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Mental health in B2B sales: what impact and solutions?

Different industry reports have estimated that as many as 40 – 70% of salespeople may struggle with their mental health, a problem which has become increasingly important for businesses.

04/21/2026

3 min

The intensely competitive landscape of business-to-business (B2B) selling makes it highly susceptible to mental health issues (MHI) among the salespersons, note the authors of a 2025 study, which looks at the impact this can have on individuals and companies in the B2B sector.

Professor Ashwin BALIGA, one of the coauthors and professor of marketing at IÉSEG, was recently invited by his colleague, Deva RANGARAJAN, to delve deeper into this topic including the causes of mental health problems and strategies that companies can adopt to mitigate MHI.

Causes: personal versus job-related triggers

Professor BALIGA notes that stress and mental health issues can be triggered by both personal and work-related factors. For example, employees may face difficulties with health or family or related to their finances. In their job, mental health problems may be linked to an organization or manager’s leadership style, or pressures coming from customer (s) or a lack of clarity or resources within the company.

Mental health issues: what impact for companies?

There are different types of MHI. Some are hidden or latent where workers tend to internalize their struggles while others may lead to more visible changes in behavior.

Professor BALIGA underlines that MHI are not just a problem for individual salespeople, but ultimately the customers and companies.

For example, he points to a number of “deviant behaviors” that can arise from mental health problems. These include negative behaviors towards other coworkers, speaking badly about the company or to customers.

These behaviors can lead to reduced ethical behavior, lower performance, and increased turnover intentions, all of which have financial repercussions for companies.

The two experts also discussed under what circumstances stress can be a positive factor for certain salespeople, notably for those who thrive on challenges.

Key takeaways for managers and organizations

According to Professor BALIGA, organizations must do more than listen, and there are a number of active strategies they can adopt. These include:

Ensuring employees have clearly defined roles and (realistic) expectations.
Empowering salespeople with adequate resources, tools, and training (notably in the light of technological change and AI, to avoid technostress)
Providing positive empathetic leadership and simple interventions such as recognition and emotional support.

More information

You can listen to full discussion between the two IÉSEG professors here.
The full study is available here:

Reference: Baliga, A. J., Goel, A., Chavi, C. Y., Guda, S., & Kumar, R. (2025). Mental health among B2B salespeople: A morphological analysis. Journal of Business Research, 188, 115093.