Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • May–June 2021
  • Article
  • European Business Review

Getting Up to Speed in Your Sales Efforts

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Zoran Latinovic
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

In a study before the pandemic, Pricewaterhouse Coopers found that companies had made little progress in the previous decade in speeding up their cash-conversion cycle, as the cash crunch generated by the pandemic painfully demonstrated. In most firms, sales velocity is the biggest driver of cash-out and cash-in. But sales velocity is itself the result of other activities: opportunity selection, deal size, and win rate. This article discusses each component, what some companies are doing to improve sales velocity, and new tools for managing this aspect of financial oversight as well as sales management.

Keywords

Sales Velocity; Opportunity Selection; Deal Size; Win Rate; Sales; Management; Cash Flow

Citation

Cespedes, Frank V., and Zoran Latinovic. "Getting Up to Speed in Your Sales Efforts." European Business Review (May–June 2021): 68–71.
  • Read Now

More from the Authors

    • 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 Authors
  • 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
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.