Waiting for a sales renaissance in the fourth industrial revolution: Machine learning and artificial intelligence in sales research and practice

Experts have suggested that the next few decades will herald the fourth industrial revolution. The fourth industrial revolution will be powered by digitization, information and communications technology, machine learning, robotics and artificial intelligence; and will shift more decision-making from humans to machines. The ensuing societal changes will have a profound impact on both personal selling and sales management research and practices. In this article, we focus on machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) and their impact on personal selling and sales management. We examine that impact on a small area of sales practice and research based on the seven steps of the selling process. Implications for theory and practice are derived.