Different roads lead to Rome: A configurational investigation of solution Salespeople's sales success in business-to-business markets

Abstract

Business-to-business firms are increasingly pursuing service-oriented business models by offering customer solutions. Whereas prior research highlights the important role of solution salespeople's competencies in successfully selling solutions, it remains largely unclear how solution salespeople achieve sales success through their competencies. Drawing on the job demands–resources model and configuration theory, this article explores whether and how competency configurations impact solution salespeople's sales success. Insights from in-depth interviews with solution sales managers indicate that complex equifinal configurations of competencies qualify individual salespeople to master their lead coordinating role in facilitating solution sales success. The findings from two fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analyses using dyadic data reveal specific equifinal configurations of key personal competencies (i.e., abilities related to salespeople's personalities) and procedural competencies (i.e., abilities related to salespeople's enactment of the solution-selling process) that qualify individual salespeople in their role, thus determining their solution sales success. Accordingly, sales success is facilitated by unique strength profiles such that successful solution salespeople are neither required to possess the full range of personal competencies nor to excel along the solution-selling process.