HBR On Leadership

How CEOs Make or Break Sales


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A CEO’s involvement in B2B sales deals, while often well-intentioned, can sometimes backfire.

INSEAD marketing professor Christoph Senn has spent years studying the role top leaders play in B2B relationships. In this episode, he shares the five archetypes of CEO behavior when it comes to sales, which ones are the most effective in closing a deal, and where they fall short.

You’ll learn what to do if your CEO is either overly involved—or not involved enough—in deals, and why knowing your CEO’s archetype can be helpful.

Senn is the coauthor, with Columbia Business School’s Noel Capon, of the HBR article “When CEOs Make Sales Calls.”

Key episode topics include: managing up, sales team management, client management, sales, leadership qualities, interpersonal communication,

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

  • Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: How CEOs Can Drive Sales — or Kill Deals
  • Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast
  • Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org
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