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Article
Publication date: 24 July 2009

Nicholas G. Paparoidamis and Paolo Guenzi

This study aims to develop and test a model of relationship selling management. It seeks to examine the impact of leadership quality and relationship selling, as antecedents of…

3827

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to develop and test a model of relationship selling management. It seeks to examine the impact of leadership quality and relationship selling, as antecedents of salespeople's relational behaviours, on sales effectiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

Starting from a review of literature, the model incorporates two classes of salespeople's relational behaviours, namely customer‐oriented selling (COS) and adaptive selling (AS), two classes of managerial antecedents (i.e. relationship selling strategy and LMX) and one consequence (sales effectiveness). The authors collected data from 164 sales manager‐salesperson dyads in a sample of French firms. A structural equation modelling approach was employed to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The findings show that relationship selling and LMX stimulate salespeople's relational behaviours, which in turn positively affect sales effectiveness. Moreover, the results reveal a positive impact of relationship selling on sales manager‐salesperson exchanges.

Research limitations/implications

The study is cross‐sectional, and many other relevant constructs should be investigated in future research on the topic. Objective measures of performance may also be incorporated.

Practical implications

The study demonstrates that companies can stimulate desirable behaviours of salespeople, which drive to better performance, by leveraging on controllable organisational factors, i.e. selling strategy and leadership.

Originality/value

The research fills three important gaps in the extant literature. First of all, the study clearly sheds some light on the role played by specific organisational variables (e.g. leader‐member exchange quality) and behaviours of salespeople in implementing relational strategies. Second, the study shows that the quality of the relationship between supervisors and salespeople can affect specific behaviours of subordinates. Third, the paper contributes to a better understanding of organisational drivers of customer‐oriented selling and adaptive selling, and finds evidence of a positive impact of such behaviours on sales effectiveness.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 43 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2000

James Boles, Thomas Brashear, Danny Bellenger and Hiram Barksdale

Examines the effect of relationship selling activities on salesperson performance. It further explores the link between demographic selection criteria and the propensity of a…

5332

Abstract

Examines the effect of relationship selling activities on salesperson performance. It further explores the link between demographic selection criteria and the propensity of a salesperson to perform relationship selling behaviors. Relationship selling behaviors as examined in this study include interaction intensity, mutual disclosure, and cooperative intentions. The study was based on a sample of 487 business‐to‐business insurance salespeople. Findings indicate that interaction intensity and mutual disclosure have a significant effect on salesperson performance. Cooperative intentions do not influence performance. Results further demonstrate that some demographic criteria appear to be related to a salesperson’s likelihood of engaging in relationship selling.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 15 no. 2/3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 June 2021

Kwan Soo Shin, Fortune Edem Amenuvor, Henry Boateng and Richard Basilisco

The current study aims to empirically examine the impact of formal salesforce control systems on salespeople and customer behavior.

Abstract

Purpose

The current study aims to empirically examine the impact of formal salesforce control systems on salespeople and customer behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

Data are collected from 704 salespeople and their respective visiting customers (704) in Ghana. The suggested hypotheses are tested through the structural equation (SEM) modeling technique.

Findings

The study results show that all three formal control mechanisms have positive and significant effects on customer-directed problem-solving and adaptive selling behaviors. Similarly, the study finds that salespeople's customer-directed problem-solving behavior increases, respectively, customer-directed opportunism and relationship continuity. Adaptive selling behavior also has significant positive effects on both customer-directed opportunism and relationship continuity, respectively.

Practical implications

The study offers practical and theoretical insights into understanding salesforce control dynamics, customer-directed opportunism, adaptive selling behavior, customer-directed problem-solving behavior and continuity of relationships. The results also have significant consequences for sales organizations as they can help sales managers decide on the best form of salesforce control systems to deploy.

Originality/value

The current research demonstrates how control mechanisms can influence both adaptive selling and customer-directed problem-solving behaviors and how these could generate both customer-directed opportunism and relationship continuity.

Details

Marketing Intelligence & Planning, vol. 39 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-4503

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 June 2020

Claudio Pousa, Yunling Liu and Asad Aman

The purpose of the study is to test the effect of relationship managerial behavior (i.e. managerial coaching) on frontline employee performance (i.e. sales performance) and the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to test the effect of relationship managerial behavior (i.e. managerial coaching) on frontline employee performance (i.e. sales performance) and the mediating effect of employee's relationship behaviors (i.e. customer orientation and adaptive selling) in a Chinese banking environment.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected using a survey from 242 frontline employees working at a large commercial bank in Dalian (China). Measures on managerial coaching, customer orientation, adaptive selling and sales performance were adapted from the literature. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling in AMOS 26.

Findings

Results indicate that (1) managerial coaching positively affects employee customer orientation, (2) employee customer orientation positively affects employee adaptive selling behavior and (3) adaptive selling behavior positively affects sales performance. Bootstrap analysis confirmed the significance and stability of all the direct paths (suggesting that every mediator fully mediates the effect of its antecedent on the criterion) but none of the indirect paths found support (full mediation model).

Research limitations/implications

The study makes a contribution to the nomological network of managerial coaching by introducing a construct that has not been used previously (i.e. employee adaptive selling behavior) and testing its relevance in a commercial setting.

Practical implications

The results suggest that (1) managerial coaching is a central managerial behavior for companies that would like to implement a relationship marketing strategy because it helps promote specific employee relationship behaviors like customer orientation and adaptive selling, (2) there seems to be little cultural differences in the banking industry between the Chinese and the Western banks, suggesting that coaching and other management tools can be transferable from one culture to the other and (3) that coaching is an effective tool to help employees achieve higher sales performance.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the literature on the use of managerial coaching in commercial areas to increase frontline employee relationships behaviors. The identification of adaptive selling as a mediator is an original contribution because it has received little attention in scientific research. Additionally, the use of a Chinese sample of bank employees responds to recent call for more research in cross-cultural settings.

Details

International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. 38 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-2323

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 October 2021

Myoung-Soung Lee and Jaewon Yoo

This study investigated the effects of social capital on frontline bank employee's adaptive selling behavior via the psychological process. Frontline bank employees' positive…

Abstract

Purpose

This study investigated the effects of social capital on frontline bank employee's adaptive selling behavior via the psychological process. Frontline bank employees' positive social relationships enhance their perception of the work environment and encourage work engagement. With the multiple mediation model, both internal and external social capital have direct and indirect influence on the frontline bank employee's adaptive selling behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for this study were collected from a cross-sectional sample of retail banking industry in Korea. Specifically, using two-step procedures, employees of financial service or insurance sales department in banks were selected and online survey questionnaires were distributed to them. Data from 330 employees were collected and analyzed.

Findings

The results of this study showed how social capital affects frontline bank employees' person–job fit as a cognitive psychological process, leading to work engagement as an emotional psychological process and, in turn, more adaptive selling behavior. Using multiple mediation analysis, the results showed that work engagement on its own exerts a mediating effect on social capital, whereas a person–job fit does not.

Research limitations/implications

This study applied both aspects of the social capital concept by dividing it into internal and external social capital, and exploring each separately. This study examined the influence on psychological processes and behavioral response by distinguishing between the two forms of social capital. Second, this study expands the previous studies by introducing social capital as an antecedent factor of frontline bank employees' adaptive selling behavior. Finally, this study explains how frontline bank employees' relational resources (i.e. social capital) influence their emotional aspect (i.e. work engagement) and cognitive aspect (i.e. person–job fit), which ultimately influence performance-driven behavior (i.e. adaptive selling behavior).

Practical implications

This research showed the importance of hiring frontline bank employees with excellent social capital capabilities. Furthermore, this study underscored the fact that organizations require preparing and providing practical management methods that can improve the social capital of their current frontline employees. Last, organization need to design the job in a way that innately improves frontline employees' social capital. Therefore, these jobs provide many opportunities for frontline bank employees to use their ability to build relationships in their interactions with customers and make practical decisions to achieve job performance.

Originality/value

This study improved our understanding regarding the importance of employees' social capital by revealing the psychological process of how frontline bank employees' social capital affects adaptive selling behavior. Second, this study expands on the literature by introducing internal and external social capital as an antecedent factor affecting the adaptive selling behavior of frontline bank employees. Furthermore, this study advances understanding on the manner in which relational resources of frontline bank employees (i.e. social capital) influence the emotional (i.e. work engagement) as well as the cognitive aspects (i.e. person–job fit), which ultimately influence performance-driven behavior (i.e. adaptive selling behavior).

Details

International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. 40 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-2323

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 August 2021

Fortune Edem Amenuvor, Ho-Taek Yi and Henry Boateng

This paper aims to assess the effect of adaptive selling behavior on customer outcomes, mutual outcomes and salesperson outcomes.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to assess the effect of adaptive selling behavior on customer outcomes, mutual outcomes and salesperson outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

The respondents were salespeople and customers in selected door-to-door cosmetics companies in South Korea. A questionnaire was used to collect the data. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data in this study.

Findings

Findings show that adaptive selling behavior positively affects customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, sales performance, job satisfaction and relationship quality. These findings suggest that adaptive selling is crucial for the firm's survival depending on the industry and the product. Additionally, unlike previous studies, the authors use salespeople's self-reporting responses and customer-reporting of salespeople, which further enhances the richness and uniqueness of the results.

Originality/value

Studies investigating mutual outcomes of adaptive selling behavior are scarce. The study also emphasizes that adaptive selling behavior enhances salesperson outcomes and customer outcomes and primarily uses dyadic data between door-to-door salespeople and their customers, which is not very common.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. 34 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 August 2021

Ceyda Maden-Eyiusta, Zeynep Yesim Yalabik and Mehmet Ali Burak Nakiboglu

Drawing on the social exchange theory, this study focuses on the impact of perceived organizational support (POS) and perceived supervisor support (PSS) on employees' adaptive …

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing on the social exchange theory, this study focuses on the impact of perceived organizational support (POS) and perceived supervisor support (PSS) on employees' adaptive (selling) behavior in a personal selling context. As part of the support-adaptive behavior relationship, the authors also explore the mediating role of psychological empowerment and the moderating role of customer orientation (CO).

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 200 salespeople from the financial and pharmaceutical sectors in Turkey. Hypotheses were tested with hierarchical multiple regressions and hierarchical moderated regressions.

Findings

Supported salespeople feel more empowered in their jobs and show adaptive (selling) behavior. Our results also show that the impact of support on adaptive selling behavior through empowerment is stronger for salespeople with low CO.

Research limitations/implications

This study has two limitations: the generalizability of its findings and cross-sectional design. Still, it significantly contributes to support, empowerment and adaptive behavior literature.

Practical implications

By creating a supportive work environment and by training their managers to improve their support skills, organizations boost their employees' adaptability. Both of these support practices motivate employees to use their discretion in sales situations. Organizations should also evaluate and manage their employees' level of CO by conducting company surveys and by increasing top management communication.

Originality/value

This study tests the mediating role of psychological empowerment on the relationship between POS, PSS and adaptive behavior in the understudied personal selling context. The authors also test the moderating role of CO in the proposed model.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 37 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 August 2021

Fortune Edem Amenuvor, Ho-Taek Yi and Henry Boateng

This paper examines the antecedents of adaptive selling behavior empirically from the salespeople's, customers', and firms' perspectives.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper examines the antecedents of adaptive selling behavior empirically from the salespeople's, customers', and firms' perspectives.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey design was used for this study. Data from 219 salespeople and their visiting customers in selected cosmetics companies in Korea are used to test the conceptual model using structural equation modeling.

Findings

Findings show that intrinsic motivation, empathy, and product knowledge are germane to adaptive selling behavior among salesperson-level factors. Similarly, among the customer-level factors, the length of the relationship between salespeople and customers positively affects adaptive selling behavior. Also, while supervisory empowerment among the organizational-level factors significantly predicts adaptive selling behavior, supervisory control has a negative effect on adaptive selling behavior. The study finds that emotional intelligence and customer value demandingness do not significantly affect adaptive selling behavior.

Originality/value

Even though there is extant research on adaptive selling behavior, our research differs from previous research because our research focuses on door-to-door personal selling channels. Furthermore, this study departs from previous research because it uses customer-reporting of the salespeople and salespeople's self-reporting responses.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. 34 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2003

Craig A. Martin and Alan J. Bush

Recent research investigating customer‐oriented selling has indicated that greater attention needs to be focused on organizational or personal antecedents influencing…

4896

Abstract

Recent research investigating customer‐oriented selling has indicated that greater attention needs to be focused on organizational or personal antecedents influencing customer‐oriented selling behaviors. Similar to most other departments, a selling department’s environment would include its goals, objectives, and culture, as well as the behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes of top and middle management. Through its corporate culture and environment, the organization’s expectations and requirements are transmitted to its employees, who then implement the organization’s policies and carry out organizational strategies. Therefore, it is apparent that both individual internal environment perceptions and managerial leadership styles could possibly have a significant impact on the level of customer‐oriented selling behavior exhibited by salespeople. Three organizational or personal variables likely related to customer‐oriented selling are examined in the present study. The variables include sales manager leadership style, psychological climate, and empowerment. Each of the variables, and an explanation of its expected relationship with customer‐oriented selling, is explored. Implications for managers from these potential relationships are also provided.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 August 2019

Harindranath R.M., Bharadhwaj Sivakumaran and Jayanth Jacob

The principal purpose of this study is to examine the moderating influence of selling experience on the following two relationships – adaptive selling and job satisfaction and…

1150

Abstract

Purpose

The principal purpose of this study is to examine the moderating influence of selling experience on the following two relationships – adaptive selling and job satisfaction and customer orientation and job satisfaction – using unionized salespeople as respondents. It also tests for the mediating role of adaptive selling in the customer orientation–job satisfaction relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses data from a survey conducted on 208 pharmaceutical unionized salespeople from 46 pharmaceutical firms in India. The model was tested using structural equation modeling. Moderation hypotheses were estimated using process macro and the Johnson–Neyman technique.

Findings

The data fitted the model well. This research found that customer orientation drove adaptive selling behavior and job satisfaction, and that adaptive selling influenced job satisfaction (all positively); it was found that adaptive selling partially mediated the relationship between customer orientation and job satisfaction. Results revealed that job experience negatively moderated the adaptive selling behavior–job satisfaction and customer orientation–job satisfaction relationships.

Practical implications

The results show that pharma firms may hire young recruits and, importantly, measure their customer orientation and adaptive selling levels. For the purposes of training to enhance customer orientation and adaptive selling, pharma firms may send only their less experienced salespersons.

Originality/value

To the authors’ knowledge, this study could be the first to examine the interaction of job experience and customer-directed selling behaviors such as adaptive selling and customer orientation on job satisfaction. Moreover, this is possibly the only study in this domain that uses unionized salespeople in an emerging market (India).

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 34 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

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