Abstract
The concept of sales management can be defined as a business activity that is focused on the implementation of sales and management techniques in the sales operations of a company. A new concept has been discussed in sales marketing (SMarketing). An SMarketing strategy intends to align marketing and sales with the objective of obtaining better efficiency and effectiveness in results, through communication. SMarketing can be defined as the possible combinations between commercials and marketing professionals. The concept can be materialized as follows: marketing messages stimulate target customers who are in turn visited by the sales force and/or when the sales force regains contact with potential consumers, impacting them. Research on the subject is scarce and this study intends to carry out a systematic review of bibliometric literature (LRSB) of scientific and/or academic documents indexed in Scopus, in order to further clarify the knowledge and understand the practical implications as well as the lines of future research.
TopMethodological Approach
As SMarketing gains popularity among business professionals, it is critical to building knowledge to facilitate evidence-based implementation. Xiao and Maria (2019) explain that reviewing relevant literature contributes to knowledge advancement and increases researchers' and their readers' understanding of the depth and breadth of the existing research on the topic of interest and identifying potential research gaps. Okoli (2015) further explains systematic literature review as “a systematic, explicit, [comprehensive,] and reproducible method” used by researchers to identify, assess, and integrate research from researchers, scholars, and other professionals (p. 880). These explanations justify the use of Systematic Review of Bibliometric Literature (LRSB) as the methodology for this research since the researcher aims to gather, analyze, and synthesize data on the SMarketing concept, including its implantations, practical implications, and gaps for future research. Although significant research has been conducted on interdepartmental collaboration and cooperation and its impact on organizational performance, relatively little attention has been paid to collaboration between sales and marketing departments (Madhani 2016). Therefore, this research hopes to bridge this gap by synthesizing data from existing research on sales and marketing interfaces.
The bibliometric literature analysis follows a thorough methodological approach to ensure that the findings are accurate and implementable, the process involved eight steps recommended by Rosário & Raimundo (2021), Rosário et al., (2021), Raimundo & Rosário, (2021), summarized in Table 1.
Key Terms in this Chapter
SMarketing: Is the process of integrating the sales and marketing processes with the aim of the sales and marketing functions to have an integrated approach in the company.
Cross-Functional Teams: Group of professionals with academic knowledge and diverse experiences, coming from different functions, gathered permanently or temporarily and under a single leadership to acquire a competitive advantage.
Organizational Culture: Is a conceptual model that influences all members of an organization as guidelines and assumptions to guide their behaviors and mindsets.
CRM: Is an IT tool focused on the customer, acquisition, transaction, service, retention, and long-term relationship building with consumers.