Thirty years of research on salesforce control systems and sales territory designs: An update on progress and research gaps

Abstract

Sales territory design is an important component of a sales organisation as it is associat ed with salesperson incentives, performance, job satisfaction and overall effectiveness of the organisation. Sales literature suggests that salesforce control systems are likely to have a strong impact on sales territory design. Therefore, this study makes an attempt to analyse the impact of two types of salesforce control system, behaviour-based and outcome-based salesforce control systems, on sales territory design and also the impact of sales territory design on salesforce performance and sales organisation effectiveness. The paper is based on a review of studies published between 1987 and 2018, and reveals that a behaviour-based control system is more positively related to satisfaction with sales territory design than an outcome-based salesforce control system. These findings hold important implications for sales organisations as they will help sales managers in choosing the right kind of salesforce control system.