Title: Horses for courses: B2B salesperson performance: the role of their characteristics and promotion efforts

Authors: Mohsen Akbari; Saeed Moradipour

Addresses: Department of Management, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Guilan, 5th Kilometer of Persian Gulf Highway, Rasht, Guilan Province, Iran ' Department of Management, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Guilan, 5th Kilometer of Persian Gulf Highway, Rasht, Guilan Province, Iran

Abstract: Although few studies have investigated effective factors in B2B salesperson performance, neither the simultaneous organisational and characteristics dimensions in the B2B market nor the effects of promotion efforts and salesperson characteristics dimensions on B2B salesperson performance, have been investigated. Therefore, this paper mainly aims to investigate the effects of promotion efforts and the B2B salespeople's characteristics on their performance. To collect and analyse data, the questionnaire and structural equation modelling (SEM) are used. Participants include 108 Iranian B2B sellers selling dairy products to retailers. The results demonstrated that the company's promotion efforts (including effective advertisement and effective sales promotion) and salesperson's characteristics (including customer lifetime value orientation, coachability, customer orientation, and sales experience) can enhance B2B salesperson performance. Besides, this research provides constructive suggestions for the companies to boost their B2B salesperson performance.

Keywords: effective sales promotion; B2B salesperson performance; dairy; customer lifetime value orientation; coachability; customer orientation; sales experience.

DOI: 10.1504/MEJM.2021.116440

Middle East Journal of Management, 2021 Vol.8 No.4, pp.297 - 318

Received: 07 Mar 2020
Accepted: 17 May 2020
Published online: 26 Jul 2021 *

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