Sustainable High Performance in B2B sales with Pia Hautamäki
Streams straight from the publisher. podnod never proxies or re-hosts episode audio.
How do you create strong commercial results, without burning people out?
Pia Hautamäki, Assistant Professor at LUT University and President of the Global Sales Science Institute, joins Selma Kadic-Maglajlic (Associate Professor at Copenhagen Business School, CBS) on Oplev Salg to discuss how sales is evolving in response to digitalization, AI, and growing sustainability demands.
While many organizations still reward short-term revenue, long-term value creation requires a different mindset, different KPIs, and different leadership.
Key topics:
— How to translate long-term orientation into measurable sales KPIs
— What characterizes top-performing salespeople who sustain performance over time
— Why high performers are often "left alone" by leadership
— How sales culture must evolve to support both results and wellbeing
— What future sales education and leadership should prioritize
A conversation about sales as a strategic discipline, and why sustainable performance is a leadership responsibility, not just an individual one.
This conversation is relevant for sales leaders, sales managers, and anyone working to build commercial cultures that perform without burning people out.
(00:00) Introduction: Pia Hautamäki and why she studies sales
(06:06) Short-term KPIs vs. long-term value creation: the mismatch
(09:11) How to translate long-term orientation into sales KPIs
(12:22) What "sustainable transformation" of B2B sales really means
(15:02) Top performers: how they protect their wellbeing
(19:23) A generational shift: students, purpose and wellbeing
(21:11) The overlooked problem: top performers are often left alone
(25:07) Designing a culture that supports performers at every level
(28:15) Trust and AI: selling in machine-to-machine environments
(30:04) How B2B platforms are reshaping sales strategy itself
Connect with Pia Hautamäki: https://www.linkedin.com/in/piahautamaki/
Read more about Pia's research at LUT University: https://www.lut.fi/en/profiles/pia-hautamaki
Connect with Selma Kadic-Maglajlic: https://www.linkedin.com/in/selmakadic/
Subscribe to the Oplev Salg newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7421478328148070400
Follow Radiant on LinkedIn: https://dk.linkedin.com/company/radiantdk
Oplev Salg is a podcast created in collaboration between Radiant and Copenhagen Business School (CBS), exploring modern B2B sales leadership.
No links were found in this episode’s notes.