White Papers on Sales Management

Closed-Loop Marketing/Sales Systems

Pressure is increasing in most companies to align marketing and sales activities. At least those marketing activities focused on the support of near-term sales. Gaining alignment between these two organizations and their often disconnected activities can be a challenge. However, increased competitive pressure requires a solution. This paper looks at the expanding role of "operations management" in marketing and sales as a potential solution to this issue.

Customer Relationship Management: Great Investment or Huge Expense

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology implementation is probably no the 'silver bullet' you are expecting. Too many users complain of a never-ending stream of updates, under-utilization, and a general postponement of the return on investment that you expected. It's not technology or which CRM package you choose that's the problem.

Improving Your Sales Management

Changing the way you think about managing your sales functions can be scary. But if what you were doing was working to your satisfaction, change would not be necessary. As the world becomes more competitive, Sales is forced to find new ways to be more efficient and effective. By applying management principles proven in other parts of your business you can dramatically improve your sales management ability and your sales results.

Inside Sales: A Secret Weapon

The need to increase sales and lower the cost of selling has driven many previously reluctant sales managers to consider adding an inside sales function to their sales process. If you are considering adding an inside sales function to your sales process, or if you would like to improve the inside sales function you have, this paper reviews key issues for success.

The Care and Selection of Manufacturer's Reps

You've decided to use manufacturer's reps as your outside sales organization. Now what? How do you go about getting the right ones? Managing independent sales reps adds another dimension of complexity to the already difficult sales management process. This paper helps you understand the key issues.