Frontline managers are critical conduits of top-down AI initiatives, such as the implementation of AI systems. Yet, little research explores their role as catalysts or bottlenecks in such implementation initiatives. As such, the purpose of this research is to explore how frontline managers are involved in and impact AI implementation decisions and outcomes. Using a theories-in-use approach, we tap into the mental models of 51 frontline managers and top management executives tasked with implementing AI systems in the frontlines. The findings suggest that a frontline manager’s own AI readiness affects their decision-making regarding the integration of the AI system into the frontline (i.e., decisions about automation, augmentation, and collaboration). These integration decisions then have lasting effects that manifest through long-term outcomes for managers, frontline employees, and customers. Finally, the results reveal two enablers of manager AI readiness (i.e., AI strategic and task alignment) and three enduring AI-centric management strategies used to ensure optimal implementation outcomes (i.e., championing AI engagement, developing AI literacy, and activating AI empowerment). These results provide theoretical insights into how frontline managers serve as implementation catalysts when AI-ready and highlight their critical role in optimizing investments in frontline AI systems.

Purpose-This study aims to develop and test a process model of the effect of social media use by business-to-business (B2B) salespeople on their value cocreation and cross/upselling performance. Adopting a research acquisition perspective, the authors claim that salesperson's social media use is critical for generating social capitalan operant resource characterized by superior market knowledge, reputation and networkingwhich, in turn, directly and synergistically enhances value cocreation and cross/upselling outcomes. Design/methodology/approach-A model is developed based on extant sales research on salesperson's social media use and social capital theory. Data from B2B salespeople is analyzed using structural equation modeling to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings-The results demonstrate that salespeople's social media use enhances their social capital with support for direct effects on market knowledge and reputation, and indirect effect on networking. The results also show that the three aspects of social capital drive value cocreation, which enhances cross/upselling performance. Post hoc analysis shows the indirect effects of salesperson's social media use as well as the interconnected effects of the aspects of social capital on value cocreation. Practical implications-The study indicates that salespeople should be encouraged to use social media as a means for enhancing market knowledge and reputation, which can then be leveraged to build networking skills. Providing training to salespeople and coaching them on how to build their social capital is essential if organizations need to capitalize on novel ways to improve the value cocreation performance of their sales teams. Originality/value-This study demonstrates how salespeople's social media use can enhance their social capital, which, in turn, is critical for value cocreation and cross/upselling performance. The proposed framework opens opportunities for future studies to examine the role of salesperson social capital and value cocreation in B2B exchanges.

This study introduces socio-technical systems (STS) theory as an external grand theory (EGT) for the sales domain, offering a framework to understand how digital transformation (DT) unfolds through the interplay of people, technologies, and structures. Using the Semantic Similarity Score (S3) method with a systematic review of 97 studies, we identify three overarching themes and nine sub-themes at the DT-STS intersection. The findings highlight socio-technical inertia, micro-foundations, and human-centric design as vital for the joint optimization of social and technical subsystems. The study proposes twelve guiding questions, positioning STS as a meta-theoretical foundation for examining DT in sales.

The sales landscape has dramatically transformed in the last 20 years. Many of these changes were unanticipated by either sales practitioners or sales scholars at the time of the 2005 Special Issue on Advancing the Field of Selling and Sales Management, published in the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management. Importantly, these shifts in complex selling environments are drastically transforming contemporary selling approaches, sales organization structures, and salesperson roles, raising numerous novel questions and challenges for sales management in the domains of motivation, control, and compensation & incentive (MCCI) systems. Therefore, this paper aims to update the observations on MCCI research presented by Brown, Jones, and Leigh (2005) in the 2005 Special Issue, to document and stimulate further advances in sales research and practice in these domains. Specifically, this study pursues the following three objectives: (i) Review the progress in research over the last two decades on MCCI systems issues raised by Brown et al.; (ii) review academic and practitioner literatures on new questions about MCCI systems arising from disruptive shifts in today's evolving selling environment, and (iii) propose an updated agenda and directions for future integrative and cross-disciplinary theoretical and empirical research on MCCI systems.

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into business-to-business (B2B) sales processes reshapes sales tasks and the governance of sales work. While existing sales research provides a thorough understanding of task-level outcomes and the performance benefits of AI in sales, less is known about the broader organizational dynamics of AI-enabled transformations in sales processes. Drawing on socio-technical systems (STS) theory, this study presents a process-oriented understanding of AI-enabled transformations in sales by examining how AI reshapes sales task execution and managerial governance within B2B sales processes.Based on 31 expert interviews with B2B sales practitioners and sales academics, we identify six interrelated socio-technical tensions that unfold across the pre-sales, sales, and post-sales phases of the sales process. Moving beyond a descriptive categorization of tensions, we theorize six socio-technical mechanisms: data institutionalization, recursive sensemaking, standardization of customer interactions, sensemaking asymmetries, role reclassification, and legitimation of expertise that explain how these tensions emerge and reshape sales tasks and governance.

Independent sales agents (ISAs) are a viable go-to-market option for many business-to-business (B2B) suppliers/principals. Despite their widespread presence in B2B markets, academic research on these channel partners remains limited. Moreover, as the B2B sales process continues to evolve, greater attention is needed to understand how ISAs manage sales-related activities toward customers while balancing their obligations toward their principals. To address this gap, this paper focuses on the specific activities undertaken by independent sales agents toward both customers and principals. Basing ourselves on two studies involving sales agents in Western Europe, we identify (a) 8 sets of activities undertaken by sales agents to manage their relationships with their customers and (b) 5 sets of activities toward their suppliers/principal. We also measure the perceptions of the ISAs on how well they are performing these activities. We go on to discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our research.

Shifts in buyer-seller interaction in B2B environments challenge how value co-creation unfolds, as exchanges become more fragmented, distributed, and digitally mediated. Immersive technologies (IMTs), including augmented, virtual, and mixed reality, offer new ways to structure such interactions, yet their role in B2B value co-creation has received limited attention and remains poorly understood. To address this gap, this study conducts an integrative literature review across six adjacent research disciplines in which IMTs are more established and that align with the core properties of B2B value co-creation. By synthesizing these insights, we develop an interaction-centered conceptualization of IMT-driven B2B value co-creation. We identify three immersive interaction capabilities: immersive experience generation, immersive operations & information optimization, and immersive connectivity & empowerment. These capabilities arise from configurations of immersive resources and immersive practices and reinforce the value co-creation practices of institutionalizing, linking, and materializing by reconfiguring the core elements of buyer-seller interaction. Our study advances B2B research by explaining how IMTs shape interaction dynamics and offers guidance for systematically structuring and enhancing value co-creation.

This article transforms the Hierarchy of Sustainable Marketing Strategy (HSMS) from a static typology to a dynamic, explanatory model of how firms develop and sustain sustainability strategies. We address a central gap in prior work by theorizing the mechanisms that shape progression through the hierarchy. Drawing on stakeholder, signaling, and alignment theories, we introduce two novel mechanisms to the literature. Specifically, we propose that organizational progress depends on managing: (1) the signaling gap (when external claims outpace internal change) and (2) the alignment gap (when internal structures lag strategic intent). Together, these mechanisms form an inverted U-shaped tension curve that explains why stakeholder conflicts first intensify and later subside across the hierarchy. The framework contributes to marketing theory by illuminating the temporal dynamics of sustainability tensions and to practice by offering a roadmap to anticipate motivational shifts and select appropriate strategies that align with capabilities over time.

Business‐to‐business (B2B) sellers are increasingly transitioning to hybrid sales structures, by augmenting an in‐person field sales force with a direct online channel. During this transition, sellers frequently experience a cold‐start problem, wherein existing customers are either not acquainted with the online channel or unconvinced of its usefulness and are therefore reluctant to adopt it. To overcome the cold‐start problem, B2B sellers are increasingly relying on online sales pushes , which are efforts to encourage salespeople to nudge customers to adopt the online channel for certain buying tasks. Yet, because salespeople may fear that the online channel adoption jeopardizes the very relationships that they painstakingly built, the salespeople's compliance with an online sales push remains unclear. To glean insight into this dilemma, we empirically investigate an online sales push's impact on salesperson effort (re)allocation and sales performance. Based on an econometric analysis of archival data from a B2B seller and a scenario‐based experiment, we conclude that salespeople generally tend to comply with an online sales push because it frees up their time and allows them to pursue new selling opportunities that have the potential to increase their compensation. The results also indicate that following an online sales push, salespeople expend their effort based on a customer's online proclivity and potential prior to the push. Moreover, the effort expended varies over time and across communication channels. Additionally, the analysis reveals (a) asymmetric carryover and cross‐channel effects of communication effort and sales performance and (b) asymmetric synergistic effects of communication effort on sales performance.

Current trends in business-to-business (B2B) services are increasingly bringing customer education (CEd) to the spotlight. Despite the growing recognition of the benefits of CEd, understanding how it is deployed in B2B firms remains a gap in academic literature. Our study addresses this gap by following a qualitative, empirical approach to investigate how CEd is managed across 29 B2B firms. The findings from our research suggest that CEd is a complex set of activities involving multiple stakeholders from both the customers as well as the B2B firm. Our research identified CEd as a process comprising three stages: (a) prepare for CEd, (b) deploy CEd, and (c) measure CEd. Basing ourselves on the findings from our research, we propose a conceptual framework of CEd in B2B contexts. Our findings contribute to the literature by offering a process-based view of CEd, clarifying the intra-organizational coordination it requires, and demonstrating how CEd unfolds across the customer journey. This research advances theoretical understanding of CEd as a cross-functional capability in B2B settings. We provide managerial recommendations and suggest areas for future research.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has emerged as a central component of a thriving workplace culture, enhancing employee well-being, creativity and innovation, decision-making, and overall performance. Despite its growing importance, the human aspect in a business-to-business (B2B) sales context, specifically the DEI component, is still insufficiently explored. To address this gap, this paper emphasizes the critical role of DEI in B2B sales organizations-not only in promoting a positive workplace culture but also in harnessing the innovative potential of diverse teams. To achieve this, we conduct a systematic literature review that synthesizes existing research on DEI in B2B sales while identifying key research gaps. Drawing on 56 B2B sales articles, we propose a comprehensive framework and a targeted research agenda. Our analysis reveals four key sub-domains: (1) hiring, (2) sales management practices, (3) sales approach and customer interactions, and (4) turnover. Each of these sub-domains highlights critical areas for further investigation. Ultimately, our findings aim to enhance both the academic and practical understanding of DEI's impact on B2B sales. In doing so, we provide actionable insights to help leaders effectively integrate DEI practices into their organizations, fostering more pleasant and successful work environments.

In this article, we examine how the transition to selling sustainable solutions creates tensions within the sales organization and across associated organizations, including suppliers and customers. Specifically, we examine the existing literature that has focused on how tensions arise within an organization during times of change and use this lens to identify potential challenges facing the sales function when tasked with selling sustainable solutions. We analyze how tensions manifest within the sales function (vertical tensions) and between sales and other departments, as well as between suppliers and buyers (horizontal tensions). The article demonstrates that sustainability tensions, unlike other literature streams, are an underexplored topic in the B2B sales literature, presenting avenues for future research. Building on a review of the literature on sustainability in other disciplines, we develop a research agenda that can inform future sales research on selling sustainable solutions. The identified set of research questions was evaluated by 40 academics and 30 business professionals from around the world, and a prioritized set of research questions relevant to both academic and practitioner audiences is presented. We discuss the theoretical implications of our research and offer some implications for practitioners.

The need to constantly adapt to the changes in the business environment and selling situations places enormous demands on salespeople. Applying the Job Demands-Resources theory, this study examines the negative impact of adaptive selling on salespeople. Using survey data from 384 sales professionals in different industries in an emerging market, we find that adaptive selling directly increases cognitive anxiety among salespeople. Furthermore, our research suggests that cognitive anxiety mediates the relationship between adaptive selling and emotional exhaustion. However, our study did not find support for the direct impact of adaptive selling on emotional exhaustion, suggesting that in some instances, the need to practice adaptive selling by itself might motivate salespeople to get more involved. Our study also demonstrates that salesperson perseverance reduces the negative impact of adaptive selling on cognitive anxiety, suggesting a moderating effect. The study concludes by providing theoretical and practical implications.

In the context of the global crisis presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors investigate the perspectives of sales managers regarding their organizations’ responses to the crisis and future expectations in a post-COVID-19 world. While there has been much discussion about these topics in the sales literature, very little research has examined them globally by collecting data from many nations and across many continents. Yet, how can global events be understood without analyzing global data? In response, the authors convened the first, to their knowledge, global data coalition by hosting video-recorded group interviews with 76 sales executives representing 27 nations. This inductive investigation, informed by institutional logics, reveals how organizations accepted new norms, retained old ones, or blended the old with the new in response to the crisis. The results simultaneously validate certain emerging concepts on a global scale (e.g., customer success management, bricolage) and give rise to several insights not currently detailed by extant scholarship (e.g., localization, cultural cringe). This work also catalyzes new, relevant avenues for international research and sheds light on issues facing sales practice globally.

PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic has led to major sales strategy and process changes as many interactions migrated from face-to-face to virtual environments. The nature of the interactions changed, and sales firms, the sales function and salespeople created new processes to excel in virtual environments. As sales processes evolve further, this paper aims to focus on understanding the enduring shifts in sales strategy and processes. In addition, this study seeks to understand the characteristics of enduring shifts and how they are distinct from temporary shifts.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the sales organizations and salespeople over the period from the start of the pandemic to early 2022. The authors interviewed 66 sales professionals from different countries and industries to better understand the temporary and enduring shifts in sales strategy and processes, adopting ad inductive and narrative approach.FindingsThere are four major findings. First, four key themes emerged: increased digitalization, resistance to digitalization, sales process changes and sales organization transformation. Second, changes are classified as temporary, permanent and accelerated changes. Third, some proposed changes were not supported. Finally, five findings were found that were not discussed in previous literature.Originality/valueThis paper finds distinctive findings that offer additional valuable insights that connect to and extend existing literature. These include emerging themes, classification shifts, unsupported proposed changes and unique findings.

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools have seen widespread adoption in the sales function. However, the pace of adoption means that sales researchers are often several steps behind the business world. A way to alleviate some of these concerns is to provide a practical, yet up-to-date understanding of AI in sales. Thus, the purpose of this manuscript is to clarify what AI is, the role of AI in sales, and its implications for multiple stakeholders in the sales organization (i.e. salespeople, sales managers, organizations, and customers). To achieve this objective, the authors provide an up-to-date examination of business practices that are interwoven with practitioner and academic literature. Next, based upon exploratory interviews with eighteen practitioners, the authors discuss challenges and opportunities that can arise due to AI adoption. Finally, the authors provide directions for future exploration of AI in the sales domain.

Purpose Although organizations are investing heavily in digital transformation (DT) of the sales function, implementation and exploitation at the sales force level are ongoing challenges. As sales managers serve as conduits of influence between top management and the sales force, the success of strategic initiatives, such as DT, hinges heavily on leveraging their influence to promote change adoption at the sales force level. Accordingly, this research is guided by the research question: how can sales organizations secure the buy-in of sales managers and induce their championing behaviors directed toward the sales force?. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how organizational and psychological resources influence sales managers' DT change champion through their change readiness. Design/methodology/approach Construing DT in sales as an organizational change that creates contextual job demands, the theoretical framework offers several hypotheses linking organizational and personal resources with sales managers’ change readiness and championing behaviors. The perceived impact of change is included as a moderating variable. Using data from a sample of 176 business-to-business sales managers, the hypotheses are tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings The authors demonstrate that two change-related organizational resources (change communication and change mobilization) and a personal psychological resource (psychological capital) facilitate sales managers’ emotional and cognitive change readiness, which, in turn, enhances their championing behaviors toward DT initiatives. Further, the authors find that perceived change impact augments the effects of organizational and psychological resources on change readiness, thus highlighting the importance of effective positioning of the outcomes of change. Practical implications This study provides practitioners with actionable guidance on securing the buy-in of sales managers for change initiatives such as DT. Specifically, communication and mobilization are critical inducements. Managers who score high on psychological capital can be targeted as change agents. Further, the impact of change needs to be framed positively, as the resultant perceptions magnify the effects of organizational resources. Originality/value While prior research has examined salespeople’s response to change, very little is known about the antecedents of change readiness and championing behavior among sales managers. Based on the results, the authors identify theoretical and managerial implications as well as future research directions.

Understanding the impact of technology use on the business-to-business (B2B) sales profession has been one of the priorities for scholars for over 20 years. While the extant sales literature has focused mainly on stand-alone technologies like customer relationship management and social media, few studies have taken a holistic approach to understand how technology has transformed the sales function and the corresponding impact this change has had on the salesperson and sales organizational level. Employing morphological analysis (MA), we conduct an extensive review of the last two decades of B2B sales research to highlight emergent research topics on how technology use is continuing to influence B2B selling and identify research gaps that still need to be addressed by sales scholars. We characterize the literature on technology use in B2B sales in terms of 6 'dimensions' and 22 'variants' and represent it as an MA framework. Using this framework, we identify 49 research gaps that can inform future research on technology use in B2B sales. These gaps were prioritized using inputs from academics and practitioners and 10 gaps rated high by both groups were identified. We conclude with theoretical and practical implications of our research.