In recent years, sales leaders have had to devote considerable time and energy to establishing and maintaining disciplined processes. The thing is, many of them stop there--and they can't afford to, because the business environment has changed. Customers have gained power and gone global, channels have proliferated, more product companies are selling services, and many suppliers have begun providing a single point of contact for customers. Such changes require today's sales leaders to fill various new roles: company leader, customer champion, process guru, organization architect, and course corrector. Company leader: The best sales chiefs actively help formulate and execute company strategy, and they collaborate with all functions of the business to deliver value to customers. Customer champion: Customers want C-level relationships with suppliers to understand product strategy, look at offerings in advance, and participate in decisions made about future products--and sales leaders are in the best position to offer that kind of contact. Process guru: Although sales chiefs must look beyond the sales and customer processes they have honed over the past decade, they can't abandon them. The focus on process has become only more important as many organizations have begun bundling products and services to meet important customers' individual needs. Organization architect: Good sales leaders spend a lot of time evaluating and occasionally redesigning the sales organization's structure to ensure that it supports corporate strategy. Often, this involves finding the right balance between specialized and generalized sales roles. Course corrector: Sales leaders must watch the horizon, but they can't take their hands off the levers or forget about the dials. If they do, they might fail to respond when quick adjustments in priorities are needed.

Software maker TopTek has acquired a consulting and systems-integration firm, mainly to profit from the software sales that are a natural by-product of consulting engagements. But in many ways the two companies worked better when they were separate. Before the acquisition, the same people who delivered services to clients made the consulting firm's sales. By contrast, TopTek's professional salespeople, all of them highly skilled at selling product, handled sales. Now the consultants and the salespeople are trying to work together, but they're making a hash of it. For instance, the CIO of a TopTek customer--a retailer--is complaining that consultants from the acquired firm are driving him nuts. They've got his boss's ear, and they're selling additional projects left and right, stimulating demand for a pace of change that the CIO says the retailer can't handle. The consultants in the newly constituted TopTek aren't happy either. They get no commissions on products they sell, because commissions for all sales to an account--forever--go to the salesperson who snagged it in the first place. The sales force has its own gripes. The consultants aren't much help in winning new business, according to Ron Murphy, TopTek's sales VP. What will it take for cross selling to succeed at TopTek? Commenting on this fictional case study in R0407B and R0407Z are Ram Charan, an author and adviser to CEOs; Caroline A. Kovac, the general manager of IBM Healthcare and Life Sciences; Jerome A. Colletti, an author and consultant; and Federico Turegano, the managing director of SG Corporate and Investment Banking, an arm of Societe Generale Group.

Software maker TopTek has acquired a consulting and systems-integration firm, mainly to profit from the software sales that are a natural by-product of consulting engagements. But in many ways the two companies worked better when they were separate. Before the acquisition, the same people who delivered services to clients made the consulting firm's sales. By contrast, TopTek's professional salespeople, all of them highly skilled at selling product, handled sales. Now the consultants and the salespeople are trying to work together, but they're making a hash of it. For instance, the CIO of a TopTek customer--a retailer--is complaining that consultants from the acquired firm are driving him nuts. They've got his boss's ear, and they're selling additional projects left and right, stimulating demand for a pace of change that the CIO says the retailer can't handle. The consultants in the newly constituted TopTek aren't happy either. They get no commissions on products they sell, because commissions for all sales to an account--forever--go to the salesperson who snagged it in the first place. The sales force has its own gripes. The consultants aren't much help in winning new business, according to Ron Murphy, TopTek's sales VP. What will it take for cross selling to succeed at TopTek? Commenting on this fictional case study in R0407B and R0407Z are Ram Charan, an author and adviser to CEOs; Caroline A. Kovac, the general manager of IBM Healthcare and Life Sciences; Jerome A. Colletti, an author and consultant; and Federico Turegano, the managing director of SG Corporate and Investment Banking, an arm of Societe Generale Group.