Industrial innovation management in the age of digital transformation: The risk of too strong selling capabilities

• Published in: Industrial marketing management 2024-02, Vol.117, p.371-385
• Main Authors: Endres, Herbert, Auburger, Julia, Helm, Roland
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Digital transformation; Industrial innovation management; Knowledge adoption; Sales and innovation performance; Salesperson adoption; Selling capability
• ISSN: 0019-8501; 1873-2062
• DOI: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2024.01.008

In the rapidly evolving landscape of industrial innovation, a major hurdle for business customers is the inherent uncertainty associated with adopting new products. This uncertainty is often exacerbated by the digital transformation, which contributes to an overwhelming influx of information. Central to this challenge is the inadequacy of knowledge transfer from salespeople to business customers, leading to a suboptimal understanding of the new offerings and consequently, a reluctance to adopt these innovations. Despite its significance, the strategies to effectively mitigate this issue have remained largely unexplored. Our study addresses this gap by examining the impact of salespeople's selling capabilities on the adoption of knowledge by business customers. Selling capability, defined as the capability of individuals to perform salespeople's tasks, emerges as a critical factor in facilitating customers' understanding and acceptance of new industrial innovations. We conducted comprehensive surveys with business customers focusing on their experiences with recent incremental industrial innovations, complemented by objective purchase data from company records. This research is pioneering in empirically establishing that the adoption of knowledge by customers acts as a mediating factor between salespeople's selling capabilities and the purchase of innovations. Intriguingly, our findings reveal the existence of an optimal level of selling capability necessary for effective knowledge transfer, which varies depending on specific contingencies. This discovery is crucial for sales, innovation, and marketing managers, suggesting that relying solely on selling capabilities might be insufficient. We recommend the integration of additional strategies, such as assertive listening, to enhance knowledge transfer. Such strategies can prevent the pitfalls of overreliance on selling capabilities alone and foster a more effective adoption of industrial innovations among business customers. Our findings offer valuable insights for professionals aiming to navigate the complexities of selling industrial innovations in the digital age, providing a nuanced understanding of how to tailor their approach to improve customer receptivity and adoption rates. •Digital transformation, which contributes to an overwhelming influx of information, often exacerbates customer uncertainty.•Customer knowledge adoption drives customers' final innovation purchasing decisions.•There is an identif