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.     

Selection,Training, and Performance Evaluation of Sales Managers: An Empirical Investigation

ABSTRACT

Despite the important role sales managers play in an organization, little empirical work has explored various facets of their jobs. The state of knowledge regarding this issue is woefully inadequate. To partially address this gap in the sales management literature, this paper reports the results of a study that investigated recruitment/selection, training, and performance evaluation practices vis-à-vis sales managers. Findings suggest that sales managers (irrespective of their company's size or primary market offering) generally rely on subjective recruitment and selection tools and techniques when recruiting sales management candidates, do not feel that any particular job activity is uniquely important or difficult to perform, and consider few evaluation criteria when assaying sales manager performance. Conclusions concerning the study's results are provided.     

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.     

The Effectiveness of Sales Promotion Tools among Indian Consumers: An Empirical Study

Marketers use sales promotions to boost sales. Sales promotion tools vary in their effectiveness to elicit different sales responses. Companies have a specific goal when they choose to use any promotional tool. Many researchers believe that sales promotions are zero sum game. Unlike in the West, in India brand loyalists outnumber price buyers by 200%. This paper investigates the effectiveness of select sales promotional tools in generating different buying behaviors. The study reveals that sales promotions, in India, do not help in category expansion. They are effective measures for inducing brand switching, stock piling, and purchase acceleration.     

Sales management: Learning and innovation in Japan

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine ways to promote learning, based on four empirical studies of salespeople and sales departments in Japan. First, analyses of survey data of 192 real estate salespeople indicated that customer- and goal achievement-oriented sales beliefs enhanced experiential learning at work. Second, analyses of data of 193 sales departments indicated that customer orientation in sales departments promotes innovation by facilitating task conflict and preventing process conflict. Third, analyses of survey research of 199 sales departments indicated that behavior-based and knowledge-based management control systems are effective at promoting learning and innovation. Finally, a case study of Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim (NBI) revealed several ways to facilitate learning using a behavior-based sales management control system. Theoretical implications for sales management systems were examined.     

Sales contests versus quotas with imbalanced territories

This paper studies the consequences of sales contests versus quota systems when territories have imbalanced sales potential. How do the optimal sales, efforts of salespeople, and profits vary with territory imbalance in a sales contest and how do these change if compensation is based upon quotas? Our major result is that territory imbalance has a differential effect: it hurts a contest more than a quota. In a sales contest, the salesperson in the stronger territory only need to mimic the effort of the salesperson in the other territory to maximize compensation, but this implies that the salesperson in the weaker territory will shirk relative to a quota system. Handicapping the contest to correct for territory imbalance overcomes its disadvantage vis-à-vis the quota plan, but this is seldom incorporated into sales contests.     

Thrill of victory and agony of defeat: Emotional rewards and sales force compensation

When sales territories are imbalanced, how do salespersons’ emotions-pride and disappointment in goal attainment-affect the choice between sales contests and sales quotas? First, profits in a quota system increase when pride in the weaker territory or disappointment in the stronger territory increase. In a sales contest, by contrast, feelings of disappointment reduce profits regardless of territory characteristics. Second, a simultaneous strengthening of pride and disappointment enhances the advantage of quota over contest created by territory imbalance. However, the interpersonal nature of the contest, pitting a salesperson against a known rival, may generate stronger emotions than a quota-system, with its impersonal sales targets. So, third, a contest may overcome the profit advantages of the quota-system. Fourth, if pride and disappointment are strongly felt because of territory imbalance, handicapping either contest or quota is unprofitable, and moreover, if pride and disappointment are greater in interpersonal situations, handicapping may be more detrimental to a contest than to a sales quota-system.     

Sales Quota Plans: Mechanisms For Adaptive Learning

A vexing problem in managing sales forces occurs when the sales manager does not know the characteristics of a sales territory. In this paper we show how sales quota-bonus plans can be optimally used to learn about unknown territory characteristics over a multiperiod horizon. We demonstrate this process in two scenarios—one in which the sales manager and the rep are symmetrically informed about the territory characteristics, and the other in which the rep is better informed than the manager. Overall our analysis underscores the importance of Bayesian techniques in sales force management.     

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)'s Impact on B to B Sales Professionals' Collaboration and Sales Performance

Purpose: Sales literature has traditionally considered technology adoption from acceptance and diffusion perspectives. This article examines the impact of customer relationship management (CRM) technology on business-to-business (B2B) sales professionals' ability to collaborate with internal stakeholders and also assesses the relationship between CRM utilization and sales performance. The study moves from assuming that CRM utilization positively impacts salesperson effectiveness and performance to assessing this outcome from the perspective of the salesperson.

Methodology: A survey that was comprised of four scales was sent to 115 B2B sales professionals and usable surveys were received from 70 respondents. The data were analyzed using partial least squares regression to test the hypothesized paths. Partial least squares regression has been shown to work for small sample sizes.

Findings: There is empirical evidence that CRM adoption and utilization positively impacts sales performance, sales effectiveness, and collaboration. As a partial mediator, collaboration positively influenced CRM utilization's effect on sales performance. However, collaboration did not positively influence sales process effectiveness. Explanations of the findings are offered.

Managerial Implications: Sales managers can use CRM technology to make their sales team more effective and efficient. Second, increased collaboration across the firm positively mediates sales performance. Lastly, to increase collaboration, sales managers should stress that CRM leads to higher performance for both the sales team and the entire firm.     

正式控制对销售绩效的影响机制研究--一个被中介的调节作用模型

基于目标设定理论，构建了一个被中介的调节作用模型，探讨正式控制(包括结果控制和行为控制)对销售人员绩效的影响。实证结果表明：结果控制、行为控制分别与销售绩效显著正相关；结果控制与行为控制对销售绩效有交互的影响效应，结果控制与行为控制较强时，销售绩效更高；销售人员的顾客导向行为对上述交互效应与销售绩效的关系起部分中介作用。本研究的结论说明销售管理者需要通过结果控制为下属设置目标，配合使用行为控制提供反馈，从而激发销售人员迎合顾客需求的销售行为，提升其销售绩效。     

Integration of Multiple Sales Channels with Web-Based Technology–A Case of the Pharmaceutical Industry

ABSTRACT

Channel-centric selling approach is considered a competitive advantage when web-based technologies, such as the Internet, call centers, and database marketing, have emerged. A basic starting point is building corporate Internet Presence Sites (IPSs). The study attempts to answer the fundamental question of how effective IPSs are in reaching target customers and how they are integrated in multi-channel strategies for customer contact. In order to attain homogeneity in sampling, only the pharmaceutical industry was selected. The research entailed both content analysis of IPSs and a focus group study of physicians and pharmacists, conventionally the major target customers for pharmaceutical companies. Results showed that large companies incorporate significantly more attributes related to public relations, building of user group and communities, and services to business partners; but the interviewees did not report any usage of the IPSs. To increase return on companies' hefty investment, the researchers suggested a framework for companies to integrate web-based strategies with multiple sales channel design.     

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.     

销售标准化的创建执行及对销售绩效的影响

通过描述与分析销售标准化对销售绩效的影响,认为企业实施销售标准化有利于提高销售绩效;产品、顾客群体及销售渠道影响销售标准化的创建;销售人员的选拔、培训与考核及销售管理与控制体系影响销售标准化的执行,销售标准化、销售人员选拔培训与考核及销售管理与控制体系综合影响销售绩效;企业应根据所处的发展阶段及市场环境的变化,不断调整销售标准化的流程与构成要素,实现销售流程再造,实施新的销售标准化。     

自我监控人格对销售绩效的影响研究

销售人员绩效高低直接影响公司的生存与发展。现有自我监控与个体绩效的关系研究结果存在不一致。本文以保险销售员为研究对象，采用结构方程和层次回归方法，研究自我监控人格与个体销售绩效之间的关系，研究提出并验证了销售员自我监控人格与销售绩效呈倒“U”型关系的假设，期望能为提高企业绩效和销售管理有所贡献。     

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.     

The Link Between Gasoline Prices and Vehicle Sales

This paper examines the link between fuel prices and sales of cars and trucks. U.S. automakers have long denied that such a link exists. One source of this false belief is an obsession with the crude count of units sold, equating Hummers with Minis. Another source is the conventional “wisdom” that Americans are unwilling to pay for fuel economy. The paper presents theoretical reasons and market evidence that refute Detroit’s conventional wisdom. American manufacturers’ reaction to rising fuel prices over the last few years revealed the shortcomings of the U.S. automakers’ recent product and powertrain strategies. The effect of rising fuel prices has, in effect, been offset by reducing prices of vehicles in inverse proportion to fuel economy. Thus, unit sales of large SUVs could be maintained, but their revenue (and profit) fell because vehicle prices were cut, directly or indirectly. The paper concludes with a few practical guidelines that business economists should use to prevent their companies from experiencing the recent massive losses experienced by the U.S. automobile industry. JEL Classification D120     

电视直销企业走出“谷底”的途径初探

目前,我国电视直销企业已进入经营的“谷底”。为了扭转这一不利局面,使电视直销企业再现辉煌,组建电视直销企业集团,实现连锁经营;实行买断经营,降低经营成本;通过差异经营,实现营销创新;强化竞争意识,是走出“底谷”的基本途径。     

Allocating a Promotion Budget between Advertising and Sales Contest Prizes: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective

This paper develops and analyzes a normative model for allocating a fixed, short-term promotion budget between product advertising and prizes of a rank-order sales contest for a homogeneous sales force when sales are driven by both personal selling effort and advertising. The model provides insights into how the optimal budget allocations vary with the synergy between advertising and selling effort, sales force size, salesperson risk-tolerance, perceived cost of effort, selling effectiveness and sales response uncertainty. The analysis highlights the need for and value of close coordination between marketing and sales management in designing a promotion program involving both advertising and sales force incentives.     

销售人员新产品采用的形成机理研究

本文以销售人员的新产品采用为视角,在回顾相关文献的基础上,构建了销售人员新产品采用形成机理的理论模型。该理论模型指出销售人员自身的特征会影响其对新产品特质的评价,继而影响其预期顾客需求(ECD),这会最终影响其对新产品的采用和顾客采用;另外销售经理的产品采用、组织管理因素也会对销售人员的产品采用产生影响。     

Ethical Ideologies and Older Consumer Perceptions of Unethical Sales Tactics

Demographic differences among consumer groups have become increasingly important to the development of marketing strategies. Marketers depend heavily on the sales force to implement strategies at the consumer level and, not surprisingly, different groups may view the salesperson’s role differently. Unfortunately, unethical sales practices targeted at various consumer groups, and especially at seniors, have been utilized as well. The purpose of this study is to provide initial empirical evidence of the ethical ideological make-up of four age segments outlined by Strauss and Howe (1991, Generations: The History of America’s Future 1584–2069, Morrow, New York) and to examine the propensity for these groups (seniors, in particular) to respond differentially to potentially unethical sales tactics. Data were collected from 179 respondents representing the four generational age groups. MANOVA revealed that the seniors in this study were distinct with respect to ethical ideology and less accepting of unethical sales tactics. Managerial implications are discussed for sales organizations to maximize their effectiveness across consumer groups. Rosemary P. Ramsey (Ph.D., University of Cineinnati) is Professor of Marketing in the Raj Soin College of Business at Wright State University, Dayton, OH, USA. Rosemary spent several years as a marketing and sales practitioner in the private sector, primarily for NCR Corporation. She is interested in relationship development as it pertains to buyer-seller interactions, salespersons with their sales managers, and team dynamics. She has been on the faculty at University of Kentucky and University of South Florida. She was in administration at Eastern Kentucky University, Cleveland State University, and Wright State University. She is published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, among others. She was recently honored by Who’s Who among America’s Teachers and Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals. Greg W. Marshall (Ph.D., Oklahoma State University) is Professor of Marketing and Strategy in the Roy E. Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College, Winter Park, FL, USA, Greg’s research centers on the areas of sales force selection, performance, and evaluation; adoption and successful use of technology by salespeople; sales force diversity; decision making by marketing managers; and intraorganizational relationships. He is Editor of the Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice. His industry experience includes thirteen years in selling and sales management, product management, and retailing with companies such as Warner Lambert, Mennen, and Target Corporation. He is a frequent consultant and trainer in the area of strategic marketing. Greg serves on the editorial review boards of the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Research, and Industrial Marketing Management.He is co-author of the books, Sales Force Management 9e and Relationship Selling and Sales Management 2e, both published by McCraw-Hill, and Marketing: Real People, Real Choices 5e, published by Prentice Hall. Mark W Johnston (Ph.D., Texas A&M University) is the Alan and Sandra Gerry Professor of Marketing and Ethics at the Roy E. Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College, Winter Park, FL, USA. Mark has conducted a number of seminars around the world on a variety of topics including ethical issues in marketing, sales force motivation, managing turnover in the organization, sales training issues, and improving overall sales performance. He has served as a marketing consultant to a number of organizations around the country. A partial list of his research includes publications in theJournal of Marketing Research, Jotunal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Business Research, and Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management. He is co-author of the books Sales Force Marnagement 9e and Relationship Selling and Sales Management 2e, both published by McGraw-Hill. Dawn R, Deeter-Schmelz (Ph.D., University of South Florida) is Chair and O’Bleness Professor of Marketing at Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA. Her research interests include customer service teams, sales management and buyer-seller relationship issues, business-to-business e-commerce, and scale development. She has published in Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Journal of Marketing Education, and Journal of Business Logistics, among others. In a marketplace where the consumer is King ... understanding the fundamental needs, values, icons and historical experiences of the various generations is more critical than ever. Generational mindsets and feelings are major factors in determining ...an effective marketing strategy. —Fishman (2004), p. 4