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The purpose of this study is to understand one portion of the sales ecological system. This paper focuses on the mesolevel or intra-organizational system that includes the sales and marketing functions. This paper examines distinct tensions at three levels of the firm’s hierarchy and the mechanisms used to manage the tensions.

The authors use a qualitative data collection. A discovery-oriented process is used to understand the interconnections that exist among marketing-sales dyads at three organizational levels across several firms.

This paper uncovers distinct tensions and defenses exhibited by managers at each hierarchical level and this paper presents mechanisms that can are used to reduce the tensions.

The multi-level perspective demonstrates the value of examining the intra-organizational aspect of the sales ecosystem. This paper uses a qualitative approach to highlight that sales-marketing tensions are unique to each of the hierarchical levels. This paper demonstrates that the tensions are a function of the unique roles each sales and marketing executive has within the organization.

To make the sales and marketing interface more effective, managers need to view tensions across the sales-marketing interface as complementary versus opposing forces. Managers must balance these tensions, rather than fight them and/or select one of the alternatives over the other. This paper suggests that paradoxical thinking may be a valued skillset for managers at each level of the organization.

The study uses a unique qualitative data set that examines the sales-marketing interface across three levels of an organizational hierarchy. Through this approach, this paper delineates specific tensions between marketing and sales within each level of the firm. This paper also describes mechanisms to manage the tensions common within the sales-marketing interface.

The transition from marketing strategy to selling is seldom smooth. Too often it is left to chance but successful business results depend on effective management of this transition: coherent and consistent policies, and good communications all along the line from marketing executives to field salesmen.

Sales promotion is an important element of marketing communication strategy which accounts for more promotional expenditures than advertising in some countries. However, sales promotion has been generally ignored by researchers. This article briefly reviews the criteria used in the US to evaluate sales promotions and these criteria are found inadequate to guide the formulation of sales promotion internationally. Environmental sensitivity factors are identified which are overlooked in domestic sales promotions and an audit approach to planning and evaluating cross‐national sales promotion strategy is presented.

The term ‘strategy’ is one of the most frequently used terms in business, and its application in marketing is particularly common. Company strategy, market strategy, marketing strategy, sales strategy, promotion strategy, distribution strategy, low pricing strategy – it would take a long time to list all of them. Although this term is so commonly in use, its definition is not as straightforward and it can be interpreted in different ways. In comparison with tactical decisions, strategy is much more significant for an organisation as it brings long-lasting consequences. It is implemented by higher level managers on a regular basis, and it is based on external, often subjective information, so decisions – especially at the time they are made – are difficult to evaluate.

Taking into consideration the fact that strategy refers to a long-term rather than a short-term period, strategic decisions serve as the basis for undertaking operational activities. However, marketing refers to the market and the competition. It is possible to claim that marketing strategy is trying to find an answer to the question to which path an organisation should follow in order to achieve its goals and objectives. If, for example, a company has a goal to generate a profit of PLN 1 million by selling 100,000 pieces of a product, the market strategy should answer at least the following two questions:

1. Who will be our target group, for example, who will purchase the 100,000 pieces of the product?

2. Why is it us from whom a potential buyer should purchase the product?

Who will be our target group, for example, who will purchase the 100,000 pieces of the product?

Why is it us from whom a potential buyer should purchase the product?

The target market will be defined if a reply to the first question is provided. The second question identifies the foundations of competitive advantage. These two issues, that is, target market and competitive advantage are the strategic marketing issues. You cannot change your target group unexpectedly while competitive advantage is the basis for changing decisions regarding prices, promotions and sales.

This chapter describes the measures of marketing activities which refer to strategic aspects and testify a company’s market position – the measures of the performance of target groups and competitive advantage. Readers’ attention should be also focused on the indices that are less popular in Poland and, therefore, may be underestimated. It seems that some of them, for example, the index of marketing resources allocation and the marketing risk index, provide a lot of valuable information and, at the same time, make it possible to show the value of marketing investments. Their wider use in the near future is only a matter of time.

Exporting is a popular foreign market entry mode, especially among small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The success of SME exporters depends on their ability to establish and maintain profitable long-term relationships with foreign customers. This study aims to propose that the development of an effective export sales strategy can contribute greatly toward this aim. The study also demonstrates that export market intelligence generation and export market intelligence dissemination activities are important drivers of export sales strategy. Export sales strategy comprises three dimensions, which are expected to have a positive influence on export performance.

The study uses survey data obtained from 168 exporting firms based in Greece, to test a set of research hypotheses. Structural equation modeling procedures are used.

Findings indicate that export market intelligence generation and dissemination activities support and facilitate the development of effective export sales strategies, tailored to serve individual foreign accounts. Furthermore, all strategic dimensions of export sales strategy demonstrate significant positive effects on export performance.

The research underlines the importance of incorporating export sales strategy in studies that aim to investigate the drivers of export performance.

The findings also indicate that exporting firms must actively engage in market intelligence activities to reinforce their strategic decision-making process.

The study emphasizes the crucial importance of export sales strategy in achieving superior export performance. The study provides a theory-driven conceptualization and operationalization of export sales strategy and offers an empirical assessment of a comprehensive model that includes the key antecedents and performance outcomes of export sales strategy.

This paper aims to explore the role of leadership in influencing the strategy implementation behaviors of salespeople. This paper also seeks to examine the moderating influence of competitive environment on the leadership style – salesperson implementation of sales strategy relationship.

Data were collected from a sample of 190 business-to-business salespeople in different industries. The study’s hypotheses were tested using partial least squares (PLS).

The results of the study show that a transformational leadership style has stronger effects on the sales strategy implementation behaviors of salespeople when compared to transactional leadership. However, in highly competitive environments, the effects of transactional leadership on the sales strategy implementation behaviors of salespeople become stronger. The results also show when salespeople implement sales strategy, it has a positive impact on their sales performance.

Sales managers should adapt their leadership style depending on the competitive environment that operate in. As transformational leadership and transactional leadership are not mutually exclusive, managers should tailor their use of these styles to improve the strategy implementation behaviors of their salespeople. Managers should also train their salespeople on the use of sales strategy.

This study contributes to the literature by showing that the effectiveness of a particular leadership style is often contingent on the external environment. This research also demonstrates that when salespeople are strategic in their approach to selling, they will improve their sales performance.

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of selling strategies on the sales performance of a company.

This paper briefly reviews selling strategies and the sales performance literature. It investigates how selling strategies impact sales performance in the literature and then presents statistical evidence via a case study.

The findings of this study clearly show that managers' perception of the adoption of strategies on the part of the selling firm is associated with the adoption of some specific classes of behaviors (i.e. customer‐oriented selling, adaptive selling, relational strategy) which can contribute to the creation of strong and long‐lasting positive relationships with customers.

Based on the limitations of our study, future research could expand the generalizability of the model by conducting a much larger survey across a number of firms in different industries with a representation of different selling situations.

The findings emphasize the role of developing effective selling strategies to improve sales performance. Thus, recognizing these factors and the rate of their influence will enable the top managers of companies to use effective and suitable strategies for preserving and retaining customers.

This paper provides insights to different dimensions of selling strategies and the way they enhance sales performance. It further clarifies the relationship by statistical evidence with a case study.

This paper attempts to analyze the relationship between the complementarity degrees of imperfect complementary products and sales strategies and give appropriate sales strategies for a two-stage supply chain.

With respect to two-stage supply chain consisting of two manufacturers who produce imperfect complementary products and one retailer who sells the products, aiming at bundling sales strategy, the authors define complementarity elasticity of products and use it to measure the degree of complementary between two products. Based on Stackelberg game and cooperation, the authors analyze the relationship between the complementarity degrees of imperfect complementary products and appropriate sales strategies.

As the impact of complementarity degree on sales strategy decision-making is better, the authors can pinpoint out which sales decision-making is optimal and which bundling sales strategy is the best for a two-stage supply chain. Considering that the degree of complementarity has a significant impact on the product sales strategy, the authors can point out which sales decision-making is optimal, that is, which bundled sales strategy is the optimal in the secondary supply chain of selling complementary products.

An innovative bundling can expand the sales of existing products and new products. It helps a retailer transcend and defeat competitors by reducing marketing expenses while increasing profits. Proper use of bundling can improve consumers utility and create an overall positive effect for both the enterprises and consumer.

The research can help some retailers to make many appropriate bundling sales strategies.

The purpose of this article is to provide a framework for any organization to follow in designing training programs by describing a hypothetical sales training model linked to an organization’s strategic focus. Training strategy shapes the type of training programs provided by organizations. What influences an organization’s training strategy is important to understand if we are to grasp the valuable role training plays in the long-term performance of the organization. Strategic focus provides a framework for organizations to follow when creating specialized training programs. This paper represents an initiative to help put in a broader and clearer context an organization’s strategic focus from which training program initiatives originate. Furthermore, the paper examines how strategic focus influences an organization’s decisions regarding the specific purposes, content and frequency of training. The paper identifies and describes several important dimensions of the conceptual model, as well as the interconnectedness among the dimensions.

This paper describes the link between sales training and an organization’s strategic focus. The use of a conceptual model linking strategic focus with a training program provides a “big picture” perspective showing the link between an organization’s vision and the role training plays in helping to realize this vision. The conceptual model shows the cause and effect link between the strategic focus and the development of training programs.

The model demonstrates how practitioners can move from a strategic, conceptual focus to deliver a training program that represents the ability to implement strategic intent.

The conceptual model shows the cause and effect link between the strategic focus and the development of training programs.

The value of this conceptual model is to demonstrate the ability to link strategy to specific business activities associated with the implementation of strategy.

Creativity is essential to the development of positioning strategies. However, for these creative solutions to be implemented, the client must be willing to accept them. Built on a foundation of extensive research and practice in the field of creativity, the PISCES_SM Process (plan, imagine, select, create, evaluate, start) is a guided creative process that leads to successful positioning action plans. By design, the process is structured to engage the client from the beginning, thereby increasing buy‐in of the creative solutions that are developed. This makes the process immediately more attractive to clients because it “puts the client in the driver’s seat.” The five‐step PISCES_SM Process has been used successfully to develop new advertising as well as to create new products, extend a product line, and to reposition an existing product. This paper provides an overview of the steps in the PISCES_SM Process including some of the creativity tools used and presents an example of successful application of the process.