Misaligned or made to fit? How sales experience shapes the impact of communication incongruence on sales performance

Purpose This study aims to investigate how the alignment (congruence) or misalignment (incongruence) between vertical communication (from managers) and horizontal communication (among peers) influences sales performance in business-to-business (B2B) contexts. It also explores how salesperson experience moderates these effects. Design/methodology/approach Using survey data from 122 salespeople in a Brazilian food distribution company, this study applied polynomial regression and response surface analysis to assess the effects of communication congruence and incongruence on objective sales performance (sales growth from 2023 to 2024). Sales experience was tested as a moderator of these relationships. Findings Results show that communication congruence – particularly when both vertical and horizontal communication are high – leads to higher sales performance. This effect did not significantly vary by salesperson experience. However, communication incongruence had a curvilinear effect on performance and was moderated by experience. Specifically, horizontal-dominant incongruence improved performance among low-experience sellers, whereas vertical-dominant incongruence benefited experienced sellers. Research limitations/implications Findings are limited to a single firm in the wholesale B2B sector. Future studies should test this model across different industries and cultural contexts and examine other potential moderators, such as learning orientation or team psychological safety. Practical implications Sales leaders should align communication sources for consistency but adapt the dominant source of input based on each salesperson’s experience level. Originality/value This research applies a novel congruence–incongruence framework to internal sales communication, revealing that misalignment can yield positive outcomes when aligned with the seller’s developmental stage. It extends leadership substitutes theory and offers new insights into how communication systems should be structured to support performance.