Sales and marketing

New research from Bain shows what the most productive companies do differently.

Price wars are a fact of life, whether we're talking about the fast-paced world of knowledge products, the marketing of Internet appliances, or the staid,...

Firms have never known more about their customers, but their innovation processes remain hit-or-miss. Why? According to Christensen and his coauthors,...

What every manager ought to know about the different kinds of forecasting and the times when they should be used.

What the technology can do today—and what’s next

Microsoft and Salesforce have already rolled out sales-focused versions of this powerful tool.

While we know a lot about practices that stimulate new ideas, innovation teams often struggle to apply them. Why? Because people's biases and entrenched...

What consumers truly value can be difficult to pin down and psychologically complicated. But universal building blocks of value do exist, creating opportunities...

Anyone who has signed up for cell phone service, attempted to claim a rebate, or navigated a call center has probably suffered from a company's apparent...

Marketers often worry that performance marketing and its focus on short-term sales is crowding out brand-building activities aimed at enhancing customer...

Here’s how to materially benefit LGBTQ+ communities year-round instead.

When terrorists attacked the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008, employees of the Taj Mumbai hotel displayed uncommon valor. They placed the safety of guests...

Extensive study of the world’s best service companies reveals the principles on which they’re built.

The notion that companies must go above and beyond in their customer service activities is so entrenched that managers rarely examine it. But a study...

Awareness of the five forces can help a company understand the structure of its industry and stake out a position that is more profitable and less vulnerable to attack.

The product life cycle measures the likelihood, character, and timing of competitive and market events. A product strategy that includes some sort of...

When a customer turns combative during a negotiation, it is important to avoid confrontation or compromise. Instead, a salesperson should lure the customer...

And what managers can do to help their international teams succeed.

People say they want sustainable products, but they don’t tend to buy them. Here’s how to change that.

Spoiler: Many people are doing it wrong.