Sales Management Improves SME Performance, but Not Without Marketing Planning

The impact of marketing planning on SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) performance is established. However, little research has examined how marketing planning and sales management, together, influence SME performance. Our study addresses this literature gap: how do marketing planning and sales management interact to affect SME performance? We analyzed data from 135 small businesses. Marketing planning fully mediates the relationship between sales management and SME performance. This shows that without effective marketing planning, salesforce management alone will not likely enhance SME performance. Our findings imply that marketing planning is critical for SMEs to enhance performance when applying sales management. Marketing planning helps sales managers align their salesforce capabilities and efficiently manage their selling approach to improve business performance.