People remember the salesman, but rarely is the sales manager recognized in the history books. Still, some old-time sales leadership techniques may hold the key to present-day success

This HBR case study includes both the case and the commentary. For teaching purposes, this reprint is also available in two other versions: case study only, reprint R0607X, and commentary only, reprint R0607Z. Fusilier Technology is in disarray

Patterns of customer behavior have changed. Today, consumers may be well along in their buying process before you get the first whiff of a lead. Consequently, sales organizations should redesign—and in some ways reinvent —the selling process. For the past 12 years, we have conducted an annual survey of chief sales officers—the executives in charge of their companies’ selling efforts. One purpose is to understand what challenges their sales organizations are up against and how those challenges are shifting over time. The 1,275 responses to our 2006 survey indicate an acceleration of trends established over the past several years