Digital communication in the sales process : The influence of digital communication and the rationale behind using it

Abstract: Digital communication has shifted the way that communication takes place for many companies. The amount of technological communication platforms and tools available are high and are also still increasing which also entails that many companies have several ways to communicate available. Organizational decisions and Management incentives to adopt new platforms and tools for communication are in advance also influencing employees and middle managers in their day-to-day work. Research has in this manner highlighted managerial strategies to handle the implementation of technology in general and further pointed out how both technology and digital communication can influence employees in companies' different processes. Even though there is a vast amount of research about digital communication done, there is a general need for further research about the extensive amount of digital communication solutions available. A gap in earlier research was further seen as digital communication in the sales process in the national context of Sweden is lacking research. The sales process in this manner is one of the main processes within many companies that are seen to be affected by the implementation of digital communication. However, a deeper understanding of the employees and middle managers perspective is seen to be needed. To gain further insights and to shed light on the area of digital communication in a Swedish context, the influences that digital communication have on employees and middle managers are investigated, further the rationale behind using digital communication within the sales process is also studied. The empirical data that is collected through qualitative studies by conducting semi- structured interviews provided us with findings that shows three main positive influences and two main negative influences that digital communication has on the employees and middle managers within the company at hand. The positive influences can be summarized as, the convenience with using digital communication, the flexibility of location and the valuable information to be found on the platform and tools. The negative influences on the other hand were seen to be, the amount on communication channels and the inconvenience with finding information. Following the main aspects found with the rationale behind using digital communication within the sales process were identified to be, the perceived management reasoning & support, educational opportunities, ambassadors and varying use depending on work task. Both the influences and the rationale are then visualized in a model to simplify the main findings. The theoretical contributions of this study can facilitate a further understanding of digital communication. Further the study can provide managers with insights on how eventual implementations of digital communication may influence the workforce. Finally the empirical data can contribute to a broader overall understanding of digital communication. However, further research is necessary within this field to gain a more holistic view of the subject at hand.