The Oxford Handbook of Strategic Sales and Sales Management

The Oxford Handbook of Strategic Sales and Sales Managementis an unrivalled overview by leading academics in the field of sales and marketing management. Sales theory is experiencing a renaissance driven by a number of factors, including building profitable relationships, creating/delivering brand value, strategic customer management, sales and marketing relationships, global selling, and the change from transactional to customer relationship marketing. Escalating sales and selling costs require organizations to be more focused on results and highlight the shifting of resources from marketing to sales. Further the growth in customer power now requires a strategic sales response, and not just a tactical one. The positioning of sales within the organization, the sales function and sales management are all discussed. The Handbook is not a general sales management text about managing a sales force, but will fill a gap in the existing literature through consolidating the current academic research in the sales area. The Handbook is structured around four key topics. The first section explores the strategic positioning of the sales function within the modern organization. The second considers sales management and recent developments. The third section examines the sales relationship with the customer and highlights how sales is responding to the modern environment. Finally, the fourth section reviews the internal composition of sales within the organization. The Handbook will provide a comprehensive introduction to the latest research in sales management, and is suitable for academics, professionals, and those taking professional qualifications in sales and marketing.

David W. Cravens is Emeritus Professor of Marketing in the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University. He previously held the Eunice and James L. West Chair of American Enterprise Studies and was Professor of Marketing. Formerly, he was the Alcoa Foundation Professor at the University of Tennessee, where he chaired the Department of Marketing and Transportation and the Management Science Program. He has a Doctorate in Business Administration and MBA from Indiana University. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from MIT. Before becoming an educator Dave held various industry and government management positions. He is internationally recognized for his research on marketing strategy and sales management and has contributed over 150 articles and 25 books.

Kenneth Le Meunier-FitzHugh is a Lecturer in Marketing at the University of East Anglia UK and obtained a PhD in Marketing and Strategic Management from Warwick Business School, The University of Warwick. Prior to undertaking an academic career, he spent 20 years working in sales and marketing at senior levels for a range of organizations. His research interests focus on exploring the interface between sales and marketing. He has a number of publications in academic journals and won the Marvin Jolson award for the best contribution to sales management practice by the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management 2008.

Nigel F. Piercy is Professor of Marketing & Strategy and Associate Dean at Warwick Business School, The University of Warwick, UK. Hw worked earlier of business and in his academic career has published articles in such journal of the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Journal of World Business, and the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management. His most recent books are: Market-Led Strategic Change: Transforming the Process of Going to Market, 4th ed. (Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2009) and with Nikala Lane, Strategic Customer Management: Strategizing the Sales Organization (OUP, 2009). He is also co-author to David Cravens of Strategic Marketing, 9th ed. (Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 2009).

1. Introduction: Overview of Strategic Sales and Sales Management, David W. Cravens, Kenneth Le Meunier-FitzHugh, and Nigel F. Piercy
Part I: Sales Strategy and Environment
2. Strategic Sales Organizations, Nigel F. Piercy and Nikala Lane
3. Strategic Leadership in Sales: Understanding the Relationship between the Role of the Salesperson and the Role of the Sales Manager, Karen Flaherty
4. Achieving Sales Organization Effectiveness, David W. Cravens
5. The Changing Sales Environment: Implications For Sales And Sales Management Research And Practice, Nick Lee
Part II: Sales Management
6. Structuring the Sales Force for Customer and Company Success, Andris A. Zoltners, Prabhakant Sinha, and Sally E. Lorimer
7. Sales Force Generated Marketing Intelligence, Kenneth R. Evans and C. Fred Miao
8. Management Of A Contracted Sales Force (Manufacturer Representatives), Thomas E. DeCarlo
9. Training and Rewards, Mark W. Johnston
10. Addressing Job Stress In The Salesforce, Thomas N. Ingram, Raymond W. Laforge, and Charles H. Schwepker, Jr.
11. Sizing the Sales Force and Designing Sales Territories for Results, Andris A. Zoltners, Prabhakant Sinha, and Sally E. Lorimer
Part III: Salesforce and the Customer
12. Customer Selection to Acquire, Retain, and Grow, Andrea L. Dixon
13. Customer Relationship Management and the Sales Force, Thomas W Leigh
14. On the Use of Organizational Climate in Sales Force Research, Steven P. Brown, Manoshi Samaraweera, and William Zahn
15. Salespeople's Influence On Consumers' and Business Buyers' Goals and Well-Being, Harish Sujan
16. Sales Technology, Gary K. Hunter
Part IV: The Organization and Sales
17. Organizational Commitment to Sales, Wesley J. Johnston and Linda D. Peters
18. The Strategic Role of the Selling Function: A Resource-based Framework, Thomas W. Leigh, William L. Cron, Artur Baldauf, and Samuel Grossenbacher
19. Sales Force Agility, Strategic Thinking, and Value Propositions, Larry B. Chonko and Eli Jones
20. The Importance Of Effective Working Relationships Between Sales And Marketing, Kenneth Le Meunier-FitzHugh and Graham R. Massey
21. Marketing: The Anchor for Sales, Noel Capon