Alcohol Abuse in the Sales Force

Abstract

Much of the literature on the problem of alcohol abuse in the nation and in the work place implies that salespeople should be particularly susceptible to problem drinking. Most discussion of alcohol abuse by salespeople has been anecdotal and speculative in nature, however, and little empirical research has been reported to support the anecdotes and speculations. This study examines the problem of sales force alcohol abuse and reports the findings of a nationwide survey of field sales managers concerning the extent of this problem in the nation's sales forces, the methods of dealing with alcohol-abusing salespeople, and factors related to problem drinking in the sales force. Implications for sales managers, sales management educators and trainers, and researchers in the field of sales and sales management are also discussed.     

Marketing Control and Sales Force Customer Orientation

This study is predicated on the premise that internal sales force control mechanisms are strategic and operational forces that directly affect the behaviors of the sales force and their accompanying orientation toward customers. Sales managers represent a very different component of the sales force than salespeople. Their motivations, interests, role, and methods of operations all represent different approaches than those embraced by their coworkers: salespeople. Yet, although sales managers operate under an outcome-based control system and can be expected, to some degree, to be motivated by selfinterest (Oliver and Anderson 1994), upper management expects managers to be directed by organizational needs. However, in a results-oriented environment, the foundation of many compensation systems, sales quotas can focus sellers and managers in a direction inconsistent with customer-oriented selling (particularly if this behavior is deemed necessary to achieve quota). Based on this premise, this study examines the influence of sales managers’ quotas on their response to salespeople’s unethical behavior and its resulting effect on the customer orientation of the sales force. To fully explore this condition, this study also examines the role of an important formal process control, the ethical climate (e.g., rules and regulations), in influencing customer orientation. Providing important implications to sales organizations, results indicat that sales quotas can negatively affect sales force customer orientation via their effect on sales managers’ responses to salespeople’s selling behaviors. Interestingly, however, the company’s ethical climate was found to positively influence sales force customer orientation.     

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.     

A Qualitative Study of the Recruiting of Men and Women for Sales Positions in Turkey

This study examines the effects of gender on recruitment of salespeople in Turkey, an emerging economy with a male-dominated society where historical and cultural values have frequently limited women’s employment opportunities. Based on 16 interviews with male and female recruiters from four industries actively hiring productive salespeople, the study addresses gender effect on recruiting of men and women for sales positions in Turkey. The findings of this qualitative study provide an opportunity to expand our understanding of gender effects in an emerging economy.     

Selling and Sales Management in Action Examining the Bases Utilized for Evaluating Salespeoples' Performance

Evaluating salespeoples' performance is an important task for sales managers. However, little is known about what bases are used by sales managers to evaluate the performance of their salespeople. A study was conducted to determine the bases actually used by sales managers and the results were compared with a study conducted in 1983. Findings indicate more emphasis on profit and cost control, a continued reliance on qualitative measures, and a wide variety of bases being utilized to evaluate the performance of salespeople. Furthermore, the stability of results, across a wide variety of respondent job titles as well as business types and sizes, indicates a good deal of generalizability to other firms.     

Prioritizing Sales Force Decision Areas for Productivity Improvements using a Core Sales Response Function

The time and budgets that managers can devote to enhancing sales force productivity are limited, so sales managers must decide where it is worthwhile to invest in productivity improvements—to improve salespeople’s current effort allocation, realign territories, enhance sales force sizing, or provide more training. To prioritize these alternatives, management must assess the outcomes of investments on the basis of a common metric—profit. This paper proposes to estimate a core sales response function that allows for quantifying the profits derived from each possible action and demonstrates the benefits of this approach through an actual case study.     

Moral Philosophy,Ethical Evaluations,and Sales Manager Hiring Intentions

A growing body of evidence shows an influence of moral philosophies on ethical decision-making. Despite the importance of ethical considerations in sales force selection, the influence of sales managers’ ethical evaluations on hiring practices has received scant attention. This study examines sales managers’ ideological orientations, ethical evaluations of hypothetical salespeople portrayed in scenarios, and the effect of such evaluations on the intent to hire salespeople. Results of a cluster analysis highlight that four ideology-based segments of sales managers exist, with absolutists dominating the 268 sales executives surveyed. Furthermore, it was found that ideological relativism influences managers’ judgments of ethical behavior and hiring intentions, but idealism did not play a role. In turn, ethical judgments of justness, fairness, moral rightness, and acceptability influence hiring intentions.     

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.     

The Identification of Selling Abilities Needed for Missionary Type Sales

This field study using salespeople, sales managers, and physicians identified 14 abilities necessary for successful pharmaceutical salespeople, the prototypical missionary sales position. Six of the abilities were identified by all three parties and make up the core requirements while one ability was recognized by physicians and not the other two groups. Finally, this research offers suggestions, based on the 14 identified abilities, for recruiting and sales training efficiencies to improve salesperson performance.     

Increasing Sales Productivity by Getting Salespeople To Work Smarter

Recent research indicates that sales productivity can be substantially improved if salespeople place more emphasis on an aspect of working smarter, i.e., practice adaptive selling. This paper suggests ten approaches that sales managers can use to improve sales performance by encouraging and assisting their salespeople to practice adaptive selling.     

Bouncing Back: How Salesperson Optimism and Self-Efficacy Influence Attributions and Behaviors Following Failure

Previous research reports a relationship between attributions and specific behaviors following a failed sales call. This study investigates the influence of individual differences on both the attribution process and the relationship between attribution and the behavioral intentions of sales representatives following a failure using a sample of financial services salespeople. This research reveals the important roles that optimism and self-efficacy play in shaping salespeople’s attributions for failed sales calls and in their behavioral responses to attributions for failure. Implications for managers and future research are discussed.     

The Manager-Salesperson Relationship: an Exploratory Examination of the Vertical-Dyad Linkage Model

Abstract

The Vertical-Dyad-Linkage Model (VDL) is offered as a tool to explore the infrastructure of a sales team. Building on the philosophy found in most sales management literature that salespersons are to be managed as individuals, VDL theory allows an exploration of the underlying social organization that is present in all sales forces. Thus, the style that a manager uses with a particular salesperson will vary depending on the exchange relationship established (cadres, hired hands). The objectives of the paper are to explore the general tenets of VDL theory, to assimilate the theory in sales management, to provide implications for sales managers and salespeople, and to discuss the important implications for sales management research.     

From selling to managing strategic customers - a competency analysis

An increasing number of companies select strategic customers, who are then treated differently from standard customers. Thus, the customer-facing function has been divided into two separate functions: traditional selling and strategic account management. This article seeks to provide a comprehensive overview that compares the competencies of salespeople with the competencies of strategic account managers. The article's objective is to highlight a competency path that can lead salespeople to transition successfully into strategic account managers. Leveraging the two distinct competency classifications, we identify the key skills that traditional salespeople must be trained in or “unlearn” to successfully transition. From a theoretical perspective, this article bridges the gap between the literature on sales and the literature on strategic account management and pinpoints the major differences between those two customer-facing dimensions. From a managerial perspective, the article helps practitioners draw a competency grid to assess both salespeople's ability to succeed in their role transition and the training required to support this transition.     

Leaders in Selling and Sales Management: Peter Fischer

Commission compensation plans often lead to disagreements between salespeople and sales managers, particularly when salespeople are terminated or leave the job. This paper explores the legal aspects of the relationship between the salesperson and the selling firm with regard to the payment of commissions. In addition, the aspects of agency law, contract law and state statutory law which impact the payment of sales commissions are reviewed. The paper concludes with managerial implications and research suggestions.     

Career Path Charting: Framework for Sales Force Evaluation

The authors compare several approaches to the evaluation of field salespeople to see if an improved analytical framework can be created. Based on performance data from 56 industrial salespeople, results suggest sales increase with experience and with the number of customer calls. The findings also provide support for the sales force career cycle and a new multi-attribute performance matrix. The use of a matrix approach allows managers to review and compare the accomplishments of the sales force along several dimensions at the same time.     

Congruence in Sales Force Evaluations: Relation to Sales Force Perceptions of Conflict and Ambiguity

Abstract

This research examined the relationship between salespersons' perceptions of role conflict and role ambiquity from various sources and the degree of agreement between salespeople and sales managers on salesperson performance. Three sources of role ambiguity were found to explain the most variance in performance congruence. Implications for management are discussed.     

Examining the Relationship between Work Attitudes and Propensity to Leave among Expatriate Salespeople

The study employs literatures addressing turnover of employees in general, turnover of salespeople, and variables specific to expatriate managers to examine turnover of expatriate salespeople. Individual, job, and organizational variables are used as predictors of propensity to leave. The research suggests that several variables influence propensity to leave of expatriates: met expectations, participation, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. The research also suggests that organizations need to establish clear expectations concerning the demands of the overseas sales job and allow salespeople to understand the parameters of employment.     

Distinguishing Between the Roles of Customer-Oriented Selling and Adaptive Selling in Managing Dysfunctional Conflict in Buyer–Seller Relationships

A national random sample of industrial salespeople was surveyed to examine the relationships among selling behaviors, trust, conflict, and sales outcomes, such as performance and anticipation of future interaction. Results indicate that trust mediates the effects of selling behaviors on sales outcomes, and conflict moderates this mediating effect. While salespeople could use customer-oriented selling as an antidote for the ill effects of dysfunctional conflict on trust, adaptive selling only serves to enhance salesperson trust in customers. Thus, the results of the study distinguish between the roles of customeroriented selling and adaptive selling in relationship marketing. Furthermore, when salespeople perceive that their sales managers are highly customer oriented and highly adaptive, they themselves become more customer oriented and more adaptive. Thus, as role models, supervisory selling behaviors contribute to salespeople’s ability to leverage their trust in customers. Based on these results, the managerial implications for selling organizations are discussed.     

The Role of Culture Strength in Shaping Sales Force Outcomes

Although a strong culture has been widely acknowledged as a defining characteristic of successful firms, past research has failed to examine the influence it exerts on the attitudes and behavior of salespeople. In a two-sample study, we measure culture strength and explore its relationship to value congruity and to three sales force outcomes that define the sales management research tradition: role stress, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction. Within the contexts of the sales subculture of a Fortune 500 firm (Study 1) and specialized sales organizations (Study 2), the results reveal a compelling portrait of the forces that shape salesperson–culture fit. Specifically, the results of both studies indicate that a strong culture leads to higher levels of value congruity, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment, and lower levels of role stress. Key implications are highlighted for sales managers and for researchers.     

Examining the Impact of Servant Leadership on Sales Force Performance

Much has been written about the importance of focusing on customers to drive organizational success. In this paper, aspects of manager–salesperson relationships are examined as drivers of deeper customer focus in salesperson–customer interactions. In particular, managers’ servant leadership, a leadership style emphasizing genuine concern for subordinate welfare, is examined as a catalyst of parallel concern by salespeople for their customers. Salesperson perceptions of managers’ servant leadership empirically relate to salesperson customer orientation, in turn driving adaptive selling behaviors, customer-directed extra-role behaviors, and sales performance outcomes. Other results and implications for management and sales leadership research are presented.