Choreographing salesperson face-to-face visits with a buyer organization: a social network perspective

Salesperson face-to-face visits with buyer organizations are an inherently dynamic phenomenon and choreographing changes in those visits is important for a salesperson to identify and pursue sales opportunities. Drawing on social network theory and adopting a novel within-tie change perspective, we provide guidance regarding salesperson choreographing. We do so by focusing on how often a salesperson visits a buyer organization (i.e., change in visit intensity, visit intensity trend, duration of relations) and the functions a salesperson visits in a buyer organization (i.e., change in diversity of visited functions, change in visit concentration on top-management). Our model of salesperson choreographing is tested using data from 2934 salesperson-buyer organization relationships over seven consecutive sales periods. Random coefficient models illustrate the complex and nuanced interplay of various aspects of salesperson choreographing on sales with a buyer organization. The findings provide actionable guidance for salespeople to better manage the choreographing of limited visits.
Author(s): Sebastian Forkmann [sup.1] , Ryan Mullins [sup.2] , Stephan C. Henneberg [sup.3] , Thomas L. Baker [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.411015.0, 0000 0001 0727 7545, Culverhouse College of Business, [...]