At the Helm: Navigating the Next Era of Sales Management
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2026
Pages: 422
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2026
Pages: 422
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The marketplace has faced significant disruptions in recent years, including the COVID-19 pandemic, a rapidly changing workforce with record disengagement, widespread adoption of artificial intelligence tools and digital platforms, record inflation, and supply chain challenges. Sales organizations and their leaders have been at the forefront of navigating these challenges, responsible for generating revenue and meeting customer needs amid this instability. Yet, despite the need, there is a significant lack of comprehensive sales management resources that address the evolving needs of modern sales organizations. At the Helm: Navigating the Next Era in Sales Management is a book designed to guide sales managers (and those aspiring to become one) in not only building fundamental sales management expertise, but also learning to navigate current turbulence in the marketplace.
At the Helm provides a comprehensive, holistic, and modern view of sales management practice that accounts for advances in psychology, ethics, sustainability, technology, and society, topics not typically covered in sales management books but that are nonetheless crucial to modern sales management. For example, in the book, the authors discuss holistic hiring practices, the responsible adoption of new technology, and employee well-being and burnout – all of which are critical to a healthy and effective sales organization. We also offer a behavioral perspective on sales management that integrates the customer viewpoint and its impact on sales performance. We discuss the pivotal roles consumer psychology and persuasion play in influencing buyer behavior, and how a solid understanding of the science behind sales can empower sales managers to excel as both subject matter experts and effective mentors to their team members.
Building on decades of experience in sales and management, along with insights from award-winning research, At the Helm: Navigating the Next Era in Sales Management provides valuable tools and strategies for sales management educators, practitioners, and leaders alike.
Introduction
Chapter 1: Headwinds Shaping Modern Sales Management
Chapter 2: Evolving Sales Models
Part 1: Sales Management: The Fundamentals
Chapter 3: The Salesperson Lifecycle
Chapter 4: Finding the “Right” Candidates
Chapter 5: Onboarding and Mentoring
Chapter 6: Training and Coaching
Chapter 7: Monitoring the Sales Process
Chapter 8: Delivering Feedback, Conducting Appraisals, and Compensating Salespeople
Part 2: Sales Management: The Behavioral Perspective
Chapter 9: Beyond the Fundamentals: Introducing the Behavioral Perspective
Chapter 10: Understanding the Buying Process
Chapter 11: Building Credibility and Demonstrating Authority
Chapter 12: Mastering Sales Psychology and Persuasion Techniques
Part 3: Sales Management: Current Considerations
Chapter 13: Managing Responsibly
Chapter 14: Navigating Technological Turbulence
Chapter 15: Optimizing Social Factors and Well-Being
Cinthia B. Satornino, MBA, PhD
Dr. Satornino’s research is focused on sales management and salesperson psychology, and how social and technological systems, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), impact practice. She has coauthored several award-winning publications in academic journals such as the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Industrial Marketing Management, the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, and the Journal of Business Research. Her research has been cited in the Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Big Think, The Conversation, Psychology Today, and Fast Company, among others. She served as the inaugural Research Director for the UNH Sales Center at the UNH Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics. Beginning August 2026, Dr. Satornino serves on faculty at Babson College. She previously served as a member of the faculty at Northeastern University, University of Connecticut, and the University of New Hampshire. Prior to entering the academy in 2010, Dr. Satornino spent over a decade as a leader in corporate and institutional settings. In addition to her academic role, she continues to consult for public and private organizations and institutions and is a regular speaker at both academic and practitioner workshops and conferences.
Nancy J. Sirianni, PhD.
Dr. Sirianni is an award-winning researcher and teacher who works at the intersection of consumer psychology and marketing strategy to understand and innovate the frontline customer experience. Her research has been published in top scholarly journals including: the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Marketing Research, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Journal of Retailing, the Journal of Service Research, and the Journal of Business Research, among others. Her research findings have been featured in Forbes, Time, U.S. News & World Report, Harvard Business Review, Science Daily, NPR, and The Washington Post Magazine. Dr. Sirianni serves on the marketing faculty at the McCoy College of Business at Texas State University, where she is the Gregg Excellence Professorship Fellow. Dr. Sirianni is also a research faculty member of the Center for Services Leadership at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. She previously held appointments within the marketing departments at Texas Christian University, Northeastern University, the University of Alabama, and the University of Texas at Austin. Her industry background includes eight years of combined experience in consulting, marketing research, and service management with Accenture, BSI Consulting, and Insperity.