It Doesn't Matter If Competitors Know Your Strategy

Frank V. Cespedes

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Article | ThinkSales | April–June 2015

It Doesn't Matter If Competitors Know Your Strategy

by Frank V. Cespedes

Abstract

It is difficult for people to implement what they don't understand. Yet, research indicates that, on average, more than 50% of employees in organizations say they do not understand their organization's strategy. Further, the percentage of people reporting ignorance of their firm's strategy increases the closer one gets to the customer in responses from sales and service personnel. This article outlines the issues and explains why withholding information about strategy for competitive reasons often results in greater risk for the business.

Keywords: Sales; strategy; Strategy; Sales;

Format: Print

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Citation:

Cespedes, Frank V. "It Doesn't Matter If Competitors Know Your Strategy." ThinkSales (April–June 2015), 10–11.

About the Author

Frank V. Cespedes

MBA Class of 1973 Senior Lecturer of Business Administration

Entrepreneurial Management

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Article | Top Sales Magazine

Get Ready to Sell

Frank V. Cespedes and Bud Hyler

Time-to-market measures the time to have a product ready to ship. But that’s not revenue and cash. Many firms with superb R&D functions lack an understanding of what’s needed to be ready-to-sell. Meanwhile, relevant tools are increasing in scope and decreasing in cost. Selling during a crisis is hard. Trying to do that without smart use of ready-to-sell tools makes it unnecessarily harder.

Citation:
Cespedes, Frank V., and Bud Hyler. "Get Ready to Sell." Top Sales Magazine (September 2020), 32–33. View Details

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Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2016 (Revised August 2020)

InsightSquared: Developing the Sales and Marketing Plan

Mark Roberge, Tom Eisenmann and Frank Cespedes

Fred Shilmover and Sam Clemens prepared for their fourth quarter board meeting. They were excited to have scaled their software startup, InsightSquared, to $2 million in revenue and secured an $8 million round of venture capital. However, they disagreed on the path ahead, specifically on the sales and marketing plan. Shilmover preferred a sales-centric approach to growth while Clemens preferred a marketing-centric one. Which strategy was optimal for their venture’s next phase of growth?

Keywords: Sales planning; Software; Marketing; Sales; Planning; Growth and Development Strategy;

Citation:
Roberge, Mark, Tom Eisenmann, and Frank Cespedes. "InsightSquared: Developing the Sales and Marketing Plan." Harvard Business School Case 816-074, February 2016. (Revised August 2020.) View Details

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Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | July 2020

Shindigz

Frank Cespedes

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 819-010. Shindigz sells party and celebratory items through its branded direct online channel, third-party retail and wholesale channels, and online marketplaces. Shindigz has for decades successfully executed a premium-priced branded strategy across its distribution channels. But market developments put this approach at risk. The teaching note discusses the impact of omni-channel buying processes on marketing requirements in an event-driven product category; the links between channel choice, pricing, and business strategy; and the requirements for change in response to market conditions that put pressure on established processes in a business model.

Keywords: ecommerce; e-commerce; pricing; Price; Strategy; Decision Making; Distribution Channels; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry;

Citation:
Cespedes, Frank. "Shindigz." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 821-024, July 2020. View Details

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It Doesn't Matter If Competitors Know Your Strategy

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