An Intraorganizational Perspective of Sales Teams : A case study of the design and processes of a sales team in the cloud software industry.

Sammanfattning: The shift towards relationship marketing entails an increased attention directed to buildingcollaborative relationships in the business-to-business market. This has further contributed tothe current interest in the intraorganizational setting in the area of sales and key accountmanagement, and more specifically the notion of sales teams. In light of the above, the purposeof this study is to develop a conceptual framework emphasizing the intraorganizationalperspective of such teams. Within this context, the team’s design and processes have beenhighlighted in relation to its performance and ability to form relationships with customers. Toprovide insights to the purpose of this study a single-case study was conducted in a companyoperating within the cloud software industry. The analysis demonstrates how the design of theteam, depicted by the formalization of procedures and the heterogeneity of team members’expertise, constitutes the frame in which the processes are carried out. Further, the interplay ofcommunication, proactiveness and alignment of goals showed to constitute key processesenabling the team to build relationships with its customers. Thus, by providing a conceptualframework emphasizing the intraorganizational perspective of sales teams, this studycontributes to the theoretical discussion as well as to practitioners in the field.