Customer showrooming behavior,customer orientation,and emotional labor: Sales control as a moderator

Despite the popularity of customer showrooming behavior (CSB), few studies have investigated how this phenomenon affects salespeople's sales behavior. To answer this research call, we explored the effect of CSB on customer orientation (CO), as they are associated with emotional labor (EL) and perceived sales control as a moderator. We gathered data from 397 salespeople in South Korean department stores. Our study showed that CSB affected deep acting negatively by reducing CO. Perceived outcome-based sales control enhances CSB's negative impact on CO. Nevertheless, perceived behavior-based sales control does not moderate the relationship between CSB and CO. Our results indicate that supervising salespeople using outcome-based control only worsens the effect of CSB on salespeople who combat CSB.     

The Interplay of Emotion Regulation and Sales Experience in Salesperson Conflicts: Evidence from an Emerging Economy

ABSTRACT

It is human nature that personal interactions are often charged with emotions and laden with conflicts. Workplace encounters are not immune from this reality. Despite this, few studies have examined ways to reduce interpersonal conflict in the workplace. This study examines the interpersonal impact of emotion regulation on salesperson relationships with stakeholders. Using structural equation modeling, results of the analysis showed that salesperson's regulation of emotions was negatively related to interpersonal conflict with co-workers as well as with customers; and positively impacted customer-oriented sales behaviors. The results also support the moderating role of selling experience in the relationship between emotion regulation and interpersonal conflict with customers. That is, the negative relationship between regulation and conflict with customers is stronger for salespeople with lower sales experience. These findings put forward important managerial implications with regard to the recruitment and training of sales professionals.     

Salesperson implementation of sales strategy and its impact on sales performance

ABSTRACT

It has been observed in the academic and practitioner literature, a disconnect between the activities of salespeople and the sales strategy espoused by sales organizations. This study examines organizational and individual factors that can influence salespersons’ willingness and ability to implement sales strategy. This paper also seeks to examine the performance implications of sales strategy implementation by salespeople. Data were collected from a sample of 190 business-to-business salespeople in different industries. The study’s hypotheses were tested using partial least squares (PLS). The results of the study show that the different types of sales force control (behavior control and outcome control) has contrasting effects on salesperson market and technical knowledge and salesperson implementation of sales strategy. The results also demonstrate that when salespeople implement sales strategy as part of their sales process, it has a positive effect on their sales performance.     

Servant Leadership,Proactive Work Behavior,and Performance Overall Rating: Testing a Multilevel Model of Moderated Mediation

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The goal of this paper is to investigate whether salesperson proactive behavior mediates the relationship between sales manager servant leadership and salesperson overall performance rating by the sales manager. Moreover, it examines whether salesperson customer orientation and political skill moderate the sales manager servant leadership ? salesperson proactive behavior ─ salesperson overall performance. Design/methodology/approach: Empirical analysis is based on dyadic data from 181 industrial salespeople and their sales managers in a range of different industries (including both manufacturing and service industries). To analyze the multilevel moderated mediation process, this investigation uses Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling (MSEM). Findings: Sales manager servant leadership was positively related to salespeople overall performance rating through their proactive behavior except when their customer orientation was low. Moreover, this relationship between sales manager servant leadership and overall performance rating through proactive work behavior was stronger the greater the salespeople consumer orientation and political skill. Research implications: The study suggests that sales manager servant leadership is indirectly related to salesperson overall performance rating through salesperson proactive behavior. The findings also support subsequent research on salesperson values, skills, and behaviors as moderators in the servant leadership – proactive behavior – overall performance rating relationship. Understanding how these salesperson factors interact with sales management leadership to produce organizational outcomes (e.g., stress, engagement, organizational commitment) are questions that sales researchers may wish to pursue via further study. Practical implications: Sales managers should employ servant leadership to stimulate salespeople proactive work behavior. This study clearly indicates the salespeople need to adopt customer orientation and to have political skill. Hence, sales managers need to try to improve the customer orientation and the political skill of their salespeople through selection procedures or training programs. Originality/value: The relationship between sales manager servant leadership and salesperson overall performance through proactive work behavior has not been addressed and tested in the literature to date.     

An experimental analysis of the impact of a behaviour modification programme on salespersons' effort and performance behaviours

This study adapts a radical behaviourist ‐perspective in the study of the sales manager‐salesperson interaction, and analyses the impact of a behaviour modification programme on both the effort and performance behaviours of salespeople. To this end, a field experiment was conducted with the co‐operation of an industrial sales organization. Subjects were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups and a number of effort and performance indicators were measured via self‐report procedures. The treatment consisted of manipulations to the sales manager‐salesperson interaction in order to improve monitoring systems, introduce more structured feedback mechanisms, and make reinforcement more contingent upon actual behaviours. Results indicate that a number of effort indicator variables and performance outcomes showed significant increases for the experimental group relative to the control group.     

Learning-Oriented Sales Management Control: The Case of a Pharmaceutical Company

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The primary goal was to identify organizational conditions for developing a learning-oriented behavioral control system, an issue that has been neglected in previous studies.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The authors conducted a case study of Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim (NBI).

Findings: We found that a behavior-based sales management control system facilitates learning by salespersons when 1) the focus is on skill development, 2) fewer key performance indicators are being used, and 3) supportive supervision and knowledge sharing are promoted.

Research Limitations: Because this was a single case study, it is necessary to investigate other cases in other countries and to compare the results with those of NBI to develop theories about learning-oriented behavior control systems.

Practical Implications: In the early stages of sales reform, sales managers and medical representatives should not use multiple process indicators for multiple evaluations; rather, they should use a small number of process indicators (e.g., number of visits per day) so that all individuals concerned about a problem can share information and promote improvement.     

Work–family conflict in the sales force redux: A compendium of influencers

Abstract

Selling is a primary function of channels of distribution with sales managers and salespeople markedly influencing channel success. Recently, salesperson work–family conflict has become a major concern, owing to its potential for adversely affecting sales force performance and thus impairing associated channel success. It has been extensively investigated in industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology, but sales scholars’ interest in it remains in the incipient stage. Whether findings from non-sales contexts are portable to a selling milieu remains an empirical question. This article presents an array of organizational- and managerial-related, individual job-related, individual person-related, technology-related, and contemporary selling environment-related factors that have been found to be or are logically associated with salesperson work–family conflict. The article thus seeks to facilitate sales researchers’ and practitioners’ efforts in undertaking empirical work and assisting salespeople to manage such conflict. To date, no previously published work has engaged in this charge.     

Impact of Sales Call Adaptiveness and Customer Willingness on Sales Call Length: A Cross-Country Study of India,China, Korea,and Philippines

ABSTRACT

In this empirical study across four countries (India, China, Korea, and Philippines), we examine the impact of sales call adaptiveness and customer willingness on sales call length (duration) of salespersons in these four countries. Sales call length as well as sales call quality—although important constructs in sales—are still underresearched in the domain of sales management. Our study in these four emerging markets sheds new light on enhancing sales force effectiveness. Using survey data from 847 salespersons in four countries, we analyze using multivariate analysis, and our results suggest that sales force effectiveness can be enhanced by giving them the autonomy to decide the sales call length based on the prospect quality. We also demonstrate that salespeople indulging in sales-oriented behaviors may be detrimental to the long-term relationship with customers. Emphasis on relational sales approaches would reduce sales practices such as pitching products or services to unwilling customers. Our study also highlights the interactive role of customer willingness and sales adaptiveness. We found several inter-country differences across sales practices in four countries, which have several meaningful managerial implications.     

Salesperson's listening in buyer–seller service relationships

Research has consistently shown that salesperson's active listening behavior leads to strong sales performance. Yet the influence of management policies on listening has received very limited attention, and prior research linking listening to customer retention has led to mixed findings. This study examines how listening is enhanced through control systems and the influence of listening on customer retention in a service context. Dyadic data from salespeople and their customers show that a behavior-based control system (measured as a second-order construct) positively influences listening and the salesperson's customer orientation totally mediates the influence of listening on customer commitment to the salesperson and loyalty to the service company. Our findings indicate that listening is a necessary but not sufficient condition for assuring relationship development. More specifically, customer orientation is the generative mechanism through which listening is able to influence customer retention. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Consequences of sales management control in field sales organizations: a cross-national perspective

In this study we explore the effects of behavior-based sales management control on salesperson characteristics, salesperson performance and sales organization effectiveness with data collected from field sales managers in Australia and Austria. Considering this cross-national perspective, knowledge should be added to the limited international sales management literature. The study findings provide strong support for positive relationships between behavior-based control and salesperson characteristics, salesperson outcome performance, and sales organization effectiveness. The results offer encouraging support of the cross-national relevance of the sales management behavior-based control model.     

Impression Management Tactics and Performance Ratings: A Moderated-Mediation Framework

Purpose: The objective of this study is to contribute to the sales management literature by analyzing whether self-monitoring dimensions (the ability to adjust the presentation of one’s self and the sensitivity to the expressive behaviors of others) play a moderating role in the use of impression management—supervisor liking—performance rating nomological network.

Methodology/approach: Empirical analysis is based on dyadic data from 122 industrial salespeople and their sales managers in 9 different industries. Structural equation modelling was used to analyze the psychometric proprieties of the measurement scales, and conditional process analysis was used to test the proposed hypotheses.

Research implications: The results obtained indicate that the use of supervisor-focused impression management tactics is an indirect antecedent of a salesperson’s performance rating through sales manager liking, but not the self-focused tactics. Results also show that a self-monitoring dimension i.e., the ability to adjust the presentation of one’s self, moderates the “impression management—supervisor liking—performance rating” chain. These results provide an increased understanding of the processes involved in sales managers—salespeople’s interactions.

Practical implications: The main implication for salespeople is that the use of impression management tactics to influence performance ratings only is effective when they use supervisor-focused tactics because attempts to influence via self-focused tactics will not have any effect. The most important implication for sales managers’ is that not all impression management tactics are successfully executed and that the identification of combinations of impression management tactics and the levels of salespeople’s self-monitoring can positively influence performance appraisals by generating evaluative biases. Given that evaluative biases can produce inequitable behaviors by sales managers in the task assignments and support provided to the salespeople, it is important that sales managers are aware of when they can occur (i.e., when salespeople with a moderate ability to adjust their self-presentation use supervisor-focused tactics).

Originality/value/contribution of the article: This article contributes to the existing knowledge by two important means. First, this study proposes a model and presents an empirical test of constructs that mediate (i.e., supervisor liking) and moderate (i.e., self-monitoring dimensions) the “use of impression management tactics—sales manager liking—performance appraisal” relation. This model responds to calls for studies that analyze how impression management tactics are related to performance appraisal and when the relation between the use of these tactics and performance rating occurs. Two, this study uses data from both salespeople and their sales managers, which minimizes any risk of common method variance bias.     

How management control and job-related characteristics influence the performance of export sales managers

Despite the plethora of studies examining the influence of behavior-based sales management control on salesperson characteristics and performance, limited empirical evidence exists with respect to its relevance and importance in an export sales context. This study expands the existing literature by investigating the influence of behavior-based control and job-related characteristics on the performance of export sales managers. The article offers a conceptual model and an empirical test using data from 210 UK exporters. The findings support the positive influence of behavior-based control on certain export sales managers' characteristics and behavioral performance. The results also indicate that: specific export sales managers' characteristics enhance behavioral performance; behavioral performance is positively related to outcome performance; psychic distance moderates the relationship between behavior-based control and behavioral performance. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for export executives and suggestions for future research in the field.     

Power-Base Effects on Salesperson Motivation and Performance: A Contingency View

Purpose: The sales literature shows that motivation is a key determinant of salesperson performance. The literature also suggests that how managers use social power will have an effect on important organizational outcomes, including salesperson performance. This study examines the five bases of social power that sales managers use (reward, coercive, legitimate, referent, and expert) as moderating influences in the salesperson motivation (extrinsic and intrinsic)—salesperson performance linkage.

Methodology/approach: Data was collected from 128 salespeople using a cross industry survey. Eight hypotheses were developed and tested using SmartPLS (partial least squares).

Findings: The authors found support for five of eight hypotheses. Results and significant findings suggest that sales managers can impact sales performance in extrinsically motivated salespeople by using coercive and legitimate power. For intrinsically motivated salespeople, sales managers can impact sales performance by using coercive, legitimate, and referent power.

Research implications: Related to social power theory, the study suggests that salesperson performance is dependent upon a salesperson’s combined motivation orientation and the base of power used by the sales manager. The study also sets the stage for subsequent research on how managerial power can be studied as a moderator for other personal salesperson characteristics (e.g., self-esteem, self-efficacy, locus of control) and salesperson performance. In addition, understanding how these other personal characteristics interact with managerial bases of power to produce other organizational outcomes (e.g., job satisfaction, organizational commitment) are questions that sales researchers may wish to pursue via further study.

Practical implications: For practicing sales managers, the research study can provide guidance as to how they may tailor their use of power to best impact salesperson performance. For a manager to understand the motivational makeup of each salesperson, open communication and dialogue must occur at the onset of their relationship. Having the knowledge of what drives each salesperson, a manager can modify their leadership style (and choice of power base) to suit the situation. Customizing these sales management approaches may also have long-term benefits for the organization as studies show that doing so can lead to reduced levels of turnover as well as increased levels of performance.

Contribution of the article: This study is important to sales research, theory, and practice. The authors contribute to the selling and sales management literature by extending motivation and social power theories into the sales domain by showing that managerial power may be a key moderating determinant between a salesperson’s motivation and his/her sales performance. For practicing sales managers, we provide some insight and guidance for understanding how to throttle or moderate their use of various social power bases when dealing with individual salespeople who may differ in their motivation orientation, age, and degree of selling experience.     

Retail Salespeople's Training and Its Impact on Attitudes Toward Handling Consumer Complaints

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a study of retail salespeople's training and its impact on attitudes toward consumer complaints. A sample of 59 retail salespeople from a variety of retail stores were surveyed via a self-administered questionnaire.

Significant differences were found between salespeople with more formal training and those who received informal/no training when they were hired into the sales positions. Findings indicate that proper training can equip salespeople to deal with customers who complain.     

Contribution of sales control in salespeople’s creative selling: Work engagement as a mediator

This study investigated the effects of outcome-based control (OBCS) and behavior-based control (BBCS) on creative selling, by exploring their mediating effects on creative selling through work engagement. We also explored the joint effect of the two sales control systems on work engagement, which can eventually increase creative selling. We collected data from salespeople working at an insurance company in South Korea; 270 of the 303 participants were included in the analysis. Our results revealed that OBCS and BBCS increase creative selling. In addition, work engagement was found to mediate the relationship between OBCS and creative selling but not the relationship between BBCS and creative selling. The joint effect of OBCS and BBCS on work engagement was found to function as a hierarchical combination, meaning that work engagement is enhanced when OBCS is high and BBCS is low. These findings suggest that OBCS and BBCS function through different mechanisms to creative selling when they function separately, and the former acts as a primary control and the latter as a supplement to work engagement when they perform jointly.     

Individual and contextual influences on the affective commitment of retail salespeople

Abstract

Salesperson characteristics as well as managerial approaches have been found to play an important role in the development of positive attitudes by salespersons towards an organisation. This study integrates these two research areas to investigate the personal and contextual antecedents of affective organisational commitment of retail salespeople. Fit theory and the literature on person–situation interaction provide the theoretical bases for explaining how salesperson selling skills, job liking, and empowerment individually and jointly influence affective commitment. A multilevel modelling approach is used to analyse data from 105 sales managers and 419 salespeople. Findings reveal that salespersons' affective commitment is influenced by their selling skills, degree of job liking, tenure, and empowerment. The results also indicate that the impact of selling skills on affective commitment is higher when empowerment is high. Based on the study's findings, implications for managing salespeople as well as limitations and suggestions for future research are offered.     

Effects of considering uncontrollable factors in sales force performance evaluation

Sales managers often make adjustments for factors such as territory difficulty or representative experience when doing performance evaluations. These adjustments may be subjective, they may be simple ratio calculations (e.g., sales divided by territory size), or they may involve complicated regression analyses. This research attempts an explanation of how and why these adjustments influence perceptions of the performance evaluation process, particularly its fairness and usefulness. Data from two surveys are presented. The first is an exploratory survey of sales managers; the second is a fuller survey of salespeople. Results show that making adjustments for territory difficulty increases perceptions of fairness and usefulness of the evaluation system among both sales managers and salespeople. Feedback quality is a key mediator of these effects for both groups. A different pattern exists with regard to accounting for representative experience. For sales managers, there are no effects on feedback quality or fairness or usefulness. Salespeople, however, rate systems that account for representative differences as providing better feedback quality, as more fair, and as more useful. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A cross-national investigation of incentive sales compensation

Why do managers choose one sales compensation form rather than another? Theoretical answers typically focus on the type of plans managers should design, not on the factors that managers actually consider. Managers from various national origins pursue and weigh objectives through experience in a way that theoretical models may not capture. Incorporating conceptualizations from a wide range of disciplines, we specify a model examining the influence of cultural factors on sales compensation decisions of managers (incentive vs. fixed pay and parity vs. equity allocation). The model, tested with data collected from bank managers across six European countries, illustrates the importance of considering national culture when designing sales force compensation policies applied across multiple countries. We also find evidence that most European bank managers accept incentive pay to motivate salespeople but, perhaps paradoxically, overwhelmingly reject equity allocations to achieve control and parity. We discuss the implications of our findings for research on international governance systems and the diffusion of sales force management practices.     

Antecedents of adaptive selling among retail salespeople: A multilevel analysis

The literature on adaptive selling behavior has grown rapidly over the years, with heavier emphasis placed on industrial/professional salespeople and less attention given to retail salespeople. This study contributes to addressing this imbalance by examining the effects of two salesperson factors (selling skills and affective commitment) and two company-level variables (empowerment and behavior-based control) on the adaptive selling behavior of retail salespeople. Using data obtained from a two staged sampling procedure (105 companies and 419 salespeople), we employ a multilevel analytical procedure to model the effects of the salesperson and organizational factors on adaptive selling behavior of retail salespeople. The results indicate that selling skills and affective commitment directly influence adaptive selling while empowerment and behavior based control only indirectly influence adaptive selling behavior. Based on the findings of this study, implications for managing retail salespeople as well as limitations and suggestions for future research are presented.     

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.