The sales function in the twenty‐first century: where are we and where do we go from here?

Abstract

PurposeThis article aims to position current sales research in relation to what academics perceive as important future research areas for sales theory and practice. It makes the argument that after a 20‐year period of rapid growth and almost a decade of a transition phase, sales research is now a mature area of academic inquiry. The paper seeks to highlights gaps in current knowledge and promising avenues for future sales research endeavours.Design/methodology/approachThe article is based on a survey of European sales academics; answers are mapped in matrices demonstrating fields of importance against research volume per subject over the past 20 years.FindingsWhile sales research has made many theoretical and managerial inroads, there are still areas where research efforts would greatly enhance both practitioner and academic knowledge.Research limitations/implicationsResearchers should focus their efforts on the highlighted areas, taking particular account of the interplay between sales and finance/accounting. This would allow researchers to address such issues as budgeting and forecasting more systematically than had been done heretofore.Originality/valueThe article combines perceptual data with Williams and Plouffe's meta‐analysis of published sales research to deliver a comprehensive and actionable picture of the state of sales research.