Territory Sales Response

Abstract

What factors account for the wide variation in performance with in a salesforce, and what is the relative importance of these factors? The authors attempt to answer that question by first developing a framework that identifies the major constructs to be included in a model of territory response, and then testing the model in three different corporate settings. The empirical results provide a basis for useful generalizations about the importance of territory characteristics, span of control, and other factors in explaining the variability in salesperson performance.

The research was supported in part by grants from the Marketing Science Institute and the American Cyanamid Company. The authors thank the executives of the companies that participated in this study for their help in providing data, and also thank Dick R. Wittink and a JMR reviewer for their helpful comments on a draft of this article. The research assistance of Tsuneo Yahagi is gratefully acknowledged.