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  • January 26, 2017
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review (website)

Executives and Salespeople Are Misaligned—and the Effects Are Costly

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Christopher Wallace
  • Format:Electronic
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Abstract

This article discusses the results of a survey of senior executives, middle managers, and sales people from companies across a variety of industries. The survey focused on questions about how well their companies’ strategies informed six critical elements of their sales approaches. The results indicate a big gap between the perceptions of executives and sales people. The article discusses reasons for that gap, the implications, and an example of what one leadership team did to link better its business strategy with sales investments and behaviors.

Keywords

Business Strategy; Sales; Perception

Citation

Cespedes, Frank V., and Christopher Wallace. "Executives and Salespeople Are Misaligned—and the Effects Are Costly." Harvard Business Review (website) (January 26, 2017).
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About The Author

Frank V. Cespedes

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • January 2023 (Revised January 2023)
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    Belden and Digital Transformation: From Product Sales to Solutions Sales

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    • November 15, 2022
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    Using Simulations to Upskill Employees

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    • October 2022 (Revised December 2022)
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    By: Frank V. Cespedes and Amram Migdal
More from the Authors
  • Belden and Digital Transformation: From Product Sales to Solutions Sales By: Frank V. Cespedes and Amy Klopfenstein
  • Using Simulations to Upskill Employees By: Frank V. Cespedes, Trond Aas, Alex Hunt and Huw Newton-Hill
  • Aphro Beverages By: Frank V. Cespedes and Amram Migdal
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