Reimagining selling in entrepreneurship: Towards a seller-centric research agenda

Abstract

This note proposes expanding the selling research agenda beyond the dominant customer-centric paradigm to incorporate a seller-centric perspective, emphasising benefits to sellers alongside customer value. While customer-centric selling has advanced understanding of how to meet buyer needs, build trust and enhance customer outcomes, it often overlooks the equally important gains that sellers realise through the selling process. This includes skill development, resilience, identity amongst others. Drawing on research highlighting the transferable skills and benefits that sales encounters offer sellers, this note argues that recognising these seller-centric benefits enriches the conceptualisation of selling, especially in entrepreneurial contexts. By integrating seller outcomes, selling research can more comprehensively address the dual nature of sales as a relational exchange that simultaneously empowers buyers and sellers. This broader perspective invites future research to explore how seller credibility, skill acquisition and entrepreneurial advancement interrelate with customer-centric strategies, ultimately contributing to more holistic research on selling.