Strategic Leadership in Sales

This article examines the important relationship between the role of the salesperson and the role of sales managers. It considers how these roles vary across organizations, noting a distinct trend toward the salesperson's role including involvement in shaping strategy. The result is that the salesperson's job has changed to meet new role expectations. Salesperson strategic roles can be characterized as competence deployment, competence modification, and competence definition. These roles call for different capabilities and perspectives concerning the sales force. Successful strategic sales...

This article examines the important relationship between the role of the salesperson and the role of sales managers. It considers how these roles vary across organizations, noting a distinct trend toward the salesperson's role including involvement in shaping strategy. The result is that the salesperson's job has changed to meet new role expectations. Salesperson strategic roles can be characterized as competence deployment, competence modification, and competence definition. These roles call for different capabilities and perspectives concerning the sales force. Successful strategic sales leadership requires the utilization of management perspectives and processes that correspond best with the current environment, required salesperson roles, and the strategic direction of the organization. In this article, an integrative framework for sales leadership is proposed. This framework examines three strategic leadership modes: command, coach, and sponsor.