Sales Buy-in of Marketing Strategies: Exploration of Its Nuances, Antecedents, and Contextual Conditions

Authors

• Avinash Malshe, University of St. Thomas, MinnesotaFollow
• Ravipreet S. Sohi, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

Summer 2009

Citation

Malshe, Avinash, and Ravipreet S. Sohi. "Sales buy-in of marketing strategies: exploration of its nuances, antecedents, and contextual conditions." Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management 29.3 (2009): 207-226.

Comments

Copyright © 2009 PSE National Educational Foundation. Published by M. E. Sharpe Inc. Used by permission.

Abstract

This study uses a qualitative research design with the Grounded Theory method, to explore the multifaceted nature of sales buy-in, i.e. the sales function’s belief that marketers’ proposed strategy is appropriate and has merit. Based on 49 in-depth interviews with sales and marketing professionals, the findings indicate that obtaining sales buy-in consists of four key components: (a) objectivity and rational persuasion (b) sensitivity and responsiveness to reality (c) involvement in strategy creation, and (d) positioning for success. The findings also show that three organizational-level factors play an important role in determining sales buy-in: (1) eliminating interfunctional walls, (2) bridging the cultural divide between sales and marketing, and (3) developing interfunctional relationships. Last, sales buy-in depends on two contextual conditions –hierarchy, and strategy absorption time.