Managing the burnout process over time: A within-person examination of salesperson burnout

Burnout is highly prevalent in the sales force, and is a serious concern for sales managers. Salesperson burnout is a process that requires management over time, yet no longitudinal within-person evidence exists regarding how salesperson burnout evolves over time or how to best manage the process. Using a 4-month repeated measures study of 171 B2B salespeople, we present the first longitudinal evidence of the within-person salesperson burnout process, and examine how key sales manager and salesperson variables can shape this process as it evolves. Results find some support for the burnout process, but find no link between diminished personal accomplishment and depersonalization. Moreover, positive feedback plays no role in mitigating burnout’s evolution, while negative feedback and active coping mitigate the impacts of diminished personal accomplishment and depersonalization on emotional exhaustion, respectively. Our work presents tangible interventions that can help to reduce burnout as it evolves within salespeople over time.