Does sales management matter? : a case of growth-oriented SMEs from Northern Finland

Abstract

Sales management is one of the basic factors that determine the success and growth of any company. This study applies a systematic approach to sales management in order to explore sales capability. A sales maturity model is developed and used to analyse the sales capabilities of growth-oriented SMEs in Northern Finland. The secondary purpose of this study is to explore proactive versus reactive sales management and its relation to sales capability. This study found that sales capability is higher in strategic process management as well as in issues relating to people and organisations, but lower in issues relating to customer communication and customer data utilisation. Actively seeking new sales opportunities seems to be important for enhanced sales capability. Based on the results, growth-oriented SMEs should invest in systematic and proactive sales management. The developed sales maturity model can be utilised to enhance SMEs’ sales capability.