Increasing demands for international solution selling call for a better understanding of the interpersonal communication competence required of sales professionals. Accordingly, this study ...investigates discipline-specific needs regarding the interpersonal communication competence required by business-to-business (B2B) salespeople. Empirical data was collected via 39 in-depth interviews from international B2B salespeople, sales managers, CEOs and sales communication educators. As a result, we have formed a new conceptualization of sales communication competence in international B2B solution selling comprising four components: (1) a behavioral communication component, (2) an affective communication component, (3) a cognitive communication component and (4) sales acumen. Managerial implications are presented with recommendations for future research.
•The research provides a new theoretical conceptualization of sales communication competence in B2B solution selling.•Data consists of 39 in-depth interviews from international B2B solution salespeople and sales communication educators.•Sales communication competence consists of sales acumen and behavioral, affective and cognitive communication components.•Sales acumen forms the core of communication competence in international B2B solution selling.•Results help to determine the necessary content for sales training.
This study seeks to investigate the effect of internal marketing—treating employees as internal customers—on salesperson's engagement in customer‐oriented behaviors and resultant customers’ ...responses. The data were collected from dyadic interactions between salespeople and customers in banking firms in Vietnam. The results showed that internal marketing is significantly associated with salesperson's performance of adaptive selling behavior, customer‐oriented selling behavior, and relational selling behavior, which result in customer relationship continuity, purchase intention, and positive word‐of‐mouth. In addition, salesperson's customer‐oriented behaviors play partial mediating roles between internal marketing and external customer responses. The study extends the extant literature of internal marketing and offers useful managerial implications for service firms, particularly banking firms in Vietnam. The study concludes with suggestions of potential research directions for future studies.
The evolution of the seven steps of selling Moncrief, William C.; Marshall, Greg W.
Industrial marketing management,
2005, 2005-1-00, 20050101, Letnik:
34, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The traditional seven steps of selling is perhaps the oldest paradigm in the sales discipline. The seven steps model has served as a basic framework in sales training, personal selling textbooks, and ...teaching personal selling classes. Very little has changed in this framework since the turn of the 20th century. This article reviews the traditional seven steps of selling, examines transformative factors that have led to changes in each step, and presents an evolved seven steps process. While the traditional seven steps reflected a selling orientation on the part of a firm, the evolved selling process reflects more of a customer orientation in that the focus is on
relationship selling—that is, securing, building, and maintaining long-term relationships with profitable customers.
A study involving unobtrusive observations of salespeople's behaviors in sales settings surfaces a novel insight: a salesperson's selling effectiveness with a customer may be enhanced by the way the ...salesperson interacts with secondary entities, such as objects and people outside the core salesperson–customer dyad. Based on this insight and social interest theory, this research introduces the construct of secondary selling. It refers to a salesperson interacting with secondary entities in a manner that indicates to a focal customer that the salesperson values these entities. The pattern of results from four follow-on studies using multiple methods and data sources indicates that, in general, secondary selling reduces a focal customer's reactance to a salesperson's recommendations, which leads to higher sales revenue and customer satisfaction. Customers with high persuasion knowledge (compared with customers with lower persuasion knowledge) are more favorably influenced by secondary selling involving company property but less favorably influenced by secondary selling involving nonfocal customers. In addition to reducing a focal customer's reactance to sales recommendations, secondary selling also helps primary selling (targeted at a focal customer) reduce the customer's reactance to a greater extent. Overall, the results provide evidence of the pervasive and influential role of secondary selling in boosting sales revenue and customer satisfaction in sales exchanges.
This article demonstrates that the sales literature is converging on a systemic and institutional perspective that recognizes that selling and value creation unfold over time and are embedded in ...broader social systems. This convergence illustrates that selling needs a more robust theoretical foundation. To contribute to this foundation, the authors draw on institutional theory and service-dominant logic to advance a service ecosystems perspective. This perspective leads them to redefine selling in terms of the interaction between actors aimed at creating and maintaining thin crossing points—the locations at which service can be efficiently exchanged for service—through the ongoing alignment of institutional arrangements and the optimization of relationships. This definition underscores how broad sets of human actors engage in selling processes, regardless of the roles that characterize them (e.g., firm, customer, stakeholder). A service ecosystems perspective reveals (1) that selling continues to be an essential activity, (2) how broader sets of actors participate in selling processes, and (3) how this participation may be changing. It leads to novel insights and questions regarding gaining and maintaining business, managing intrafirm and broad external selling actors, and sales performance.
The paper goal is to identify the predictors of the sales team that determine business performance and cross-selling in the relationship marketing. In the theoretical model, we suggested hypotheses ...that are associated with sales performance and cross-selling. In terms of results, cross-selling and sales training had significant association with business performance in the B2B channel. The boss pressure also had significant relation. The leadership pressure means that there is much pressure and demand for better results. However, this high pressure decreases cross-selling performance. The results supported this assumption. Also, understanding the consumer's need affected cross-selling. Finally, directing sales, which had a negative relationship with performance in the retail segment B2B, was positive in the pharmaceutical segment, B2C. KEYWORDS I Sales, cross-selling, performance, retail, consumer. O objetivo principal da pesquisa e identificar as variaveis preditoras da equipe de vendas que determinam o desempenho empresarial e as vendas cruzadas na area vendas. No modelo teorico proposto, diversos antecedentes do desempenho e das vendas cruzadas sao sugeridos. Em termos de resultados, vendas cruzadas, cocriacao e treinamento com vendas foram os preditores do desempenho. Ademais, ha muita pressao e cobranca por melhores resultados, por parte da chefia. Nao obstante, havendo essa alta pressao, as vendas cruzadas diminuiram. Adicionalmente, a compreensao das necessidades do lojista impactou positivamente as vendas cruzadas. Por fim, o direcionamento nas vendas, o qual teve uma relacao negativa com desempenho no segmento de varejo B2B, foi positivo no segmento farmaceutico, B2C. PALAVRAS-CHAVE | Vendas, vendas cruzadas, desempenho, varejo, consumidor. El objetivo principal de la investigacion es identificar las variables predictivas del equipo de ventas que determinan el desempeno empresarial y las ventas cruzadas en el area ventas. En el modelo teorico propuesto son sugeridos, diversos antecedentes del desempeno y de las ventas cruzadas. En terminos de resultados, ventas cruzadas, co-creacion y capacitacion con ventas fueron los variables predictivas del desempeno. Ademas, existe mucha presion por mejores resultados, por parte de los jefes. No obstante, aun con esa presion, las ventas cruzadas disminuyeron. Por otro lado, la comprension de las necesidades del comerciante impactaron positivamente las ventas cruzadas. Por fin, el direccionamiento en las ventas, el cual tuvo una relacion negativa con mal desempeno en el segmento de minorista B2B, fue positivo en el segmento farmaceutico, B2C. PALABRAS-CLAVE | Ventas, ventas cruzadas, desempeno, comercio minorista, consumidor.
Social selling is a prominent marketing strategy in this digitalization era. Thus, this research aims to inspect the moderating role of social media use in the relationship between selling skills ...(salesmanship, technical, active empathetic listening (AEL), and emotional intelligence (EI) skills) and selling behaviors (cross/up and adaptive selling behaviors). A sample of 185 respondents was collected from salespeople in Lebanon using a questionnaire, and data were analyzed with structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS graphics 24. The outcomes revealed that salesmanship, technical, AEL, and EI skills drive adaptive and cross/up-selling behaviors. In addition, social media use enhances the relationship between salespeople selling skills and behaviors. Finally, this research suggests key insights into the social selling context and offers guidelines to marketing managers on how to execute an effective social selling strategy.
Globalization and economic restructuring have decimated formal jobs in developing countries, pushing many women into informal employment such as direct selling of cosmetics, perfume, and other ...personal care products as a way to make up the difference between household income and expenses. In Ecuador, with its persistent economic crisis and few opportunities for financially and personally rewarding work, women increasingly choose direct selling as a way to earn income by activating their social networks. While few women earn the cars and trips that are iconic prizes in the direct selling organization, many use direct selling as part of a set of household survival strategies. In this first in-depth study of a cosmetics direct selling organization in Latin America, Erynn Masi de Casanova explores womens identities as workers, including their juggling of paid work and domestic responsibilities, their ideas about professional appearance, and their strategies for collecting money from customers. Focusing on women who work for the countrys leading direct selling organization, she offers fascinating portraits of the everyday lives of women selling personal care products in Ecuadors largest city, Guayaquil. Addressing gender relations (including a look at mens direct and indirect involvement), the importance of image, and the social and economic context of direct selling, Casanova challenges assumptions that this kind of flexible employment resolves womens work/home conflicts and offers an important new perspective on womens work in developing countries.
Business markets are facing major changes due to an increasing digitalization trend and consequent changes in buying behaviors. Practitioners and academics alike have started to emphasize social ...selling as a novel way to tackle these emerging opportunities and challenges at the sales force level. Since research in this area remains embryonic and fragmented, we adopt a discovery-oriented research approach and conceptualize social selling and its key facets based on a systematic literature review and a field study involving thought leading social selling professionals. The findings indicate a need to extend the research focus from social media usage into a concept which comprehends social selling as a broader application of digital marketing principles at the individual salesperson level. Social selling leverages social and digital channels for understanding, connecting with, and engaging influencers, prospects and existing customers at relevant customer purchasing journey touchpoints for building valuable business relationships. We relate the construct to other close selling approaches and explicate its organizational strategy components as well as performance outcomes. The findings advance current understanding of the role of sales in contemporary business markets and have implications for sales and marketing theory and practice.
•We conceptualize social selling based on a discovery oriented study.•It leverages social and digital channels for building business relationships.•It focuses on understanding, connecting with, and engaging relevant actors.•It reflects implementation of digital marketing principles at personal selling.•We identify its key outcomes and organizational strategy elements.
We investigate a manufacturer's three possible online strategies while the manufacturer also distributes its product through an independent retailer in a traditional channel. Under direct selling, ...the manufacturer sells its products to online consumers directly. Under reselling, the manufacturer sells its product through an e-tailer. Under agency selling, the manufacturer sells its products to consumers through an online agent's website and pays the agent a commission fee. We show that it is optimal for the manufacturer to choose direct selling if the operating cost for the online channel under direct selling is sufficiently low relative to that under reselling as well as the online agent's commission fee. Similarly, reselling through an e-tailer is optimal to the manufacturer if the operating cost for the online channel under reselling is sufficiently low. Furthermore, agency selling should be chosen if the online agent's commission fee is sufficiently low. However, a strategy with a low online cost (including the operating costs under direct selling and reselling, and the commission fee under agency selling) may lead to a low profit for the traditional retailer, which eventually causes a low total profit for the supply chain. Nonetheless, consumers generally benefit from the manufacturer's optimal online distribution strategy because of low prices and high quantities.
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