Abstract
The objective of this article is to discuss the performance of B2B sales strategy in the context of social media. Four components of sales strategy, customer segmentation, customer prioritization and targeting, relationship objectives and selling models, and uses of multiple sales channels are examined to assess their impacts on sales performance. In addition, three dimensions of social media usage, competitive intelligence, engagement, and word of mouth are explored as moderating factors that impact the relationships between sales strategy components and sales performance outcomes.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agnihotri, R., Kothandaraman, P., Kashyap, R., & Singh, R. (2012). Bringing “social” into sales: the impact of salespeople’s social media uses on service behavior and value creation. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 32(3), 333–348.
Ahearne, M., Srinivasan, N., & Weinstein, L. (2010). Effect of technology on sales performance: progressing from technology acceptance to technology usage and consequence. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 24(4), 297–310.
Ahearne, M., Jelinek, R., & Rapp, A. (2005). Moving beyond the direct effect of SFA adoption on salesperson performance: Training and support as key moderating factors. Industrial Marketing Management, 34(4), 379–388.
Ahearne, M., Jones, E., Rapp, A., & Mathieu, J. (2008). High touch through high tech: The impact of salesperson technology usage on sales performance via mediating mechanism. Management Science, 54(4), 671–685.
Andzulis, J., Panagopoulos, N. G., & Rapp, A. (2012). A review of social media and implications for the sales process. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 32(3), 305–316.
Bristor, J. M. (1992). Influence strategies in organizational buying: the importance of connections to the right people in the right places. Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, 1(1), 63–98.
Brodie, R. J., Hollebeek, L. D., Juric, B., & Ilic, A. (2011). Customer engagement: conceptual domain, fundamental propositions, and implications for research. Journal of Service Research, 14(3), 252–271.
Chevalier, J. A., & Mayzlin, D. (2006). The effect of word of mouth on sales: online book reviews. Journal of Marketing Research, 43(3), 345–354.
Chu, S. C., & Kim, Y. (2011). Determinants of consumer engagement in electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in social networking sites. International Journal of Advertising, 30(1), 47–75.
Cohen, D. (2013, July 24). AllFacebook. Retrieved from http://allfacebook.com/2q-2013_b122375
Coombs, W. T., & Holladay, S. J. (2007). The negative communication dynamic: Exploring the impact of stakeholder affect on behavioral intentions. Journal of Communication Management, 11(4), 300–312.
Culnan, M. J., McHugh, P. J., & Zubillaga, J. I. (2010). How large U.S. companies can use twitter and other social media to gain business value. MIS Quarterly Executive, 9(4), 243–259.
Erffmeyer, R. C., & Johnson, D. A. (2001). An exploratory study of sales force automation practices: expectation and realities. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 21(2), 167–175.
Fournier, S., & Avery, J. (2011). The uninvited brand. Business Horizons, 54(3), 193–207.
Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68.
Inks, S. A., Schetzsle, S., & Avila, R. A. (2012). Exploring the use of business social networking tools in sales: current perception and future expectations. Marketing Management Journal, 22(1), 1–16.
Lane, N. (2009). Searching for strategy in sales. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 17(3–4), 191–197.
Larson, K. & Watson, R. (2011). The value of social media: toward measuring social media strategies. ICIS 2011 Proceedings. Paper 10. Retrieved from http://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2011/proceedings/onlinecommunity/10.
Liang, T. P., & Turban, E. (2011). Introduction to the special issue social commerce: a research framework for social commerce. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 16(2), 5–14.
Mangold, W. G., & Faulds, D. J. (2009). Social media: the new hybrid element of the promotion mix. Business Horizons, 52(4), 357–365.
Miller, R. B., & Heiman, S. E., & Tuleja, T. (2005). The New Strategic Selling. Kogan Page.
Miniwatts Marketing Group. (2012, June 30). Internet World Stats. Retrieved from http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
Moore, J. N., Hopkins, C. D., & Raymond, M. A. (2013). Utilization of relationship-oriented social media in the selling process: a comparison of consumer (B2C) and industrial (B2B) salespeople. Journal of Internet Commerce, 12(1), 48–75.
Moriarty, R. T., Jr., & Spekman, R. E. (1984). An empirical investigation of the information sources used during the industrial buying process. Journal of Marketing Research, 21(2), 137–147.
Panagopoulos, N. G., & Avlonitis, G. J. (2010). Performance implications of sales strategy: the moderating effects of leadership and environment. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 27(1), 46–57.
Pentina, I., & Koh, A. C. (2012). Exploring social media marketing strategies in SMEs. International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, 7(4), 292–310.
Pentina, I., Koh, A. C., & Le, T. T. (2012). Adoption of social networks marketing by SMEs: exploring the role of social influences and experience in technology acceptance. International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, 7(1), 65–82.
Piercy, N. F. (2006). The strategic sales organization. The Marketing Review, 6(1), 3–28.
Pitt, L., van der Merwe, R., Berthon, P., Salehi-Sangari, E., & Caruana, A. (2006). Global alliance networks: a comparison of biotech SMEs in Sweden and Australia. Industrial Marketing Management, 35(5), 600–610.
Prins, R., & Verhoef, P. C. (2007). Marketing communication drivers of adoption timing of a new e-service among existing customers. Journal of Marketing, 71(2), 169–183.
Rapp, A., Agnihotri, R., & Forbes, L. P. (2008). The sales force technology performance chain: the role of adaptive selling and effort. The Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 28(4), 355–350.
Rapp, A., Agnihotri, R., & Baker, T. L. (2011). Conceptualizing salesperson competitive intelligence: an individual-level perspective. The Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 31(2), 141–156.
Rapp, A., & Panagopoulos, N. G. (2012). Perspectives on personal selling and social media: introduction to the special issue. The Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 32(3), 301–304.
Reinartz, W. J., Thomas, J. S., & Kumar, R. V. (2005). Balancing acquisition and retention resources to maximize customer profitability. Journal of Marketing, 69(1), 63–79.
Rodriguez, M., Peterson, R. M., & Krishnan, V. (2012). Social media’s influence on business-to-business sales performance. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 32(3), 365–378.
Schultz, R., Schwebker, C. H., & Good, D. J. (2012). An exploratory study of social media in business-to-business selling : salesperson characteristics, activities and performance. Marketing Management Journal, 22(2), 76–89.
Simula, H., & Vuori, M. (2012). Benefits and barriers of crowdsourcing in B2B firms: generating ideas with internal and external crowds. International Journal of Innovation Management, 16(6), 1–19.
Stephen, A. T., & Galak, J. (2012). The effects of traditional and social earned media on sales: a study of a microlending marketplace. Journal of Marketing Research, 49(5), 624–639.
Tanner, J. F., Jr., Ahearne, M., Leigh, T. W., Mason, C. H., & Moncrief, W. C. (2005). CRM in sales-intensive organizations: a review and future direction. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 25(2), 169–180.
Trusov, M., Bucklin, R. E., & Pauwels, K. (2009). Effects of word-of-mouth versus traditional marketing: findings from an internet social networking site. Journal of Marketing, 73(5), 90–102.
Van Doorn, J., Lemon, K. N., Mittal, V., Nass, S., Pick, D., Pirner, P., & Verhoef, P. C. (2010). Customer engagement behavior: theoretical foundations and research directions. Journal of Service Research, 13(3), 253–266.
Villanueva, J., Yoo, S., & Hanssens, D. M. (2008). The impact of marketing-induced versus word-of-mouth customer acquisition on customer equity growth. Journal of Marketing Research, 45(1), 48–59.
Wangenheim, F. V., & Bayón, T. (2007). The chain from customer satisfaction via word-of-mouth referrals to new customer acquisition. Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, 35(2), 233–249.
Webster, F. E., Jr., & Wind, Y. (1972). A general model for understanding organizational buying behavior. Journal of Marketing, 36, 12–19.
Weitz, B. A., Sujan, H., & Sujan, M. (1986). Knowledge, motivation, and adaptive-behavior: a framework for improving selling effectiveness. Journal of Marketing, 50, 174–191.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Academy of Marketing Science
About this paper
Cite this paper
Pham, P., Johnson, C. (2017). How Many Fish Does Your “Net” Catch? The Implications of Social Media in Sales Strategy. In: Stieler, M. (eds) Creating Marketing Magic and Innovative Future Marketing Trends. Developments in Marketing Science: Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45596-9_82
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45596-9_82
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-45595-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-45596-9
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)