Perceptions of sales force automation: Differences between sales force and management

Differences between management and salespeople in their perceptions of a new technology can affect the acceptance and implementation of that technology. For sales force automation (SFA) systems, the differences in the perceptions held by management and salespeople toward the SFA can affect the successful adoption and implementation of the system by the organization. This paper reports the results of an investigation that focused on the differences in perceptions held by the United States Army's recruiting force and its higher level management toward the Army's newly adopted SFA system, the Army Recruiting Information Support System (ARISS). The results of the study indicate that significant differences exist between the perceptions held by the recruiting force and higher level management toward ARISS, the SFA system. The results offer important insights into managing SFA system deployment and gauging user expectations.     

The Effect of Sales Force Adoption on New Product Selling Performance

Although several studies have suggested that the sales force is a major contributing factor to new product success, few studies have focused on new product adoption by the sales force, particularly with respect to its relationship with selling performance. The present article presents empirical evidence on the impact of sales force adoption on selling performance. We defined sales force adoption as the combination of the degree to which salespeople accept and internalize the goals of the new product (i.e., commitment) and the extent to which they work hard to achieve those goals (i.e., effort). It was hypothesized that the impact of sales force adoption on selling performance will be contingent on supervisory factors (sales controls, internal marketing of the new product, training, trust, and supervisor's field attention), and market volatility. Therefore, this article also provides evidence of the conditions under which sales force adoption of a new product is more or less effective in engendering successful selling performance. The hypothesized relationships were tested with data provided by 97 high technology firms from The Netherlands. The results show that sales force adoption is positively related to selling performance. This finding suggests that salespeople who simultaneously exhibit commitment and effort will achieve higher levels of new product selling performance. Outcome based control, internal marketing and market volatility are also positively related to new product selling performance. The effect of sales force adoption on selling performance is stronger where outcome based control is used and where the firm provides information on the background of the new product to salespeople through internal marketing. Training and field attention weaken the adoption‐performance linkage. These findings may indicate that salespeople in The Netherlands interpret training as “micromanaging” and field attention as “looking over their shoulder.” We conclude with implications of our study for research and managerial practice.     

Understanding sales force automation outcomes: A managerial perspective

Despite the growing importance and potential of sales force automation (SFA), failure rates for SFA implementations have been reported to be as high as 55-80%. Given the growth of SFA programs, the potential effectiveness and efficiency SFA can bring to the sales force, and the magnitude of SFA failures, it is surprising that relatively few studies have addressed this important and timely topic. Many of the early studies have focused on the adoption and diffusion/infusion of SFA programs from an information technology perspective. The results of these studies have been inconclusive in explaining SFA implementation failures. The purpose of this study is to add to our understanding of SFA failures by investigating a broader set of implementation factors than those typically included in acceptance of technology studies. We conducted in-depth personal interviews with executives from three global organizations who were responsible for SFA initiatives in their firm. Results from the in-depth analyses yield recommendations and a proposed model to assist managers in the implementation of their SFA as well as getting their salespeople to “buy-in” to the SFA, and ultimately reduce SFA failures.     

Salesperson's innovation resistance and job satisfaction in intra-organizational diffusion of sales force automation technologies: The case of South Korea

One of the rapidly growing areas in industrial marketing is the application of sales force automation (SFA) technologies to help improve the efficiency of the sales force task. What is often overlooked is that there are some potential negative effects related to SFA technologies that arise when these innovations are forcefully adopted on the individual salesperson. This study empirically examines the psychological and social antecedents of salespeople's resistance toward SFA technologies in South Korea. Unlike previous studies that only looked at adoption, this studies adds to the literature on SFA technologies by looking at resistance toward innovation in the post-adoption or intra-organizational diffusion stage. This study looks at the direct and indirect relationships between innovation resistance and some key constructs such as job satisfaction, job performance, self-efficacy, group-efficacy, innovativeness, and peer usage. This study represents also one of the very few empirical studies conducted on sales force behavior in South Korea and as such may offer some insights on sales force management in collectivist cultures.     

Sales force technology usage—reasons, barriers, and support: An exploratory investigation

Increasingly, salespeople are being asked to adopt and use a variety of technologies to increase their selling productivity and efficiency, including sales force automation and customer relationship management technologies. However, little research has investigated what happens once sales force automation (SFA) technology is adopted. This paper explores the reasons why salespeople use SFA technologies, the perceived barriers to SFA usage and how management can increase the usage of SFA technology. First, a qualitative study was performed to gain insight about salespeople's automation technology usage and the reasons why some salespeople fully use or do not utilize technology. After the initial study, 130 salespeople were surveyed. More productivity/efficiency was the main reason why salespeople use technology, the lack of management and technical support proved to be the main barrier to usage, and training proved most effective in increasing usage of SFA technology. Sales managers are provided with implications of the findings.     

Technology improves sales performance—doesn't it?: An introduction to the special issue on selling and sales technology

Firms around the globe are rushing to invest in sales force technology or sales force automation (SFA). SFA appears to mean different things to different people. For example, management and sales personnel view the need for, application of, and advantages of SFA quite distinctly. As a result of technology, this special issue examines many areas of sales force automation to provide both practicing managers and sales force academicians with a clearer perspective of new technology in the B2B marketplace. This article introduces the special issue topic, individual contributors, and acknowledges support proffered by myriad individuals.     

Impediments to sales force automation

Sales force automation (SFA) occurs when firms adopt technology to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of sales-related activities. Research has shown, however, that 55-75% of SFA projects fail. This paper first identifies and explains impediments that exist in three SFA areas: planning, communication, and evaluation. The high failure rate of SFA can also be explained by gaps that exist, between the sales force and management, in SFA perceptions and goals. Finally, after discussing each of these areas, study implications are provided to sales managers and suggestions are offered for future research.     

Sales force automation systems: An analysis of factors underpinning the sophistication of deployed systems in the UK financial services industry

This study investigates organizational and strategic context variables that are linked to the sophistication of sales force automation systems in UK financial services firms. We find that increasing sophistication in SFA deployment, evaluated as a count of the number of types of results of sales campaigns that are measured, is driven directly by the information orientation of the host firm. We also find that the “sophistication” of deployed systems is, in fact, limited — the information held on the systems cannot underpin the strategic goals of the sales/marketing managers. We theorise that adoption of SFA systems is driven by managerial imperatives and that these have resulted in sales force resistance — shown by the paucity of information held on adopted SFA systems.     

Do business customers perceive what salespeople believe? Perceptions of salesperson adoption of innovations

A salesperson's commitment and effort toward an innovation can determine whether the customer agrees to buy it, such that customers' perceptions of such commitment and effort are critical. But these perceptions also might differ fundamentally from the salesperson's self-perceptions of commitment and effort. Therefore, this paper presents a theoretical framework of the relation between salesperson-perceived and customer-perceived commitment and effort, as exhibited by the salesperson while selling an innovation, which represents salesperson adoption. In the framework, job satisfaction factors also exert contingent, moderating effects. The authors gather unique, dyadic data from surveys of salespeople and their (potential) business customers during visits to sell a conventional, incremental innovation, complemented by objective purchase data gathered from company records. Three key insights emerge fromt this study. First, salespeople's own perceptions of their commitment and effort have only moderate influences on customers' perceptions of salespeople's commitment and effort. Second, customers seem to recognize salesperson effort more readily than salesperson commitment, although salesperson commitment has a higher sales performance impact than salesperson effort. Thus, sales managers should seek to encourage and support both the commitment of salespeople and also perceptions of that commitment among customers. Third, while a higher organizational support or job autonomy strengthens customers' perceptions of salesperson adoption, a higher pay satisfaction diminishes it. Thus, firms might need to find ways to increase the support for the salespeople and their autonomy and to reduce salespeople's satisfaction with their (direct) payments. In total, these findings suggest significant scientific and managerial implications.     

How does sales force automation influence relationship quality and performance? The mediating roles of learning and selling behaviors

Sales force automation (SFA) technologies are increasingly used to support customer relationship management strategies. However, previous studies have reported mixed results about the performances of SFA technologies. Therefore, this study seeks to further examine the impact of SFA usage on both customer relationship quality and sales performance. Additionally, the mediating roles of learning and adaptive selling behaviors on the outcomes of SFA usage are investigated. The results highlight the mediating role of salesperson learning and adaptive selling behaviors in the SFA usage and sales performance relationship. Especially noteworthy is the impact of learning through adaptive selling on those outcome variables. Implications for SFA research and practice that may further improve our understanding of this increasingly relevant topic are also offered.     

Commitment to technological change,sales force intelligence norms,and salesperson key outcomes

Despite increasing interest in sales technology investments, companies continue to struggle with getting their salespeople to use these expensive technologies. In this context, two under-researched issues warrant attention. First, although sales technology represents a continuous source of change, little is known about why salespeople commit to technology-induced changes. Second, knowledge on whether sales force intelligence norms play a role into translating use of sales technology to performance gains is remarkably sparse. To address these gaps, this study develops a conceptual framework that explores the linear and non-linear effects of commitment to technological change (i.e., affective, normative, and continuance) on sales technology infusion, and, in turn, on two key outcomes (i.e., customer-oriented selling and sales performance). Our framework also advances knowledge on how sales force intelligence norms (i.e., analytical sales processes and knowledge sharing with customers) moderate the relationships between sales technology infusion and key outcomes. Analysis is done using multilevel structural equation modeling on a sample of 303 salespeople nested within 22 firms. Findings support the view that the three components of commitment are distinct, with some counter-intuitive results. Specifically, affective commitment does not exert a significant positive influence as expected; yet, normative commitment does. In contrast, while lower levels of continuance commitment reduce infusion, higher levels have positive effects, thus depicting a U-shaped effect. Finally, sales technology infusion influences both key outcomes — and findings support the importance of fostering sales force intelligence norms. Implications of the study are discussed.     

Impact of sales force automation on technology-related stress, effort, and technology usage among salespeople

This study unveils factors affecting sales force automation (SFA) technology usage by salespeople. It differs from previous research by: (1) proposing a model that examines the consequences of task complexity on role perceptions and technology usage, and (2) understanding the negative repercussions of SFA technology on the user. The proposed model was tested using data from 150 salespeople employed by a national organization. The results suggest that integration of SFA technology induces adverse role perceptions in salespeople. However, controlling for extraneous variables, effort is significantly related to salespeople's usage of technology. Key managerial implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

The effects of technology-mediated communication on industrial buyer behavior

Sellers are embracing technology-mediated sales communication tools such as videoconferencing systems, cellular phones, web sites, and electronic data interchange (EDI) systems in an attempt to control selling costs while maintaining the personal touch. What is unclear at this point, however, is if investment in communication technology actually pays dividends for industrial suppliers. This research explores the topic by examining the effects of buyer satisfaction with the adoption of technology-mediated communication (STMC) on channel partner relationships. STMC is found to have significant, positive, direct effects on future intentions (FI). Furthermore, these effects are found to be partially mediated by trust and commitment.     

The use of social media in sales: Individual and organizational antecedents,and the role of customer engagement in social media

There is recognition that social media can benefit personal selling and sales management, especially in the B2B context. This research draws on interactional psychology theory to propose and test a model of usage of social media in sales, analyzing individual, organizational, and customer-related factors. We find that organizational competence and commitment with social media are key determinants of social media usage in sales, as well as individual commitment. Customer engagement with social media also predicts social media usage in sales, both directly and (mostly) through the individual and organizational factors analyzed, especially organizational competence and commitment. Finally, we find evidence of synergistic effects between individual competence and commitment, which is not found at the organizational level. We conduct multiple regression analysis of data obtained by surveying 220 sales executives in the United States.     

The adoption of information technology in the sales force

The purpose of this article is to explain why salespeople adopt information technology. The results from a cross-sectional study of 229 salespeople indicate that putting sales technology to use strongly depends on salespeople's perceptions about the technology enhancing their performance, their personal innovativeness and organizational efforts in terms of user training. Throughout the adoption process companies also need to target sales line managers-next to end users-because salespeople clearly comply with the expectations of their supervisors. Finally, the threat from competing sales professionals or peers who use similar sales technology seems to be of secondary importance for individual sales technology adoption.     

Salesperson competitive intelligence and performance: The role of product knowledge and sales force automation usage

This research models and tests the relationship between a salesperson's product knowledge, competitive intelligence behaviors (SCIB), and performance. Moreover, the research examines how a salesperson's use of a sales force automation (SFA) system influences the knowledge–SCIB–performance relationship. Our model and empirical evidence suggest that a salesperson's product knowledge influences performance indirectly through SCIB, and that this indirect influence is moderated by salesperson SFA use. Results show that the indirect positive influence of salesperson product knowledge on salesperson performance through SCIB is attenuated as SFA use increases, and enhanced when SFA use decreases. Theoretical and managerial implications are presented, followed by a discussion of limitations and future research.     

Transfer of market knowledge in a channel relationship: Impacts of attitudinal commitment and satisfaction

This paper attempts to explain how a manufacturer's attitudinal commitment and a distributor's kind and degree of satisfaction have an impact on the transferring of market knowledge from the distributor in a channel relationship. Using data from 225 paired distributors and manufacturers in the Chinese household appliances entity, six of our seven research hypotheses were supported. Results of the study show that a distributor's economic satisfaction directly promotes market knowledge transfer, while a distributor's social satisfaction will enhance market knowledge transfer only when positive economic satisfaction already exists. Furthermore, both the calculative commitment and the loyalty commitment of a manufacturer have inverse U-shaped relationships with a distributor's economic satisfaction, and are negatively and positively related, respectively, to the distributor's social satisfaction. The study thus points out the distinct roles of economic satisfaction and social satisfaction and their interaction in market knowledge transfer, and the insightful impacts of calculative and loyalty commitment on economic and social satisfaction. These findings provide new theoretical thinking about channel relationship management and the business practices of manufacturers.     

Financial and operational instruments for commodity procurement in quantity competition

We analyze a commodity procurement problem under uncertain future procurement prices and product demands. An optimization model is presented that finds the best mix of advance procurement, spot market procurement, and financial options to satisfy demand in an asymmetric and duopolistic sales market. One firm can only procure just-in-time whereas the other can additionally procure in advance via inventories or option contracts. We show that even under arbitrage-free procurement prices, inventories and option contracts both provide an advantage in comparison to pure just-in-time procurement. However, inventories turn out to dominate option contracts due to a stronger capacity commitment.     

Organizational perceptions of sales managers

The field sales manager is an important member of any organization that has a field sales force. Field sales managers are critical from an operations and human relations point of view [14]. It is at this position that marketing plans meet field implementation. In addition, field sales managers embody management to the salesmen and in turn represent the salesmen to top management. Because of the boundary nature of this position, it is essential to have field sales managers who work harmoniously with both organizational levels. The man-in-the-middle nature of the position makes the field sales manager susceptible to the performance expectations of two diverse groups—sales and managerial personnel.     

Moving beyond the direct effect of SFA adoption on salesperson performance: training and support as key moderating factors

To our knowledge, this research is the first to focus on the critical moderating role that user training and support play on the relationship between the use of sales force automation tools and salesperson performance (i.e., effectiveness: percent-to-quota and efficiency: average number of calls per day). Hypotheses are tested using survey data from a sample of 108 salespeople in a business-to-business context and archival sales performance information. Moderated regression analysis results indicate that the use of sales force automation tools only enhances salesperson efficiency and effectiveness under conditions of adequate user support and training. In fact, under low levels of user training and support, the use of sales force automation tools was found to reduce salesperson efficiency and effectiveness. These findings have important implications for IT and sales managers since the results show that only under certain conditions will companies realize a return on their investment in SFA tools. Limitations and future directions for research are then discussed.