Thepresentandfutureofthe B2 Bsalesprofession 1

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.
net/publication/369001003
The present and future of the B2B sales profession
Article in Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management · March 2023

DOI: 10.1080/08853134.2023.2183214
CITATIONS READS
5 2,097
3 authors, including:
Samer Elhajjar Laurent Yacoub

National University of Singapore Holy Spirit University of Kaslik
44 PUBLICATIONS 331 CITATIONS 18 PUBLICATIONS 128 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE
All content following this page was uploaded by Laurent Yacoub on 13 April 2023.
The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management
ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rpss20
Samer Elhajjar, Laurent Yacoub & Fadila Ouaida
To cite this article: Samer Elhajjar, Laurent Yacoub & Fadila Ouaida (2023): The present and
future of the B2B sales profession, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, DOI:
10.1080/08853134.2023.2183214
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/08853134.2023.2183214
Published online: 03 Mar 2023.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 41
View related articles
View Crossmark data
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rpss20
https://doi.org/10.1080/08853134.2023.2183214
Research Article

Samer Elhajjara, Laurent Yacoubb and Fadila Ouaidac
a
National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore; bModern University for Business and Science, Damour, Lebanon; cUniversity of Paris
13, Paris, France
ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Over the last three decades, business-to-business (B2B) sales practices have undergone significant Received 14 March 2022
change. This study evaluates the current responsibilities, skills, and knowledge sets required in Accepted 17 February 2023
B2B sales professionals. It identifies roles, qualifications, competencies, and the B2B sales position KEYWORDS
taxonomy. To achieve these objectives, we conducted three studies. The first study included an B2B sales; digitalization; artificial
analysis of 565 job descriptions to identify the current task and skill requirements of B2B salespeople. intelligence; analytics; future of
The second survey included 380 B2B salespeople and incentivized the development of a new sales
up-to-date taxonomy for sales positions. Our third and final study consisted of 33 semi-structured
interviews with B2B sales professionals, and was designed to predict the future skillsets required
in B2B sales professionals. Our results discuss the conception and current status of the B2B sales
profession, and primarily highlight the role of future B2B salespeople. Lastly, this study offers a
set of B2B sales-related recommendations based on our results.
Introduction transformation of sales work means that both simple and

repetitive tasks and highly intricate cognitive activities are
Since the publication of Forrester’s “Death of a (B2B) taken over by AI-based technologies.
Salesperson” in April 2015, there has been a buzz about the This research explores the current expectations for B2B
future of the business-to-business (B2B) sales profession. salespeople in business settings and predicts the future of
The report stated that approximately one million B2B sales- the B2B sales profession by considering the technologies
people in the US will lose their jobs to online commerce used. It provides a detailed analysis of the responsibilities,
by 2020. This was not the first time that experts predicted activities, and qualifications companies seek in B2B sales-
salespeople’s extinction. Previous studies have shown that people. Our study’s results complement other studies in the
advances in digital technologies, popularly referred to as emerging area of B2B sales research (e.g., Hartmann and
the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Syam and Sharma 2018), Lussier 2020; Sharma, Rangarajan, and Paesbrugghe 2020),
have disrupted well-established sales practices (Singh et al. and can supplement traditional responsibilities in the B2B
2019). Nonetheless, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) sales function. In fact, the literature on B2B sales is extensive
pandemic has sped up digital transformation and compelled and has a long history. Conversely, the extant literature on
sales organizations to deploy the latest digital technologies B2B salespeople’s skills and responsibilities is less rich.
(Rangarajan et al. 2021). These digital disruptions are the Therefore, it should come as no surprise that there has been
catalyst for tremendous change in the role of salespeople, little consideration of whether and how salespeople’s skills
reflected in the automation of many tasks previously under- differ between B2B and B2C firms. While some literature
taken by them. included considerations regarding the required capacities
In addition to the possibility of automating work pro- and activities from samples containing both B2B and B2C
cesses, digital technologies allow the use of vast amounts salespeople (Johlke 2006; Alvarez, Taylor, and Rauseo 2015),
of complex and timely data. Companies use data generated the B2B marketing arena, solely, received less attention from
by digital technologies to increase efficiency and accuracy researchers. Several authors advocate for an independent
in decision-making. The artificial intelligence (AI)-based understanding of B2B and B2C sales (e.g., Rodríguez,
work transformation in the field of sales is therefore not Svensson, and Mehl 2020). The basic distinction between
only driven by the possibility of automating work processes B2B and B2C is the origin of the demand. We are in B2B
but also by the availability of big data and the use of smart or B2C contexts, depending on whether the demand is
big data analytics (Hallikainen, Savimäki, and Laukkanen sourced from final customers or is driven by buying centers
2020). This facilitates predicting the future, and has the (Lilien 2016). Another clear distinction is in buyer-seller
potential to suggest decisions or replace human interactions, which are more common in a B2B setting than
decision-making in the long run. Therefore, the digital in a B2C one (Luo and Kumar 2013). In addition, B2B sales
CONTACT Elhajjar Samer samer@nus.edu.sg National University of Singapore, 15 Kent Ridge Dr, Singapore 119245, Singapore.
© 2023 Pi Sigma Epsilon National Educational Foundation
2 S. ELHAJJAR ET AL.
typically have higher order values and longer sales cycles The remainder of this paper is organized as follows: we
and are often more complex than B2C sales. Despite these present a literature review on the evolution of B2B sales.
differences between B2B and B2C sales, there are certainly Subsequently, we discuss the methodology and findings of
no insights to date to exclusively describe the B2B sales- the study. Finally, we list the practical and theoretical con-
people’s capabilities. We strive to focus on the B2B context tributions of our findings and their implications for future
as sales research in this area is lacking. Our focus on B2B research.
sales capabilities does not preclude the possibility of parity
in their nature or value to B2C firms. We strongly believe Literature review
that a deeper comprehension of the current responsibilities,
skills, and knowledge sets required in B2B sales professionals Previous studies on sales have emphasized the significance
will contribute to clarifying the essence of business sales of possessing certain personal attributes to be successful at
and its uniqueness. selling. Trumfio and Keenan (1994) found nine dimensions
In addition, no study has attempted to examine and crucial to sales performance: work ethics, leadership, moti-
update sales job classifications since the last sales position vation, risk tolerance, competitiveness, high-energy level,
taxonomies examination by Moncrief, Marshall, and Lassk experience, sales aptitude, and speaking skills. Agnihotri
(2006). This is particularly problematic for the advancement et al. (2012) revealed that, to attract clients, salespeople are
of B2B sales given the technological changes in the sales expected to provide content and portray themselves as
field (Rodríguez, Svensson, and Mehl 2020; Sleep et al. experts. They must develop new strategies to increase cus-
2020). Various perspectives, such as the focus on technology tomer loyalty and connections. They can rely on social
and its potential to change work and tasks, or newly emerg- connections to increase their sales success (Agnihotri et al.
ing forms of sales work, have evolved. Given the dramatic 2012). Singh, Kumar, and Puri (2017) focused on
effect of technology and other environmental changes on self-leadership strategies that positively impact sales perfor-
the sales field, taxonomical systems used to classify sales mance through self-efficacy, selling skills, and adaptive sell-
activities in the past can be suboptimal for describing cur- ing behavior.
rent B2B sales jobs. This study seeks to fill this gap and Based on existing research, the competencies of B2B
develop a new taxonomy of B2B sales positions. It is also salespeople also include the ability to network effectively
useful for practitioners because technological influences on on social media and other digital platforms (Fraccastoro,
B2B sales are explored via interviews with sales profession- Gabrielsson, and Pullins 2021), present effective sales com-
als, which serve as a reflection of current and future munication and acumen (Koponen, Julkunen, and Asai
demands for B2B competencies and tasks. More precisely, 2019), maintain relationships (Koponen, Julkunen, and Asai
the interviewees identify tasks that future B2B salespeople 2019), and demonstrate analytical skills (Peesker et al. 2022).
will perform. Given the increased use and importance of digital technol-
Therefore, our study is of interest to both sales practi- ogies in B2B sales practices, the company’s needs in B2B
tioners and researchers on several fronts. It fundamentally sales positions have changed significantly. Companies require
strengthens the links between academia and industry by sales professionals who can appeal to customers through
listening to the manifold needs of companies and organi- social media content and enhance customer engagement
zations (Reibstein, Day, and Wind 2009; Elhajjar, Karam, (Agnihotri, Jaramillo, and Mulki 2021). A significant number
and Borna 2021). Identifying the core responsibilities and of B2B customers consider social media content an integral
activities of sales professionals in a changing environment part of their purchasing journey (Minsky and Quesenberry
can help prospective and practicing B2B salespeople under- 2016). As such, organizations are now seeking to invest in
stand and focus on new areas and skills for professional customer-oriented technologies such as social media (Chuang
development. Our research also provides valuable insights 2020). Thus, B2B salespeople need to unlearn traditional
for sales educators to pass on to students interested in the selling techniques to avoid becoming obsolete in the age of
B2B sales profession. Our analysis of required skills presents digital transformation (Mattila, Yrjölä, and Hautamäki 2021).
a picture of the features expected of prospective B2B sales The literature also reports on the changing nature of
professionals. Technological advances increasingly demand sales activities. Moncrief (1986), who was the first to design
capabilities related to soft and technical skills. Thus, it is a sales position classification system, declared six types of
particularly noteworthy that emerging skill sets are being salespeople based on a factoring and grouping procedure of
integrated into sales learning. Awareness of current and 121 sales activities, which are extremely comparable to those
evolving trends demands close attention from those involved given conceptually by Newton (1973) and McMurray (1961).
in the sales field. More precisely, our research shows how Moncrief ’s taxonomy includes categories for missionaries,
emerging skill sets can be linked to the knowledge of sales trade servicers, and order takers. Twenty years later,
standards and practices. In the current work, we intend to Moncrief, Marshall, and Lassk (2006) developed another
explore the skill sets required and consequently assist sales empirically generated sales-position taxonomy. Many factors
educators in updating their curriculums. Sales educators can not present in Moncrief (1986) emerged and represented
thus benefit from this research as they need to make sure the evolving role of sales, and provided substantial evidence
that the course objectives sync with the skills and compe- for the changes in the functioning of sales. The new factors
tencies the industry looks for in new hires. were related to relationship selling, computer skills, and
Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 3
delivery selling. Moncrief, Marshall, and Lassk (2006)’s tax- automating and digitizing their sales channels (Thaichon
onomy provides six types of sales positions that highlight et al. 2018). For instance, many B2B businesses are adopting
diverse sales tasks: i) the consultative seller concentrates self-service solutions for customers, like online platforms
mostly on relationship selling, promotion, and service assis- that permit product browsing, order placement, and shipping
tance; ii) the new business seller makes greater use of tech- tracking. In a similar vein, many B2B industries are intro-
nology, and devotes more time for entertainment, prospecting, ducing fully automated selling and purchasing, relieving
and training; iii) the missionary seller is involved in training, customers of human effort (Singh et al. 2019). For instance,
travel, and product delivery, but not prospecting; iv) the C-parts supplier Würth Industries offers its clients scanner-
delivery seller is largely responsible for delivering and stock- or RFID-based systems that automatically trigger (re)order
ing merchandise, with some prospecting; v) the sales support placement when supplies drop below a predetermined filling
position is concerned with administrative duties, training, level (Würth Industries 2018). The profound transformations
and recruiting; and vi) the key account seller is responsible brought about by AI announce the beginning of a new era
for product support, travel, and office assistance. for B2B selling since the B2B sales process used to be gen-
Other studies have suggested new adjustments to the erally considered less digitalized and automated than B2C
sales profession. Andzulis, Panagopoulos, and Rapp (2012) (Rodríguez, Svensson, and Mehl 2020). B2B sales processes
stated that social media has influenced the sales process; necessitate greater outbound outreach, contract closure, and
they identified new digital marketing activities likely to customer relationship management activities from the seller
occur at each stage of the sales process. Another new (San-Martin and Camarero 2018). In comparison to the
responsibility for salespeople identified by Rapp et al. (2015) final consumer, B2B involves more people at the customer
is the acquisition and application of competitive intelligence. interface (Hohenschwert and Geiger 2015). B2B interactions
Relationship-forging tasks, as defined by Hunter and are often long-term, requiring sales to create value and
Perreault (2007), are particularly important in determining extending to client loyalty, which increases revenues by keep-
the impact of sales technology on effective relationship-building ing customers through follow-up orders and repurchases
in sales. These include sharing market knowledge and pro- (Rodríguez, Svensson, and Mehl 2020). We know strikingly
posing integrative solutions. little about whether and how the emergence of AI trans-
Nevertheless, notwithstanding these research attempts, no forms the B2B sales profession’s function. The prognoses by
comprehensive investigations of the actual work that sales- practitioner literature widely differ: some proclaim that dig-
people perform have been conducted since 2006 to thor- ital and automated sales channels will lead to the “Death
oughly analyze and update sales job classifications. of a (B2B) Salesman” (Forrester 2015), while others believe
Considering new technological changes, a new and compre- the B2B sales profession’s role will focus predominantly on
hensive investigation of sales activities is necessary. According relationship selling and customer support to facilitate buying
to Singh et al. (2019), digital technologies have caused sig- decisions (Gartner 2020). However, the academic sales lit-
nificant disruptions in the sales world by presenting new erature has so far neglected to address the future market
opportunities for innovation and creativity at the cost of role of B2B sales in the context of the AI “Revolution.”
traditional, well-established sales practices. Hallikainen, This study aims to fill the aforementioned gaps by con-
Savimäki, and Laukkanen (2020) concluded that customer ducting three studies. The first study was dedicated to iden-
big data analytics significantly enhances sales growth, espe- tifying the current tasks and skill requirements for B2B
cially in companies that support marketing analytics and salespeople. The second incentivizes the development of a
customer relationship performance. The implication is that new, up-to-date taxonomy for sales positions, and our third
big data analytics and AI are characterized by increased and final study is designed to predict the future skillsets of
automation that impacts the sales profession. B2B sales professionals.
Our literature review identified three important research
gaps. First, previous studies have examined the influence of
a varied set of technologies, including sales customer rela- Study 1 – the current role of B2B salespeople
tionship management (CRM) (Hunter and Perreault 2007),
social media (Marshall et al. 2012), automation (Homburg, To predict the future of the B2B sales profession, the current
Wieseke, and Kuehnl 2010), and other information technol- role of B2B sales in the job market must be considered. We
ogies (Ahearne, Jelinek, and Jones 2007). Our study pursues gathered and analyzed distinct job descriptions from
this stream of work by examining the impact of all tech- LinkedIn and recruitment websites in Singapore, France,
nologies on the sales profession. Second, Moncrief ’s latest Australia, the US, and Lebanon to examine the roles of B2B
assessment of sales position taxonomies was published in sales professionals from January 2020 to July 2022. To search
2006, and no study since has sought to comprehensively the databases on these websites, we ran a query using “sales”
reassess and update sales job classifications, which is par- as a keyword. Job announcements were excluded on the
ticularly troubling when considering the changing environ- basis of whether they are not posted in English and/or are
ment of the sales industry. Third, there is a need to explore not related to sales. For this research, the sample was limited
how the characteristics of AI technologies influence the to B2B companies from the description of their activities.
roles, tasks, and competencies of future B2B salespeople The list of companies was manually arranged where B2C
(Singh et al. 2019). B2B businesses are increasingly companies were systematically filtered out and B2B
companies were considered. We also verified that the data Table 1. Job titles.
were unduplicated, and ran a content analysis of position Job title Frequency Percentage (%)
announcements. Upon considering all hitherto-mentioned Sales representative 119 21.06
selection criteria, our search yielded 565 job announcements Business developer 92 16.28
Sales specialist 84 14.86
(113 in Singapore, 152 in France, 168 in Australia, 65 in Sales lead 68 12.03
the U.S., and 67 in Lebanon). The data included the com- Sales trainer 56 9.91
pany’s name, description of the company, country of the Sales agent 48 8.49
Sales consultant 35 6.19
company, position title, and job description. Sales associate 28 4.95
We initially conducted a pilot study to obtain a snapshot Sales coach 24 4.24
of the structure(s) of the job descriptions. We coded job Account representative 11 1.94
Total 565
descriptions and identified the most frequently occurring
categories: (a) job title, (b) background information about
the company or organization, (c) job, (d) required qualifi- Table 2. Required skills.
cations and skills, and (e) contact information. All job Categories of required Percentage
skill Sample terms and phrases (%)
descriptions collected were entered into the content analysis
Communication skills Effective written and verbal 85
software package SimStat/Wordstat (Provalis 2006), which communication skills
was used to identify the frequency with which specific cat- Customer relationship Strong computer skills and 78
egories of technical skills and responsibilities appeared in management (CRM) preferred experience with
software CRM systems
the advertisements. Term co-occurrence matrices were also Leadership skills Possess skills in leadership 71
computed using cluster analysis to explore the relationships Negotiation skills Excellent negotiation skills 66
among categories. Time management Excellent time management skills 60
and ability to multitask and
We created a categorization system that constituted the prioritize work
analytical basis for our texts. An independent categorization Business intelligence Ability to understand and apply 60
structure was built for responsibilities, required knowledge skills market intelligence, product,
and industry knowledge to
and skills, and preferred personal characteristics. The initial sales strategy
output is the frequency count of the terms, which indicates Planning skills Strong organizational and 56
the importance of the data. Thus, if several terms tend to planning skills
Creativity Creative thinker that enjoys 43
coexist in job announcements, a set of skills or qualifications responding rapidly to shifts in
can be identified. These results are derived from the macro and microeconomic
co-occurrence of two or more categories. More precisely, the trends that affect prospect
companies
term frequency count is the first output. The frequency with Project management Mastery of project management 38
which terms appear in the dataset is a metric of relevance (conduct of interviews,
in the dataset, comparable to a measure of general popularity, facilitation of workshops,
planning of the steering
but the links between terms provide a nuanced and broader committee, monitoring of a
understanding of the data. Consequently, if numerous terms budget, milestones) and
frequently appear together in advertisements, a set of skills management by influence
Teamwork skills Ability to work in an open, 36
and responsibilities can be identified. Co-occurrence matrices collaborative team, with a
were built to determine the overall structure and linkages focus on excellence
among the categories of required and recommended quali-
fications and skill sets. These were calculated based on the
number of job descriptions in which two or more categories Representative” and “Business Developer,” accounting for
appeared together. A matrix of co-occurrence similarity (cor- 37.34% of the total job announcements for B2B salespeople.
relation) values was created using the frequency counts of Sales training and coaching positions were mentioned in
the categories. The similarity values represent how similar 14.15% of all job announcements. Our analysis of the job
or distinct the two terms are in terms of their occurrence. titles also indicates a new emerging position that was not
The use of correlations instead of raw frequency counts fairly explained in previous academic papers, the “Sales
compensates for the large disparities in counts for frequently Specialist.” Specialists are typically experts in their domain
occurring phrases. This approach adheres to well-established that can offer guidance to clients about specific practices
co-citation and co-word analysis protocols (McCain 1990). or procedures. A sales specialist is well-knowledgeable about
The structure of the correlation matrix was explored using the common practices used in a specific industry and can
cluster analysis to identify terms with similar co-occurrence offer advice to sales teams. The emergence of Sales Specialists
patterns. The analysis was performed using the SimStat/ shows that some sales positions are becoming more special-
WordStat software package (Provalis 2006). ized and technically sharp.
Job titles Required skills and personal characteristics

We identified 10 titles related to B2B sales positions. As Our analysis revealed the top skills (Table 2) that salespeople
evident in Table 1, the two largest job titles are “Sales must gain to fulfill their responsibilities. Good
communication skills, which were in high demand, are nec- sales presentations, identifying prospects that correspond to
essary in sales for building trusting, long-lasting, and opti- company targets and direction, and building and maintaining
mistic client relationships. In addition, 78% of job healthy business relationships with customers. “Evaluation”
advertisements required knowledge of the CRM software, is a category of responsibilities that emerged from our anal-
which facilitates sales automation. This allows companies to ysis and was not previously described in the literature. B2B
effectively store customer data to provide personalized ser- salespeople are in charge of determining the impact of mar-
vices. Most skills and attributes that appear in job postings keting and sales actions by measuring the effectiveness of
are generally referred to as soft skills that fulfill the required campaigns. In collaboration with other departments, sales-
daily job duties. For B2B salespeople, such competencies people design corrective actions. Hence, salespeople are
include negotiation, leadership, time management, creativity, responsible for qualitative and quantitative reporting and
and teamwork. By establishing themselves as trusted advi- analysis of the marketing and sales return on investment.
sors, qualified salespeople can influence buyers’ Study 1 provides insights into the expectations that
decision-making and ensure the effective completion of the recruiters seek in B2B sales positions. Similar to prior
sales process. research that analyzed job descriptions, Study 1 focuses on
Table 3 shows the categorization of personal character- skills and responsibilities that appeared in job announce-
istics. Motivation was the most frequently mentioned trait, ments. However, a specific and detailed description of the
followed by dedication, resilience, and adaptability. day-to-day activities that B2B salespeople perform is required
Motivation facilitates individual growth and encourages to reveal how emerging technologies have contributed to
salespeople to achieve their goals. By achieving initial goals, altering the salesperson role – what B2B salespeople do.
salespeople realize the obvious link between effort and Therefore, our second study extends the understanding of
results, which further motivates them to push forward at the B2B sales function and gives a complete picture of the
higher levels. Salespeople must remain dedicated, resilient, activities performed by the B2B salespeople.
and persistent in crises to maintain their enthusiasm and
determination. In addition, selling is not merely putting
forward arguments to push for purchase; it must be handled Study 2 – the taxonomy of sales positions
energetically and tastefully. In other words, good salespeople In Study 2, we build an empirically derived taxonomy of
can adapt to all situations. sales positions relevant to B2B sales. Subsequently, we
describe the impact of the new environmental changes on
B2B sales. Having a relatively current taxonomy is critical
Responsibilities assigned to the B2B sales professionals
to progress in the B2B sales profession, given that prior
Table 4 lists the top responsibilities that recruiters seek in taxonomies are at least 16 years old and do not accurately
B2B sales positions. Our analysis shows that the main reflect current sales practices (Moncrief, Marshall, and Lassk
responsibilities of B2B salespeople seem to converge into a 2006). Since 2006, the business world has changed signifi-
new hybrid type. Some job announcements clearly stated cantly. Although some changes are temporary, many have
analysis, evaluation, and reporting as required analytical become the new norm for many parts of life. This is true
skills. Other announcements supported marketing activities,
which include relationship management and lead-nurturing
Table 4. Top responsibilities.
tasks. Lead enablement responsibilities were the most
Percentage
requested. Sales enablement services result in significantly Category label Sample phrases (%)
higher customer win rates and correlate with more effective Lead Develop, execute, optimize, and assess 69
sales strategies that improve the bottom line. Other recruit- enablement Lead enablement program
ers look for salespeople who can identify and convert pros- Relationship Develop sustainable relationships with 61
management clients
pects to customers. Prospecting is conducted via several Business Setting business development strategy 60
different B2B sales marketing activities, including sales pre- development and targets
sentations and lead nurturing programs. The common mis- Presentation Deliver high impact, high-quality 58
delivery presentations to decision-makers
sions of salespeople in the B2B context are selling company Prospecting Developing an effective B2B sales 47
products and services through precise and well-thought-out prospecting process
Analysis Provide market insights and competitor 46
updates
Table 3. Required personal characteristics. Reporting Provide regular and timely updates and 37
progress reports for management
Category label Percentage (%) Lead nurturing Support regional marketing strategies 32
Motivation 78 and activities to drive lead generation
Dedication 75 and nurturing
Resilience 67 Training Develop individual training plans in 29
Adaptability 66 conjunction with sales representatives
Energy 56 and sales managers
Passion 49 Evaluation Define short and long-term ROI measures 21
Autonomy 44 and take responsibility for evaluation
Persistence 33 Pipeline Embed a pipeline cadence and rhythm 15
Independence 31 management to enable proactive identification of
Rigor 24 new opportunities
for new sales best practices: what worked in 2006 simply activities were identified. Moncrief, Marshall, and Lassk
does not work anymore. Companies now recognize that data (2006) identified 88 of 122 activities, and 24 new activities
analytics, AI, digital transformation, and automation are key were retrieved from our focus groups.
to successful sales. The purpose of Study 2 is (1) to develop Mirroring the procedure employed by Moncrief, Marshall,
a comprehensive inventory of selling activities based on a and Lassk (2006), our data analysis consisted of two major
survey of B2B salespeople, and (2) to cultivate an empirical steps: factor analysis and cluster analysis. Based on the fre-
taxonomy of selling jobs based on these dimensions. quency of performance, a factor analysis was used to identify
The authors have already developed a list of professional the underlying categories in the data of the 122 activities
salespeople who had participated in a previous survey or recorded. Factor analysis using promax rotation was con-
engaged in an academic activity. The list included partici- ducted for 122 activities. Promax rotation was employed
pants that were selected based on their extensive expertise because of the expected interfactor correlations. The goal
in sales. Researchers reached out the professionals via was to identify the underlying dimensions within the dataset.
LinkedIn. Initially, to ensure the selection of the most A sales taxonomy was then created using cluster analysis.
knowledgeable informants, researchers used a snowball sam- Cluster analysis is useful for grouping similar salesperson
pling technique and asked the participants to recommend respondents into descriptive classifications and specifying a
other informants with expertise relevant to sales. The par- taxonomy based on their activity profiles.
ticipants’ tenure at their respective firms ranged from 1.5 Our factor analysis indicated a 10-factor solution.
to 28 years with an average of 10.4 years. The list included Activities with factor loadings of 0.4 or above were retained
a broad range of respondents across a number of different for further analysis (Hatcher 1994). Table 5 provides a
industries, and from organizations of different sizes in terms detailed description of the factors and loadings of activities.
of the number of employees. Among the factors that emerged, one was not found in
Emails were sent to 510 B2B salespeople, explaining the Moncrief ’s study (2006). Three factors (delivery, travel, and
project and requesting their participation. The decision to office) presented by Moncrief, Marshall, and Lassk (2006)
interview practitioners we already know stemmed from the were absent from our analysis. This study reflects some of
desire to investigate their recognized valuable experiences the many changes in sales since 2006. In our study, we
and perspectives for developing a better understanding of reported the emergence of new activities such as webinars,
the sales profession. To improve response rates, a cover online prospecting, social selling, content creation, and
letter and survey instruction letter were sent to all potential CRM. The results did not differ much between the countries.
respondents. The sample frame for this study consisted of Factor scores computed from the 10-factor solution were
380 B2B salespeople from Singapore, France, Australia, the entered into the k-means cluster analysis method (Dillon
US, and Lebanon. The overall response rate of participating and Goldstein 1984). k-means cluster analysis requires the
companies was 74.5%, and included high-tech (25%), invest- input of a user-specified number of clusters. The clustering
ment (11%), chemical (8%), healthcare (18%), media (25%), criterion was computed using SAS software. The results
sustainable energy (5%), and logistics (8%) industries. The indicate that six clusters were the optimal solution. The SAS
sample is dispersed over a range of businesses of various FASTCLUS algorithm estimated the initial centroids; itera-
sizes. Of the sample, 20% of the companies had fewer than tions were conducted by grouping each data point with the
50 salespeople, 35% included companies with 50–100 sales- cluster of the nearest centroid. This process was continued
people, 25% covered companies with 100–149 salespeople, until the data points ceased to switch clusters. Table 6 lists
and 20% of the sample was provided by companies with the cluster centroids and the ranking of each factor by
150+ salespeople. Of the sample salespeople, 61.8% were cluster. The clusters are portrayed in Table 6 in the order
male with a mean age of 34.5 years. of the percentage of respondents falling in each category,
A questionnaire in which activities were coded on a from highest to lowest. Our analysis bears similarities to
seven-point scale was prepared to investigate whether our Moncrief ’s (2006) study. Nevertheless, sales delivery was not
participants performed a list of activities. Respondents who a relevant differentiator between the groups in this study,
did not perform the activity were requested to respond with as it was in 2006. A new cluster emerged from our analysis
a score of 0, whereas respondents who performed the activ- under “sales analysts.” This cluster possessed only two pos-
ity responded with a score between 1 and 7, depending on itive factors that exhibited distinctly high factor centroid
the frequency of their monthly performance. The list of values and rankings – “analysis,” and “relationship selling.”
activities was compiled from 105 activities of Moncrief, The primary activity spectrum of sales analysts is data anal-
Marshall, and Lassk (2006) and three focus groups (27 par- ysis, coupled with relationship-selling management respon-
ticipants)1 of B2B salespeople. Focus groups held online due sibilities. Data analysis has become an integral part of most
to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, were used to iden- sales teams. This B2B sales category (sales analysis) has not
tify new activities in B2B sales. Each of the three focus been mentioned in any of the previous Moncrief taxonomies.
groups contained nine salespeople, and each session lasted Table 7 compares this study’s clusters with those portrayed
approximately 150 minutes. Participants were part of the by Moncrief, Marshall, and Lassk (2006).
mailing list developed by the researchers and were invited The results of Study 2 suggest that B2B salespeople
to participate in the study via email. They were asked about employ data analytics tools to model and predict sales trends
the tasks and activities they performed on the job, and 122 and outcomes while understanding where they can improve.
Table 5. Results of factor analysis.
Factor 2: Promotional Factor 6: Factor 8:
Factor 1: Relationship activities and sales Factor 3: Training and Factor 7: Product Educational Factor 9: Channel
selling service Entertaining Factor 4: Prospecting Factor 5: Computer recruiting support activities support Factor 10: Analysis
Listen 0.8 Content Creation Drink with the Online Prospecting CRM 0.88 Coaching Feedback Attending Establish Sales Analytics
0.78 Client 0.74 0.86 0.86 Management 0.76 Conferences Relationships with 0.72
0.82 Distributors 0.6
Ask Questions 0.78 Webinars 0.74 Meal with the Lead Generation Email selling and Training Complaints Attending Online Train Broker 0.41 Industry Analysis
Client 0.68 0.84 Marketing 0.86 0.82 Management 0.72 Courses 0.7 0.66
Consult with Customers PR Planning 0.68 Calling Clients 0.80 Online Search 0.82 Recruiting Take Clients on Sites Attending Consumer
0.72 0.70 0.58 Trainings 0.68 Research 0.52
Close the Sale 0.70 Create Newsletter Proposal Preparation Social Media Supervise Installation
0.6 0.76 Listening 0.74 0.5
Build Trust 0.68 Write up Orders 0.54 Meeting with the Maintenance
Clients 0.74 Management 0.4
Key Account Management Introduce New Referral Response
0.66 Services 0.5 0.66
Overcome Objections 0.62 Exhibitions 0.4 Bid Submission 0.56
Build Rapport 0.58
Read Body Language 0.46
Table 6. Results of cluster analysis.

Consultative seller (28.2%) Key account seller (20.6%) New business/Channel development seller (18%) Sales Support (13.2%) Sales Analyst (11%) Missionary Seller (9%)
Relationship Selling Relationship Selling Prospecting Channel Support Analysis Prospecting
Product Support Computer Analysis Product Support Relationship Selling Computer
Prospecting Analysis Promotional Activities Computer Educational Activities
Promotional Activities Product Support Relationship Selling Training and Recruiting Analysis
Channel Support Computer Training and Recruiting
Educational Activities
7
Table 7. Responsibilities assigned to the B2B sales professionals. respondent. In the second step, each interview was
This study Moncrief, Marshall, and Lassk (2006) cross-examined by the research team for a baseline, as well
Consultative seller Consultative seller as the concepts and dimensions previously identified in the
Key account seller Key account seller literature. Then, a thematic analysis was conducted to incor-
Sales support Sales support
New business/Channel New business/Channel development seller porate new emerging codes into preexisting ones, which
development seller were mainly derived from the literature and research objec-
Sales analyst – tives. Subsequent data coding reinforces the condensation
– Missionary seller
– Delivery seller and data coding-based logic proposed by Lockyer et al.
(2004). In fact, to begin data processing, we identified initial
preexisting themes corresponding to the main themes
Previous research (Syam and Sharma 2018) indicated that addressed in our interviews: (i) the evolution of the sales
other emerging tools, such as artificial intelligence and role; (ii) the current changes in the B2B sales profession,
robotics, will be also intensively used in the future. This (iii) the future of B2B sales professionals, and (iv) the prepa-
will present opportunities and challenges for B2B sales pro- rations for the future of sales. The final step of this analysis
fessionals, who will need to update their skills to compete was to explain the relationships between themes and
in the future world of sales and to find ways to address the sub-themes (Aronson 1995), which was achieved throughout
possible effects of increased connectivity and automation. the findings section. The quotes given in the findings sec-
Study 3 oversee and anticipate the future developments in tions are representative of the sample and help flesh out
the sales profession taking into consideration disruptive the meaning of the themes and the sub-themes. The con-
technologies such as big data analytics, artificial intelligence, nections of the findings to the literature were discussed in
and automation. more detail in the discussion section.
Study 3 – the future of the B2B sales profession Findings of Study 3

Artificial intelligence is altering the sales profession (Singh With the advancement of technology, the potential to
et al. 2019). Considering that task automation is among the improve B2B sales strategies and processes increases.
many contributions of AI, we are keen to explore whether Therefore, the B2B sales cycle is becoming increasingly likely
the Fourth Industrial Revolution has displaced B2B sales- to be automated. At the heart of this unexpected disruption
people. Over the past few years, the B2B sales profession is big data powering new automated sales processes for
has been expected to undergo substantial changes in the professionals. A sales executive stated, “When CRM, AI,
digital economy, and survival is unlikely (Syam and Sharma and Big Data technology are combined, companies can tailor
2018). Thus, the objective of our third study is to predict their sales strategies by maximizing the collection of infor-
the future market role of B2B sales in the context of the mation from different platforms and receiving targeted infor-
Fourth Industrial Revolution. mation about the account and their needs.”
The third and final study consisted of 33 semi-structured With the development of big data, the amount of infor-
interviews with B2B sales professionals from Singapore, mation contributing to customer knowledge will explode.
France, Australia, the US, and Lebanon (see the Appendix). Through predictive analysis and sales automation, sales pro-
The participants were either known by the authors or rec- fessionals can achieve better synchronization of buying and
ommended by a common participant or colleague, and the selling cycles. However, it is important to note that the
selection was based on their sales experience. Our respon- automation of lead nurturing in B2B has become unavoid-
dents were employed in the financial services, consulting, able and irreversible. An interviewed sales manager believed
high-tech, retail, and manufacturing industries. The average that “salespeople will have to feed the system with new
duration of the interviews was approximately 70 minutes, leads, which are rarer and more difficult to capture in a
with two minutes dedicated to introducing the research and market where potential customers are increasingly showing
gaining formal consent. a preference for greater autonomy in the buying process.”
A standardized interview guide was applied, which Our participants believed that the role of B2B salespeople
included topics related to the future of the B2B sales pro- has not weakened in the digital age but has instead been
fession. All questions were open-ended, enabling new topics revolutionized. For instance, a regional sales manager opined,
to emerge during the interviews; examples include the latest “AI is an emerging field revolutionizing the profession. Sales
developments in B2B sales, and the most promising and can now be run remotely. AI involves robotics, Big Data,
high-growth technology opportunities for B2B salespeople. and the Internet of Things, which can improve sales per-
All participants were informed of the confidentiality and formance.” Beyond their informative role, B2B salespeople
anonymity of this study, and consent was obtained. The have transformed into expert advisors focused on person-
concerned institutional review board (IRB) approved the alizing support and service. This newly advanced role
study protocol. implies technical, organizational, and relational evolution in
All our recorded interviews, amounting to 2192 minutes salespeople’s walk of life. A sales executive stated, “B2B sales
of content, were transcribed and analyzed. The interviews is above all relational. It requires a more human, personal,
were organized into 33 different files, one for each and emotional approach to customer relations.” A sales
manager believed that “sales executives, technical sales rep- Operations Manager is an “emerging profession whose mis-
resentatives, and sales associates are among professions with sion will be to optimize the performance of the B2B sales-
the most jobs in the future.” person of the future, by analyzing and standardizing best
Another sales executive explained, “The B2B sales func- practices. The salesperson will prepare follow-up tables,
tion is, above all, a matter of human relations, relevant create the right sales processes, and choose the most appro-
argumentation, negotiation, conviction, and empathy with priate sales tools.”
the customer. Even if some phases of the sales cycle can be Based on our analysis, B2B salespeople can utilize smart
automated, it is uncertain whether technology can do this tools to determine customer needs in advance. Depending
well. The fundamentals of B2B sales have not changed with on the business potential and buying habits of the decision
artificial intelligence.” maker, B2B salespeople may propose video conferencing, a
Thus, even with automation and data-driven selling, B2B communication trend accentuated by the COVID-19 pan-
sales remain primarily human affairs. At the heart of tech- demic. Sales meetings have been dematerialized in full
nological evolution, a sales manager distinguished the fun- swing, and buyers are becoming familiar with remote
damental components of the sales process thus: “Processes purchasing.
must be modified to fully integrate technology and AI tools The objective of a sales professional is to accompany
into sales; salespeople will not be automated anytime soon.” clients and regularly notify them about the progress of the
In short, the reality of the sales profession is not about its service. It is also salespeople’s duty to warn clients about
disappearance; it is instead a challenge of task rising problems and secure quick bouncing back. Once the
transformation. service is completed, the sales representative of the future
In the future, B2B salespeople will handle formidable ensures the satisfaction of their clients thanks to the Net
tools for digital prospecting. Currently, the best salespeople Promoter Score (NPS). An area sales manager shared that
have integrated digital technology into their core compe- NPS is “a standardized tool for measuring customer
tencies. According to our participants, B2B salespeople will, satisfaction.”
over time, use digital prospecting to build valuable relation- Another sales manager also mentioned the value of cus-
ships with prospects and become indispensable and unavoid- tomer care and success programs that B2B salespeople will
able sources of advice. Moreover, due to new technologies, have to manage: “To regularly offer them interesting content,
connected tools facilitate nomadism and the autonomy of invite them to events or share information about their sector,
teams. The B2B salespeople are no longer necessarily con- they use e-mail sequences that they previously prepared,
nected to the office. A sales consultant mentioned, “In a which are sent automatically according to the timeframe
few years, their autonomy will only be strengthened.” they have defined. More customer care managers, customer
In the future, CRM will enable B2B salespeople to focus support managers, and customer success manager job posi-
purely on administrative tasks and real-time activities with- tions will become available.”
out the distractions of reporting back. According to a sales As the B2B sales profession undergoes substantial changes
executive, “This will free up time to develop their personal in the future, companies must prepare their teams. This can
branding on different digital tools, and thus become a be achieved through sales training, as confirmed by a sales
spokesperson for the company. The salesperson will therefore consultant (“training on sales analytics and decision-making
have to be as efficient in the technique of their expertise to prepare the future B2B salespeople”). A sales consultant
and their personal marketing.” In the future, if the B2B believed that “the development of a good B2B salesperson
salesperson wants to exist in the face of artificial intelligence, can take more than two years. It is therefore imperative to
to find their place alongside solutions or strategies, such as put in place a structured coaching and training plan that
marketing automation or inbound marketing, “they must secures return on investment.” Development of capacities
differentiate themselves by creating a unique value not and skills in agility, adaptation, technology, and CRM tools
reproducible by robots. They must be able to transmit emo- is required for any B2B salesperson. “Salespeople are going
tions to the customer and present their products at each to use software and CRM programs daily. Thus, they should
stage of the sales cycle” (Sales Leader). be agile and adapt to the new environment.”
The B2B salesperson of the future works hand-in-hand To increase the competence of their sales teams, compa-
with sales intelligence, which encompasses technologies, nies must evolve in reasonable stages to maintain the com-
methods of data collection, integration, analysis, and pre- mitment and motivation of their teams, and support their
sentation of information. According to our participants, the gradual growth. According to our participants, annual objec-
goal of a sales intelligence system is to help salespeople tives can be broken down into intermediate objectives, with
collect and understand data on prospects and existing cus- due dates spread throughout the year. Intermediate objectives
tomers to improve their performance. A sales manager must also be realistic in terms of their timeframe to allow
explained that the Sales Intelligence system “allows B2B salespeople to prove their potential over a short time period
salespeople to save time and increase productivity both and quickly measure their efforts.
during the prospecting phase and throughout the customer A sales manager added: “The mid-year interview allows
relationship.” for a review of the progress made on the intermediate objec-
In the future, there is a substantial need for sales oper- tives and the support to be provided to the sales team to
ations managers. A sales consultant clarified that the Sales achieve them. These micro-interviews are an integral part
of the development process and allow for adjustments to announcements. Sales coaching is based on the continuous
be made as the intermediate objectives are reached. They and individualized training provided by sales managers to
are also the ideal time to discuss difficulties encountered, improve team performance (Nguyen et al. 2019). Rather
skills developed, or successful assignments.” than just providing instructions, coaching involves guiding
The perception of mobility is no longer considered a salespeople to achieve their goals, correcting behaviors that
hindrance but rather an opportunity to grow faster. can be improved, and reinforcing performers that produce
Salespeople are relatively more mobile workers and are more results (Badrinarayanan et al. 2015). Moreover, sales training
willing to change companies, not only for the benefit of is a pragmatic way to keep up with industrial changes (Lassk
salary increases but also for the opportunity to enrich their et al. 2012). New and improved technology for generating
professional skills. Companies should be aware of a poten- leads is continually entering the market, and social media
tially high turnover within their sales team, and acknowledge has become an essential component for salespeople to inter-
that skills development must be taken into consideration to act with potential customers. It is essential to learn how to
retain their salespeople. A sales manager opined, “Managers adapt to change, for which continuing education is import-
must identify the skills expected in a position and share ant (Singh, Manrai, and Manrai 2015). Although it takes
them with the team. For the strategy to be effective, the patience to adapt, trainers can help salespeople to adopt
sales manager must focus on the strengths of each member, new strategies and incorporate them into their job routines.
which will increase the efficiency of the salesperson in his This study confirms the importance of soft and interper-
preferred areas. This beneficial stimulation becomes an ele- sonal skills in B2B sales (Steward et al. 2010). To stand out
ment of motivation.” from the competition, salespeople must excel at these skills.
Customer loyalty is not solely dependent on the quality-price
ratio of products; it is also cultivated through customer
Discussion
relationships. As B2B salespeople spend most of their time
The study aims to explore the current job and performance communicating with customers and internal teams, effective
expectations of B2B salespeople, and predict the future of written and verbal communication is fundamental for cus-
the B2B sales profession on account of the technologies tomer persuasion (Kaski et al. 2017). After communicating
being used today. It provides valuable insights into the attri- an effective proposal, B2B salespeople must lead customers
butes sought by B2B salespeople. Additionally, our data through disciplined negotiation. It is important to establish
analysis emphasizes new ideas for updating sales training clear objectives, identify outcomes, and prepare for alterna-
programs and aligning university curricula with company tive scenarios that may arise during the discussion (Bongers,
skills. Unlike most previous studies that use traditional Schumann, and Schmitz 2021). Thus, business negotiation
research methods such as focus groups, interviews, and skills enable B2B salespeople to demonstrate confidence in
surveys, we conducted a comprehensive content analysis of closing a deal. In other words, a good negotiator does not
job advertisements to provide useful information about easily give in to customer objections and is prepared to
employers’ demands for particular knowledge, skills, and present compelling alternative proposals for buyers to recon-
competencies (Kennan et al. 2009). Previous studies also sider their offer (Koponen, Julkunen, and Asai 2019).
tended to identify broad categories of changes in the sales In addition, the scope of CRM is expanding in B2B sales
profession without providing information about the skills (Lipiäinen 2015). It covers an increasingly wide field that
required to cope with these changes. To fill these research consists of the number of activated channels, means of data
gaps, we examined the skills required of B2B salespeople to collection, and phases of customer life. This broadening of
expand their employability. Although plenty has been said the CRM domain is a consequence of the enrichment of
about the transformations in the sales function, our study available technological tools. This is linked to their capacity
provides, through an empirically derived taxonomy, strong to collect data on individuals and the potential to reconcile
evidence of how these significant changes have affected some user data to unify customer vision (Chatterjee et al. 2021).
sales job types more than others. The specificity and clarity Therefore, B2B sales professionals must understand this
of our taxonomic categories represent an important step dynamic technological environment and bridge the gap
forward in this domain. between technological potential and relational practices. As
The findings of our first study reveal that Sales such, the sales manager grasps issues related to tagging,
Representative is currently the most in-demand job in the database structuring, data reconciliation, and prioritization,
market. According to Levin and Peterson (2016), sales rep- in addition to techniques specific to customer dialogue
resentatives in a B2B context create prospect lists from pri- media and Business Intelligence (Dyché and Levy 2011). At
mary databases of current and prior customers, as well as the personal level, a lack of motivation in B2B salespeople
prospects previously disqualified during the selling process. will not generate good sales and, in turn, will affect the
Sales representatives conduct prospect evaluations by exam- financial health of the business (Lai et al. 2019). Therefore,
ining whether their prospects possess the authority, means, it is essential for salespeople to stay motivated to remain
and desire to buy. Sales representatives also focus on devel- productive and generate a satisfactory number of sales.
oping relationships that extend beyond sales by supporting Our analysis indicates the top responsibilities recruiters
the exchange relationships that follow. seek in B2B sales positions. The main responsibilities of
As mentioned in Study 1, sales training and coaching B2B salespeople seem to converge into a new hybrid type.
positions were mentioned in 14.15% of the job B2B digital selling, spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, is
a priority for most companies. Transitioning to a mindset needed to keep the sales process running smoothly (Czinkota
that accommodates the new digitally focused customer et al. 2021). The goal is to identify inefficiencies that prevent
means completely rethinking the skills expected of sales the achievement of key objectives and to implement sales
teams. B2B sales professionals are required to adopt new strategies to resolve these issues. Sales operation managers
tools, channels, and customer interaction strategies to adapt use this knowledge to assign responsibilities to appropriate
their sales activities to customer buying practices and personnel, prepare for risk management, and effectively allo-
information-gathering needs (Singh et al. 2019). To improve cate resources. Our interviewees also revealed that sales
online sales strategies, general sales managers and other intelligence in the future of B2B sales is intimately linked
sales executives must consider lead enablement, relationship to the needs of a company. For a sales force to gain effi-
management, and business development. ciency, the major goal of sales intelligence is to provide a
The contemporary taxonomy of sales positions presented sales team with the necessary information to prospect and
in our study provides a compelling picture of the true nature to immediately expose exploitable purchase intentions
of sales jobs and their associated activities. Based on our (Kuester and Rauch 2016). In the context of globalization,
results, the sales function has been transformed beyond its sales intelligence has become an essential element of com-
essential past. The emphasis today is on relationship selling, petitiveness in companies worldwide. Companies use this
which is driven and facilitated by technology, social media, modern tool to anticipate and detect new changes in their
and data analysis. “Sales Analyst” is a new taxonomical sales business environment (customers, products, competitors,
category that emerged from our study. Currently, sales ana- suppliers, prices, etc.), enabling their B2B sales teams to
lytics is identified as an important tool that enables sales become proactive (Itani, Agnihotri, and Dingus 2017).
teams to improve their quality of productivity and growth
(Hallikainen, Savimäki, and Laukkanen 2020). The sales
analyst’s role is to evaluate a company’s sales data to con- Conclusion
tribute to sales management decision-making and business
development. By regularly monitoring sales KPIs (volumes, This study contributes to the multidisciplinary character and
revenues, and margins), sales analysts can identify deviations hybrid task structure of the B2B sales profession, which
from forecasts, anticipate difficulties, and provide useful uses technology, communication, and marketing. B2B sales
indications of increasing sales. The main task of sales ana- roles are expected to continue, expand, and evolve over
lysts is to collect and analyze data relevant to sales by chan- time, along with technological evolution. To prepare future
nel, product, brand, and geographical area (depending on salespeople, this study reveals the necessary qualifications
the type of business and organization of the sales network). and skillsets for sales positions and demonstrates positive
Sales analyst reports are used to provide the sales force and prospects for new graduates interested in sales. The skills
top management with useful recommendations to improve and qualifications outlined in this study may be useful for
overall sales performance and guide the decision-making sales practitioners’ pursuit of professionalism in a compet-
process of the sales, marketing, production, procurement, itive market. Proficiency in general computing software and
finance, and control departments (Tsoumakas 2019). data analytics is an example of advantageous skills for sales
Our third study focuses on the future of the B2B sales practitioners. New-generation salespeople must be aware of
profession. The findings reveal the emergence of three the latest trends in the industry. To do so, new technologies
important areas of B2B selling: digital prospecting, operation should be used to analyze consumer behavior and anticipate
management, and sales intelligence. Digital prospecting aims purchasing needs. Sales prospecting will be more connected
to attract and engage prospects through the Internet; It as sales representatives increasingly use advanced digital and
entails taking advantage of digital technology for prospecting social strategies to produce more leads and commercial
strategies (Fraccastoro, Gabrielsson, and Pullins 2021). transactions. Salespeople are expected to accompany the
Digital prospecting is an essential part of the purchasing customer during the complete buying process while main-
process. Therefore, it is critical for managers to not neglect taining an advisory posture. Faced with the business oppor-
the evolution of sales techniques that have emerged with tunities offered by big data and inbound marketing,
digital prospecting (Chaker et al. 2022). Digital prospecting salespeople will also have to learn to organize the informa-
is termed “finding customers through the Internet,” whether tion at hand and convert it to real sales.
on social networks (social selling) or through natural ref- Based on the findings of our third study, higher employee
erencing, webinars, and so on. (Fraccastoro, Gabrielsson, attrition is expected within the sales teams. Therefore, com-
and Pullins 2021). Digital prospecting can reach a very large panies are required to develop creative and data-driven
audience at a reasonable cost, unlike, for instance, the tele- motivation programs that can help sales managers interpret
phone with its volume impediments. Moreover, sales oper- big data and analyses and make better decisions. Companies
ations refer to the plans and strategies available for sales also need to invest in capacity development programs
management for a thorough understanding of the sales because our study shows that salespeople are expected to
team’s working elements. This includes the role of the work- grow personally in their current jobs. It is also recom-
force, equipment used, and workflows required to improve mended that companies recruit candidates based on their
the value of a sales team. attitude. Indicatively, candidates who pass the attitude test
Sales operations management allows sales managers to are in the right mindset to learn, develop new skills, and
oversee project management and allocate the resources contribute to the future of the company.
Our findings will be of interest to business schools, sales References

centers, and institutes with professional programs that aim
Agnihotri, Raj, Fernando Jaramillo, and Jay Mulki. 2021. “From Sales
to develop the skills required by sales employers. Based on Force Automation to Digital Transformation: How Social Media,
our results, we conclude that the role of a sales analyst is Social CRM, and Artificial Intelligence Technologies Are Influencing
becoming more and more important in today’s data-driven the Sales Process.” A Research Agenda for Sales: 21–47. doi:
business environment The growth in data availability and 10.4337/9781788975315.00009.
Agnihotri, R., P. Kothandaraman, R. Kashyap, and R. Singh. 2012.
the increasing importance of data-driven decision-making
“Bringing ‘Social’ into Sales: The Impact of Salespeople’s Social
in companies has led to a greater need for sales analysts. Media Use on Service Behaviors and Value Creation.” Journal of
These professionals are responsible for analyzing sales data, Personal Selling & Sales Management 32 (3):333–48. doi: 10.2753/
identifying trends and patterns, and providing insights and PSS0885-3134320304.
recommendations to improve sales performance and revenue. Ahearne, M., R. Jelinek, and E. Jones. 2007. “Examining the Effect of
Salesperson Service Behavior in a Competitive Context.” Journal of
They often work closely with sales managers to provide
the Academy of Marketing Science 35 (4):603–16. doi: 10.1007/
actionable insights and support decision-making processes. s11747-006-0013-1.
Integrating analytics into sales education programs will pro- Alvarez, C. M., K. A. Taylor, and N. A. Rauseo. 2015. “Creating
vide students with a competitive advantage when they enter Thoughtful Salespeople: Experiential Learning to Improve Critical
the job market. By equipping students with knowledge and Thinking Skills in Traditional and Online Sales Education.” Marketing
Education Review 25 (3):233–43. doi: 10.1080/10528008.2015.1044859.
skills in sales analytics, they will be better prepared to use
Andzulis, J. M., N. G. Panagopoulos, and A. Rapp. 2012. “A Review
data in their future careers. Sales educators can teach the of Social Media and Implications for the Sales Process.” Journal of
key concepts and techniques in sales analytics, such as data Personal Selling & Sales Management 32 (3):305–16. doi: 10.2753/
visualization, forecasting, and customer segmentation. They PSS0885-3134320302.
also need to train students on relevant software, such as Aronson, J. 1995. “A Pragmatic View of Thematic Analysis.” The
Qualitative Report 2 (1):1–3.
Python, Tableau, or R, in order to help them acquire the
Badrinarayanan, V., A. Dixon, V. L. West, and G. M. Zank. 2015.
necessary technical skills to analyze data. “Professional Sales Coaching: An Integrative Review and Research
By reporting on our study limitations, we suggest areas Agenda.” European Journal of Marketing 49 (7/8):1087–113. doi:
for further investigation. First, potential biases may arise 10.1108/EJM-06-2014-0368.
from relying on a single data source. Although searching Bongers, F. M., J. H. Schumann, and C. Schmitz. 2021. “How the
Introduction of Digital Sales Channels Affects Salespeople in
for advertisements on the Internet is the most common
Business-to-Business Contexts: A Qualitative Inquiry.” Journal of
strategy used by recruiters, it is not the only tool for secur- Personal Selling & Sales Management 41 (2):150–66. doi:
ing work. Future studies should consider other methods for 10.1080/08853134.2021.1906260.
securing jobs and developing a scale of sales market read- Chaker, N. N., E. L. Nowlin, M. T. Pivonka, O. S. Itani, and R.
iness. Given our study limitations, we acknowledge possible Agnihotri. 2022. “Inside Sales Social Media Use and Its Strategic
Implications for Salesperson-Customer Digital Engagement and
differences across geographical contexts. Companies’ per-
Performance.” Industrial Marketing Management 100:127–44. doi:
ceptions and needs, along with the nature of jobs and the 10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.10.006.
competencies they require, may also vary by country. Other Chatterjee, S., R. Chaudhuri, D. Vrontis, A. Thrassou, and S. K. Ghosh.
geographical contexts should be incorporated into our data 2021. “Adoption of Artificial Intelligence-Integrated CRM Systems
to build on this exploratory study. Our study sheds light in Agile Organizations in India.” Technological Forecasting and Social
Change 168:120783. doi: 10.1016/j.techfore.2021.120783.
on the indicators of market readiness that future research
Chuang, S. 2020. “Co-Creating Social Media Agility to Build Strong
can benefit from. Furthermore, future research could use a Customer-Firm Relationships.” Industrial Marketing Management
larger sample size, as the sample in our second study com- 84:202–11. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2019.06.012.
prised only 380 B2B sales practitioners. The sample also Czinkota, M. R., M. Kotabe, D. Vrontis, and S. M. Shams. 2021.
includes practitioners known to the authors. There are lim- “Selling and Sales Management.” In Marketing Management, 649–93.
Cham: Springer.
itations to using this sampling strategy – for instance, lack
Dillon, W. R., and M. Goldstein. 1984. Multivariate Analysis: Methods
of generalizability and possible sample bias. Notwithstanding and Applications. New York, NY: Wiley.
these limitations, some valid trends and data can still be Dyché, J., and E. Levy. 2011. Customer Data Integration: Reaching a
achieved for this exploratory approach. Future researchers Single Version of the Truth. Vol. 7. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
can base the same study on a different sample to get more Elhajjar, S., S. Karam, and S. Borna. 2021. “Artificial Intelligence in
Marketing Education Programs.” Marketing Education Review 31
generalized results. Finally, given that sales analyst is an
(1):2–13. doi: 10.1080/10528008.2020.1835492.
emerging role in the market, it is critical for future research- Forrester. 2015. Death of (B2B) Salesman. Accessed 3 February 2022.
ers to examine how sales educators can teach sales analytics. https://www.forrester.com/report/Death-Of-A-B2B-Salesman/
RES122288.
Fraccastoro, S., M. Gabrielsson, and E. B. Pullins. 2021. “The Integrated
Note Use of Social Media, Digital, and Traditional Communication Tools
in the B2B Sales Process of International SMEs.” International
1. Note: the 27 participants did not participate in our survey. Business Review 30 (4):101776. doi: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2020.
101776.
Gartner. 2020. The Future of Sales in 2025: A Gartner Trend Insight
Declaration of interest Report. Accessed January 2022. https://www.gartner.com/en/sales/
trends/future-of-sales.
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial Hallikainen, H., E. Savimäki, and T. Laukkanen. 2020. “Fostering B2B
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence Sales with Customer Big Data Analytics.” Industrial Marketing
the work reported in this paper. Management 86:90–8. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2019.12.005.
Hartmann, N. N., and B. Lussier. 2020. “Managing the Sales Force Mattila, M., M. Yrjölä, and P. Hautamäki. 2021. “Digital Transformation
through the Unexpected Exogenous COVID-19 Crisis.” Industrial of Business-to-Business Sales: What Needs to Be Unlearned?” Journal
Marketing Management 88:101–11. doi: 10.1016/j.indmar- of Personal Selling & Sales Management 41 (2):113–29. doi:
man.2020.05.005. 10.1080/08853134.2021.1916396.
Hatcher, L. 1994. A Step-by-Step Approach to Using the SAS System for McCain, K. W. 1990. “Mapping Authors in Intellectual Space: A
Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling. Cary, NC: SAS Technical Overview.” Journal of the American Society for Information
Institute, Inc. Science 41 (6):433–43. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-4571(199009)41:6<4
Hohenschwert, L., and S. Geiger. 2015. “Interpersonal Influence 33::AID-ASI11>3.0.CO;2-Q.
Strategies in Complex B2B Sales and the Socio-Cognitive Minsky, L., and K. Quesenberry. 2016. “How B2B Sales Can Benefit
Construction of Relationship Value.” Industrial Marketing Management from Social Selling.” Accessed 15 February 2022. https://hbr.org/20
49:139–50. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.05.027. 16/11/84-of-b2b-sales-start-with-a-referral-not-a-salesperson.
Homburg, C., J. Wieseke, and C. Kuehnl. 2010. “Social Influence on Moncrief, W. C.III. 1986. “Selling Activity and Sales Position
Salespeople’s Adoption of Sales Technology: A Multilevel Analysis.” Taxonomies for Industrial Salesforces.” Journal of Marketing Research
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 38 (2):159–68. doi: 23 (3):261–70. doi: 10.1177/002224378602300306.
10.1007/s11747-009-0157-x. Moncrief, W. C., G. W. Marshall, and F. G. Lassk. 2006. “A
Hunter, G. K., and W. D. Perreault, Jr. 2007. “Making Sales Technology Contemporary Taxonomy of Sales Positions.” Journal of Personal
Effective.” Journal of Marketing 71 (1):16–34. doi: 10.1509/ Selling & Sales Management 26 (1):55–65. doi: 10.2753/
jmkg.71.1.016. PSS0885-3134260105.
Itani, O. S., R. Agnihotri, and R. Dingus. 2017. “Social Media Use in Newton, D. A. 1973. Sales Force Performance and Turnover. Vol. 73.
B2b Sales and Its Impact on Competitive Intelligence Collection Marketing Science Institute.
and Adaptive Selling: Examining the Role of Learning Orientation Nguyen, C. A., Artis, A. B., Plank, R. E., & Solomon, P. J. 2019.
as an Enabler.” Industrial Marketing Management 66:64–79. doi: “Dimensions of effective sales coaching: Scale development and
10.1016/j.indmarman.2017.06.012. validation.” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 39
Johlke, M. C. 2006. “Sales Presentation Skills and Salesperson Job (3):299–315.
Performance.” Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing 21 (5):311– Peesker, K. M., P. D. Kerr, W. Bolander, L. J. Ryals, J. A. Lister, and
9. doi: 10.1108/08858620610681614. H. F. Dover. 2022. “Hiring for Sales Success: The Emerging
Kaski, T. A., P. Hautamaki, E. B. Pullins, and H. Kock. 2017. “Buyer Importance of Salesperson Analytical Skills.” Journal of Business
versus Salesperson Expectations for an Initial B2B Sales Meeting.” Research 144:17–30. doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.01.070.
Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing 32 (1):46–56. doi: Provalis. 2006. SimStat (V2.5.5), WordStat (V5.1.8). [Computer Software].
10.1108/JBIM-12-2015-0246. Montreal, Canada: Provalis Research.
Kennan, M. A., Willard, P., Cecez-Kecmanovic, D., & Wilson, C. S. Rangarajan, D., A. Sharma, T. Lyngdoh, and B. Paesbrugghe. 2021.
2009. “IS knowledge and skills sought by employers: A content “Business-to-Business Selling in the post-COVID-19 Era: Developing
analysis of Australian IS early career online job advertisements.” an Adaptive Sales Force.” Business Horizons 64 (5):647–58. doi:
Australasian Journal of Information Systems 15 (2). 10.1016/j.bushor.2021.02.030.
Koponen, J., S. Julkunen, and A. Asai. 2019. “Sales Communication Rapp, A., R. Agnihotri, T. L. Baker, and J. M. Andzulis. 2015.
Competence in International B2B Solution Selling.” Industrial “Competitive Intelligence Collection and Use by Sales and Service
Marketing Management 82:238–52. doi: 10.1016/j.indmar- Representatives: How Managers’ Recognition and Autonomy
man.2019.01.009. Moderate Individual Performance.” Journal of the Academy of
Kuester, S., & Rauch, A. 2016. “A job demands-resources perspective Marketing Science 43 (3):357–74. doi: 10.1007/s11747-014-0384-7.
on salespersons’ market intelligence activities in new product de- Reibstein, D. J., G. Day, and J. Wind. 2009. “Guest Editorial: Is
velopment.” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 36 Marketing Academia Losing Its Way?” Journal of Marketing 73
(1):19–39. (4):1–3. doi: 10.1509/jmkg.73.4.1.
Lai, C. J., & Gelb, B. D. 2019. “Another look at motivating–and re- Rodríguez, R., G. Svensson, and E. J. Mehl. 2020. “Digitalization
taining–salespeople.” Journal of Business Strategy 40 (4):11–17. Process of Complex B2B Sales Processes–Enablers and Obstacles.”
Lassk, F. G., T. N. Ingram, F. Kraus, and R. D. Mascio. 2012. “The Technology in Society 62:101324. doi: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101324.
Future of Sales Training: Challenges and Related Research Questions.” San-Martín, S., and C. Camarero. 2018. “How Can E-Vendors Create
Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 32 (1):141–54. doi: Trust in B2C and C2C Contexts?” In Mobile Commerce: Concepts,
10.2753/PSS0885-3134320112. Methodologies, Tools, and Applications, 1390–412. Pennsylvania: IGI
Levin, M. A., and L. T. Peterson. 2016. “A Sales Representative is Global.
Made: An Innovative Sales Course.” Marketing Education Review 26 Sharma, A., D. Rangarajan, and B. Paesbrugghe. 2020. “Increasing
(1):39–44. doi: 10.1080/10528008.2015.1091671. Resilience by Creating an Adaptive Salesforce.” Industrial Marketing
Lilien, G. L. 2016. “The B2B Knowledge Gap.” International Journal of Management 88:238–46. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.05.023.
Research in Marketing 33 (3):543–56. doi: 10.1016/j.ijres- Singh, J., K. Flaherty, R. S. Sohi, D. Deeter-Schmelz, J. Habel, K. Le
mar.2016.01.003. Meunier-FitzHugh, A. Malshe, R. Mullins, and V. Onyemah. 2019.
Lipiäinen, H., and S. M. 2015. “CRM in the Digital Age: Implementation “Sales Profession and Professionals in the Age of Digitization and
of CRM in Three Contemporary B2B Firms.” Journal of Systems and Artificial Intelligence Technologies: Concepts, Priorities, and
Information Technology 17 (1):2–19. doi: 10.1108/JSIT-06-2014-0044. Questions.” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 39
Lockyer, S., A. Coffey, P. Atkinson, J. Fielding, A. Strauss, A. Strauss, (1):2–22. doi: 10.1080/08853134.2018.1557525.
and J. Corbin. 2004. “Coding Qualitative Data.” In The Sage Singh, R., N. Kumar, and S. Puri. 2017. “Thought Self-Leadership
Encyclopaedia of Social Science Research Methods, vol. 1, 137–8. Strategies and Sales Performance: Integrating Selling Skills and
California: SAGE Publications. Adaptive Selling Behavior as Missing Links.” Journal of Business &
Luo, A., and V. Kumar. 2013. “Recovering Hidden Buyer–Seller Industrial Marketing 32 (5):652–63. doi: 10.1108/JBIM-06-2016-0127.
Relationship States to Measure the Return on Marketing Investment Singh, V. L., A. K. Manrai, and L. A. Manrai. 2015. “Sales Training:
in Business-to-Business Markets.” Journal of Marketing Research 50 A State of the Art and Contemporary Review.” Journal of Economics,
(1):143–60. doi: 10.1509/jmr.11.0295. Finance and Administrative Science 20 (38):54–71. doi: 10.1016/j.
Marshall, G. W., W. C. Moncrief, J. M. Rudd, and N. Lee. 2012. jefas.2015.01.001.
“Revolution in Sales: The Impact of Social Media and Related Sleep, S., A. L. Dixon, T. DeCarlo, and S. K. Lam. 2020. “The
Technology on the Selling Environment.” Journal of Personal Selling Business-to-Business Inside Sales Force: Roles, Configurations and
& Sales Management 32 (3):349–63. doi: 10.2753/ Research Agenda.” European Journal of Marketing 54 (5):1025–60.
PSS0885-3134320305. doi: 10.1108/EJM-06-2018-0416.
Steward, M. D., B. A. Walker, M. D. Hutt, and A. Kumar. 2010. “The Thaichon, P., J. Surachartkumtonkun, S. Quach, S. Weaven, and R. W.
Coordination Strategies of High-Performing Salespeople: Internal Palmatier. 2018. “Hybrid Sales Structures in the Age of e-Commerce.”
Working Relationships That Drive Success.” Journal of the Academy Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 38 (3):277–302. doi:
of Marketing Science 38 (5):550–66. doi: 10.1007/s11747-009- 10.1080/08853134.2018.1441718.
0170-0. Trumfio, G., and J. W. Keenan. 1994. “Picking the Cream of the Crop.”
Syam, N., and A. Sharma. 2018. “Waiting for a Sales Renaissance in Sales & Marketing Management 146 (3):34.
the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Machine Learning and Artificial Tsoumakas, Grigorios. 2019. “A Survey of Machine Learning Techniques
Intelligence in Sales Research and Practice.” Industrial Marketing for Food Sales Prediction.” Artificial Intelligence Review 52 (1):441–
Management 69:135–46. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2017.12.019. 447. doi: 10.1007/s10462-018-9637-z.
Appendix: Characteristics of our sample
Years of
Interviewee number Gender Age Occupation Location Sector experience
Interviewee 1 Male 36 Sales Manager Australia Technology 15 years
Interviewee 2 Male 49 Regional Sales Manager Australia Financial Services 26 years
Interviewee 3 Male 57 Area Sales Manager Australia Consulting 31 years
Interviewee 4 Female 29 Regional Sales Manager Australia Media/Advertising 6 years
Interviewee 5 Male 44 Regional Sales Manager Australia Manufacturing 14 years
Interviewee 6 Female 28 Sales Manager Australia Healthcare 5 years
Interviewee 7 Female 53 Regional Sales Manager Australia Financial Services 30 years
Interviewee 8 Female 56 Sales Manager Australia Financial Services 35 years
Interviewee 9 Female 40 Area Sales Manager Australia F&B 16 years
Interviewee 10 Male 38 Sales Manager Singapore Technology 15 years
Interviewee 11 Male 39 Sales Manager Singapore Financial Services 12 years
Interviewee 12 Male 49 Sales Manager Singapore Financial Services 23 years
Interviewee 13 Male 33 Sales Manager Singapore Technology 10 years
Interviewee 14 Female 45 Sales Executive Singapore Technology 20 years
Interviewee 15 Female 39 Regional Sales Manager Singapore Technology 12 years
Interviewee 16 Female 27 Area Sales Manager Singapore F&B 5 years
Interviewee 17 Female 49 Sales Executive Singapore Technology 26 years
Interviewee 18 Male 58 Sales Manager Singapore Retail 30 years
Interviewee 19 Male 52 Sales Manager France Healthcare 24 years
Interviewee 20 Female 61 Sales Manager France Financial Services 35 years
Interviewee 21 Female 42 Area Sales Manager France Manufacturing 14 years
Interviewee 22 Male 30 Sales Manager France Technology 10 years
Interviewee 23 Male 47 Sales Manager France Manufacturing 19 years
Interviewee 24 Male 54 Regional Sales Manager France Technology 25 years
Interviewee 25 Male 27 Area Sales Manager Lebanon Financial Services 5 years
Interviewee 26 Male 39 Regional Sales Manager Lebanon F&B 15 years
Interviewee 27 Female 32 Sales Executive Lebanon Technology 11 years
Interviewee 28 Female 48 Sales Manager Lebanon Consulting 25 years
Interviewee 29 Female 56 Regional Sales Manager U.S.A Technology 30 years
Interviewee 30 Male 50 Regional Sales Manager U.S.A F&B 25 years
Interviewee 31 Male 27 Sales Manager U.S.A Technology 5 years
Interviewee 32 Female 36 Regional Sales Manager U.S.A Retail 15 years
Interviewee 33 Female 34 Sales Manager U.S.A Technology 10 years
View publication stats

Thepresentandfutureofthe B2 Bsalesprofession 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Thepresentandfutureofthe B2 Bsalesprofession 1

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Thepresentandfutureofthe B2 Bsalesprofession 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

The present and future of the B2B sales profession

Article in Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management · March 2023

Samer Elhajjar Laurent Yacoub

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rpss20

The present and future of the B2B sales profession

Samer Elhajjar, Laurent Yacoub & Fadila Ouaida

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/08853134.2023.2183214

Published online: 03 Mar 2023.

Submit your article to this journal

View related articles

View Crossmark data

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

The present and future of the B2B sales profession

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Introduction transformation of sales work means that both simple and

Job titles Required skills and personal characteristics

Table 6. Results of cluster analysis.

Study 3 – the future of the B2B sales profession Findings of Study 3

Our findings will be of interest to business schools, sales References

Appendix: Characteristics of our sample

View publication stats

You might also like