Was COVID-19 the end of B2B Sales as We Know it? Understanding the New Skills and Competencies of the B2B Salesperson After a Disruption Event Such as COVID-19

• Autores: Jorge Bullemore Campbell, Julián Diaz Tautiva
• Localización: International Journal of Professional Business Review: Int. J. Prof.Bus. Rev., ISSN 2525-3654, ISSN-e 2525-3654, Vol. 8, Nº. 7, 2023 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Continuous publication; e02568)
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine despite Covid-19 pandemic, several companies managed to grow their sales. This leads us to our research questions: what selling competencies make best salespeople post Covid-19 disruption? And, which of the sales competencies make to be most important toward their job performance?   Theoretical framework: The B2B selling abilities post Covid-19 as the subject of this study has been little research by the academy and without a dominant theoretical framework, but rather a partial vision. This article contributes to integrating the scarce academic literature, which, as we demonstrate, is mainly empirical, with a theoretical domain.

      Design/methodology/approach: The use of established generic scales capturing each of the constructs of interest by surveying Key Account Managers in a B2B industry setting. Descriptive statistics, psychometric properties, pairwise correlations, and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) where deployed.

      Findings:  The results suggests that there is a positive direct effect of salesperson bricolage, adaptive selling, resiliency, salesperson' self-efficacy, and psychological flexibility with salesperson post-disruption performance. Lastly, a negative indirect effect is found between learning orientation, salesperson creativity, and salesperson grit.

      Research, Practical & Social implications: The study has focused on the proposal of what are the new sales competencies that B2B key account managers must develop to achieve a better sales performance, so managers must train and coach their B2B Key Account Managers (KAM) considering the new abilities needed (salesperson bricolage, adaptive selling, resiliency, salesperson' self-efficacy, and psychological flexibility) for sales success.

      Originality/value:  The value of this study is a novel effort to understand what skills are needed to succeed in the post Covid-19 B2B selling environment.