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As multichannel strategies and digitization continue to change the landscape of business-to-business (B2B) markets, including increasing the complexity of personal selling, the productivity of salespeople has remained an important challenge (Lawrence et al., 2019; Paesbrugghe et al., 2017). CSO Insights (2017) show that in recent years, the percentage of salespersons making quota has decreased from 63 to 53 per cent. On the other hand, reports also show that the majority of top sales performers are spending more time using sales technology such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), citing sales technology as critical to their success for closing more deals (LinkedIn, 2018). In light of this context, Paesbrugghe et al. (2017) underscore the critical need for both academics and practitioners to uncover factors that could enhance salesperson productivity. Further, in prioritizing top directions for future research that addresses technological changes in selling, scholars stress that the human element of sales continues to be critically important in selling, and that applying new lenses to established research streams can generate novel theoretical and practical applications (Flaherty et al., 2018).
Pervasive in the research streams and models that have created the canon of sales effectiveness is the belief in the importance of buying center members’ individual “personality” (Johnston and Lewin, 1996; Bonoma and Shapiro, 1983; Sheth, 1973; Robinson and Faris, 1967; Webster and Wind, 1972). The contingency model – which emphasizes the importance of tailoring sales approaches to specific sales situations (Weitz, 1981; Weitz et al., 1986) – posits that sales effectiveness can best be understood by investigating the interactions among sales behaviors; resources of the salesperson; the nature of the customer’s buying task; and characteristics of the salesperson and customer (Kohli, 1989; Porter et al., 2003). Although previous research has demonstrated a link between B2B purchaser characteristics such as age and how buyers make decisions (da Silva et al., 2002), testing how purchaser characteristics influence sales effectiveness has remained challenging in a buying center context, perhaps because of limitations of acquiring buying center member-level personal data. As Bonoma and Shapiro (1983) identify, “individuals do not wear nametags asserting their psychological makeup.” In light of this challenge and in recognition of an enduring call from Weitz (1981) to continuously update the contingency model,...