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  • May–June 2021
  • Article
  • European Business Review

Getting Up to Speed in Your Sales Efforts

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Zoran Latinovic
  • Format:Print
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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.
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About The Author

Frank V. Cespedes

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • January 2023 (Revised January 2023)
    • Faculty Research

    Belden and Digital Transformation: From Product Sales to Solutions Sales

    By: Frank V. Cespedes and Amy Klopfenstein
    • November 15, 2022
    • Harvard Business Review (website)

    Using Simulations to Upskill Employees

    By: Frank V. Cespedes, Trond Aas, Alex Hunt and Huw Newton-Hill
    • October 2022 (Revised December 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    Aphro Beverages

    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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