Article Excerpt

Smart bicycle-racing teams match their strategies to the stages of a race in order to win. In the flat stretches, team members take turns riding in front because it's easier for the team leader to pedal when someone ahead is cutting the wind. In the mountains, some riders make the task easier for the leader by setting the pace and by choosing the best line of ascent. In the time trials, a few team members maintain steady speeds over long distances to lower the team's average finishing time. Talent always matters, but in most races, the way teams deploy talent over time, in different formations in different contexts, makes the difference between winning and losing.  That's a lesson sales leaders must learn. ...

This article was published July 2006 in the Harvard Business Review.

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About the Authors

Andris Zoltners is a professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and Co-Chairman of ZS Associates.

Prabhakant Sinha is Co-Chairman of ZS Associates.

Sally Lorimer is a sales and marketing consultant and a former Principal at ZS Associates.