of the choices facing the founders; and scaling options and requirements ranging from new products and new markets to new channel partners and acquisition. The case is suitable for use in MBA and executive courses on Entrepreneurial Management, Business Marketing, Consumer Marketing, Sales, Making Markets, and Launching Technology Ventures.

  Citation:

  Cespedes, Frank V., and Thomas Eisenmann. "IguanaFix." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 819-029, August 2018.  View Details

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• Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | August 2018

  Magpie: Developing and Using Buyer Personas

  Frank V. Cespedes

  Teaching Note for HBS No. 818-013. Magpie is a startup with a platform that allows publishers to natively tag the products discussed in their content and thus allows consumers to purchase those products without needing to leave that publisher’s web page. A key aspect of the venture’s business model is to leverage the content and influence of publishers (i.e., those who provide content in the fashion product categories initially targeted by Magpie). The founders have developed four publisher personas and must decide on priorities among these buyer personas and the implications for messaging, media, and other aspects of marketing to each group. “Buying Journey” and “Buyer Persona” are currently popular terms for a perennial requirement of effective marketing: understanding who buys, why, and how among a venture’s potential customer groups. The teaching note discusses the process for creating buying personas in an early-stage venture; the go-to-market implications that flow from focus on a given persona; and the uses, misuses, and inherent limitations of qualitative constructs like Buying Journey and Buyer Persona in allocating resources.

  Keywords: social media; buying process; Marketing; Sales; Distribution Channels; Segmentation; Entrepreneurship; Consumer Products Industry; Fashion Industry; United States;

  Citation:

  Cespedes, Frank V. "Magpie: Developing and Using Buyer Personas." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 819-027, August 2018.  View Details

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