Key account buying team members' emotional responses awarding multi-million dollar sales contracts

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
James S. Boles, Professor (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: Key account sales can have a profound impact on firm success. Our research investigates the decision process of members of key account buying teams during the buying decision process of awarding multi-million dollar sales contracts. Much extant key account literature examines what the salesperson and selling organization should do to win these major accounts, studied from the perspective of the selling organization. We examine the decision process of the members of the key account buying team as they determine which of the companies vying to be awarded these large sales proposals should be awarded the contract. We argue that key account buying team decisions are not simply straight-forward, objective, and rational judgements, but instead also incorporate a wide range of strong emotions elicited during the sales process that impact the decisions of the buying team and that therefore impact the decision of which company should be awarded these multi-million dollar contracts. We argue that members of these key account buying teams experience a broad range of emotions that have a definite role in key account proposal selection, that to-date have not been adequately acknowledged in the . These questions are investigated and a conceptual framework and research propositions are offered.

Additional Information

Publication
Industrial Marketing Management, 75 (November), 193-205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2018.05.005
Language: English
Date: 2018
Keywords
key accounts, strategic accounts, emotions, buying teams, sales performance, qualitative research, sales failure

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