Systematic review of determinants of sales performance: Verbekeet al.’s (2011) classification extended

Abstract

Purpose Considering recent changes in sales practices, such as the sales role becoming more strategic, increased reliance on technology for sales activities, increased stress from adding technological responsibilities to the sales role and decreased avenues of social support (such as traditional forms of community) to cope with work-related stressors, there is a need to reconsider Verbeke et al.’s (2011) classification scheme of determinants of sales performance, which was based on literature published before these critical changes became apparent. This paper aims to conduct a systematic review of sales performance research published during 1983–2018 to propose an extension to Verbeke et al.’s (2011) classification. Design/methodology/approach This paper followed a systematic approach to the literature review in five sequential steps – search, selection, quality control, extraction and synthesis – as suggested by Tranfield et al. (2003). In total, 261 peer-reviewed journal papers from 36 different journals were selected for extraction and synthesis. Findings The findings make the following additions to the classification: strategic and nonstrategic activities as a new category, technological drivers of sales performance and job-related psychosocial factors as a broader category to replace role perceptions. Derived from the job demand–control–support model, three subcategories within the category of job-related psychosocial factors are psychological demands (encompasses role perceptions and digital-age stressors such as technostress creators), job control and work-related social support. Research limitations/implications This paper identifies that manager’s role in facilitating technology skills, providing informal social support to remote or virtual salespeople using technology, and encouraging strategic behaviors in salespeople are future research areas having good potential. Understanding and building positive psychology aspects in salespeople and their effect on sales performance is another promising area. Practical implications Newly added technological drivers draw the attention of sales firms toward the influence of technology and its skilful usage on salesperson performance. Newly added strategic activities makes a case for the importance of strategic participation in salesperson performance. Originality/value This review extends Verbeke et al.’s (2011) classification scheme to include recent changes that sales profession and literature have undergone.

A sequential logic model between sales performance and salesperson satisfaction in B2B markets

“…Recent literature seems to agree with the idea of reconsidering the metrics of this issue (Haines, 2004; Ingram, LaForge, Locander, MacKenzie and Podsakoff, 2005; Jaramillo et al , 2005; Mazur, 2002; Zallocco et al , 2009; Chawla et al , 2020) and also the need to consider both objective and subjective measures of performance within the same work (Zallocco et al , 2009). The underlying reason behind this is that objective and subjective measures are two different facets of performance that, thus, measure different aspects (Piercy, Cravens and Morgan, 1997; Rich, Bommer, MacKenzie, Podsakoff and Johnson, 1999; Jaramillo et al , 2005; Bol and Smith, 2011; Fehrenbacher et al , 2018).…”

“…In the sales literature, it has been recognized that salesperson performance, is “[…] one of the most widely researched constructs […]” and it has been “[…] defined and measured in different ways […]” (Limbu et al , 2016, p. 657). Recently, Chawla et al (2020) recognized in their systematic review that sales performance has been conceptualized in the salesperson literature in three different ways, either by means of objective salesperson effectiveness or salesperson behavior or considering both issues at the same time. This latter includes Anderson and Oliver’s (1987) notion that sales performance can be considered as salespeople’s assessment of their sales outcomes and behaviors in terms of its contribution to the objectives of the business.…”

Word-of-mouth in business-to-business marketing: a systematic review and future research directions

“…We adopted the systematic review method to analyze the status quo of B2B WOM research. The advantages of this method are described in recent studies published in the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing (Chawla et al , 2020; Minerbo and Brito, 2021; Yaghtin et al , 2021) and others (Hulland and Houston, 2020; Transfield et al , 2003). We searched and reviewed articles based on the procedure established by Transfield et al (2003).…”

Brushing up on time-honored sales skills to excel in tomorrow’s environment

“…The advancement in technological platforms, including social media websites and apps, have reshaped human skills, driven by the digital economy and corporate development (Malkawi, E., & Khayrullina). These changes force salespersons to acquire interpersonal, technical and conceptual skills to manage their daily sales tasks efficiently (Chawla et al , 2020).…”