Dysfunctional Behavior among Sales Representatives: The Effect of Supervisory Trust,Participation, and Information Controls

This study investigates the efficacy of supervisory trust, participation, and information controls in curbing dysfunctional salesperson behavior so that salesperson actions are in line with organizational goals. Using a sample of 210 salespeople, we develop and test a model incorporating supervisory trust, participation, information controls (output information, activity information, and capability information), and dysfunctional behavior. Output and activity information controls directly affect dysfunctional behavior, whereas capability information controls work positively through trust in the supervisor to reduce dysfunctional behavior. Providing sales representatives with information about their capabilities appears to enhance the supervisor–salesperson trust relationship. Results also indicate that salespeople’s supervisory participation is an effective lever for reducing dysfunctional salesperson behavior through the intervening role of trust in the supervisor.     

Index to Volume 26 of Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management

Organizational support theory is used to investigate the moderating effects of both instrumental and social/psychological support on the relationships between a salesperson’s customer orientation and level of psychological empowerment and job performance. Results obtained within a sampling of 830 financial services salespeople operating from remote locations indicate that organizational support may interfere with salespeople’s attitudes in the development of salesperson performance. Specifically, this study found that under conditions of low social/psychological support the positive effect of empowerment on job performance becomes weaker, but the positive effect of customer orientation on job performance becomes significantly stronger. Further, instrumental support seems to be somewhat counterproductive to high-performing salespeople by diminishing the positive relationship between empowerment and performance. Implications of such findings are discussed.     

Salesperson time perspectives and customer willingness to pay more: roles of intraorganizational employee navigation,customer satisfaction,and firm innovation climate

This research aims to fill a critical gap in the sales literature by proposing a relationship-based model of customer willingness to pay more, involving salesperson time perspectives (i.e., long-term perspective and short-term perspective), intraorganizational employee navigation, and customer satisfaction with the salesperson. We also examine the moderating role of firm innovation climate. Multisource survey data were collected from 204 salespeople in a business-to-business sales context along with external ratings from customers of these salespeople three months later. The findings indicate that both long- and short-term perspectives have positive effects on intraorganizational employee navigation and customer satisfaction, which, in turn, positively affect customer willingness to pay more. In addition, short-term perspective has a stronger impact than long-term perspective on intraorganizational employee navigation. Further, the effect of long-term perspective on customer satisfaction is strengthened by the innovation climate of the firm, whereas the effect of short-term perspective on customer satisfaction is weakened by it.     

Linking Performance Outcomes to Salesperson Organizational Citizenship Behavior in an Industrial Sales Setting

More than ever before, firms in the industrial marketplace are focusing on the contribution of the salesperson and selling role to organizational success. Considerable recent research shows that not only in-role but also extra-role behaviors—organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs)—are important in modeling salesperson performance. Yet, to date little effort has focused on examining the impact of OCB on relevant performance outcomes. Employing a sample of 207 industrial field salespeople from two companies and industries across the United States, this study reveals differences in impact of OCB on four diverse performance outcome types. The findings are discussed in terms of managerial applicability to industrial sales organizations, and a resulting set of next research steps is presented.     

An Empirical Assessment of Salesperson Motivation,Commitment, and Job Outcomes

This study contributes to the efforts to integrate work commitment constructs into the long-dominant expectancy theory framework of salesforce motivation and performance. Responses were gathered from 231 industrial salespeople in order to: 1) provide evidence concerning discriminant and convergent validity of two measures of work commitment and 2) distinguish expectancy and commitment constructs; and investigate the relationships between motivation, commitment, and two important outcomes—effort and performance. The results of the study indicate that conceptual and empirical differences do exist between commitment variables and expectancy-based motivation variables. Job commitment and extrinsic motivation are found to be related to salesperson effort, which in turn is related to salesperson performance.     

Salesperson Corporate Ethical Values (SCEV) Scale: Development and Assessment among Salespeople

This study has two purposes. First, we constructed a multidimensional psychometric scale, salesperson corporate ethical values (SCEV), to assess salespeople’s perceptions of corporate ethics, as well as their own ethics with customers and their organization. The resulting four-dimensional nine-item scale demonstrated reliability, as well as convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity in both training and validation samples. Second, using SCEV as the focal point, we theorized and tested a structural model with fi ve constructs. Results suggest that fairness, organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behaviors are positively related to SCEV, which, in turn, is positively associated with job satisfaction and performance.     

Salesperson ambidexterity and customer satisfaction: examining the role of customer demandingness,adaptive selling,and role conflict

This research investigates the effects of sales-service ambidexterity on salesperson role perceptions, behaviors, and customer satisfaction. Using a business-to-business, salesperson-customer sample, we build and test a model which highlights both the positive and negative consequences of this simultaneous goal pursuit. Specifically, while sales-service ambidexterity positively impacts adaptive selling behaviors, it also increases perceptions of role conflict among salespeople. Customer demandingness moderates these relationships. Taken together, the results provide insights for firms on how to manage their sales force to optimize both sales and service outcomes based on characteristics of their salespeople and customers.     

Managing Salesperson Motivation in a Territory Realignment

Although typically undertaken to improve aggregate sales force performance, the realignment of sales territories can be quite de-motivational to individual salespersons. Findings of two studies reported here demonstrate that salesperson motivation and performance can be positively influenced by the managerial actions taken during the implementation phase of a territory realignment. Actions based on expectancy theory were found to be more effective for salespeople whose territory realignment increased sales potential, and justice-based actions were more effective for salespersons experiencing a reduction in territory potential.     

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 Effects of Salesperson Need for Achievement and Sales Manager Leader Reward Behavior

A sample of 312 salespeople from diverse industries was used to develop a model that examined the influence of salesperson need for achievement and sales manager positive leader reward behavior on several key organizational outcomes. The organizational outcome variables examined were goal acceptance, sales performance, and organizational commitment. The results suggest that a salesperson’s need for achievement may lead to higher performance, but not necessarily commitment to the organization. However, positive leader reward behavior may strengthen a salesperson’s organizational commitment. The findings, along with suggestions for sales managers, are discussed.     

Salesperson brand attachment: a job demands-resources theory perspective

Sales researchers have largely ignored the idea that salespeople form attachments to the brands that they sell, and that these attachments hold important consequences for sales outcomes. Drawing on job demands-resources theory, the authors suggest that salesperson brand attachment (SBA) serves as a unique psychological resource for salespeople. Using data from 154 salespeople from the beverage industry, they provide evidence that SBA increases selling effort toward the brand, and ultimately job satisfaction. In addition, they show that salesperson's brand attachment acts as a buffer against perceived job demands, including job codification and hierarchy of authority. In general, results support the job demands-resources framework and confirm that SBA is a resource that may be leveraged to offset job demands, under certain situations.     

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.     

Salesperf: The Salesperson Service Performance Scale

Delivering outstanding service quality is essential to corporate success, and salespeople play a critical role in delivering high-quality service as boundary spanners between customers and the organization they represent. Given the importance of salesperson service performance, the SALESPERF scale was adapted from the service quality literature and developed for use in a personal selling setting. A sample of 116 customers evaluated the service performance of their sales representative for a newspaper publisher. Exploratory analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to develop a unidimensional scale. Convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity for SALESPERF were supported. Finally, implications regarding how salespeople may provide superior service and future research avenues are discussed.     

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.     

The role of delight in driving repurchase intentions

A channel differentiator for brick-and-mortar retail stores is the availability of salespeople to assist customers directly in their purchase decision. This research considers two aspects of customer interactions with retail salespeople that lead to perceptions of extraordinary service and enhance repurchase intentions: customer comfort and salesperson expertise. Retail customers desire value-added informational assistance from the salesperson to minimize ambiguity associated with the product and to reduce the risk associated with a purchase decision. A retail salesperson needs to make customers feel comfortable so that the customer will share specific needs during the interaction, and the salesperson can recommend appropriate products and services. Our findings reveal that while both customer comfort and salesperson expertise positively influence satisfaction with the salesperson and customer delight, only customer delight leads to repurchase intentions. While satisfaction is a commonly asserted goal for retailers; the present research suggests that in a transaction-based environment, elevated emotions such as customer delight represent a more powerful predictor of repurchase intentions. This research provides evidence of trainable salesperson behaviors that enhance customer perceptions of extraordinary service and offer firms an opportunity for significant performance gains.     

It is all in good humor? Examining the impact of salesperson evaluations of leader humor on salesperson job satisfaction and job stress

Abstract

Salesperson job stress and job satisfaction have been identified as critical factors affecting job performance. Academic research suggests that sales managers can influence salesperson job stress and job satisfaction. Interestingly, a review of the sales literature finds very little research on the impact of sales leader humor usage on the stress and satisfaction of salespeople. Consequently, we explore how salespeople’s evaluation of their manager’s use of humor influences their individual levels of job stress and satisfaction. We investigate both the positive and negative roles of humor by analyzing the impact of salesperson evaluations of their managers’ use of affiliative and aggressive humor on their job stress and job satisfaction. Furthermore, we examine the mechanism by which these evaluations affect salesperson stress and satisfaction by identifying two critical mediating variables – social loneliness and willingness to cooperate. Using a sample of 299 professional salespeople, we empirically test this process model to find that affiliative humor usage by sales managers, as evaluated by salespeople, reduces social loneliness and stress for salespeople while also increasing followers’ acceptance of cooperation. Evaluations of aggressive humor, on the other hand, increase stress levels among salespeople. Both social loneliness and acceptance of cooperation, in turn, significantly affect job satisfaction.     

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.     

Antecedents and Outcomes of Organizational Commitment: A Study of Salespeople

The role organizational commitment plays in salesperson behavior is unresearched. To increase understanding of both causes and outcomes of organizational commitment for salespeople, this study proposed and tested a path model. The model was drawn from the framework for studying organizational commitment proposed by Chornco (1986).

The study results imply that salespeoples' performance is not determined by commitment or by effort, but that it is positively affected by the sales manager, income and education. Commitment was positively affected by anticipatory socialization, work satisfaction and manager satisfaction. Means for building commitment are discussed, as are situations where management should stress salesforce commitment.     

Measuring Salesperson Burnout: A Reduced Maslach Burnout Inventory for Sales Researchers

Given the negative effect that burnout has on the sales force, such as increased turnover intentions and decreased performance, measurement improvements on this multidimensional construct can have implications regarding how to manage the drivers and outcomes of burnout. However, little is known about the impact of the multiple burnout dimensions in sales contexts because researchers typically opt to collect data using the emotional exhaustion subscale instead of the complete Maslach burnout inventory, which also includes personal accomplishment and depersonalization facets. Using business-to-business and retail salespeople, this study reduces the 22-item burnout scale to 10 items in order to facilitate salesperson burnout research.     

Cognitive Moral Development and the Impact of Perceived Organizational Ethical Climate on the Search for Sales Force Excellence: A Cross-Cultural Study

An empirical study using moral ethical development, perceived ethical climate, and outcomes of perceived ethical climate was conducted in Mexico and compared to an existing U.S. sample of salespeople. Across the two national cultures, it appears there is consistency in a positive significant relationship between ethical climate and individual commitment to quality, and organizational commitment and salesperson performance. However, whereas moral ethical development is negatively associated with perceived organizational ethical climate for Mexican salespeople, there is no such relationship for U.S. salespeople. Ethical climate positively influences organizational commitment for the U.S. salespeople but has no influence for Mexican salespeople. Similarly, individual commitment to quality positively affects performance for the U.S. salespeople but has no impact for the Mexican salespeople. Hofstede’s (1983; 1984) cultural dimensions are used to help explain the findings, and implications for practitioners are offered.