Gaining Customer Trust: A Conceptual Guide for the Salesperson

Abstract

This article applies what the behavioral sciences know about trust to industrial sales situations. Trust between an industrial buyer and salesperson is defined cognitively and behaviorally. A model of this trust-building process is presented and appropriate behaviors for sales representatives who wish to build trust are discussed. The interactions between experience, general knowledge, and trust building are examined in light of possible situations a sales representative might encounter. The findings suggest that both firm and salesperson can act positively to build and maintain trust with their clients.     

Type A Behavior,Experience, and Salesperson Performance

The findings of this study indicate that Type A behavior pattern, working indirectly through role clarity and effort, has a significant impact on performance. Experience was also found to relate to performance both directly and through role clarity. In the particular type of outcome-based sales setting where individual autonomy and entrepreneurship are encouraged, personal characteristics have significance for performance. Recruiting appropriate salespeople and retaining effective experienced individuals is critically important in environments that emphasize individualism and internal competition.     

An Empirical Study on the Impact of Two Types of Goal Orientation and Salesperson Perceived Obsolescence on Adaptive Selling

Adaptive selling is widely deemed as an important characteristic leading to success in personal selling. This research focuses on the way that both learning goal orientation and proving goal orientation influence a salesperson’s adaptive selling through their influence on salesperson perceived obsolescence. A sample of insurance salespeople provide data and structural equation modeling tests a theoretical model linking goal orientation to adaptive selling. The results demonstrate that a strong learning goal orientation promotes adaptive selling. In contrast, a salesperson’s degree of proving goal orientation relates negatively to adaptive selling. In addition, a learning goal orientation reduces perceived obsolescence, whereas a proving goal orientation promotes perceived obsolescence. Perceived obsolescence detrimentally affects adaptive selling, however, direct effects of goal orientation persist even given the significant role of obsolescence.     

The Impact of Customer Service and Product Value on Customer Loyalty and Purchase Behavior

Based on research and theories on justice, it was predicted that customer service would be as important as, or even more important than perceived product value in determining customer loyalty and purchase behavior. This general hypothesis was tested by surveying 324 respondents who had just patronized several retail outlets. Results indicated that customer service was indeed more important than perceived product value in predicting customer loyalty, the amount of money spent in the visit, and the range of products purchased. In addition, customer service was a significant predictor of all 3 variables, whereas perceived product value was able to predict customer loyalty only. It was also found that for females and respondents with a higher income, customer loyalty was more influenced by customer service.     

Cognitive Style as an Antecedent to Adaptiveness,Customer Orientation,and Self-Perceived Selling Performance

Data from 396 real estate salespeople offer structural model evidence of the antecedence of salesperson cognitive style (Jung, 1971) to adaptive selling behavior, and to sales orientation-customer orientation and self-perceived selling performance. Four hypotheses were supported: Salespeople who prefer information intake by intuiting (rather than sensing) and information processing/decision-making by thinking (rather than feeling) were found to be more likely to practice adaptive selling; the more adaptive selling was practiced, the greater customer orientation became; and the greater the customer orientation, the better the self-perceived selling performance. Implications exist for salesperson training, management, and motivation research.     

Increasing Job Performance and Decreasing Salesperson Propensity to Leave: An Examination of an Asian Sales Force

Given the rapid expansion of the geographic territory that today’s firms compete in, firms without a strong understanding of the markets/countries where they conduct business will experience higher levels of employee turnover and lower levels of employee performance. When high levels of employee turnover and low levels of employee performance exist, firm profitability will be reduced and the potential for failure within the given markets will increase. Considering the level of firm interest in conducting business in Asian markets, we examine methods to reduce employee propensity to leave and increase job performance using a sample of 213 Korean salespeople. Results from the study indicate that (1) only organizational commitment was found to directly increase performance and decrease propensity to leave, (2) perceived organizational support was found to increase performance, and (3) emotional exhaustion was found to directly increase employee propensity to leave. Given the findings of this study, firms are provided with insights into managing turnover and increasing performance, which can aid firms in being potentially more successful within the Asian marketplace.     

Effects of Employee Sickness Presence on Customer Repurchase and Recommendation Intentions: The Role of Customer Affective Reactions

Sickness presence can have important individual and organizational consequences, such as health deterioration or productivity loss. Additional risks, such as negative customer reactions, may be particularly relevant in the service sector. Based on affective events theory and appraisal theories, we hypothesize that employee sickness presence negatively impacts customer repurchase and recommendation intentions. Furthermore, we explore potential affective mechanisms of these effects, including disease avoidance, personal anger, moral outrage, post-consumption guilt, and customer compassion for the employee. We conducted four studies, including three experimental vignette methodology studies (Ns?=?227, 72, and 763) and a qualitative study (N?=?54). In Study 1, employee sickness presence had negative effects on repurchase and recommendation intentions. Results of Study 2 show that customers experienced disgust, fear, anger, guilt, compassion, and indifference in response to sickness presence. In Study 3, anger explained the negative effects of employee sickness presence on repurchase and recommendation intentions, while appraisals of moral fairness were negatively related to both customer intentions. Finally, in Study 4, disgust and anger explained negative effects, while fear, guilt, and compassion explained positive effects of employee sickness presence on customer intentions. Appraisals of goal incongruence, reduced agency of the customer, and uncertainty were negatively related to customer intentions. The physical absence of the customer in the service encounter (phone call) mitigated the experience of disgust, fear, and anger, whereas it exacerbated feelings of compassion for the ill employee.

     

Enhancing Salesperson Trust: An Examination of Managerial Values,Empowerment, and the Moderating Influence of SBU Strategy

Within a sales environment, the development and conveyance of managerial values play a critical role in enhancing salesperson trust and performance. This study identifies specific managerial values (i.e., integration, flexibility, control, spontaneity, etc.) that support particular business strategies (i.e., prospector, defender, or analyzer). The proposed model investigates the impact of aligning managerial value systems to SBU type on building trusting relationships within a manager–salesperson context. Study results suggest various implications for managers.     

Evaluation of Selling Performance: A Study of Current Practices

Abstract

Performance evaluation of salespeople is particularly important in this era of escalating costs and concern with productivity. This study of 213 sales executives indicated that sales managers tended to rely on qualitative bases for evaluation, used only a narrow set of quantitative bases, and evaluated salespeople over only a narrow range of selling activities. Suggestions for improving performance evaluation are provided. Findings of the study indicate that salesforce evaluation procedures utilized in practice differ from those provided in the sales management literature.     

Customer Loyalty to the Salesperson and the Store: Examining Relationship Customers in an Upscale Retail Context

Only recently has research interest in relationship marketing and customer loyalty converged in the retail context. Although this research shows that relationship customers maintain their primary loyalty to the salesperson, which then “spills over” and affects loyalty to the store, other research suggests that salesperson loyalty has direct effects on store-level outcomes, such as spending and word of mouth. However, this has not been comprehensively investigated, and relationship researchers have specifically called for research examining the effects of salesperson and store loyalty on store-level outcomes. Our research addresses this call, and shows that in an upscale retail context a relationship customer's loyalty to the salesperson is significantly related to store loyalty as well as the important store-level outcomes of share of purchases, word of mouth and competitive resistance.     

Measuring Customer Service Orientation: An Examination of the Validity of the Customer Service Profile

The construct of customer service is taking on an ever increasing level of importance in today's global economy. Organizations need a way to identify those individuals who have the demeanor to effectively serve the public. The present study discusses the development and validation of a personality-based instrument which organizations can use to select high-quality service providers. Multiple converging sources of validity are discussed. Specifically, the authors collected validity evidence using customer related (vs. supervisor) ratings, an area relatively neglected in the service literature. Evidence suggests that customer ratings are viable and an important criterion for use in the validation of customer service instruments. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of both workplace intervention and future research.     

A Longitudinal Examination of the Effects of LMX,Ability, and Differentiation on Team Performance

Purpose  

Leader–Member Exchange (LMX) theory posits that effective leaders form dyadic relationships with followers that differ in quality, and that differentiation positively affects team performance. The purpose of this study was to test the notion that leader differentiation positively impacts team performance, and to investigate whether such effects differ at different points in the team’s lifecycle.     

An Examination of Academic Misconduct Intentions and the Ineffectiveness of Syllabus Statements

This experiment uses quantitative and qualitative measures to address the effect of two syllabus statements on academic misconduct: one based on prohibitions and one on academic integrity. Students expressed favorable attitudes toward the statements, showed an increase in guilt compared to a control group, but showed no decrease in intentions to cheat. Including only a standard academic misconduct statement in one's syllabus is not sufficient to alter behavior, which should be acknowledged by faculty.     

Reexamining the Influence of Career Stages on Salesperson Motivation: A Cognitive and Affective Perspective

Career stage theory suggests that salespeople vary in their motivation systematically across career stages. However, empirical evidence using valence, expectancy, and instrumentality components of motivation have failed to find consistent support. Drawing on social psychology and recent sales literature, we decompose global intrinsic and extrinsic (I/E) motivation into distinct cognitive and affective dimensions to empirically test a more current conceptualization of salesperson motivation. Empirical results using a cross section of salespeople indicate that salespeople’s I/E motivation differs along the cognitive, but not affective, dimensions across career stages. Specifically, salespeople in the establishment stage were found to have higher levels of challenge seeking than those in the disengagement stage, and compensation seeking was higher among exploration- and establishment-stage salespeople than those in the maintenance stage. The research findings highlight the need to distinguish between cognitive and affective dimensions of I/E motivation in understanding career stage–based expectations of salesperson motivation.     

Research Note: An Exploratory Analysis of Salesperson Perceptions of the Criteria Used in Performance Appraisals,Job Satisfaction,and Organizational Commitment

In some sales organizations the performance appraisal is treated as a bureaucratic exercise required by some “higher-up” executive. As such, sales managers may essentially conduct appraisals in an arbitrary and perfunctory manner. This behavior could be the result of the manager's perception that conducting performance appraisals requires considerable amounts of time and effort, which provides few rewards, but adds considerably to the manager's level of conflict and stress. The purpose of this research is to examine the relationships existing between one aspect of performance appraisals, salesperson perceptions of the appropriateness of the criteria used, and two other variables, organizational commitment and job satisfaction. A survey of retail salespeople provided the data required to evaluate the relationship between satisfaction, commitment, and the perceived appropriateness of the criteria used. The findings indicate that salesperson satisfaction levels are significantly correlated with the level of the perceived inappropriateness of the evaluation criteria used. However, the findings also indicate that the perceptions of the inappropriateness of the evaluation criteria are not significantly related to the salesperson's level of organizational commitment. Based on these findings, recommendations are made regarding the salesperson's role in the development of the performance appraisal process.     

Salesperson Ethical Decision Making: The Impact of Sales Leadership and Sales Management Control Strategy

Enhancing the moral behavior of salespeople is increasingly important, but difficult, in today’s fast-paced and complex selling environment. Sales organizations need to emphasize ethical codes of conduct, but must also address the potential impact of all sales management decisions on the ethical behavior of salespeople. We expand the focus on ethical codes to include an interpersonal dimension of sales organization ethical climate and the cognitive moral development of salespeople. Relationships among sales leadership and sales management control strategy, the structural and interpersonal dimensions of sales organization ethical climate, salesperson cognitive moral development, and salesperson moral judgment are discussed and specific propositions presented. These propositions suggest specific directions for future sales ethics research and have key implications for sales organizations.     

Performance Trends and Salesperson Evaluations: The Moderating Roles of Evaluation Task,Managerial Risk Propensity,and Firm Strategic Orientation

Understanding managers’ evaluations of salesperson performance is important for both theoretical and pragmatic reasons. We examine several factors that moderate the influence of performance trends on salesperson evaluations provided by practicing sales managers. Preliminary data from a pilot study indicate that performance trends exert a stronger influence on salesperson evaluations that are prospective (e.g., making a hiring decision) rather than retrospective (e.g., providing an annual evaluation). Study 1’s findings reveal an additional contingency by demonstrating that these trend effects were particularly pronounced for risk-taking sales managers providing prospective evaluations. Finally, evidence from Study 2 documents the moderating influence of firm strategic orientation by showing that trend effects were most prominent for managers making forward-looking evaluations under the aegis of a prospector-based strategic orientation. The latter two studies also offer mediational evidence indicating that trends influence performance evaluations by affecting inferences about a salesperson’s future productivity.     

The Role of Intentions, Social Norms, and Attitudes in the Performance of Dental Flossing: A Test of the Theory of Reasoned Action

The theory of reasoned action proposed by Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) was tested as an explanatory model for a preventive dental behavior, dental flossing, in a sample of 65 undergraduate students. Intentions and direct attitudes were found to be the strongest predictors of flossing. Social influences exerted their influence by way of direct attitudes. Flossers (>1/week) and non-flossers (<1/week) were observed to agree with belief statements referring to the health value of flossing. However, statements referring to the social and sensory aspects of flossing were found to effectively discriminate the two groups. Implications for health education strategies are discussed in which a greater focus is placed on more immediate social and sensory benefits of flossing rather than on long-term health benefits.