Toward a new perspective on salesperson success and motivation: a trifocal framework

Abstract

Recent developments in sales theory and practice have shed light on the increasing complexity of the sales domain, which inspires a reassessment of understanding salespeople’s success and underlying motivational needs. This research adopts a service ecosystem perspective to recognize the complexity faced by salespeople due to their relationships with multiple stakeholders/actors. The study draws on a qualitative research methodology, namely, focus groups, to explore research questions with sales professionals. Findings reveal that, when defining success, salespeople tend to consider three key stakeholders in the selling process: the customer, the firm, and the seller. Thus, the work of salespeople is framed through the lens of an advisor, an entrepreneur, and a personalizer, respectively, and posit that these lenses are linked to distinct motivational needs for identification, territorialization, efficiency, and customization, with each need associated with a set of key enablers. Collectively, these lenses, needs, and enablers comprise a trifocal perspective on salesperson success and motivation that parsimoniously captures the complexity of professional selling while allowing variations due to institutional and personal factors. The study concludes by discussing the theoretical and managerial contributions of this framework, along with outlining some avenues for future research.