Death of a Sales Manager

Willy Loman was the central character in Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller’s epic play depicting a bewildered man who lost his place in a world that changed faster than he did.

Today, the same is happening across the entire sales process, driven by market need, consumer behavior, and AI.

Brands want direct relationships with the consumer, retailers need supplier partnerships—not sales tactics—and Agentic AI is changing the way work gets done for all of us.

This isn’t a simple pivot; this is a true paradigm shift. A shift from KPIs to outcomes, from transactions to relationships, and here’s what it looks like:

Client: “…we are looking for a blend of strategy, relationship management, and good ol’ hands-on data mining and analytics.”Me: “What I’m hearing sounds like someone responsible for commercial GTM (go-to-market) strategy. In essence, a Commercial Integration Function that connects the strategic (Marketing & Product) with the operational (Retail & Sales Execution).”

As you can see, this isn’t a rewriting of job descriptions; it is a shift from roles to skills, from tasks and tactics to outcomes and collaboration.

From pipeline → partnership.

The customer changed. Retail changed. The role of data changed. But sales management didn’t — and that’s the problem.

More importantly, this work is no longer a linear relay race with hand-offs and silos. It’s a team sport run side by side — more like a rugby squad moving the ball down the field.

Today’s retail challenges are best addressed by a consumer-centric approach that shares responsibility for managing the path to purchase. KPIs become less important than relationships, outcomes, and real consumer experiences.

So what does the sales team of tomorrow look like? A flatter, horizontal design that is consumer-centric and marketing-driven.

Strategy, branding, and messaging are managed by marketing, with market entry overseen by the Commercial GTM (Go-to-Market) Strategy Manager, and execution handled by the sales force and field marketing teams.

Data-driven, collaborative outcomes replace forecast-driven quotas and activity KPIs.

Everything starts with the consumer and works backward. That’s the new commercial reality: a structure designed around the consumer’s needs and beliefs. Consumer insights and retail POS data must inform assortment planning, which defines the consumer experience, and the GTM strategy becomes a data-driven partnership designed to deliver a personalized experience when and where the consumer wants it.

So what’s needed is someone who can manage the Commercial GTM Strategy and lead the shift to a data-driven pull-through model: the Commercial GTM Strategy Manager.

The Commercial GTM Strategy Manager serves as the connective tissue between brand strategy and retail execution—emphasizing account management over sales management, outcomes over activities, and consumer needs over quotas.

Old model

Marketing → campaigns and product launches. Sales → presents products, chases orders, and manages accounts.

Minimal integration with retailers; more of a hand-off than a team effort

New, marketing-led model

Marketing → Commercial GTM Strategy → Sales Execution

• Marketing sets the direction (brand story, product strategy, audience).

• The Commercial GTM Strategy Manager translates that strategy into retail and market execution, owning the sell-through at retail.

• Sales (reps or key-account roles) become the execution arm, not the command center.

In this structure, no single “traditional sales manager” is required. The Commercial GTM Strategy Manager sets the pace by integrating sales, marketing, and product planning into a unified plan aligned with the retailer’s goals — an actual data-driven pull-through model.

In other words, sales management is evolving into something broader, more innovative, and more collaborative.

If Marketing and Product are the strategic guidance system, then in a consumer-centric, marketing-driven organization, the emphasis shifts away from transactions and quotas to POS, positioning, performance, promotion, consumer insight, and product innovation.

Marketing defines the brand, the message, and the why. Product defines what to offer and why it matters.So who manages the how?

Historically, the Sales Manager directed reps, managed orders, and drove revenue and volume. But in a consumer-centric, marketing-driven world, that role gives way to someone responsible for GTM strategy—someone focused on data, category leadership, and collaboration.

In reality, what’s needed is a Commercial Integration Function that connects the strategic (Marketing & Product) with the operational (Retail & Sales Execution).

That’s where the Commercial GTM Strategy Manager comes in.

The era of pushing product through the pipeline is over. Getting products to market is now a dynamic partnership where consumer-centric teams replace traditional hierarchical structures.

And the navigator—the one who connects strategy to execution—is the Commercial GTM Strategy Manager.

The future belongs to the collaborators, not the managers.