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  • September 2018
  • Article
  • Top Sales Magazine

Assembling the Sales Team

By: Frank V. Cespedes
  • Format:Electronic
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Abstract

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).

More from the Author

    • June 2025
    • Faculty Research

    TagHive: Edtech Pricing and Distributor Decisions

    By: Isamar Troncoso, Frank V. Cespedes and Stacy Straaberg
    • March–April 2025
    • European Business Review

    Getting Value from Digital Technologies

    By: Frank Cespedes and Georg Krentzel
    • March 27, 2025
    • Harvard Business Review (website)

    How One Company Used AI to Broaden Its Customer Base

    By: Sunil Gupta and Frank V. Cespedes
More from the Author
  • TagHive: Edtech Pricing and Distributor Decisions By: Isamar Troncoso, Frank V. Cespedes and Stacy Straaberg
  • Getting Value from Digital Technologies By: Frank Cespedes and Georg Krentzel
  • How One Company Used AI to Broaden Its Customer Base By: Sunil Gupta and Frank V. Cespedes
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