Business‐to‐business (B2B) sellers are increasingly transitioning to hybrid sales structures, by augmenting an in‐person field sales force with a direct online channel. During this transition, sellers frequently experience a cold‐start problem, wherein existing customers are either not acquainted with the online channel or unconvinced of its usefulness and are therefore reluctant to adopt it. To overcome the cold‐start problem, B2B sellers are increasingly relying on online sales pushes, which are efforts to encourage salespeople to nudge customers to adopt the online channel for certain buying tasks. Yet, because salespeople may fear that the online channel adoption jeopardizes the very relationships that they painstakingly built, the salespeople's compliance with an online sales push remains unclear. To glean insight into this dilemma, we empirically investigate an online sales push's impact on salesperson effort (re)allocation and sales performance. Based on an econometric analysis of archival data from a B2B seller and a scenario‐based experiment, we conclude that salespeople generally tend to comply with an online sales push because it frees up their time and allows them to pursue new selling opportunities that have the potential to increase their compensation. The results also indicate that following an online sales push, salespeople expend their effort based on a customer's online proclivity and potential prior to the push. Moreover, the effort expended varies over time and across communication channels. Additionally, the analysis reveals (a) asymmetric carryover and cross‐channel effects of communication effort and sales performance and (b) asymmetric synergistic effects of communication effort on sales performance.
Accenture (2018) On the Verge: B2B Digital Commerce is at an Inflection Point.
2.
AckermannSvon WangenheimF (2014) Behavioral consequences of customer‐initiated channel migration. Journal of Service Research17(3): 262–277.
3.
AlaviS, BöhmE, HabelJ, WiesekeJ, SchmitzCBrüggemannF (2022) The ambivalent role of monetary sales incentives in service innovation selling. Journal of Product Innovation Management39(3): 445–463.
4.
AryaAMittendorfB (2013) The changing face of distribution channels: Partial forward integration and strategic investments. Production and Operations Management22(5): 1077–1088.
5.
AveryJ, SteenburghTJ, DeightonJCaravellaM (2012) Adding bricks to clicks: Predicting the patterns of cross‐channel elasticities over time. Journal of Marketing76(3): 96–111.
6.
BellDR, GallinoSMorenoA (2018) Offline Showrooms in omnichannel retail: Demand and operational benefits. Management Science64(4): 1629–1651.
7.
BiyalogorskyENaikP (2003) Clicks and mortar: The effect of on‐line activities on off‐line sales. Marketing Letters14(1): 21–32.
8.
BongersFM, SchumannJHSchmitzC (2021) How the introduction of digital sales channels affects salespeople in business‐to‐business contexts: A qualitative inquiry. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management41(2): 150–166.
9.
BreugelmansECampoK (2016) Cross‐channel effects of price promotions: An empirical analysis of the multi‐channel grocery retail sector. Journal of Retailing92(3): 333–351.
10.
BrynjolfssonE, HuYRahmanMS (2009) Battle of the retail channels: How product selection and geography drive cross‐channel competition. Management Science55(11): 1755–1765.
11.
CronWL, AlaviSHabelJ (2022) Adaptive selling in business‐to‐business markets: Contextual boundary of a selling strategy from retailing. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/08853134.2022.2113092
12.
DeleersnyderB, GeyskensI, GielensKDekimpeMG (2002) How cannibalistic is the Internet channel? A study of the newspaper industry in the United Kingdom and The Netherlands. International Journal of Research in Marketing19(4): 337–348.
13.
DinnerIM, Heerde VanHJNeslinSA (2014) Driving online and offline sales: The cross‐channel effects of traditional, online display, and paid search advertising. Journal of Marketing Research51(5): 527–545.
14.
EvansKR, MargheimLSchlatterJL (1982) A Review of expectancy theory research in selling. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management2(2): 33–40.
15.
FürstA, LeimbachMPriggeJ‐K (2017) Organizational multichannel differentiation: An analysis of its impact on channel relationships and company sales success. Journal of Marketing81(1): 59–82.
16.
GuenziPHabelJ (2020) Mastering the digital transformation of sales. California Management Review62(4): 57–85.
17.
HabelJ, AlaviSLinsenmayerK (2021a) From personal to online selling: How relational selling shapes salespeople's promotion of e‐commerce channels. Journal of Business Research132(August): 373–382.
18.
HabelJ, AlaviSLinsenmayerK (2021b) Variable compensation and salesperson health. Journal of Marketing85(3): 130–149.
19.
HayesAF (2015) An index and test of linear moderated mediation. Multivariate Behavioral Research50(1): 1–22.
20.
HomburgC, VombergAMuehlhaeuserS (2020) Design and governance of multichannel sales systems: Financial performance consequences in business‐to‐business markets. Journal of Marketing Research57(6): 1113–1134.
21.
JohnsonDSBharadwajS (2005) Digitization of selling activity and sales force performance: An empirical investigation. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science33(1): 3–18.
22.
KöhlerC, MantralaMK, AlbersSKanuriVK (2017) A meta‐analysis of marketing communication carryover effects. Journal of Marketing Research54(6): 990–1008.
23.
LapoulePCollaEB (2016) The multi‐channel impact on the sales forces management. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management44(3): 248–285.
24.
LawrenceJM, CreceliusAT, ScheerLKPatilA (2019) Multichannel strategies for managing the profitability of business‐to‐business customers. Journal of Marketing Research56(3): 479–497.
25.
LetiziaP, PourakbarMHarrisonT (2018) The impact of consumer returns on the multichannel sales strategies of manufacturers. Production and Operations Management27(2): 323–349.
26.
LiJ, KonuşU, LangerakFWeggemanMC (2017) Customer channel migration and firm choice: The effects of cross‐channel competition. International Journal of Electronic Commerce21(1): 8–42.
27.
MaierEWieringaJ (2021) Acquiring customers through online marketplaces? The effect of marketplace sales on sales in a retailer's own channels. International Journal of Research in Marketing38(2): 311–328.
28.
MoffettJW, FolseJAGPalmatierRW (2021) A theory of multiformat communication: Mechanisms, dynamics, and strategies. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science49: 441–461.
29.
MukhopadhyaySK, ZhuXYueX (2008) Optimal contract design for mixed channels under information asymmetry. Production and Operations Management17(6): 641–650.
30.
NaikPARamanK (2003) Understanding the impact of synergy in multimedia communications. Journal of Marketing Research40(4): 375–388.
31.
NeslinSAShankarV (2009) Key issues in multichannel customer management: Current knowledge and future directions. Journal of Interactive Marketing23(1): 70–81.
32.
OliverRL (1974) Expectancy theory predictions of salesmen's performance. Journal of Marketing Research11(3): 243–253.
33.
ParkSGuptaS (2012) handling endogenous regressors by joint estimation using copulas. Marketing Science31(4): 567–586.
34.
PauwelsK, LeeflangPS, TeerlingMLHuizinghKE (2011) Does online information drive offline revenues?Journal of Retailing87(1): 1–17.
35.
PayneAFrowP (2004) The role of multichannel integration in customer relationship management. Industrial Marketing Management33(6): 527–538.
36.
RongZ, WangQWuJ (2021) Online channel expansion strategy: An empirical investigation. Information & Management58(7): 103523.
37.
SarinS, ChallagallaGKohliAK (2012) Implementing changes in marketing strategy: The role of perceived outcome‐and process‐oriented supervisory actions. Journal of Marketing Research49(4): 564–580.
38.
ShankarVKushwahaT (2021) Omnichannel marketing: Are cross‐channel effects symmetric?International Journal of Research in Marketing38(2): 290–310.
39.
ShenY, WillemsSPDaiY (2019) Channel selection and contracting in the presence of a retail platform. Production and Operations Management28(5): 1173–1185.
40.
ShiT, ChhajedD, WanZLiuY (2020) Distribution channel choice and divisional conflict in remanufacturing operations. Production and Operations Management29(7): 1702–1719.
41.
SpillerSA, FitzsimonsGJ, LynchJGMcclellandGH (2013) Spotlights, floodlights, and the magic number zero: Simple effects tests in moderated regression. Journal of Marketing Research50(2): 277–288.
42.
SwobodaBWintersA (2021) Effects of the most useful offline‐online and online‐offline channel integration services for consumers. Decision Support Systems145: 113522.
43.
TannerJF, FournierC, WiseJA, HolletSPoujolJ (2008) Executives’ perspectives of the changing role of the sales profession: Views from France, the United States, and Mexico. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing23(3): 193–202.
44.
ThaichonP, SurachartkumtonkunJ, QuachS, WeavenSPalmatierRW (2018) Hybrid sales structures in the age of e‐commerce. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management38(3): 277–302.
45.
TimoumiA, GangwarMMantralaMK (2022) Cross‐channel effects of omnichannel retail marketing strategies: A review of extant data‐driven research. Journal of Retailing98(1): 133–151.
46.
TrampeD, KonuşUVerhoefPC (2014) Customer responses to channel migration strategies toward the e‐channel. Journal of Interactive Marketing28(4): 257–270.
47.
TsayAAAgrawalN (2004) Channel conflict and coordination in the e‐commerce age. Production and Operations Management13(1): 93–110.
48.
van NieropJ, LeeflangP, TeerlingMLHuizinghK (2011) The impact of the introduction and use of an informational website on offline customer buying behavior. International Journal of Research in Marketing28(2): 155–165.
49.
VerhoefPC, KannanPKInmanJJ (2015) From multi‐channel retailing to omni‐channel retailing. Journal of Retailing91(2): 174–181.
50.
VerhoefPC, NeslinSAVroomenB (2007) Multichannel customer management: Understanding the research‐shopper phenomenon. International Journal of Research in Marketing24(2): 129–148.
51.
WangKGoldfarbA (2017) Can offline stores drive online sales?Journal of Marketing Research54(5): 706–719.
52.
WeijtersB, RangarajanD, FalkTSchillewaertN (2007) Determinants and outcomes of customers’ use of self‐service technology in a retail setting. Journal of Service Research10(1): 3–21.
ZhangS, PauwelsKPengC (2019) The impact of adding online‐to‐offline service platform channels on firms’ offline and total sales and profits. Journal of Interactive Marketing47: 115–128.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
