Do salespeople matter in competitive tenders?

Abstract

Organizational buyers are increasingly employing competitive tenders with objective buying criteria to mitigate the influence of personal relationships with suppliers and reduce the overall cost of buying. This paper investigates the role of salespeople’s relationships with buyers (i.e., purchasing managers) and how they affect supplier selection in such contexts. Drawing on data from 428 tenders across different buying organizations, this study shows that the quality of the salesperson’s relationship with the buyer influences the buyer’s evaluation of the tender proposal, which, in turn, affects supplier selection. Thus, the results support an indirect effect of salesperson relationship on supplier selection even in a tender context. In addition, the results indicate that the effect of a salesperson’s relationship on buyer’s proposal evaluation is contingent on the comprehensibility of suppliers’ proposals and buyer’s product knowledge. These results have significant theoretical and managerial implications for both buyers and suppliers in business-to-business (B2B) tender contexts.     

Assessments of equivocal salesperson behavior and their influences on the quality of buyer-seller relationships

Abstract

In buyer-supplier relationships, salespeople engage in behaviors that buyers may (or may not) view as deceptive. Despite the salesperson’s underlying miscreant or innocent motives, buyers have a difficult time attributing the intentionality of salesperson behaviors after the fact. While extant research has explicated various governance mechanisms to mitigate the occurrence of opportunistic behaviors a priori, scholarship is not as well-versed in understanding (a) the relational factors that influence the buyer’s interpretation of debatably opportunistic salesperson behaviors and (b) the buyer’s retributive response within the ongoing relationship. To bring clarity to these issues, the authors examine relationship factors that influence the likelihood of perceived salesperson opportunism following equivocal salesperson acts. Utilizing data from industrial buyers in the U.S. healthcare industry, this study shows that buyer specific investments are related positively to attributions of salesperson guile, whereas contractual agreements are related negatively to attributions of guile. Relationship solidarity moderates these effects. Further, we find that attributions of salesperson guile lead to perceived salesperson opportunism, which in turn results in buyers lowering their expectations of relationship continuity and increasing their retributive responses. We corroborate these findings with cross-sectional survey data from a sample of industrial buyers. Collectively, these findings hold implications with regard to the role of the buyer’s attribution of salesperson guile for a specific behavior as a determinant of perceived opportunism in general, while also outlining conditions under which buyers are inclined to engage in retributive opportunism.     

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.     

Mixed interpretations of sales proposal signals

Long-term relationships with customers are critical determinants of a sales organization’s success. However, research tends to assess relational approaches from the salesperson or sales organization’s perspective and often neglects to capture customers’ perspectives which lead to the evaluative success or failure of buyer–seller relationships. This study assesses the seller’s bid-related signals from the buyer’s perspective following their selection or rejection of a business-to-business sales proposal. The authors adopt a theories-in-use approach, utilizing 54 depth-interviews with decision-makers from 33 buyer organizations. Within this data set, findings reveal three bid signals that are represented across both selection and rejection outcomes (i.e. mixed interpretations by buyers). These signals are the seller’s usage of price concessions, sales proposal specificity, and comparative customer examples. To better understand the mechanisms which influence buyers’ mixed interpretations of these signals, the authors utilize the newly-advanced qualitative pivoting technique to identify contextual variables across cases that influence the buyer’s positive or negative signal interpretation.     

Ideal Versus Actual Number of Sales Calls: An Application of Disconfirmation Theory

The current study focuses on the relationship that buyers have with their salespeople. Specifically, the study uses disconfirmation theory to evaluate whether a salesperson that meets or exceeds the buyer’s ideal number of sales calls has higher levels of commitment, trust, and satisfaction from the buyer than a salesperson that does not meet expectations. The study also looks at the impact of meeting expectations on the buyer’s evaluation of the salesperson’s commitment and performance versus a salesperson that does not meet expectations. Findings suggest that when a salesperson contacts a buyer with a frequency and consistency that the buyer perceives as ideal, the buyer will have a higher level of satisfaction with and trust of the salesperson as well as a higher level of commitment to the buyer–seller relationship. Managers could take advantage of this by making an effort to align a salesperson’s call frequency with what a buyer perceives as ideal.     

Communication Media Preferences in Business-To-Business Transactions: An Examination of the Purchase Process

Although communication in marketing has been researched extensively, communication in buyer–seller exchanges during the sales process has received limited attention. This study examines the complexity of information interchange and buyers’ and sellers’ communication preferences for various media types during each stage of the purchase process. Findings reveal that, overall, buyers and sellers prefer face-to-face and telephone communications over other media types. For certain aspects of the sales process, computer-mediated communications, such as e-mail, serve an important role as a lowcost medium, whereas in other phases of the sales process, richer communication media are preferred by both buyers and sellers.     

Regulatory Focus and Individual Sales Performance of Field Marketers: A Constructive Replication

abstract

We tested whether field marketers’ regulatory focus predicted their performance. Promotion focus spurs eagerness (acting on opportunity, to advance), whereas prevention focus spurs vigilance (not acting, to maintain security). When sales work involves approaching as many new buyers as possible for single transactions (and little else), promotion focus is well suited for sales performance, and prevention focus is counterproductive. Accordingly, prior research found that promotion focus positively, and prevention focus negatively, predicts performance in such a context. We attempt constructive replication of these findings using stronger methodology. Our study (N?=?156) showed that promotion focus positively, and prevention focus negatively, predicted performance. The study replicated previous findings and showed similar, though in most cases slightly smaller, effect sizes than the original study.     

Selling in an asymmetric retail world: perspectives from India,Russia, and the US on buyer–seller information differential,perceived adaptive selling,and purchase intention

The current research aimed to contribute to our understanding of (a) how adaptive selling is perceived by retail consumers in different types of economies when they have differing levels of buyer–seller information differential and (b) how this phenomenon influences their purchase intention. The focal countries were the US (a developed economy) and India and Russia (both developing economies). These three were selected owing to their disparate economic and cultural contexts. This investigation used a relatively new construct: perceived adaptive selling (PAS). PAS refers to the degree to which the buyer perceives that the salesperson is adapting. The study examined whether the impact of PAS was a function of a country’s level of development and whether such perceptions were influenced by the level of buyer–seller information differential in the retail transaction. The findings suggested that buyers in Russia and India PAS and were influenced by it differently from their US counterparts. This work provided a general framework for understanding tactical implementation of the salesperson’s PAS behavior.     

Brand growth in packaged goods markets: Ten cases with common patterns

The study examines 10 consumer goods brands that grew market share year on year, to identify if there are commonalities in the way that key brand performance metrics change during growth. The study uses consumer panel data from the UK and USA. Ten brands in a range of categories are examined. Brand metrics of penetration, repeat‐purchase loyalty, cross‐purchasing by other brand's buyers, the distribution of purchase frequency, and the brand's market share within buyer subgroups are analyzed. The principal findings are as follows: (1) as these brands grew, brand penetration increased far more than repeat‐purchase loyalty on average; (2) the most apparent change in the buyer base was the big increase in light or infrequent buyers; (3) they induced more cross‐purchasing from most or all other competitor brands' buyers; and (4) they grew their market share in all buyer demographic groups. Implications are that brand growth strategies should be geared towards enlarging the size of the customer base, with less emphasis on boosting loyalty. The results also suggest that specifically targeting certain sorts of buyers may be counterproductive. These findings challenge traditional assumptions in relation to brand growth and success. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Increasing Sales Productivity Through Improved Sales Call Allocation Strategies

Abstract

Analytical tools have been found to greatly assist sales managers in making better sales call allocation decisions, but many of these approaches are either too simplified to provide meaningful results or too complex for many sales organizations to use. Recently a grid analysis approach has been suggested as a promising way to increase sales productivity by improving sales call allocations. We present several methodological improvements for developing the grid and report a successful application of grid analysis.     

Who Wants to go First? Order Effects Within a Series of Competitive Sales Presentations

This research uses organizational buyers to examine whether the order in which a sales presentation occurs within a series of competitive sales calls influences a buyer’s choice of the Market Leader and a similarly positioned Me-Too product. The Me-Too product is most successful when presented last—a recency effect. The Market Leader also fares better in the last position, but in addition, it is also chosen more often when it is presented first—a primacy effect. The salesperson for the Me-Too product is able to reduce the Market Leader’s primacy advantage by using an agenda selling strategy, in which the seller encourages the buyer to directly compare products and eliminate those that fail to meet minimum criteria.     

Valuing the contribution of ultra-light buyers

Ultra-light buyers, those who, on average, buy a brand once a year or less, are important by number and their contribution to brand purchase occasions. The initial research, however, was limited in scope and did not measure the contribution of these buyers to sales volume or value. By examining over 850 brands in almost 60 categories, we identify that ultra-lights make up 62% of a brand's buyer base over 5 years and contribute 32% of purchase occasions and 31% of sales volume and value. In line with previous findings that brands with higher loyalty exhibit more repeat purchases and thus fewer ultra-light buyers and private label brands often exhibit higher than expected loyalty for their market share—we find the prevalence of ultra-light buyers is higher for national brands than private labels, likely reflecting the higher loyalty often observed for private labels. We also find no difference in ultra-light buyers' contribution between high and low-price brands, indicating that price is not a significant factor affecting the contribution of ultra-light buyers. Finally, we find that both growing and declining brands have fewer ultra-lights than stable brands. As growth occurs via increasing penetration and loyalty, for growing brands, new buyers may be more ‘light’ than ‘ultra-light’ in terms of their loyalty; while for declines, these findings imply that there are not enough ultra-light buyers to maintain brand sales. A failure to recruit ultra-light buyers may be very dangerous for brand health.     

Salesperson Listening in the Extended Sales Relationship: An Exploration of Cognitive,Affective, and Temporal Dimensions

This paper reports the findings of an exploratory study of salesperson listening in the context of an extended sales relationship. In-depth interviews with both buyers and sellers suggest that listening has both cognitive and affective characteristics. Moreover, the data indicate a temporal dimension of listening, not addressed in current models of listening in the sales literature. Further, there appears to be a link between the salesperson’s listening and the impressions of affective and cognitive empathy created and maintained over the course of sales interactions with customers. The impressions of affective and cognitive empathy created may affect the development of buyer–seller relationships.     

Do opposites attract? Assimilation and differentiation as relationship-building strategies

In addressing the call for the application of learning from other domains to the sales context, our work integrates the optimal distinctiveness theory with the study of buyer–seller relationships. We conceptualize two main buyer–seller relationship-building strategies – a value-added differentiation strategy and a compatibility-based assimilation strategy – and present an integrative theoretical framework explaining how these two strategies can be leveraged in the business and personal domains to meet customer needs and improve sales performance. Using the theory, we reconcile conflicting findings on the use of similarities and differences between salespeople and customers in buyer–seller relationships. Our theoretical framework helps salespeople address the dynamic nature of dyadic relationships strategically in a way that promotes customer satisfaction, improves the firm’s performance, and nurtures its competitive advantage.     

The stability and sales contribution of heavy‐buying households

Creating long‐term heavy buyers underpins many theories of consumer behaviour and marketing plans. This makes heavy‐buying households an attractive target for research and marketing activities. However, analysis across over 150 brands in 15 categories reveals that only around 50 per cent of the heavy‐buying households of a brand in 1 year to remain heavy brand buyers in the next year. This provides a benchmark for marketers implementing strategies to reduce leakage from heavy‐buyer segmentations. This result, however, casts doubt on the reliability of heavy buying as a household/buyer targeting characteristic and calls into question the idea that long‐term heavy brand buyers can be cultivated. There is evidence that category heavy buying is consistently more stable behaviour, averaging 67 per cent year‐on‐year buyer stability. Therefore, if heavy buying behaviour is a targeting characteristic, the results support the use of category buying, rather than brand buying weight. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Use of Social Bases of Power in Retail Sales

Abstract

Social power theory has been used to explain how a sales manager may influence sales personnel in an industrial sales setting. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between retail sales managers' power bases and retail salespeople's job satisfaction, role conflict, role ambiguity, work motivation, organizational commitment, and job performance. Results of the study suggest that noncoercive sources of power have greater influence on these variables than does coercive power.     

INTENTIONALITY AND PHENOMENOLOGY

Abstract: This paper examines two recent attempts to articulate a particular relationship between intentionality and phenomenology. Terry Horgan and John Tienson (2002) have argued for what they call the inseparability thesis: that the intentional and the phenomenal are, in a certain sense, inseparable. Brian Loar (2002, 2003) , following on from earlier work, has argued for a kind of intentionality, phenomenal intentionality, that is pervasive and more fundamental than ordinary wide content. Problems with both views can be seen once we consider a number of dimensions to intentionality, and reflect more generally on the notion of phenomenal intentionality itself.     

‘I didn’t realise I was such a sausage’: men’s accounts of whole-body scanning,body image,and expected changes in health-related behaviours

Objective: Whole-body scanning is now available in stores to assist buyers in choosing well-fitting clothes. This study was designed to investigate men’s accounts of scanning, body image and expectations of behaviour change. Design: Ten men aged 18–39 years without histories of eating disorders or previous experience of whole-body scanning, took part in semi-structured interviews before and after scanning. Data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: Pre-scan, men’s body ideals were tall, slender and relatively muscular. Post-scan, seven reported looking shorter, fatter, thinner and/or less symmetrical than they hoped; three were pleasantly surprised by the images. Men were interested in scans as an objective view of their bodies and as a ‘wake-up call’ to motivate healthy behaviours. Five men intended to change their behaviour as a result of scanning, and repeat scanning was seen as a good way to monitor behavioural changes. Participants suggested that scanning may raise body concerns in other men, though downplayed impacts on their own body image. Conclusion: Whole-body scanning may encourage men to exercise and eat more healthily. However, men became more negative about their bodies as a result of seeing their body scans, so scanning needs to be carried out with supervision and support.     

买卖交易中谈判者角色影响谈判结果的机制

现实生活中的谈判通常发生在特定的社会情境中, 谈判者也总在扮演着某种角色。本研究探索了买卖交易谈判中谈判者角色影响谈判结果的作用机制。研究提出了一个关于谈判者角色诱发框架效应的理论模型, 然后通过两个模拟谈判实验对这一模型进行验证。实验1表明, 买家知觉到的馅饼大于卖家知觉到的馅饼, 且谈判者知觉到的馅饼在谈判者角色与谈判者绩效间起部分中介作用。实验2发现, 即使保留买家与卖家的角色标签, 如果剥离了金钱作为交易介质这一重要特征, 两个谈判角色知觉到的馅饼也没有差异。研究揭示了谈判者角色影响谈判结果的作用机制, 对谈判者如何利用情境因素取得更好的谈判结果具有实践意义。