Harvard Business

MARCH 10, 2017

Sales executives with even moderately large, distributed sales forces rely on data to help them understand which activities and behaviors lead to the best outcomes. Yet much of the data from sources such as CRM reporting tools and time studies is self-reported, and thus inherently flawed. Related Video.

Sales 128

Sales Software Productivity Data 128

Steve Shu Consulting

APRIL 26, 2011

In helping companies develop, tune-up, or reboot their professional services organizations, here are some example of complaints I’ve heard that reflect the need for change: Customer: “Instead of providing consulting services, your organization is marketing its products to me and asking me to pay the bill.”

Sales 253

Sales Development Consulting Productivity 253

Harvard Business

NOVEMBER 23, 2018

In the 2001 recession, total sales for the S&P 500 declined by 9% from its pre-recession peak to its trough 18 months later—almost a year after the recession officially ended. We’ll focus here on what the sales organization should be doing now to prepare for the next recession, with an eye toward using new digital tools.

Sales 130

Sales B2B Tools Software 130

Harvard Business

AUGUST 22, 2017

But today’s sales technologies enable companies to measure almost anything, which leads many managers to try to measure everything. As a consequence, managers don’t have a clear sense of what is really driving sales in their business, while salespeople, who are inundated with dozens of metrics, get lost in the day-to-day noise.

Metrics 123

Metrics Sales Software Meeting 123

Clarity Consultants

FEBRUARY 9, 2025

Are you aiming to increase sales, improve customer satisfaction, or boost employee retention? For example, if your goal is to increase sales, your L&D programs might focus on enhancing sales techniques, product knowledge, or customer relationship management skills. Start by clearly defining your business goals.

Metrics 147

Metrics ROI Training Training 147

Harvard Business

APRIL 12, 2018

Many industries have had to downsize sales forces. There are several reasons for recent sales force job cuts: Shifting market dynamics are one cause, including changing customer needs, customer consolidation, new buying channels, and slowing market growth. sales reps following an industry-wide downsizing trend.

Sales 99

Sales How To Turnaround Trends 99

Epicflow

NOVEMBER 8, 2024

The capacity of HHI is superior to its competitors — a four-kilometer Ulsan shipyard with nine huge “Goliath Cranes,” 16,000 well-trained and experienced people in production, R&D, management, and administration, and the ability to manufacture any ship of any size with superb quality and the highest deadweight tonnage in the world.

Management 222

Management Cash Flow Industry Real Estate 222

Epicflow

OCTOBER 9, 2024

And we are going to get that value from the product or service that is delivered at the project’s completion. If we are undertaking the project scope because of the value (contract price, sales revenue, market visibility, productivity improvement, mortality reduction, etc.)

Resources 130

Resources Metrics Data Cash Flow 130

Tom Spencer

OCTOBER 25, 2024

For instance, AI-driven customer relationship management tools can automate data entry, lead scoring , content marketing, follow-up emails, and generating reports, freeing up employees to focus on more strategic activities like developing growth strategies, enhancing customer relationships, and driving innovation.

Small Business 78

Small Business Data Efficiency Tools 78

Harvard Business

MARCH 21, 2018

During my years at OSHA, where I served as the Assistant Secretary of Labor from 2009 through the beginning of 2017, I received several reports of safety system failures at DuPont facilities. Injuries and catastrophic events, in addition to being tragic, are evidence that production is not being managed correctly. At Cummins, Inc.,

Operations 188

Operations Chemicals System Metrics 188

Harvard Business

JUNE 7, 2018

It traced much of the cause to a mismatch between its sales incentives and pricing strategy. The manufacturer was compensating sales representatives based solely on how much revenue they generated. Top performers are more likely to: employ truly tailored pricing at the individual customer and product level.

B2B 134

B2B Survey Company Sales 134

Tom Spencer

JUNE 9, 2023

These systems can suggest relevant products that customers are likely to enjoy. For example, businesses like Netflix, Youtube, Amazon, and Airbnb use AI-powered recommendation systems to suggest movies, videos, products, and rental properties based on a user’s browsing history, past purchases, and revealed preferences based on past behavior.

Data 147

Data Operations Efficiency System 147

Harvard Business

AUGUST 16, 2018

Most leaders assume that they need to foster teamwork among the people whom directly and indirectly report to them. Consider the example of Nicolas, a regional sales vice president at a medical devices company. Here are eight common roles that your reports may need to play together.

Turnaround 129

Turnaround Talent Groups Meeting 129

Harvard Business

NOVEMBER 12, 2018

Product marketing: For this, the CMO pulls all of the analysis and insights from all of the customer-facing resources of the organization to support and co-design specific solutions with the product organization. In many cases, the incapacity to successfully support the sales operations has been the downfall of a CMO.

How To 128

How To Sales Marketing Productivity 128

Harvard Business

APRIL 19, 2018

Companies have hired writers and Chief Content Officers to run departments, create blogs and other materials, and, in the process, some have assured sales people that content marketing can mean the end of cold calling. Our data also indicate that much of marketing and sales collateral is read by prospects outside of the normal work week.

Marketing 133

Marketing Case Studies Case Study Sales 133

Harvard Business

APRIL 14, 2017

Even the near-term outlook has been quite negative: A 2016 report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said 9% of jobs in the 21 countries that make up its membership could be automated. What about the automation of the production line? bribes and kickbacks). Just 6% are using AI in pricing.

Company 159

Company Survey Finance Engineering 159

Chad Barr

MARCH 12, 2025

Leveraging ChatGPT Canvas can significantly boost your productivity and content quality. Unlike traditional static responses, the Canvas provides a dedicated space where content can be refined, making it ideal for writing articles, reports, newsletters, scripts, and much more. A stronger opening paragraph? A more structured layout?

Efficiency 52

Efficiency Tools Productivity Media 52

Harvard Business

APRIL 2, 2018

So far the most popular medium has been glossy sustainability reports. Eighty-five percent of the S&P 500 companies publish such reports, which often are longer than their annual financial reports. They appreciate the data in many sustainability reports but don’t need the pretty pictures and glossy cover.

Company 124

Company Advertising Report Sales 124

Harvard Business

NOVEMBER 6, 2018

One type of data scientist creates output for humans to consume, in the form of product and strategy recommendations. Data science for humans: the consumers of the output are decision makers like executives, product managers, designers, or clinicians. They are decision scientists. They are modeling scientists. What are some examples?

Data 132

Data Engineering Software Metrics 132

1 to 1

JANUARY 17, 2025

Ultas loyalty program is 44 million members strong, with 95% of purchases made through the program, said Josh Friedman, vice president of digital products for Ulta. LEGOs Urrutia said the brand has been experimenting with livestreaming product demos from some stores, and adding in-store areas where customers can design their own mini-figures.

Data 26

Data Report Retail Media 26

Harvard Business

MAY 25, 2016

Survey-based reports find that firms are currently spending an estimated $36 billion on storage and infrastructure, and that is expected to double by 2020. However, looking at the surveys and consulting reports, it is unclear what the precise use cases are that will drive this positive ROI from big data.

Data 132

Data Advertising Operations Case Study 132

Harvard Business

MAY 17, 2016

Companies born before the internet took hold have an enormous challenge: improving their online products and services at the warp speed of their online competitors. Companies that are able to master continuous online product innovation have big advantages: Dramatic reductions in the time it takes to make critical product enhancements.

Company 123

Company Software Productivity Engineering 123

Harvard Business

SEPTEMBER 7, 2016

I stumbled through a few consumer report roundups online, asked the advice of friends and coworkers, and eventually found myself at a local hardware store, where the owner enlightened me to the complex world of BTUs, replaceable filters, and square footage calculations. Handi shop customers had never seen a product like ours.

Sales 70

Sales Marketing Development Retail 70

Harvard Business

MAY 30, 2018

The most recent results from The CMO Survey conducted by Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and sponsored by Deloitte LLP and the American Marketing Association reports that the percentage of marketing budgets companies plan to allocate to analytics over the next three years will increase from 5.8% The Data Analyst Challenge.

Marketing 132

Marketing Data Advertising Talent 132

Harvard Business

MARCH 14, 2017

According to a Bloomberg report , banks were estimated to have received 14.97 Indian Railways will no longer levy a service charge on tickets booked online, and the government is removing duties on point-of-sale devices and fingerprint readers. HUL experienced a 4% decline in sales volumes. instead of 7%.

Banking 128

Banking Government Policies Sales 128

Harvard Business

JUNE 15, 2017

Each presents distinct opportunities for profit and competitive advantage, from product improvements to new revenue streams to possible industry game changers. Innovate products, services, and processes. Use data to uncover hidden insights, and use those insights to create or improve products, services, and processes.

Data 129

Data Company Insurance Insurance 129

Harvard Business

MARCH 22, 2017

Marketers need to master data analytics, customer experience, and product design. Brocade, a data and network solutions provider, created a “customer first” program by identifying their top 200 customers, who account for 80% of their sales. But marketing, like other corporate functions, has become more complex and rigorous.

Marketing 134

Marketing Agile Fashion Sales 134

Harvard Business

JULY 14, 2016

Self-cannibalization occurs when a company chooses to proactively replace one product or process with another that is potentially worth less. Forward-looking incumbents recognize the need to cannibalize their own products, rather than leaving it to other startups, who are more than happy to take on the challenge.

Productivity 70

Productivity Company Recruitment Recruiting 70

Harvard Business

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

of all book sales in the United States. Add in speeches, training programs, TV programs, online-products, coaches, yoga, and the like, self-help is a $10 billion industry per year , and that’s just in the U.S. Why New Personal Productivity Efforts Don’t Stick. HBR staff/Bettmann Collection/Getty Images. Sabina Nawaz.

Benchmarking 134

Benchmarking Comparison Research Sports 134

Harvard Business

SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

Unilever has acquired Dollar Shave Club , a young startup, for $1 billion in a move to introduce a new model of subscription sales. And at Greycroft, a venture capital firm, investor Teddy Citrin has laid out a veritable map for the further disruption of every consumer products category.

Media 135

Media Fashion Agile Sales 135

Tom Spencer

MAY 13, 2022

Consider a company operating in the retail industry, which has a large assortment of different products in its inventory and a dozen stores. Now suppose that management wants to compile a list of most sold products for each store. The BI analyst working for the company can use their knowledge of BI tools to compile a report.

Balance Sheet 88

Balance Sheet Retail Sales Productivity 88

Harvard Business

AUGUST 16, 2017

After reporting earnings earlier this month, its stock jumped, rocketing the 14-year-old startup’s valuation to over $53 billion , ahead of every other U.S. billion to escape what Musk calls the “manufacturing hell” the company is now experiencing in its transition from small batch car making to mass production.

Automotive 132

Automotive Transportation Productivity Retail 132

Harvard Business

DECEMBER 19, 2018

That company had sold exclusively on its own site, and Mark’s expertise had served PedalSpark well with its first product. His two direct reports were split. Gideon Bear, the sales manager, tended to favor aggressive approaches. Then a bunch of copycat products started popping up. ” “Why, though?”

Case Studies 127

Case Studies Case Study Study Company 127

Harvard Business

OCTOBER 18, 2018

It had been a long day at the company’s Birmingham, England, headquarters, and in the early evening the two were going over the evaluations of each of Lance’s direct reports. His CFO and his sales chief had been at loggerheads for a while. ” he asked, pointing to the report. “You’re surprised?”

Case Studies 132

Case Studies Case Study Study Sales 132

Effective Managers

MARCH 23, 2021

The Economist reported that the McKinsey moral compass has gone haywire most likely because of “the lure of lucre”. As a quick reminder – banking financial advisors were selling unneeded financial instruments in order to meet their sales quotas. Executives drive sales targets throughout the organization. Of course not.

Ethics 130

Ethics McKinsey Banking Consulting 130

Harvard Business

JULY 8, 2016

To understand a product’s sales potential, executives want industry-specific indicators. For example, if a company sells toothbrushes, it uses toothbrush sales forecasts to determine yearly targets. If official numbers contradict your understanding of the market and actual sales performance, do not ignore it.

Data 120

Data Marketing Sales Government 120