Fail Fast, Sell Well: The Contingent Impact of Failing Fast on Salesperson Performance

摘要

The objectives of this research are threefold. First, we seek to establish the concept of salesperson failing fast to provide a granular understanding of this tactic. This development can provide improvements to the current conceptualization and comprehension of the failure phenomenon. Second, using the theoretical framework of sensemaking, we opera-tionalize the salesperson failing fast construct along with its processual predictors. A failing fast process model for sales is in turn explored, consisting of prospect intent collection, prospect intent interpretation, and salesperson failing fast. Third, we examine the performance implications of salesperson failing fast, while also testing a set of contextual conditions that may influence the efficacy of failing fast at the individual-level (customer orientation), organizational-level (role autonomy), and environmental-level (customer demandingness).