Sales Staff Research Articles

A new approach to the selection of sales staff

Problems with selection procedures for sales staff are discussed. It is difficult to assess the variety of characteristics required for success in sales in an interview, but most interviewers undervalue information that can be gained from direct observation. The author proposes the use of 'action profiling', to assess personality based on body movement. Careful observation of postural movement (big body movements) and gestural movements (smaller limb movements) can provide information on motivational characteristics (assertion) and task orientation (perspective) of individuals. A brief overview is given of research on the relationship between body movement and personality, and the author gives his adaptation of these theories to interpreting behavioural-action tendencies in sales staff. It is proposed that action profiling techniques, although still in an early stage of development, could make a valuable contribution, in conjunction with existing techniques, to improved selection of 'the right person' for the sales job.

A Study on Pre-Purchase Information Search by Consumers

Out-of-store and in-store information search are two steps that are generally posited to precede a purchase decision (Moore & Lehmann 1980). This paper focuses on the type and amount of information sources consulted prior to purchasing, the duration of in-store information-seeking and the buying determinants which are decisive in the final decision-making process for a given product category. Data were obtained from a non-probability convenience sample (N = 152 buyers of small electrical appliances) by means of in-store observations and on the spot post-purchase interviews to detect out-of-store information search. The study revealed that consumer-dominated sources (influence of relatives, friends or neighbours) were rated as prime sources for out-of-store information search, followed by market-dominated sources (newspaper and magazine adverts). In-store information search consisted mainly of physical examination and comparison of articles and prices, reading of store adverts and seeking advice from sales staff or fellow shoppers. The total average shopping time for buyers of small electrical appliances was 7,02 minutes with a median spending per shopping minute of R4,40. Finally the study pointed towards brand consciousness and quality features as being the main purchasing motives for small electrical appliances, followed by convenience considerations (ease of workload).

Influence Use by Industrial Salesmen: Influence-Strategy Mixes and Situational Determinants

Personal selling is a critically important element in the marketing mix of almost every industrial firm. The salesman is entrusted with the care and nurturance of the firm's most valuable resources: its customers and prospects. Every sales call is important. If it is not successful, or does not lead to a sale, the opportunity costs (lost revenues) may be substantial. Moreover, whether successful or not, each call represents a substantial expenditure for the sponsoring firm. Given the marketing challenge of developing an effective sales representation at a reasonable cost, it is little wonder that marketing managers and researchers alike are concerned about the problems of selecting, training, and controlling the sales staff. In spite of the importance of these personal selling activities, there is little empirical evidence concerning what actually takes place during the sales call. More specifically, there has been little effort to evaluate the influence strategies actually used by industrial salesmen in their sales calls, or to identify characteristics of the buyer-seller situation which affect the salesman's use of influence with a customer. This article reports a study designed to evaluate the influence strategies used by industrial salespersons in their sales calls and to identify characteristics of the buyer-seller situation which affect the salesperson's use of influence with a customer. The results of the study, which are based on responses from 444 salespersons from 220 different firms, suggest that negotiating obstacles encountered in a sales situation and the general level of buyer-seller involvement in the sales call are major underlying dimensions of the sales situation which discriminate among groups of salesmen who vary not only on the intensity of influence used, but also on the particular combinations or mixes of influence strategies used. *We gratefully acknowledge conversations with Robert H. Miles of Harvard University concerning this area of research, and the support of William B. Phillips, Director of Industry Relations, the Associated Equipment Distributors, in data collection.

People

Michael Vardon, formerly for many years sales manager (surface coatings) at Warwick Chemical, has been appointed to the sales staff of Chemitrade Ltd for the south of England.

A Quadratic Programming Model of the Non-Life Insurer

The purpose of this paper is to provide insurers with a flexible construct which can be of assistance in reaching ex ante portfolio mix decisions. Portfolio theory frequently has been applied to risky asset opportunity sets; however, little attention has been focused on risky asset and risky liability opportunity sets in combination. The insurer attempts to allocate premrums and financial assets to generate positive returns. The study's purpose is to specify optimal ex ante (via ex post) portfolios of underwriting and investment alternatives. These areas are specifically related by applying portfolio theory. The sensitivity of the insurer efficient frontier to alternative constraint definitions is evaluated. Underwriting and asset mix are analyzed as relevant institutional constraints are changed. Considerable controversy has developed in the insurance literature as to the measurement of profitability in the property-liability insurance industry. Clearly the profitability of the industry depends on how effectively the underwriting and investment activities are combined. The degree of industry regulation in its pricing of insurance is controlled by state insurance codes. The insurer insists that these regulated prices include a fair for providing insurance. The regulatory apparatus has seen fit to allow reasonable in the development of sale structures. However, investment returns have not been considered relevant in determining the insurance rate structure until recently. Despite the movement toward including investment income in p-l ratemaking, little agreement exists as to the correct approach for its implementation.' When one makes an attempt to calculate the return and risks to the industry both underwriting and investment functions must be explicitly considered simultaneously. John L. Markle, Ph.D., is a member of the sales staff of Salomon Brothers in New York City. Alfred E. Hofflander, Ph.D., CPCU, CLU, is Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Graduate School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles. He is current president of ARIA and an Assistant Editor of the Journal of Risk and Insurance. This paper was accepted for publication in June 1975. 1A recent contribution to this field which attempts to derive an objective analysis of the rationale and feasibility of including investment return in the property-liability ratemaking process is In vestnent Return and Property-Liability Insurance Ratemaking by Robert W. Cooper.

Supply Contracts in the Galbraithian Planning System

Galbraith considers that the contract enables the supplier to plan its output and 'to meet the needs of its customers in accordance with their schedule'. [2] Indeed he claims that the contract system ensures response to needs in a way that the price system does not. Thus 'The contract, projecting the buyer's requests for months and years-and specifying prices and termsdoes ensure response'. [3] The situation Galbraith describes is one in which there is mutual benefit. On one hand the buyer is assured of receiving the supplies he needs while on the other hand the supplier is in the fortuitous position of having a guaranteed demand from a customer. In reality the situation would seem to be considerably different. Discussions with suppliers of raw materials and components more often than not produce complaints about the difficulties arising from customers' frequent and unpredictable changes in requirements. For example, the author, in the course of a research project, visited some fifty car component suppliers manufacturing a variety of products including brake systems, tyres, steering gear, electrical equipment, nuts, bolts, and forgings. Without exception the sales staff complained that their customers frequently changed their requirements, both increasing and decreasing them. However, complaints of themselves are not of too much concern unless backed with fairly solid evidence. Therefore, the following four situations which illustrate the problems confronted by one manufacturer of engineering components in dealing with four separate customers are set out in the four following sections. Some general issues arising from these four specific cases are then considered in a concluding discussion.

Interviewing salesmen

How can a training officer improve the performance of managers in the selection of their subordinates? Recruiting new staff or replacements and conducting a selection interview are relatively infrequent events in the lives of most managers and they do not get enough practice to enable them to improve. Running courses is not an appropriate solution. Here is what one company training officer does to meet, if only partially, the problem. He issues a handout of guidelines. This can be a valuable aid to performance and is one form of training. The preparation of management performance aids such as this is capable of very wide application. Although in this case the example refers to interviewing a recruit to the sales staff, the principle can be applied to jobs in all functions.

Physical training with submaximal intensities in women. 3. Effect on adaptation to professional work.

32 women, 19–64 years old, were studied before and after a 7-week training period during their daily professional work as sales staff members. Most of the work time was spent standing, and none had to do physically hard work. Mean heart rate during work was the same after training as before. Swelling of the foot and calf during a day of work was less pronounced after training. Subjective well-being (physical and emotional) was studied with 2 evaluation scales. Emotional well-being did not change. Physical well-being was more pronounced in the afternoon after training than before (= less fatigue).

British Food Journal Volume 70 Issue 6 1968

This new measure of consumer law of some forty‐odd sections, a short Act by present standards but as far‐reaching as any legislation since the war, establishes a code of conduct in commerce and trade which few will be able to ignore, from the manufacturer down to the counter‐hand. Operative from November 30th of this year, traders will require to urgently consider their sales practices, advertising, labelling and their trade descriptions; sales staff will need to be instructed in their new responsibilities. The new law is not just for consumer‐retailer transactions, but extends to trade between different branches of all trades, so that a retailer will be protected against misleading descriptions and misrepresentations by a manufacturer and the latter against misdescriptions of ingredients or components.

The optimal climate in department stores.

The optimal effective temperature for department stores was obtained by collecting temperature and humidity data in six such stores during one full year and by asking several members of the sales staff to give their preference at different periods of the year. Four of the stores gave very good agreement regarding the desirable effective temperature. One store had a different optimum, probably due to local differences in preference, and one store failed to indicate an optimum. This failure could be interpreted in terms of the average optimum derived from the other department stores. Recommendations for optimal effective temperatures for department stores are given. The evaluation of the store climate by the customers did not appear to differ greatly from that of the sales personnel.

Discrimination without Prejudice

group. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between discriminatory behavior and prejudiced attitudes--with special application to the behavior and attitudes of white retail employers toward Negro employees. It is generally assumed that discrimination and prejudice are closely correlated. Although people recognize that prejudiced individuals may be prevented by social control mechanisms from practicing discrimination, they less often realize that discrimination may exist in the absence of prejudice. When discriminatory behavior is encountered, the discriminators are ipso facto assumed to be prejudiced. For example staff members of organizations like the Urban League characteristically impute to employers who refuse to hire Negro salesgirls a low opinion of the selling ability of all Negroes. Because they discriminate, they must be prejudiced. The following data suggest, however, that discrimination may be practiced by persons who are not personally prejudiced. The personnel managers of the fifty largest retail stores (excluding groceries) in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, were interviewed in August 1949 regarding their employment policies. (1) The median number of employees in the stores was one-hundred thirty, of whom fifty-seven were typically on the sales staff. Although many of the variety, clothing, and drug stores were members of chains, all but five managers reported they were able to determine their own employment policies with respect to such matters

Using Chemical Plant Food as an Aid in Solving the Farm Problem

THE USE OF MORE PLANT FOOD on fewer acres of crops is one of the most certain methods of stepping up the efficiency of farm production. In this way net farm income may be maintained or increased, while total volume of product is decreased or maintained at recent levels to fit market requirements. Raising rates of fertilizer applied from past practice, which generally have been low, to rates recommended by experiment stations in various states is the goal of our sales staff, and we appear to be making progress toward it. Let us look at a few examples of increased income that are practical.

Book Review: Rebuilding the Sales Staff

Book Review: Rebuilding the Sales Staff

Rebuilding the Sales Staff

Rebuilding the Sales Staff