Sally E. Lorimer

Sales leadership essentials for an era of rapidly advancing digital technology. Managing an effective sales organization is key to revenue generation, customer satisfaction, and business results. But whether you're a sales manager or leading a large sales force, it's increasingly challenging to balance success today with driving the digital sales transformation that will position your team for the future. With actionable insights and examples from many industries worldwide, the HBR Sales Management Handbook provides the resources you need to build value for your company, your customers, and your sales teams. The book covers the fundamentals every sales manager needs to know and explores today's most challenging issues around digital: bringing value to informed and self-sufficient customers while managing the business; hiring, developing, and retaining the best talent; managing sales in the remote, multichannel world; using AI and analytics to support critical decisions; navigating change with continuous improvement; and building the next generation of sales information hubs. Your job as a sales leader is vast and dynamic. This handbook is a collection of proven and forward-looking ideas to help you, your salespeople, and your customers win. HBR Handbooks provide ambitious professionals with the frameworks, advice, and tools they need to excel in their careers. With step-by-step guidance, time-honed best practices, and real-life stories, each comprehensive volume helps you to stand out from the pack—whatever your role.

Sales forces have many moving pieces, and sales executives and managers face tremendous complexity as they seek to drive profitable revenue growth in today's challenging B2B selling environment. In this book, global sales management thought leaders Andy Zoltners, Prabha Sinha, and Sally Lorimer share actionable ideas for enhancing the power of any sales force. By organizing insights from blogs around a proven sales force system framework the authors created, the book can help sales leaders: - Find hidden opportunities for sales growth - Size and structure their sales teams to meet changing customer needs - Hire and retain the best sales and managerial talent - Motivate and direct sales activity to align with strategic priorities - Use data and analytics to create insights for driving sales performance - Lead sales forces to succeed in today's digital world - And much more

First-line sales managers (FLMs) play a key role in helping a sales organization drive profitable revenue growth in an ever-changing business environment. But although directly responsible for managing and driving sales force performance, FLMs often don't get enough time, attention, and resources from sales leaders. "Building a Winning Sales Management Team" shows just how important FLMs are to sales organizations--and what happens when companies underinvest in these key players. Authors of four previous books on sales management, Zoltners, Sinha and Lorimer show in "Building a Winning Sales Management Team" just how companies can nurture successful FLMs and improve sales force productivity. The book has dozens of real-life examples of how investing in first-line management paid off in a big way. In developing the book, the authors collaborated with leaders from some of the world's top companies. The authors also draw on their cumulative experience as sales and marketing consultants, faculty members at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, and business speakers and writers to produce fresh, completely original insights on sales force effectiveness. "Building a Winning Sales Management Team" shows in detail exactly how companies can improve FLM performance. The authors reveal eight key drivers for defining, creating and enabling a successful first-line sales management team, and show how FLMs are critical facilitators of change. The book also includes a self-assessment tool to help organizations determine the right priorities to start improving sales management team performance.