Elevating the sales profession: what sellers crave and sales managers need for success

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine sales as a management science and discusses ways to improve the sales profession based on recent research. Design/methodology/approach - The paper reports the results of a global research study examining the different stages of sellers and what they must do, at each level, to win larger deals. Findings - Based on a 12-year global study of over 28,000 B2B sales professionals and 50,000 competitive deal reviews, Holden categorizes sellers along a Four Stage Model of Sales Proficiency. Additionally, the paper suggests ways to update a company's sales infrastructure to give sellers an advantage in today's competitive global market. Originality/value - Using Holden's proprietary research, this paper offers real-world sales advice for organizations and sales professionals to succeed.