The McKinsey Quarterly

using sales force to jump-start growth article, identify disruptive new technologies, Management

April 2011 

Using your sales force to jump-start growth

There’s a reason it’s called a sales force. Here are four innovative ways companies can use their sales reps to drive growth.

Recent Thinking
  • paid media article, new marketing vocabulary, Management

    November 2010 

    Beyond paid media: Marketing’s new vocabulary

    Changes to the way consumers perceive and absorb marketing messages will force marketers to change not only their thinking but also the way they allocate spending and organize operations.

    Includes: Audio
  • retail online offline sales article, multichannel, retail service, Management

    October 2010 

    Rediscovering the art of selling

    Even after researching products on their own, many customers enter stores undecided about what to buy. For retailers, that’s an opportunity to improve off-line sales in an increasingly multichannel world.

    Includes: Interactive
  • new world for brand managers article, brand managing in fragmented structures, Management

    April 2010 

    A new world for brand managers

    CPG companies have created fragmented, overlapping structures that prevent brand and category managers—and the companies themselves—from achieving their full potential.

    Includes: Audio
  • Consumer electronics back to basics article, consumer electronics design, Management

    October 2009 

    Consumer electronics gets back to basics

    Most people don’t use advanced—and expensive—new features. There may be a better way for companies and consumers alike.

The Archive

2009

  • October 2009 

    Mastering sales force integration in a merger

    Companies can seize the opportunity in mergers by involving employees and customers in the integration process, retaining critical staff, generating momentum by quickly winning key accounts, and serving the right customers in the right way.

2008

2007

2006

  • November 2006 

    Escaping the middle-market trap: An interview with the CEO of Electrolux

    Hans Stråberg discusses the challenges of serving both the high and low ends of the market successfully.

  • August 2006 

    Capitalizing on customer insights

    To stimulate growth in today's marketing environment, companies must identify and prioritize opportunities at points where proliferating segments, channels, and product categories intersect.

  • August 2006 

    Managing a marketing and sales transformation

    Executives hoping to transform a commercial organization must tailor their change-management approach to several specific challenges posed by sales and marketing.

    Includes: Audio

  • August 2006 

    The power of a commercial operating system

    To avoid heightened complexity and a disjointed allocation of resources in a proliferating marketing environment, companies need a blueprint for consistent processes, tools, and performance-management systems.

    Includes: Audio

  • June 2006 

    Profiting from Proliferation

    An explosion of new customer segments, sales and service channels, media, and brands is challenging marketers to reinvent themselves so they can simultaneously prioritize opportunities in a more sophisticated way and increase the consistency and coordination of their marketing execution.

    Includes: Audio

  • February 2006 

    Capitalizing on customer insights JUNK

    To stimulate growth in today's marketing environment, companies must identify and prioritize opportunities at points where proliferating segments, channels, and product categories intersect.

  • February 2006 

    Fighting cannibalization

    Optimization techniques used to plan operations can also be applied to sales and marketing.

  • February 2006 

    The ‘moment of truth’ in customer service

    Focus on the interactions that are important to customers—and on the way frontline employees handle those interactions.

2005

2004

2002

2001

  • August 2001 

    Making solutions the answer

    Many companies hard-pressed to maintain their margins through products alone are turning to ’solutions.’ But to succeed, they must not only embrace competitors but also often turn away existing customers.

2000

  • May 2000 

    A new way to market

    For traditional marketers, organization means structure: distinct product, channel, and customer groups. But new-style marketing organizations understand that “boxes and lines” structures can’t drive value in fast-moving environments.

1999

  • February 1999 

    Think small, win big

    Companies often treat small businesses as a single segment. What’s needed is better insight into which customers you can serve most profitably. Technology and alliances can play a big role.

1998

  • November 1998 

    Breadth of a salesman

    Salesforces will need to create value, not just communicate it. But even in the same industry, different customers see value very differently. Matching selling strategy to customer type.

1997

  • August 1997 

    Channel conflict: When is it dangerous?

    Separating complaints from economic reality. When there is a conflict, there are effective options. Don’t overreact, but don’t get paralyzed either.

1996

1995

1994

1993

  • May 1993 

    Marketing’s mid-life crisis

    New challenges—and a new competitive environment—mean that the marketing function must reinvent itself.

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