FN ISI Export Format VR 1.0 PT J TI Optimization Models in Sales Force Management: Review and Trends AF Albers, Sönke Raman, Kalyan Lee, Nick AU Albers, S Raman, K Lee, N SO Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management SN 0885-3134 VL 35 BP 275 EP 291 PY 2015 AB In the last half-century, significant advances have been made in directing sales force behavior with the use of optimization and decision models. The present paper both presents the current state-of-the art in sales force decision modeling, and also discusses key issues and trends in contemporary modeling of relevance to sales force researchers. The paper begins by exploring critical concepts regarding the estimation of the sales response function, and then discusses critical problems of endogeneity, heterogeneity, and temporal variation that are faced by modelers in this task. Modern approaches to dealing with these issues are presented. We then discuss areas of importance concerning finding model solutions, including closed form versus simulation, and optimization versus heuristic solutions. The paper next moves to areas of practical importance where models can help, including call planning, sales force size, territory allocation, and compensation design. Finally, we discuss trends that will likely impact on sales force modeling in coming years, including the use of big data and data mining, the possible breakdown of rationality, the rise of the Internet and social media, and the potential of agent-based modeling. DI 10.1080/08853134.2015.1085807 ER