Mary Flaherty, Vice President, Research and Thought Leadership

As Vice President, Research and Thought Leadership, Mary leads RAIN Group’s global research initiatives and the development of thought leadership to educate and inspire sales leaders and professionals. Her research-based insights inform the sales training and performance improvement programs, books, white papers, blog, and other intellectual property for which RAIN Group is widely recognized.

Her recent research includes Virtual Selling Skills and Challenges, Top Performance in Sales Prospecting, The Extreme Productivity Benchmark, Top Performance in Sales Negotiation, Top Performance in Strategic Account Management, and The Top-Performing Sales Organization.

She has edited books authored by RAIN Group leaders, including Not Today: The 9 Habits of Extreme Productivity (Matt Holt Books, forthcoming 2021), Virtual Selling: How to Build Relationships, Differentiate, and Win Sales Remotely (35 Group Press, 2020), and Insight Selling: Surprising Research on What Sales Winners Do Differently (Wiley, 2014). 

Prior to joining RAIN Group, Mary directed publishing and global case study distribution as associate director of the Case Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Previously, she was a research associate at Harvard Business School and assistant director for new program development at Harvard University. She has extensive marketing experience as director of marketing for a university executive education program, regional law firm, and chamber of commerce.

Mary has taught undergraduate marketing courses as an adjunct faculty member and holds an MBA from Bentley University and a BA in English from Bridgewater State University. She lives in an antique house in the snowbelt of central Massachusetts and enjoys exploring the hiking trails of New England.