People, Process, and Performance: Setting an agenda for sales enablement research

Rangarajan, Deva; Dugan, Riley; Rouziou, Maria; Kunkle, Mike

doi:10.1080/08853134.2020.1761822

Cited by 41 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Customers' complex demands and needs have led to the creation of new types of sales teams, which include salespeople and other actors, such as technical experts and marketing professionals (see, e.g., Cuevas 2018;Hartmann, Wieland, and Vargo 2018;Syam and Sharma 2018). Presented with new possibilities and requirements, sales professionals may be suspicious of new technologies (Rangarajan et al 2020) and thus reluctant to accept and employ them in their jobs (Rodriguez, Peterson, and Krishnan 2012). Salespeople are reportedly concerned with the possible automation of sales tasks (Valdivieso de Uster 2020) and the redivision of labor between the salesperson and customer (Mahlamäki et al 2020;Moncrief 2017).…”

Section: Digital Transformation Creates a Need To Unlearn In B2b Salesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some professionals estimate that up to 40% of sales tasks can be automated (Valdivieso de Uster 2020). Many claim that this automizing has led to fundamental changes in both buying and sales processes, for example, by reconfiguring the division of labor between the salesperson and the customer (see, e.g., Mahlamäki et al 2020;Moncrief 2017;Rangarajan et al 2020). With automated sales processes, customers can find needed products or services quickly and perform simple transactions without a salesperson (Thaichon et al 2018).…”

Section: Digital Transformation Of B2b Salesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As sales professionals must accept and employ new sales technologies in their jobs before those technologies can lead to improved performance (Rodriguez, Peterson, and Krishnan 2012), managers play a key role in motivating and justifying these developments. Managers need to gain "buy-in" from salespeople suspicious of new technologies and should reassure salespeople that new technologies will support, not replace, them (Rangarajan et al 2020). Sales leaders' commitment and empowering behaviors can improve salespeople's technology use and performance (Mathieu, Ahearne, and Taylor 2007).…”

Section: Managerial Role In Digital Transformation Of B2b Salesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Digital transformation of business-to-business sales: what needs to be unlearned?

Mattila

Yrjölä

Hautamäki

2021

Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management

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This study aims to offer novel means for rethinking contemporary business-to-business (B2B) sales operations and the assumptions that underlie them in the digital era. This rethinking relates especially to sales managers' efforts to facilitate cognitive unlearning in B2B sales management during the ongoing digital transformation taking place in enterprises. Unlearning-the process of purposely reflecting on and discarding old ways of knowing and doing-is crucial to prevent outdated organizational knowledge and routines from becoming a barrier to change. Before adopting new sales practices, sales organizations must first discard old ways of knowing and doing. Drawing insights from unlearning and B2B sales management literature and conducting empirical qualitative research on 31 executives and senior managers operating in various industries, the study outlines a four-phase process for unlearning as well as several key themes within each phase. The findings emphasize how top management facilitates cognitive unlearning regarding digital business transformation in the B2B sales context. The study contributes to sales management literature by introducing cognitive unlearning as a new theoretical angle on the issue of digital transformation. It also offers insights for sales managers on how to elevate and leverage the unlearning of salespeople.

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Section: Digital Transformation Creates a Need To Unlearn In B2b Salesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Digital Transformation Of B2b Salesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Managerial Role In Digital Transformation Of B2b Salesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Digital transformation of business-to-business sales: what needs to be unlearned?

Mattila

Yrjölä

Hautamäki

2021

Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Doing so may run contrary to recent trends aimed at keeping salespeople more narrowly focused on selling tasks and on the sales process. For instance, salesforce automation and sales enablement solutions often direct and restrict sales activities ( Peterson, Malshe, Friend, & Dover, 2020 ; Rangarajan, Dugan, Rouziou, & Kunkle, 2020 ), thereby, limiting more strategic and entrepreneurial aspects of sales. The investments, implementation and success of these solutions suggest that, in typical situations, control may be preferred to experimentation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An examination of salesperson bricolage during a critical sales disruption: Selling during the Covid-19 pandemic

Epler

Leach

2021

Industrial Marketing Management

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“…AI diffusion in sales has been most prominent in business-to-business (B2B) settings (Rangarajan et al , 2020; Paschen et al , 2020). The use of AI to guide salespeople can help organizations stay adaptable to rapidly changing customer needs and markets.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding salesperson intention to use AI feedback and its influence on business-to-business sales outcomes

Hall

Harrison

Ajjan

et al. 2021

JBIM

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Purpose Artificial intelligence (AI) is a rapidly growing frontier. One promising area for AI is its potential to assist sales managers in providing salesperson feedback. Despite this promise, little work has been done within the business-to-business (B2B) sales domain to investigate the potential impact of AI feedback on critical sales outcomes. The purpose of this research is to explore these issues and respond to calls in the literature to determine how AI can enhance salesperson adaptability and performance. Design/methodology/approach Survey data from a sample of 246 B2B salespeople was used to test the conceptual model and research hypotheses. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings The findings provide broad support for the model. An AI-feedback rich environment and salesperson feedback orientation predicted perceived accuracy of AI feedback which, in turn, strengthened intentions to use AI feedback. These favorable reactions to AI feedback positively related to adaptive selling behaviors, and adaptive selling behaviors mediated the relationships between intentions to use AI feedback and organizational commitment, as well as sales performance. Contrary to expectations, it did not mediate the relationship between intentions to use AI feedback and job satisfaction. Practical implications The managerial implications of this study lie in explaining practical considerations for the implementation and use of AI feedback in the sales context. Originality/value This study extends literature on technology adoption, performance feedback and the use of AI in the B2B sales domain. It offers practical insight for sales managers and those responsible for implementing AI solutions in sales.

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People, Process, and Performance: Setting an agenda for sales enablement research

Cited by 41 publications

References 16 publications

Digital transformation of business-to-business sales: what needs to be unlearned?

Digital transformation of business-to-business sales: what needs to be unlearned?

An examination of salesperson bricolage during a critical sales disruption: Selling during the Covid-19 pandemic

Understanding salesperson intention to use AI feedback and its influence on business-to-business sales outcomes

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