Developing India‐centric B2B sales theory: an inductive approach using sales job ads

Purpose – Given India's rapid industrial growth and burgeoning numbers of sales and marketing employees, there is an urgent need to develop India‐centric B2B sales management knowledge. However, there is little hard information about similarities or differences between sales management strategies in India and the developed economies. To shed more light on this issue, in this commentary the aim is to report the results of a novel exploratory study of recent India B2B sales job ads motivated by the idea that sales recruiting is a critical sales management function that provides insights into hiring organizations' overall business strategy. Design/methodology/approach – The authors content analyze a sample of India sales job ad postings to identify the job goals, skills and additional roles sought by Indian B2B sales recruiters. Subsequently, they use latent class clustering to segment companies along these requirements. Findings – It is found that B2B sales organizations in India appear to be recruiting according to the same core strategies, principles and criteria as those in the developed world, especially with regard to customer management. Research limitations/implications – This research develops confidence that some extant B2B sales management theories, models, and knowledge accumulated in developed markets are applicable to the Indian context, with suitable modifications to accommodate idiosyncratic cultural and economic differences. Originality/value – This is the first, albeit exploratory, effort to utilize the content of India‐specific B2B sales job advertisements as a source of data and insights into sales management strategies in India.