The Identification of Selling Abilities Needed for Missionary Type Sales |
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| Authors: | Dan C Weilbaker |
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| Institution: | Dan C. Weilbaker (Ph.D., University of South Carolina) is an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the College of Business at Bowling Green State University. Prior to pursuing his graduate work, he was a sales representative for Eli Lilly and Company and the national sales and marketing manager for Elder Pharmaceuticals. His publications have appeared in Journal of Consumer Research, American Marketing Association Proceedings, Advances for Consumer Research Proceedings, Academy of Marketing Science Proceedings, and Southern Marketing Proceedings. His research interests include personal selling, sales management, information processing, and health care marketing. |
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| Abstract: | 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. |
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