Team selling: a review, implications, and an agenda for sales team research

Abstract

Today’s business organizations are faced with increased competition and growing customer expectations which require varying approaches to market opportunities. These opportunities necessitate that organizational decision makers determine how to allocate resources based on the potential of the opportunity. Human capital is arguably the most important resource within an organization and many firms have moved from a single salesperson model to a team selling modality. While the adoption of a sales team approach has been growing in practice for decades, academic research has not kept pace with the changes in the field. The intent of this team selling literature review is to: 1) define team selling, 2) review recent and relevant literature that focuses on team selling both within and outside of the marketing discipline, 3) identify themes evident in the current team selling research, and 4) outline promising areas for future investigations that stem from each research theme.