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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor Ashwin BALIGA,<\/a> one of the coauthors and professor of marketing at I\u00c9SEG, was recently invited by his colleague, Deva RANGARAJAN<\/a>, to delve deeper into this topic including the causes of mental health problems and strategies that companies can adopt to mitigate MHI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s leadership style, or pressures coming from customer (s) or a lack of clarity or resources within the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Professor BALIGA underlines that MHI are not just a problem for individual salespeople, but ultimately the customers and companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, he points to a number of \u201cdeviant behaviors\u201d that can arise from mental health problems. These include negative behaviors towards other coworkers, speaking badly about the company or to customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These behaviors can lead to reduced ethical behavior, lower performance, and increased turnover intentions, all of which have financial repercussions for companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The two experts also discussed under what circumstances stress can be a positive factor for certain salespeople, notably for those who thrive on challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Professor BALIGA, organizations must do more than listen, and there are a number of active strategies they can adopt. These include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n More information<\/p>\r\n\t\t Reference: Baliga, A. J., Goel, A., Chavi, C. Y., Guda, S., & Kumar, R. (2025). Mental health among B2B salespeople: A morphological analysis<\/a>.\u00a0Journal of Business Research,\u00a0188, 115093.<\/p>\nCauses: personal versus job-related triggers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Mental health issues: what impact for companies?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Key takeaways for managers and organizations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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