Investigating Salesperson Performance Factors: A Systematic Review of the Literature on the Characteristics of Effective Salespersons

Abstract

Business and consumer buying behaviour has changed dramatically in recent time; a fact that is not lost on selling organisations when considering how best to recalibrate salesperson performance measures in response. However, a contemporary, systematic review of the academic literature concerning those most effective salesperson performance factors is markedly absent. This study joins a long line of investigatory efforts regarding the characteristics and habits of successful salesperson performance by adopting meta-analysis techniques to investigate the salesperson performance literature, content-analysing over 250 published articles from 1986 to 2017 and synthesising the findings into a new salesperson performance typology. The study finds that personal, organisational, co-worker, buyer and situational dimensions are responsible for increasing salespersons’ performance. Additionally, this work offers a parsimonious overview of current key salesperson performance research as well as a clear agenda for future salesperson performance research.