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How intrafirm intermediary salespeople connect sales to marketing and product development

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Abstract

This research reveals the ways that salespeople manage intrafirm relationships by acting as intermediaries, connecting intrafirm members that would otherwise be unconnected. Using a two-study, multimethod design, the authors establish that (1) salespeople act as representative intermediaries positioned between peers in sales and those in marketing and product development; (2) the effects of representative positions with marketing and product development on performance are non-linear; and (3) selling-related knowledge moderates representative effects on performance. Representative salespeople act as the exclusive connection between a peer salesperson and a non-sales contact (marketing or product development), controlling non-redundant knowledge to gain influence over their peers. This research contributes to marketing by identifying non-linear effects for how salespeople mediate relationships between their peers and others in key intrafirm functions, and showing that salespeople with high selling-related knowledge realize enhanced effects of the representative position on sales performance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marketing, Fowler College of Business, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182-8239, USA

    Gabriel R. Gonzalez

  2. School of Business, Insper Education and Research Institute, Rua Quatá 300, Vila Olímpia, São Paulo, SP, 04546-042, Brazil

    Danny P. Claro

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  1. Gabriel R. Gonzalez
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  2. Danny P. Claro
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Correspondence to Gabriel R. Gonzalez.

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Gonzalez, G.R., Claro, D.P. How intrafirm intermediary salespeople connect sales to marketing and product development. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 47, 795–814 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-019-00656-8

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