DETERMINANTS OF SALES STRATEGY BASED ON SALESPEOPLE SEGMENTATION: A MULTINOMIAL LOGIT ANALYSIS

The objective of this research was to evaluate the impact of salespeople’s characteristics on their sales process. A cluster analysis procedure was used to develop a segmentation of business-to-business salespeople. The segments were developed by seven variables that describe the percentage of time salespeople spend on specific selling activities: prospecting, building trust/ relationship, probing, presenting products/ services, handling objections, negotiating/ obtaining commitment, and service/ follow-up.  The result indicated the presence of three clusters: customer-focused, sales-focused, and balance segments.  Differences across these segments have essential implications on the choice of sales strategy.