The role of sales in general and inside sales in particular has evolved over the last decade, mostly driven by IT and social changes. Research on the role of key determinants and practices in inside sales performance are rare and they tend to focus on determinants related to individual salesperson performance. Moreover, existing approaches to customer acquisition in inside sales often rely on intuition, expert suggestions and gut feeling, which often hurts the chances of qualifying and converting leads to sales, and eventually diminishes inside sales success. This research aims to address such shortcomings by: 1) investigating the key determinants of inside sales performance; and 2) develop comprehensible lead conversion models that integrate the interplay of relevant determinants in the lead conversion process.
This research aims to achieve the following objectives. (1) Draw a big picture of B2B sales success by providing academics and practitioners with a comprehensive understanding of the determinants of B2B sales success and their significance in inside sales. (2) Identify and validate lead engagement factors crucial for inside sales success. (3) Show the potential of data-driven analytics by collecting multiple historical datasets from several companies representing different industries, hence discovering insights for improving lead conversion outcomes. (4) Provide sales practitioners with comprehensible lead conversion models that integrate industry specific behavior and performance of salespeople, characteristics of leads and/or prospects, and workflow strategy aspects.
Current Research
- Lead to Win: Recipes for Inside Sales Success
- Drivers of team-based Inside Sales performance in B2B Selling: a Data Driven Study
- A Dynamic Predictive Lead Scoring System for Inside Sales
Funded Projects
- A Dynamic Predictive Lead Scoring System for Inside Sales, (MITACS and VanillaSoft), 2019-2020,
- An Integrated Lead Conversion Model for Inside Sales, (MITACS and VanillaSoft), 2017-2018
- Using Predictive Analytics to Improve Inside Sales Performance, (MITACS and VanillaSoft), 2016-2018
- How List-based and Queued-based Lead Management Systems Drive inside Sales Performance, (MITACS and VanillaSoft), 2014-2015,
Research Publications
- Ohiomah, A., Andreev, P., Benyoucef, M., & Hood, D. (2019). The role of lead management systems in inside sales performance. Journal of Business Research, 102, 163- 177.
- Ohiomah, A. A., Benyoucef, M., & Andreev, P. (2020). Multidimensional View of Inside Sales Success: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Industrial Marketing Management, Volume 90, October 2020, Pages 435-452.
- Ohiomah, A., Benyoucef, M., Andreev, P. Kuziemsky, C., Hood, D., & Le Bon, J., (2018). Best Practices for Inside Sales Professionals: An Historical Analysis. Proceedings of the 2018 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference. May 23-25, 2018. New Orleans, LA, USA
- Ohiomah, A., Benyoucef, M., Andreev, P., Kuziemsky, C., Hood, D., & Le Bon, J., (2018). Big Data Analytics for Inside Sales Lead Optimization, or Engaging Customers When It Matters the Most: An Abstract.Proceedings of the 2018 AMA Winter Academic Conference. (Vol. 29, M-20). February 23-25, 2018. New Orleans, LA, USA
- Ohiomah, A., Andreev, P., & Benyoucef, M., (2017). A Review of Big Data Predictive Analytics in Information Systems Research. In Proceedings of the Conference on Information Systems Applied Research ISSN (Vol. 2167, p. 1508).
Researchers
- Morad Benyoucef
Full Professor, Business Analytics & Information Systems, Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa - Pavel Andreev
Associate Professor, Business Analytics & Information Systems, Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa - Alhassan Ohioma Ph.D. Candidate (Graduated), Digital Transformation & Innovation, University of Ottawa
- Migao Wu
Ph.D. Candidate, Digital Transformation & Innovation, University of Ottawa - Rahat Haque
Marketing Manager, InstantEdge Marketing
