Business markets are facing major changes due to an increasing
digitalization trend and consequent changes in buying behaviors.
Practitioners and academics alike have started to emphasize social
selling as a novel way to tackle these emerging opportunities and
challenges at the sales force level. Since research in this area remains
embryonic and fragmented, we adopt a discovery-oriented research
approach and conceptualize social selling and its key facets based on a
systematic literature review and a field study involving thought leading
social selling professionals. The findings indicate a need to extend
the research focus from social media usage into a concept which
comprehends social selling as a broader application of digital marketing
principles at the individual salesperson level. Social selling
leverages social and digital channels for understanding, connecting
with, and engaging influencers, prospects and existing customers at
relevant customer purchasing journey touchpoints for building valuable
business relationships. We relate the construct to other close selling
approaches and explicate its organizational strategy components as well
as performance outcomes. The findings advance current understanding of
the role of sales in contemporary business markets and have implications
for sales and marketing theory and practice.