Coming soon · Book Profile
Sales force management
A comprehensive guide for modern sales managers on how to formulate, implement, and evaluate a strategic sales program to drive salesperson performance in a complex, technology-driven, and global environment.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
In this eleventh edition of the contemporary classic, Mark Johnston and Greg Marshall carry on the tradition of excellence established by Churchill, Ford, and Walker, providing the definitive, research-based textbook on sales force management. The book is structured around the three critical processes of sales management: formulation, implementation, and evaluation. It equips aspiring and current sales managers with a robust framework to navigate the complexities of today's market, emphasizing innovation, technology, leadership, ethics, and global business. By integrating cutting-edge data from the Chally Group Worldwide with time-tested principles, practical case studies, and real-world applications, this book is an indispensable resource for anyone seeking to build, lead, and sustain a high-performing, customer-centric sales organization.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- An aspiring or current sales manager who wants to build and lead a high-performing sales force that drives sustainable business growth and profitability.
- The problem
- Managing a sales force in a rapidly changing, highly competitive environment is increasingly complex, with constant pressure to hit targets while navigating new technologies, global markets, and evolving customer expectations. Feeling overwhelmed, uncertain about how to best structure, motivate, and evaluate the sales team, and frustrated when traditional methods fail to produce consistent, predictable results.
- The plan
- Formulate a strategic sales program by understanding the selling process, linking sales to marketing strategy, organizing the sales effort, and using information for forecasting and planning.
- Implement the sales program by understanding what drives salesperson performance, motivating the team, and effectively managing recruitment, selection, training, and compensation.
- Evaluate and control the sales program through rigorous cost analysis and comprehensive, multi-faceted performance evaluation to ensure continuous improvement.
- The payoff
- Leading a highly motivated, skilled, and effective sales force that consistently achieves its goals. · Becoming a respected strategic leader who successfully integrates the sales function with the broader business strategy. · Building a sustainable competitive advantage through sales excellence and strong customer relationships.
See our guide
Related profiles we’ve built
Additional reading
- From Impossible To Inevitable · Aaron Ross & Jason Lemkin
The sequel to Predictable Revenue, it expands on growth strategies for scaling a business, co-authored with the founder of SaaStr.
- First, Break All The Rules: What The World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently · Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman
Referenced for its 12 key questions to measure employee satisfaction, which is crucial for retaining the star talent needed to run a sales machine.
- The Seven Day Weekend · Ricardo Semler
Recommended as a resource for CEOs looking to move away from command-and-control management and toward more democratic, employee-empowering organizational structures.
- Barking Up A Dead Horse · Tom Batchelder
Recommended for its focus on the importance of disqualifying poor-fit sales opportunities quickly, a key principle for sales efficiency.
- CEOFlow: Turn Your Employees Into MiniCEOs · Aaron Ross
The author's other work, recommended for deeper insights into creating self-managing teams and empowering employees.
- Attitudinal Variables and Behavior: Three Empirical Studies and a Theoretical Reanalysis · M. Fishbein & I. Ajzen
The book cites this work to support its research philosophy, which emphasizes observing actual behaviors over measuring attitudes, as attitudes are often poor predictors of performance.
- Crossing the Chasm · Geoff Moore
The book's concept of the 'chasm' between Early Adopters and the Mainstream Market is cited to explain why companies struggle to grow past their initial network and why 'Nailing a Niche' is critical.
- The Sales Acceleration Formula · Mark Roberge
The author, who scaled HubSpot's sales to $100M, is featured in the book. His work is relevant for its systematic, data-driven approach to hiring, training, and managing sales teams for scalable growth.
- The Sales Development Playbook · Trish Bertuzzi
The author is quoted, and her book is relevant for its deep dive into building the sales development (prospecting) teams that are a core part of the 'Predictable Revenue' model central to this book.
- Predictable Revenue · Aaron Ross & Marylou Tyler
This book is the predecessor to 'From Impossible to Inevitable,' written by one of the co-authors. It lays the detailed foundation for the outbound prospecting ('Spears') and sales specialization concepts that this book builds upon.