Thomas Steenburgh is a business professor at the Darden School of Business, with a focus on sales management and B2B sales processes.

We discuss the launch of new products by sales teams, as well as some of the challenges that accompany these product launches. In addition, we cover the types of people who do the best at selling new products, the “shiny new thing” problem when selling to customers, and other gems that will make any company better at selling new products.

To cap off the show, we talk about how B2B and sales topics have largely been ignored as a subject within academia. 

In This Episode 

• The research that went into Dr. Steenburgh's analysis of innovation and product launches.
• The different type of salespeople you'll need for product launches.
• Why face-to-face meetings are important for selling new products.
• The characteristics of reps who succeed at selling new products and those who don't.
• The “shiny new thing” problem when prospecting.