Selling Ability Research Articles

How and should firms motivate salesperson effort across a Multi-Brand Portfolio?

Firms often design solution portfolios that include multiple, integrated brands to enable customization and differentiation. Despite practitioner and scholarly interest in multi-brand sales strategies, it remains unclear how salespeople should allocate brand efforts for solution performance and what motivational models help leverage this allocation. The authors theorize a framework around the concept of salesperson brand effort allocation to address these challenges. Analysis of multisource data from a sales organization—i.e., 65 sales managers and 376 salespeople—reveals contingencies that influence the salesperson’s brand motivation-effort-performance chain. Specifically, the extent that solution incentives and brand identification compatibility explain effort allocation across all brands is contingent on whether salespeople incorporate multiple brands into their self-concept. Assessment of the performance consequences of brand effort allocation reveal a second contingency; balanced effort negatively relates to branded component solution performance, yet this consequence is overcome when salespeople possess solution selling ability (opportunity identification).

Short Selling and Managerial Ability

ABSTRACT Using a balanced panel of treatment and control firms based on Regulation SHO of 2004 which suspended short sale price tests for a third of the stocks in the Russell 3000 index, we examine the impact of short selling on managerial ability. We found evidence that short selling enhances managerial ability in treatment firms during the period in which short sale price tests were suspended. Subsample analysis suggests that our results could be interpreted within the context of risk-taking behavior of CEOs.

Fund manager skill: selling matters more!

We examine whether mutual fund managers have differential skill in the buy and sell domains. Although they have characteristic-timing ability in aggregate, we show they exhibit asymmetric ability when buying and selling. Our key finding is that fund managers with superior selling ability are significantly better at buying stocks and, as a result, earn significantly higher aggregate returns. However, fund managers who buy stocks successfully do not necessarily have parallel selling skills, leading to lower returns overall. Thus, we provide strong evidence that selling skill is the key determinant of overall mutual fund timing performance.

Polymerization of acrylic acid on chitosan by gamma radiation and its application for the removal of metal ions from aqueous solutions

Synthesis of green adsorbent materials for the removal of pollutants is a research priority for sustainable environment. A green hydrogel adsorbent based on graft polymerization of acrylic acid on chitosan was performed using different doses of gamma radiation (5, 10, 15, 20, 30 kGy). The formed hydro-gels were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Gelation percent, swelling in different pH solutions, scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results indicated the complex formation between chitosan and Polyacrylic acid. The hydrogel exhibit a higher gelation percent with increasing irradiation dose, and a much higher selling ability at alkaline medium. The thermal stability of the hydrogel was found to slightly decrease at 30 kGy. The hydrogel prepared at 20 kGy exhibited the highest thermal stability. The hydro-gels were applied for the removal of Cu2+, Co2+ ions from simulated water solutions, and showed potential results. The electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements to absorbed Cu2+ indicated that the polymer active groups were regarded as strong field ligand on Cu2+.

Navigating the demands of increasing customer participation through firm and individual job resources

Many firms are increasing the amount of customer participation required in B2B sales in efforts to improve firm performance. Unfortunately, little is known regarding how increasing customer participation expectations effects the firm's salespeople. To address this issue, using the job demands-resources model, this study examines how increases in customer participation influence salesperson burnout and salesperson investment in resources, while accounting for the job resources of job autonomy and belief in innate selling ability. The potential moderating effects of competitive intensity are also captured. The findings, based upon a survey of 210 B2B salespeople, indicate that increasing customer participation does not increase salesperson burnout, but increases investments in resources aimed to increase salesperson professional development. Further, greater job autonomy was found to decrease salesperson burnout and increase investment in resources, with the latter being moderated by competitive intensity. Belief in innate selling ability, in contrast, was found to increase burnout and decrease investment in resources by salespeople, with the latter being moderated by competitive intensity. This study highlights the multiple positive and negative effects of increasing customer participation in B2B selling, providing new insights for how firms can set policies to enhance salesperson well-being and effectiveness in a B2B setting.

Past performance contaminates the ADAPTS measurement

Theory suggests that adaptive selling behaviors improve sales performance. While this causation appears to be supported using the ADAPTS measurement scale, an alternative explanation is that perception of past performance predicts response to the ADAPTS scale. The ADAPTS items often contain abstract concepts such as “sales approach” and “not working” which may be difficult for respondents to interpret. Consistent with a halo error, salespeople may draw upon their overall attitude toward their selling ability to help them answer abstract ADAPTS items. Because past performance contributes to overall attitude toward selling ability, past performance could be biasing ADAPTS ratings through a halo error. This research consists of three studies. The first study uses a qualitative methodology to investigate ADAPTS item interpretation. The second study uses a time-lagged experimental methodology to demonstrate that past performance influences ADAPTS ratings above and beyond actual adaptive behaviors. The final study uses a survey methodology to show that sales self-efficacy mediates the relationship between self-rate performance and ADAPTS, even while controlling for an acquiescence bias. The results of the three studies demonstrate that ADAPTS contains significant bias. Alternative methods for operationalizing adaptive selling behaviors are suggested.

PEMBINAAN KEPARIWISATAAN MELALUI PELATIHAN ETIKA PELAYANAN PEKERJA WANITA DI ART SHOP DESA ADAT SEMINYAK KABUPATEN BADUNG

The tourism industry is very fast growing nowadays in Desa Adat Seminyak. One of the tourism industries that supports the existence of tourism in Desa Adat Seminyak is the art shop. The existence of art shop invites tourists who visit the area of Seminyak and surrounding areas to shop for various needs at the venue. Usually goods purchased by tourists to be brought as a fruit hand to place of origin. Not infrequently tourists also shop at the art shop for business purposes, because the goods purchased can also be resold in the area of origin. The Art shop in Desa Adat Seminyak is expected to benefit the local community in this village. Therefore most workers are expected to come from the village. Most art shop workers in Desa Adat Seminyak are female workers. This is because working in the art shop does not require heavy power and can set the time because it is not bound by the work time. Female workers are considered very suitable to work in the art shop because it has good selling ability. But not just the ability to sell that must be owned by female workers, another ability that must be owned by female workers is the ability to serve consumers in this case tourists. Good service is needed by female workers so that tourists can comfortably shop at the art shop in Desa Adat Seminyak. One way that can be done to implement good service by female art shop workers is by providing training of service ethics to these workers. The service ethics training model that can be applied to female workers in art shop is in various ways, such as the ethics of foreign-language communication, good-looking ethics and good conduct ethics. Through this devotion is expected to form a good service ethics to female art shop workers so that the quality of service can be good. Good service quality is expected to be able to make a positive impact for the existence of tourism in Desa Adat Seminyak.

The Information in Fire Sales

Asset prices remain depressed for prolonged periods of time following mutual fund fire sales. We show that this price pressure from fire sales is partly due to asymmetric information which leads to an adverse selection problem for arbitrageurs. After a flow shock, fund managers choose to sell low-quality stocks. To measure this, we use short interest as a proxy variable for the unobservable negative signal managers use when selling. Following flow shocks, managers are significantly more likely to sell stocks which, ex ante, have high short interest. Moreover, these stocks experience future price drops that do not later reverse. In other words, fund managers have stock selling ability. Our findings suggest an explanation for the tendency of asset prices to remain depressed following fire sales: information asymmetries make it difficult for arbitrageurs to disentangle pure price pressure from negative information.

Skill requirements in retail work: the case of high-end fashion retailing

This article considers skill requirements in retail work, drawing on the example of high-end fashion retailing. It considers debates about the required ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ elements of skill for such work. Drawing on Cockburn’s typology – skill residing in the worker; in what is required to perform a job; and as a socially constructed political concept – it seeks to offer a more nuanced discussion of the nature of skills in retail work beyond the usual characterization of such work as being inherently low skilled. Data are reported from 37 interviews with managers, supervisors and employees in a range of high-end fashion retailing outlets. The article recognizes how this work was seen as skilled by the interviewees, particularly with regard to the desired product knowledge and selling ability required for such work. Lastly, it seeks to refine Cockburn’s typology in understanding skill requirements in retail work.

Are good salespeople born or made? A new perspective on an age-old question: implicit theories of selling ability

Considering implicit theories in a sales context can provide a framework for better understanding salesperson motivation and behavior. The current research develops, tests, and examines the relevance of an Implicit Theories of Selling Ability (ITSA) measure, which measures the extent to which a person believes selling is an incremental (made) ability versus an entity (born) ability. After pre-testing the ITSA measure, two studies found an unfavorable pattern of outcomes associated with an entity belief of selling ability, consistent with research in other domains. Experimental validity for ITSA is demonstrated, thus supporting a direct relationship between ITSA and sales-relevant constructs, and suggesting manipulation of ITSA as a potential training intervention. This research extends past sales research on implicit theories by developing a sales-specific implicit theories measure and by examining goal orientations and behavior within the social-cognitive model (SCM). Conceptualizing sales performance behaviors from this SCM perspective reveals important considerations for both researchers and practitioners regarding salesperson hiring, training, and placement.

Real Estate Agents, House Prices, and Liquidity

Comparing agent-owner with agent-represented home sales illustrates that commission contracts lead to external agent moral hazard. Real estate developers are sophisticated sellers who can either use external agents or hire internal agents. The theory shows that neither scheme eliminates agent moral hazard. The empirical study of how the seller-agent relationship affects both price and liquidity in a simultaneous system concludes that external agents enjoy superior selling ability that offset moral hazard effects.

The Incentive and Selection Roles of Sales Force Compensation Contracts

Designing compensation plans with an appropriate level of incentives is a key decision faced by managers of direct sales forces. The authors use data on individual salesperson compensation contracts to show that firms design their pay plans to both discriminatingly select (i.e., attract and retain) salespeople and provide them with the right level of incentives. Consistent with standard agency arguments, the authors find that firms use higher-powered incentives as the importance of agent effort increases. At the same time, the authors find strong support for the selection role of these contracts. Specifically, agents with greater selling ability and lower risk aversion are associated with jobs offering higher-powered incentives. Finally, consistent with prior findings on incentive contracts, the authors find no support for the insurance implication of the typical agency model. The authors rule out alternative explanations for this anomalous result and find that the selection role of contracts best explains the result in their context.

Adaptive Selling And Sales Performance: An Empirical Examination

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "CG Times","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">One of the major advantages of personal selling compared to alternative promotional methods has been described as selling's ability to adjust its messages to meet the buyer's needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The belief that the key to effective selling is the salesperson's ability to adapt and adjust is one that has widespread popularity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>However, like many so-called truisms, this belief has had limited empirical support in the selling literature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The research reported in this article examines the relationship between salesperson productivity and salesperson adaptability in a field setting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Productivity is measured by examining both salesperson and sales manager reports of a salesperson's performance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Adaptability is assessed by using Spiro and Weitz' (1990) ADAPTS scale and by using Merrill and Reid's (1981) versatility scale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Study participants include retail salespeople, their customers, and their sales managers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The results are consistent with prior research, which indicates that questions regarding the efficacy of adaptive selling continue to exist.</span></span></p>

Salesperson Professional Selling and the Effect on Buyer and Salesperson Relationship

Regardless of the growing importance and emphasis on relationship marketing, a complete operation of this concept is still unclear. There is a lack of studies that explore the impact of factors such as salesperson professional selling on customer loyalty. This study seeks to verify the relationship between salesperson knowledge and adaptive selling. Computer retail customers with different cultural backgrounds were used as respondents in this study. Respondents were asked to rate their evaluations of customer loyalty towards the salesperson knowledge and adaptive selling skills through a self-administered questionnaires which were written in English language and Bahasa Malaysia. Correlation analyses with Pearson’s r coefficient were performed to identify the degree of one variable’s position that occupies the same relative position on another variable. In addition, preliminary analyses were carried out to ensure no violation of the assumptions for linearity, normality, and homoscedasticity. No violations of the assumptions were found. The results of inter-correlation variables of the study indicate that the salesperson professional selling abilities which comprise of salesperson knowledge and adaptive selling managed to show a strong relationship with customer loyalty.

The Importance of Selling Abilities in Corporate Hospitality Sales to Corporate Customers

With the ever growing competitive nature of the lodging industry, the sales area or the selling function of major hotel chains continues to increase in importance. Yet little has been published recently about the salesperson/customer dyad. Drawing upon the selling and sales literature in the area of marketing, the authors with the cooperation of a large anonymous hotel company conducted a study to determine those common selling abilities deemed important to both sides of the dyad. Using a previously developed scale of 14 major selling abilities, the study was able to identify nine agreed upon abilities that both parties felt were important and five abilities on which the corporate customer and the hotel salesperson differed significantly. Understanding how the corporate customer view the sales abilities can assist sales managers in recruiting and training salespeople who will help the property increase their share of corporate revenue.

The Importance of Selling Abilities in Corporate Hospitality Sales to Corporate Customers

With the ever growing competitive nature of the lodging industry, the sales area or the selling function of major hotel chains continues to increase in importance. Yet little has been published recently about the salesperson/customer dyad. Drawing upon the selling and sales literature in the area of marketing, the authors with the cooperation of a large anonymous hotel company conducted a study to determine those common selling abilities deemed important to both sides of the dyad. Using a previously developed scale of 14 major selling abilities, the study was able to identify nine agreed upon abilities that both parties felt were important and five abilities on which the corporate customer and the hotel salesperson differed significantly. Understanding how the corporate customers view the sales abilities can assist sales managers in recruiting and training salespeople who will help the property increase their share of corporate revenue.

Women in the business-to-business salesforce: Some differences in performance factors

A sample of National Association of Purchasing Management buyers reported their perceptions of salespeople who called upon them on overall sales performance, buyer trust of the salesperson, similarity to the buyer, product expertise, adaptive selling ability, and sales presentation ability. Males were evaluated more highly on two performance dimensions and one specific sales behavior but not on overall performance, and were paid more. There is some evidence that buyers use a different evaluation criterion for men and women. The results were consistent across both male and female buyers.

Learning Orientation, Working Smart, and Effective Selling

Learning and performance goal orientations, two motivational orientations that guide salespeople's behavior, are related to working smart and hard. Working smart is defined as the engagement in activities that serve to develop knowledge of sales situations and utilize this knowledge in selling behavior. It is found that a learning goal orientation motivates working both smart and hard, whereas a performance goal orientation motivates only working hard. The goal orientations also are found to be alterable through supervisory feedback. Furthermore, self-efficacy, salespeople's confidence in their overall selling abilities, is found to moderate some of the relationships with the goal orientations.

Learning Orientation, Working Smart, and Effective Selling

Learning and performance goal orientations, two motivational orientations that guide salespeople's behavior, are related to working smart and hard. Working smart is defined as the engagement in activities that serve to develop knowledge of sales situations and utilize this knowledge in selling behavior. It is found that a learning goal orientation motivates working both smart and hard, whereas a performance goal orientation motivates only working hard. The goal orientations also are found to be alterable through supervisory feedback. Furthermore, self-efficacy, salespeople's confidence in their overall selling abilities, is found to moderate some of the relationships with the goal orientations.

Gender Differences in Sales Managers' Perceptions of Occupational Gender Stereotypes

This study of gender stereotypes within a traditionally male occupation was based on the hypothesis that male managers would describe their female subordinates as more closely resembling occupational gender stereotypes than would female managers. A survey was conducted of 77 U.S. managers who supervised women in the traditionally male occupation of industrial sales. All the managers described their subordinate saleswomen ( n = 202) on gender stereotypes relating to their “selling ability,” their “human relations ability,” and their “motivation.” The presence of some stereotypic thinking was evident. Male managers described the “selling ability” of their female subordinates more stereotypic ally than did 19 female managers. No significant gender differences were noted between male and female managers' perceptions of saleswomen's “human relationships” and “motivation.” The implications of these findings are discussed.