Using your sales force to jump-start

growth

There’s a reason it’s called a sales force. Here are four innovative ways 

companies can use their sales reps to drive growth.

There’s no escaping the impact of the sales force on

your company’s growth trajectory. This is the frontline group best

placed to gain an intimate understanding of existing customers,

to observe the forces at work in an industry, and to identify

potential new business. During the past year, we interviewed

about 100 sales executives around the world, across a range of

industries, to identify the critical elements that distinguish true

sales leaders from also-rans. This article highlights four

intriguing ideas the executives described for leveraging the sales

force to jump-start growth. Together, these suggestions offer

practical insights for sales groups, as well as a starting point for discussions among CEOs and other 

senior managers hoping to get more from sales and marketing investments.

 

Look over the horizon

The sudden arrival of a truly disruptive technology—one that upends markets in ways few 

anticipate—presents obvious challenges to industry incumbents. Yet it’s also a huge growth 
opportunity. One supplier of parts to high-tech manufacturers has created a team of “speculative 
market analysts” to better identify the emergence of disruptive technologies and to predict their 
business implications. The team helps the company to position itself as a supplier that’s ahead of 
the curve and to enjoy superior sales growth while competitors scramble to catch up.

The full-time team cuts across all business units and draws on a variety of internal and external 

sources: the sales force provides insights into the technology initiatives of the company’s customers 

while continually pressing them for feedback about its shortcomings and the efforts of competitors.

In addition, the team closely scrutinizes all reports from competitors and customers—easier said 

than done, given the sheer volume of market information emanating from countries such as China. It 

even fosters close ties with venture capital firms and provides up-and-coming companies with

funding and “sweat equity” to convert innovative concepts into realities. Together, these efforts have 
helped the company’s sales force to get ahead of recent major disruptive trends, including the boom 

in tablet devices and e-readers, as well as the growing fields of LED lighting and solar technology.

What’s more, the team’s efforts are generating an estimated annual return on investment that

exceeds 12 percent.

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