年度七大最具社会良心的直销企业

2005年，虽然多层次直销全面受挫，但立足于“永续经营，长远发展”的直销企业们无论如何波动，对于社会的回馈都不曾停止过。     

欧瑞莲喜获直销牌照欧洲直销巨子全面备战中国市场

2006年,中国直销元年,来自瑞典的欧瑞莲（Oriflame）喜获直销牌照,在蓬勃发展的中国直销版图中首次注入了欧洲企业的力量。9月12日,欧瑞莲化妆品（中国）有限公司正式获国家商务部批准,成为中国第一家取得直销经营许可证的欧洲直销企业,将获准在江苏省部分城市开展直销业务。欧瑞莲集团CEO马博朗先生表示：“中国政府授予欧瑞莲直销经营许可证,对此我们感到非常高兴,也深感荣幸。欧瑞莲是第一家获得直销牌照的欧洲企业,我们相信,这是对欧瑞莲在欧洲化妆品直销行业的领导地位的肯定,另一方面也更坚定了欧瑞莲长期承诺及深耕中国市场的决心。”     

聚焦直销监管工作：加强直销监管 促进规范经营——全国直销市场专项检查情况综述

我国直销行业规模不断扩大。据统计，截至目前我国已经获得直销经营许可的企业达49家、直销分支机构290个、直销员204万人、直销产品3085种。2013年，40家直销企业实现销售业绩约906亿元。     

连锁销售还是变相传销

对于“禁多放单”这一事实，很多直销企业和直销人都表示难以接受，但为了生存，为了辛苦经营的成果不至于付之东流，管理层们开始忙碌起来，绞尽脑汁去想这样那样的应对政策。     

直销企业动态

长期以来，由于非法传销与诈骗的骚扰，直销业态在人们的心中便有些暧昧。然而，直销的三部法规（《直销管理条例》，（《禁止传销条例》和《推销员培训管理办法》的陆续全面实施，直销有望在法律的框架内走上正轨。新法规提高了注册资本金，严格了对从业人员的要求。直销从此开始了“挣阳光下的钱”。那么，直销法带给直销企业什么样的改变呢？直销企业目前的状况又是什么样经营状态呢？     

富饶 电子商务直销

“我非常渴望以直销的方式来经营企业，希望政府能为我们这样的民族中小企业考虑。”大连富饶企业集团(下简称富饶)董事长孙景业的话语里，透露出对直销的渴望，也泄漏了对第一批拿牌的不足底气。     

“三个要求”是企业立足之本

进入中国最早的直销企业是哪一家？雅芳在1990年进入中国。经过几年市场经营，出现混乱无序的局面；1996年、1997年国家开放41家转型企业，在相当长的时间里，整个行业处在一个被禁止的状态。我们很奇怪一直销这个行业为什么这么难？直销这个经营模式在全世界，许许多多的发展中国家，许许多多的发达国家，都是很盛行的，都是被认可的，已经证明它是一种对促进经济发展，对促进商品流通，对个人的成长都有帮助的经营模式。也许在中国的经营可能要经过这样一个困难时期，所以我们在总结和学习以往所有的行业经验后，我们给自己制定了非常重要的经营理念。这个经营理念把它总结起来，叫做“三个要求”。我们说到政府在管理一个国家，在管理一个人口众多的国家的时候，提出了“三个代表”的要求，那我们作为一个企业在带领这么大的经营队伍时，我们也提出“三个要求”。[编按]     

直销事业经营制胜三大系统

对于中国直销市场的重新开放，许多有志在中国经营直销的业者都把关注的焦点放在法规的内容以及“牌照”的取得与否上。好像一旦取得了牌照，就可以一帆风顺、畅行无阻。事实上，任何一个要存中同成功的企业，除了合乎法令规范，更重要的，是要掌握经营制胜的关键要素并且拥有独特的竞争优势。怎样把握经营制胜的关键要素?且听专业从事直销行业研究与直销业经营顾问李久慈先生的观点。     

《直销管理条例》下直销企业的增值税筹划

2005年12月1日《直销管理条例》实施,使直销企业进入以产品为导向的新时期,直销行业迈入规范运营的轨道。新环境下,直销企业呈现出来的新特点必然影响企业的经营与管理,本文以增值税管理为研究对象,探讨直销企业增值税管理的新问题,并就此提出筹划方略。     

关注直销

直销目前在中国还是一个灰色地带，现在从事直销的现代企业，都没有得到官方的正式认可，直销企业面对的是不公平的待遇。事实上，直销在国外包括发达国家都发展得相当好。中国目前从事直销的企业不多。我们关注如安利这样的企业，它们的经营业绩令我们钦佩。     

基于“AIDA”模式的超市自有品牌商品店堂销售策略

超市开发自有品牌只是完成了营销策略的第一步。基于"AIDA"模式的店堂销售策略的设计与实施会成为自有品牌在终端销售中取得成功的有利保障。本文基于此制定了有针对性的销售策略。     

Preliminary Investigation of Entertainment Strategies Involving Alcohol: Implications for Professional Sales Education and Training in Business Markets

Purpose: With increased numbers of business to business (B to B) firms hiring professional sales students, it is important that both sales educators and sales managers understand entertainment’s influence and its potential consequences in the professional sales environment. This study examines the perceived role entertainment plays in today’s sales process and the importance of integrating entertainment topics into sales education and sales training. The purpose of this study is to update the sales entertainment literature, record its current importance in the age of sales systemization, and propose entertainment strategies and guidelines that can be shared in both corporate sales training programs and university professional sales curricula.

Methodology/approach: Partial least squares (PLS) methodology (SmartPLS 2.0) was used to examine the model and assess the relationships between the constructs and their indicators. Data was first gathered via online and in person surveys distributed to a total of 59 sales executives. To determine whether there were significant differences between path coefficients, PLS multi-group analysis was used (PLS-MGA) to compare sales practitioners’ response to sale educators and sales students. This method was used because conducting pair-wise group comparisons can result in family-wise error.

Findings: Results indicate significant positive relationships exist between entertainment orientation, internal bonding activities, and sales performance. The results confirm the path coefficients for the 3 groups, sales practitioners, sales educators, and sales students, did not differ significantly. Therefore, all groups rated external entertainment as being important to achieve sales performance and internally for bonding with co-workers.

Originality/value/contribution: The responses of B to B sales professionals, sales educators, and sales students are compared regarding their perception of entertainment in developing and managing sales relationships. Based upon the findings, sales professionals are provided with insight about the perceived role entertainment plays

in today’s selling environment and offered recommendations for collegiate classrooms and corporate on-boarding sessions that improve the knowledge of and ability to successfully manage entertainment of internal and external customers.     

Double-Loop Sales Adaptation: A Conceptual Model and an Empirical Investigation

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to conceptualize and discuss the phenomenon of a double-loop sales adaptation in sales and its practical application. The resultant framework is developed from existing academic literature on adaptation in sales and marketing and inspired by the concept of double-loop learning.

Methodology/approach: The study adopted an abductive approach, iterating between the empirical world of two service firms and the theoretical world. The developed framework is refined with interview-based feedback from key informants in business-to-business organizations.

Findings: This article develops a framework for double-loop sales adaptation, which combines adaptations of selling behavior with a sales mindset.

Contribution: Although previous research recognizes adaptation as a central aspect of relationships, the link between adaptation and sales mindset has arguably been inadequate in the literature. Accordingly, this study focuses on sales adaptation occurring at the two levels of behavior and mindset.

Implications for practice: The proposed framework provides sales practitioners with a model for adaptation in their customer relationships. By distinguishing between two sorts of adaptation, managers can optimize resource allocation to both benefit the company and strengthen the relationship among parties.     

Impact of CRM technology on sales process behaviors: empirical results from US,Europe, and Asia

Purpose: The diffusion of customer relationship management (CRM) systems across the globe, over the last decade, has created a need to improve the understanding of the impact of technology on the sales process from a global perspective. The authors examine how CRM technology impacts the sales process (creating opportunity, managing opportunity, and managing relationships) in three regions of the world (US, Europe, and Asia).

Methodology/Approach: The differences among US respondents (n = 789), European respondents (n = 327), and Asian respondents (n = 91) were explored. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted on creating opportunity, managing opportunity, and managing relationships, with dichotomized CRM effectiveness and geography (US/Europe/Asia) as factors.

Findings: The MANOVA revealed a significant influence of CRM effectiveness, but a non-significance for geography and a non-significance for the interaction between CRM effectiveness and geography. This pattern of results suggests that CRM effectiveness leads to significant differences in sales processes; however, these influences are not qualified by the geography to which the firm belongs. Ensuing univariate Analysis of Varirances (ANOVAs) revealed a significant influence of CRM effectiveness on creating opportunity, managing opportunity, and managing relationships, but not for firm–geography or its interaction with CRM effectiveness. Post hoc tests revealed that firms high on CRM effectiveness were better at creating opportunity, managing opportunity, and managing relationships. Differences in CRM effectiveness lead to significant differences in sales processes; however, these influences once again are not qualified by the geography to which the firms belong.

Originality/Value Contribution: This study provides several contributions to the stream of research focused on CRM globally. First, due to globalization, CRM use and process can be more standardized across regions and cultures. With the evolution of technology such as Web 2.0 and cloud computing, barriers to communicating and exchanging information, regardless of time zone or location, have been decreased. A US firm’s use of a CRM platform can essentially capture the same information on a client that a firm in Europe or Asia also manages. CRM’s ultimate measure of success is for the buyer–seller relationship process to positively impact the level of business conducted.     

Revisiting Gender Role Stereotyping in the Sales Profession

This paper revisits the issue of gender stereotypes in sales professions given new views of what makes for effective sales performance and sales management. Women's continued disadvantaged position in the sales profession is documented, and the role of gender role stereotypes in sustaining this situation in the profession is examined. The paper then turns to the newly emerging, ostensibly "pro-female", view of sales. This emphasises the importance of building and sustaining relationships – qualities that women have traditionally been stereotyped as "good" at. Despite the positive emphasis accorded to women's skills in this new sales landscape, the ethical problems which arise from constructing this debate around the issue of gender are explored. In particular, the extent to which the view of women as "good at relationships" constitutes a stereotype is examined, and the value of this stereotype for redressing women's disadvantaged position from the perspectives of justice and utility is set out. In the final part of the paper we look at potential avenues for future theory and research which may help bring into focus a new view of gender role stereotypes in sales.     

Supervising the Unethical Selling Behavior of Top Sales Performers: Assessing the Impact of Social Desirability Bias

This study measures social desirability bias (SD bias) by comparing the level of discipline sales managers believe they would administer when supervising unethical selling behavior with the level of discipline they perceive other sales managers would select. Results indicate the presence of SD bias; the sales manager respondents consistently claimed that they would be stricter while their peers would be more lenient. Using an analytical technique that takes social desirability bias into account, it appears that sales managers use of discipline is affected by the sales performance of the salesperson being disciplined resulting in more lenient discipline for top sales performers. In addition, the more lenient treatment for top sales performers persists even when there is a pattern of a prior ethical infraction and the existence of an explicit organizational policy proscribing the act in question. Sales managers believe that, like themselves, others would be stricter when an unethical act is committed for the second time but not as strict as they personally would be. A within-subjects interaction effect indicates more SD bias under the condition of the unethical act being committed for the second time.     

Psychological contracts and independent sales contractors: an examination of the predictors of contractor-level outcomes

Abstract

Over the past decade, the independent sales contractor (ISC) has emerged as both an important distribution channel and a management challenge. This study makes two contributions to this evolving field. First, it explores the interrelations of the psychological contract with sales performance, voluntary turnover and organisational advocacy of ISCs, which have hitherto been largely unexplored. Second, it examines differences between high- and low-performing sales contractors on these linkages, due to findings in the literature that a small number of sales contractors often achieve a majority of sales. Based on survey data as well as 7 years of contractor-level data related to sales performance and voluntary turnover (n = 189), results indicate that psychological contract fulfilment and perceived dependency are important determinants of subsequent sales performance, voluntary turnover and organisational advocacy, with significant differences reported between high- and low-performing ISCs. A notable finding pertinent for sales managers responsible for managing ISCs is that high-performing sales contractors are motivated by psychological contract fulfilment and a low perception of dependency, while low-performing sales contractors are more likely to act as advocates for the firm due to perceived dependency, but may concurrently engage in organisational advocacy as a means to leave the firm.     

The paradox of diminishing returns: Measurement and metrics for valuation of B2C sales professionals

Abstract

The realization of channel multiplicity is increasingly present in retail exchanges. Retailers understand that consumers may seek information in one channel and complete their purchases in another channel. Researchers have labeled this retailing concept as “showrooming.” Showrooming suggests that retail salespeople may provide information, services, and suggestions that generate retail sales revenues at another time in another place. While they likely mediate exchange value, retail salespersons’ contributions to building sales revenues and customer relationships may be difficult to measure. The degree of value engendered in the retail sales role set is associated with product and transaction complexity. As such, retail sales functions may range from highly transactional (i.e., facilitating a transaction) to highly relational (i.e., building retail patronage). This article proffers a taxonomy of retail salespeople based on sales role sets: Companions, Consultants, Clerks, and Closers. Managerial recommendations are provided for measuring retail salesperson performance in an omni-channel marketplace.     

销售绩效相关影响因素的实证研究

作为企业与顾客之间纽带的销售人员的绩效会直接影响企业的生存与发展。然而,当前国内对于销售人员绩效的影响因素的系统研究尚属凤毛麟角。文章基于国外20多年的相关研究成果,通过文献研究、实地调研和实证研究相结合的方法,揭示出影响我国销售人员绩效的相关影响因素及其作用机制。研究表明:销售人员行为绩效和销售区域设计满意度对销售绩效有显著影响;报酬制度和销售控制体系对销售绩效有显著影响。其中,组织承诺在报酬制度、销售控制体系与销售绩效的关系中起到媒介作用。     

After‐sales services of home appliances: evidence from Sri Lanka

The provision of after‐sales services is considered as a source of product differentiation leading to competitive advantage of a firm. As a consequence, there is a need of monitoring and measuring the activities of after‐sales service departments to ensure that the objectives of their existence are satisfied. Yet, it is very rare to find previous studies that investigated after‐sales service provision. We investigated different dimensions of after‐sales service provision of home appliances in the Sri Lankan context. The study operationalized different dimensions of after‐sales service provision from three different perspectives and used multiple parameters to evaluate the nature of provision.