Salesperson Behavior

7/31/2019 Salesperson Behavior

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Common Activities for Industrial

Salespeople Selling: plan selling activities; search out leads; identify

person in authority; select products for calls; prepare salespresentations; call on accounts; make sales presentations;overcome objections.

Working with orders: correct orders, expedite orders,

handle back orders; handle shipment problems.

Servicing the product: supervise installation; testequipment; train customers to use product; teach safetyinstructions; order accessories; performance maintenance.

Information management: receive feedback from clients;

provide feedback to superiors; provide technicalinformation; read trade publications.

Servicing the account: set-up point-of-purchase displays;assist with inventory control; stock shelves; handle localadvertising.


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Common Activities for Industrial

Salespeople Conferences/meetings: attend sales conferences; attend

regional sales meetings; set up exhibitions, trade shows;work client conferences; attend training sessions; fill outquestionnaires.

Training/recruiting: look for new sales representatives;

train new representatives; travel with trainees; helpcompany management plan selling activities.

Entertaining: take clients to lunch; drink with clients; havedinner with clients; party with clients; go golfing or fishingor play tennis with clients.

Out of town traveling: travel out of town; spend night onroad.

Working with distributors: establish relations withdistributors; sell to distributors; extend credit; collect pastdue accounts.

The list of activities in which salespeople commonly engage is developed from variables by William C. Moncrief, Selling Activity and SalesPosition Taxonomies for Industrial Salesforces, Journal of Marketing Research, 23 (August 1986), pp. 261-270 and William C. Moncrief, Ten

Key Activities of Industrial Salespeople, Industrial Marketing Management, 15 (November 1986), pp. 309-317.


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Determinants of Performance


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The Model

The literature on industrial andorganizational psychology suggests aworkers job performance is a function offive basic factors:

Role perceptions

Aptitude

Skill level

Motivation

Personal, organizational andenvironmental variables


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Role Perceptions

The term role accuracy refers to the degree towhich the salespersons perceptions of his or herrole partners demands particularly companysuperiors are accurate.

Role conflict arises when a salesperson believesthe role demands of two or more of his or herrole partners are incompatible

Role ambiguity occurs when salespeople believethey do not have the information necessary toperform the job adequately


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Aptitude

Sales ability has been thought to be afunction of characteristics such as:

Physical factors age, height, sex, and

physical attractiveness

Aptitude factors verbal intelligence,mathematical ability and sales expertise

Personality characteristics empathy,ego, sociability, aggressiveness, anddominance


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Aptitude

Aptitude: Enduring personal characteristicsthat determine individuals overall abilityto

perform a sales job

Sales aptitude

Math ability

Verbal intelligenceCognitive abilities

Intelligence


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Personality

Creative/flexibility

Self-esteem

Sociability

DominanceResponsibility

Need forpower

Need for

achievement

Personality: Enduring personal traits thatreflect individuals consistent reactions to

situations encountered in environment


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Aptitude

Sales presentationVocational skills

Interpersonal

Generalmanagement

Vocational esteem

Skill:Individuals learned proficiency at

performing necessary tasks


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Motivation

The effort the salesperson willinglyexpends on activities & tasks associatedwith performing on the job.

Seems to be a function of the persons . . . Expectancyestimate of the effort required to

improve performance

Valencesalespersons perception of the

desirability of attaining performanceimprovement


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Personal and Organizational

Variables Job experience

Closeness of supervision

Performance feedback Influence in determining standards

Span of control

Amount of role conflict Perceived ambiguity


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Being a Good Corporate Citizen

Sportsmanship

Civic Virtue

Conscientiousness Altruism


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Rewards

Extrinsic rewards controlled andbestowed by people other than thesalesperson

Intrinsic rewards that salespeopleprimarily attain for themselves orwithin themselves


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Common Rewards for Industrial

Salespeople Pay

Promotion

Nonfinancial incentives (contests, travel, prices,

etc.) Special recognitions (clubs, awards, etc.)

Job security

Feeling of self-fulfillment

Feeling of worthwhile accomplishment

Opportunity for personal growth anddevelopment

Opportunity for independent thought and action


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Satisfaction

The job itself

Fellow workers

Supervision

Company policies and support

Pay

Promotion/Advancement opportunities Customers


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Perceptions of the Job


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Innovative Role

A salesperson frequently produces solutions tounique problems.

Innovation occurs frequently while selling high-tech products or engineered systems fittingcustomer specifications.

Reps in innovative roles experience:

more conflict because they perform their roles

with creativity and flexibility. more role ambiguity and inaccurate role

perceptions


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Conflict and Ambiguity

Different role partners mean differentexpectations.

Perceived role expectations are consistent

among salespeople.

Role ambiguity plagues many salespeoplein some aspect of their job.

Salespeople can often perceive conflictbetween company policies or expectationsand customer demands.


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Consequences of Conflict and

Ambiguity Psychological consequences

Conflicting expectations between peersabout job performance, the salesperson

become the person in the middle. Perceived a lack of necessary

information to perform adequately.

Perceived role conflict affects extrinsicjob satisfaction.

Role ambiguity exerts a negative impacton the intrinsic job satisfaction.


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Ambiguity Behavioral consequences

Perceived role conflict and ambiguitycan produce dysfunctional behavior.

Low satisfaction increases personnel,moderated by economic conditions andavailable alternative jobs.

Satisfaction and performance correlatepositively, although authorities differover the nature of the relationship.


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Ambiguity


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Nature of Role Accuracy

Salesperson correctly understands what rolepartners expect when performing the job

General role inaccuracy can occur on almost anydimension that also gives rise to role ambiguityand conflict

Linkage role inaccuracy arises when thesalesperson incorrectly perceives therelationships between the activities andperformance dimensions, or between theperformance dimensions and the rewards.


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Key Terms

role accuracy

perceived role conflict

perceived role ambiguity

motivation

expectancies valences for performance

instrumentalities

valences for rewards

organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)

extrinsic rewards

intrinsic rewards

job satisfaction

Documents

Salesperson Behavior