Adaptive Selling Behavior Research Articles

ADAPTIVE SELLING BEHAVIOUR: A STUDY AMONG SALESPERSON IN PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY


 Sales management of today is facing challenging issues of sales force management in order to achieve the desired firm’s business performance. A firm’s business performance is closely associated to how effective the sales force is in performing their selling tasks. As salespersons need to face different customers and engage in different sales situations, salespersons must be flexible and be able to adapt their selling styles in all different situations. Salespersons’ behaviour in adapting their selling approaches is known as adaptive selling behaviour. The ability of salespersons in performing their selling tasks hinges on their capability in practicing adaptive selling behaviour during and across the sales interactions with customers. This study focuses on the managerial practices of control and empowerment, and examines their simultaneous influence on salesperson’s adaptive selling behaviour. This study was conducted on a sample of pharmaceutical salespersons in Malaysia, whose customers are healthcare professionals. Nine pharmaceutical firms participated in the survey with a total of 154 responses received. Results revealed that control practice of activity control and empowerment practices of promoting participation in decision-making, expressing confidence, and providing autonomy had significant relationships with salesperson’s practice of adaptive selling behaviour. Implications, limitations of the research, and improvements for future studies were discussed.

Effects of Salespersons' Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Labor on Adaptive Selling Behavior and Customer Satisfaction

Effects of Salespersons' Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Labor on Adaptive Selling Behavior and Customer Satisfaction

Empathy and affect in B2B salesperson performance

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore salesperson empathy and the moderating impact of positive/negative affect on a salesperson’s listening and adaptive selling behaviors. It also seeks to identify whether and how empathy influences performance.Design/methodology/approachThe study’s hypothesis was analyzed using data collected from business-to-business salespeople working for a manufacturing firm. A partial least squares analysis was used to test the study’s proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe results of this study show that empathy and the moderating role of positive affect foster desirable sales behaviors (listening and adaptive selling behaviors) that subsequently enhance in-role (expected) and extra-role (discretionary) performance.Originality/valueContributions from the findings enhance the literature through its consideration of how the direct effect of empathy on sales behaviors (a salesperson’s listening and adapting selling behavior) is moderated by the salesperson’s positive and negative affect and how sales behaviors impact final sales outcomes (in-role and extra-role performance).

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND SALES PERFORMANCE. A MYTH OR REALITY?

The concept of emotional intelligence has become popular as a consulting tool as theorysuggests that individuals who are high in emotional intelligence are likely to exhibit a higherlevel of performance outcomes. In this study, we examined the impact of emotional intelligenceon sales performance. We hypothesized that the impact of emotional intelligence on salesperformance was mediated by adaptive selling behaviour. Data were collected from salespeople in the financial industries in Malaysia via the WLEIS emotional intelligence scale andADAPTS adaptive selling behaviour scale, and were quantitatively analysed using structuralequation modelling (SEM). Results were in keeping with the model. Emotional intelligencewas not found to impact sales performance directly. It impacted on sales performance througha mediating variable; adaptive selling behaviour.Keywords: Emotional Intelligence; Adaptive Selling Behaviour; Sales Performance.

Cross-Cultural Selling: Examining the Importance of Cultural Intelligence in Sales Education

Cross-cultural selling has become an important factor in sales education. In the current competitive business graduate market, students who enter the workforce in frontline customer service positions are expected to perform sales at a higher level. Students that have acquired an education in sales during their undergraduate program have been found to have a more realistic perception of sales as a profession, to require minimum training, to have lower turnover, and to require less time to be more productive. This has been attributed to the success of sales education curricula and sales education techniques at the collegiate level. This study examines the importance of sales students’ cultural intelligence and how it influences their adaptive selling behaviors and sales role-play performance in a cross-cultural selling situation. The sample for the study consists of 143 sales students who were registered in an advanced personal selling course over a six-semester period. All sales role-plays are oriented toward a cross-cultural selling situation where the buyer is a first-generation immigrant. The results of the study show that sales students with cultural intelligence are able to adjust their selling behaviors well and to perform at a higher level in their role-play presentations.

Thought self-leadership strategies and sales performance: integrating selling skills and adaptive selling behavior as missing links

PurposeThis study aims to address the need to study salespersons’ thought self-leadership (TSL) and its effectiveness through the interplay of self-efficacy, skills and behavior at the individual level. It also advances the agenda of integrating self-leadership into marketing literature.Design/methodology/approachA model was tested using survey data collected from salespeople within pharmaceutical companies located in India and other Asian countries. A structural equation model was used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results suggest an interesting interplay between a salesperson’s TSL and his/her sales performance. The results also demonstrate the relationship between TSL and self-efficacy and the mediation mechanism through which self-efficacy influences sales performance. Results support the role of TSL as a distal predictor of performance and delineate the complexity of the mediation mechanism through theoretical grounding and empirical evidence.Research limitations/implicationsThe research suggests that a salesperson’s TSL relates positively with the sales performance through three process variables; self-efficacy, selling skills and adaptive selling behavior. The results should encourage managers to leverage salesperson’s TSL strategies to build a self-leading sales force and optimize supervision cost. Moreover, training the sales force for enhanced TSL has immediate payoffs in terms of increased selling effectiveness. The study also discusses theoretical implications.Originality/valueBy examining TSL in the sales context, the study makes an original contribution to the extant literature. The results of the study enrich the extant information on self-leadership and sales performance linkages by suggesting a mediation mechanism and proposing an integrated framework with selling skills and adaptive selling behavior.

Salesperson’s spirituality: impact on customer orientation and adaptability

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to use the perspective of ego to investigate the spirituality of a salesperson and its influence on customer orientation and adaptive selling behavior. Meaningful work is proposed as a mediator.Design/methodology/approachCross-sectional data were collected from 218 insurance salespeople in India. Bootstrap with SEM was used to test mediation.FindingsThe paper finds that there is full mediation through meaningful work on both the outcome behaviors.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings will encourage researchers to link various salesperson outcomes such as ethical sales behavior, salesperson service behavior, and so on to spirituality.Practical implicationsThe findings can provide some relevant inputs for sales leadership actions aimed at facilitating employees’ spiritual experiences.Originality/valueThis is among the first few studies, as what the authors believe, in the sales literature to find out that spirituality and sales job not only can co-exist, but they do complement each other.

Salesperson ambidexterity and customer satisfaction: examining the role of customer demandingness, adaptive selling, and role conflict

This research investigates the effects of sales-service ambidexterity on salesperson role perceptions, behaviors, and customer satisfaction. Using a business-to-business, salesperson-customer sample, we build and test a model which highlights both the positive and negative consequences of this simultaneous goal pursuit. Specifically, while sales-service ambidexterity positively impacts adaptive selling behaviors, it also increases perceptions of role conflict among salespeople. Customer demandingness moderates these relationships. Taken together, the results provide insights for firms on how to manage their sales force to optimize both sales and service outcomes based on characteristics of their salespeople and customers.

Effects of Salespersons' Job Crafting and Adaptive Selling Behavior on Job Satisfaction and Sales Performance

Effects of Salespersons' Job Crafting and Adaptive Selling Behavior on Job Satisfaction and Sales Performance

The Relationship between Salesperson’s Adaptive Selling Behavior, Rapport, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment in the Distribution Channel

Background/Objectives: This study investigates the relationship between the salesperson's adaptive selling behavior, rapport, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment in the distribution channel. Methods/Statistical analysis: The salespeople working at a distributor of a food-related manufacturer were asked to complete a survey questionnaire. The participants were asked to answer the questionnaire from the perspective of a salesperson. The reliability and the validity were tested. This study tested the hypotheses through Structural Equation Modeling analysis. Findings: This study attempted to examine the relationship between salespersons' adaptive selling behavior, rapport, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment in the distribution channel. The results of hypotheses testing indicated that hypothesis 1, which stated that adaptive selling behavior of salespeople has positive effects on rapport, was supported. In addition, hypotheses 2 and 3, which stated that rapport has positive influence on job satisfaction and organizational commitment, were supported. Finally, hypothesis 4, which stated that job satisfaction of salesperson has a positive influence on organizational commitment, was also supported. Improvements/Applications: By substantiating the relationship between adaptive selling behavior, rapport, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment, the process of adaptive selling behavior influencing job satisfaction and organizational commitment was identified.

A Study on the Positive Effect of Emotional Labor: The Structural Relationship among Goal Orientation, Emotional Labor, and Adaptive Selling Behavior

A Study on the Positive Effect of Emotional Labor: The Structural Relationship among Goal Orientation, Emotional Labor, and Adaptive Selling Behavior

Empathy, nonverbal immediacy, and salesperson performance: the mediating role of adaptive selling behavior

Purpose Previous studies that examined the role of empathy and nonverbal immediacy on business-to-business (B2B) salesperson performance is limited in scope and yielded inconclusive evidence. Grounded in Plank and Greene’s (1996) framework of salesperson effectiveness, this paper aims to empirically investigate the mediating role of adaptive selling behavior through which empathy and nonverbal immediacy influence sales force performance and the form of empathy (cognitive or affective) that has the most beneficial role in improving relationship (versus outcome) salesperson performance. Design/methodology/approach Using cross-sectional data that were collected from 422 pharmaceutical sales representatives, this study used structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings Adaptive selling behavior mediates the effect of perspective taking empathy and empathic concern on relationship performance. However, the impact of empathy on outcome performance is not significant through adaptive selling behavior, but perspective taking empathy has a direct influence on outcome performance. Contrary to expectations, nonverbal immediacy is not mediated by adaptive selling behavior but has a direct and positive impact on relationship performance. Research limitations/implications The results of this study have several implications for recruitment, training and assessment of salespeople in a B2B context. Based on the empirical evidence, it is highlighted that firms may use different forms of empathy and nonverbal cues to promote adaptive selling behavior that impact sales force performance (i.e. outcome or relationship). Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study which simultaneously examines the mediating role of adaptive selling behavior in the relationship between three antecedent variables that relate to sales force empathy and nonverbal communication (i.e. perspective taking empathy, empathic concern and nonverbal immediacy) and two aspects of B2B sales performance (relationship and outcome).

Effects of Emotional Labor and Adaptive Selling Behavior on Job Performance

We examined the effects of salespersons' emotional labor strategies on adaptive selling behavior and individual job performance in the direct selling industry. Participants were 254 salespeople who completed measures of deep acting, surface acting, adaptive selling behavior, and job performance. The analysis results showed that salespersons' deep acting was positively related to adaptive selling behavior and job performance, whereas salespersons' surface acting was negatively related to adaptive selling behavior and job performance. In addition, adaptive selling behavior partially mediated the relationship between emotional labor strategies and job performance. These suggestions will allow human resource managers to select the right employees and prepare them to meet customers' varied requirements through using deep acting, demonstrating adaptive selling behavior, and minimizing the detrimental effect of surface acting as much as possible.

Role of adaptive selling and customer orientation on salesperson performance: Evidence from two distinct markets of Europe and Asia

ABSTRACTAdaptive selling and customer orientation have been considered imperative for successful salespeople. Although these topics have been frequently studied in the literature, most studies have been conducted in a developed country environment and such studies are limited in other cultural contexts. Moreover, cross-country/cultural comparison of the role of adaptive selling and customer orientation is even scarcer. Therefore, the objective of the current study is to examine the role of adaptive selling and customer orientation on salesperson performance in two distinct markets of Europe and Asia—namely Finland and Macau. Using personal interviews, data were collected from salespeople operating in both countries. The study results indicate that customer orientation had significant effect on sales performance, customer satisfaction, and adaptive selling behavior of salespersons. Furthermore, salesperson adaptive selling behavior had significant effect on sales performance and customer orientation but not on customer satisfaction.

The Relationship between Salesperson’s Adaptive Selling Behavior, Rapport, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment in the Distribution Channel

The Relationship between Salesperson’s Adaptive Selling Behavior, Rapport, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment in the Distribution Channel

Not all adaptive selling to omni-consumers is influential: The moderating effect of product type

Computer-mediated technologies have resulted in a proliferation of the omni-channel consumer (OCC) who shops for products and services using mobile, online, and traditional retail channels. While OCCs may have greater access to information, they do not necessarily have access to accurate information; hence the salesperson has both a challenge as well as an opportunity to use adaptive selling techniques when selling to the OCC. To better understand under what circumstances the salesperson can best be utilized to bring about the sale with the OCC, this research develops and evaluates a model of adaptive selling behaviors when selling to omni-channel consumers around the globe. Adaptive selling behaviors are conceptualized as having two dimensions, non-interactive and interactive adaptation. The efficacy of these two types of adaptive selling behaviors depends upon product type (utilitarian, hedonic) and OCCs' perceived control over the buying situation. To test the hypotheses, survey data was collected from global OCCs in four different countries and evaluated using path analysis. Results suggest salesperson’s influence depends upon product type and salesperson's adaptive selling behavior.

INFLUENCE OF SUPERVISORY CONTROL ON SALESPERSON PERFORMANCE: EXAMINING THE ROLE OF ADAPTIVE SELLING BEHAVIOUR AS A MEDIATOR


 Parallel to the achievement of the Takaful industry, agency system becomes the main medium utilised by the industry to educate the public and assist them about future financial preparation. As a mirror to an Islamic type of insurance, Takaful agents play significant role not only to sell the Takaful products, but also to behave according to the Islamic norms in front of their customers. Thus, this research is conducted to introduce new concept of Islamic relationship marketing (IRM) and investigates its significance towards customer gratitude, trust, and commitment in the industry. A total of 741 of Family Takaful customers in Klang Valley area have participated in the survey conducted in this study. Few statistical analyses were performed to confirm the proposed measures of IRM including descriptive, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), measurement model, and structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis. Through EFA and measurement model, four variables were confirmed to measure the IRM which are Islamic ethical behaviour, social, structural, and financial bonds. Furthermore, these measures of IRM have significantly affected customer gratitude, trust, and commitment via SEM analysis. This study serves as a starting point to promote new approach of marketing in the Takaful industry based on the Islamic norms. It basically aims to tackle the needs of Takaful participants which should be taken care by the Takaful agents as to ensure both of these parties receive benefits in the Takaful contract.

The Impact of Working Relationship Quality on Job Satisfaction and Sales Person Performance: An Adaptive Selling Behaviour

Working relationships have been the main area of substantial devotion in practice and research comparable over the previous period of time. Although, there have some work in this area in the Pakistani context. Increasing a superior tolerant of the directorial society in which an excellence development method is implemented that can present imminent into what approaches association valour commence to recover willingness for completion. Motivation of working relationships creates personal responsibility and person’s management skills foremost to greater coolness. This increases attitude of organisation and consequence on working interactions. The previous concepts of uncertain relationships are now replaced with the increased working relationships between salespersons and the customer. This study will evaluate the impacts of working relationships on the job contentment of the workers of these organisations. Objective of the Study: The objective of this article is to show the association between job satisfaction and sales person performance with adaptive selling behaviour of Organisations. In this study, we explored the effects of the organisational environment on the employee’s performance. Research Questions: RQ 1: What is the impact of organisational effectiveness on employee’s performance? RQ 2: Is the quality can change the sales performance? RQ 3: How we can understand the adaptive selling behaviour of new employees? Research methodology: Data were collected from the employees of PIZZA huts in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The survey was completed by 105 employees, 98 per cent response was observed. Results were made using Correlation, regression and ANOVA with the available data. Findings: We gathered data from sellers, customer and retailers to examine the impact of sales behaviour. Analysis reveals that there is strong +ve association of sales person performance and job satisfaction. Research limitations/implications: The survey was conducted in the randomly selected PIZZA organisations of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Significance of the study: This article shows the working relationship quality on job satisfaction and sales person performance. This study is helpful for private organisations of Pakistan to manage the selling behaviour and engagement of employees. Organisations can arrange training programmes to modify employee’s empowerment for getting positive results.

Adaptive Selling Behavior Based on Psychological Capital, Transformational Leadership and Job Satisfaction

The aim of this study is to describe adaptive selling of life insurance agents that are in charge of marketing their products directly to the customers . Adaptive selling behavior will be assessed according to their association with individual and organizational factors. Organizational factors in question are job satisfaction and transformational leadership, whereas individual factors in question is psycho- logical capital. Data were collected through self-report questionnaires to 205 life insurance agents of several insurance companies in Jakarta. Further data were processed statistically using ANOVA and regression techniques SPSS to examine the effect of transformational leadership, job satisfaction, and psychological capital on adaptive selling behavior. The results showed that all three independent variables significantly influenced adaptive selling behavior (F = 76.483, p

The Impact of Salesperson Learning, Adaptive Selling Behaviors, and Job Satisfaction on Sales Performance

The Impact of Salesperson Learning, Adaptive Selling Behaviors, and Job Satisfaction on Sales Performance