Abstract Recent developments in sales theory and practice have shed light on the increasing complexity of the sales domain, which inspires a reassessment of understanding salespeople’s success and underlying motivational needs. This research adopts a service ecosystem perspective to recognize the complexity faced by salespeople due to their relationships with multiple stakeholders/actors. The study draws on a qualitative research methodology, namely, focus groups, to explore research questions with sales professionals. Findings reveal that, when defining success, salespeople tend to consider three key stakeholders in the selling process: the customer, the firm, and the seller. Thus, the work of salespeople is framed through the lens of an advisor, an entrepreneur, and a personalizer, respectively, and posit that these lenses are linked to distinct motivational needs for identification, territorialization, efficiency, and customization, with each need associated with a set of key enablers. Collectively, these lenses, needs, and enablers comprise a trifocal perspective on salesperson success and motivation that parsimoniously captures the complexity of professional selling while allowing variations due to institutional and personal factors. The study concludes by discussing the theoretical and managerial contributions of this framework, along with outlining some avenues for future research.

中文翻译：

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销售人员成功和动机的新视角：三焦点框架

摘要 销售理论和实践的最新发展揭示了销售领域日益复杂的问题，这激发了对理解销售人员成功和潜在动机需求的重新评估。本研究采用服务生态系统的视角来识别销售人员由于与多个利益相关者/参与者的关系而面临的复杂性。该研究利用定性研究方法，即焦点小组，与销售专业人员探讨研究问题。调查结果表明，在定义成功时，销售人员倾向于考虑销售过程中的三个关键利益相关者：客户、公司和卖方。因此，销售人员的工作分别是通过顾问、企业家和个性化者的视角来构建的，并假设这些镜头与识别、地域化、效率和定制的不同动机需求相关，每个需求都与一组关键推动因素相关联。总的来说，这些镜头、需求和促成因素构成了对销售人员成功和动机的三重视角，它简洁地捕捉了专业销售的复杂性，同时允许因制度和个人因素而发生变化。该研究最后讨论了该框架的理论和管理贡献，并概述了未来研究的一些途径。促成因素包括对销售人员成功和动机的三重视角，它简洁地捕捉到专业销售的复杂性，同时允许因制度和个人因素而产生变化。该研究最后讨论了该框架的理论和管理贡献，并概述了未来研究的一些途径。促成因素包括对销售人员成功和动机的三重视角，它简洁地捕捉到专业销售的复杂性，同时允许因制度和个人因素而产生变化。该研究最后讨论了该框架的理论和管理贡献，并概述了未来研究的一些途径。