Confronting the customer-engagement paradox in sales leader succession

ABSTRACT

This study addresses a critical question concerning how a firm’s succession practices for sales leaders impact the sustainability of selling strategies and the consistency of results. Our study employs an inductive approach to understand how firms relying on deep personal relationships between salespeople and customers manage the succession process. Interviews with 41 managers in the financial services sector and 12 financial industry experts reveal a customer-engagement paradox where an element often considered essential to sales success – a high level of salesperson-customer affinity developed through successful customer engagement – becomes the proximate cause of impediments in sustaining the relationship post-succession. Our study indicates when deeply engaged salespeople are simply replaced on a one-to-one basis, firms may encounter a high incidence of failure and significant risk to client relationships. Thus, we suggest sales leader succession is more appropriately viewed as a function of long-term relationship management strategy and presents an opportunity for strategic adjustment of the sales function.