Linking sales force integration into NPD to salesperson retention: toward a systematic framework

Abstract

Retaining talented salespeople is crucial for a company’s survival. One effective strategy for retaining employees is to actively involve them in significant business decisions. Salespeople, however, differ significantly from their colleagues, for example, they are typically highly customer-oriented. Therefore, integrating them into new product development (NPD) may be a potentially valuable approach for firms to retain them. Nonetheless, salesforce integration (SI) into NPD is more intricate than initially thought. It may involve both psychological SI benefits (such as feeling valued or competent) and costs (including potential conflicts with NPD team members or role conflicts), thus differently affecting a salesperson’s willingness to stay with the firm. To learn more about the intriguing link between SI into NPD and salesperson retention, we conducted a qualitative study and applied grounded theory to conceptualize this relationship. We identify key mediators (psychological SI benefits and costs) and moderators (such as company, NPD team, salesperson, procedural, relationship, or product characteristics) that can influence the SI-into-NPD-salesperson-retention connection and develop related, relevant propositions. All of these insights are integrated into a cohesive framework and we present a research agenda to guide future exploration of this critical subject. Furthermore, we derive and discuss implications for both academics and practitioners.