Effective Sales Management: What Do Sales People Think?

SERT 2015 White Paper #1

2/26/2015

White Paper # 8 March 2015

Effective Sales Management: What do Sales People Think?

Daniel J. Goebel, Dawn R. Deeter-Schmelz & Karen Norman Kennedy

Published in:Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness vol. 7- Feb. 2013

Summary

Listening skills in open communication between sales manager and sales representative significantly impact a sales representative’s self-efficacy i.e. confidence in his/her ability to perform well in a specific task domain. This self-efficacy in turn positively influences a sales representative’s outcomes namely:customer relationship development, job performance and satisfaction with the manager.

Research Summary

Recent research has started to investigate the traits and performance of effective sales managers. The behaviors and characteristics of sales managers have a vast influence on the sales representatives’ job responsibilities and outcomes. So, it is essential to understand the key factors that lead to sales manager effectiveness. The current study aims to explore the relationship between sales person-sales manager communication and its impact on sales person outcomes -- customer relationship development, job performance and satisfaction with the manager.

The authors of this study developed a preliminary model of the sales manager effectiveness using three communication variables and outcome variables from a previous research study [Deeter-Schmelz et.al. (2008)]. As identified by salespeople in thatstudy, listening skills, open communication and effective feedback were considered as the key communication elements that contributed to sales manager effectiveness. The outcomes of these communication variables included representative job performance, customer relationship development and satisfaction with the sales manager.

Self-efficacy was identified in some research studies as an element that positively impacted sales representative’s performance. As a result, the current study investigated the relationships between self-efficacy and the communication and outcome variables of sales manager effectiveness.

Before we discuss the results of this study, the following definitions are in order so that we are all speaking the same language.

Listening - A multi-dimensional construct consisting of three distinct components of sensing, evaluating and responding.

Open communication- The extent to which a sales representative can communicate openly with the sales manager and find him/her supportive.

Sales representative self-efficacy– A salesperson’s confidence in his/her ability to perform well in a specific task domain.

Customer relationship development- The ability of a sales representative to develop and maintain relationships with clients.

Sales representative job performance- The ability of a sales representative to be productive and contribute to a firm’s success.

Findings and Implications:

Finding 1:Listening is significantly and positively related to open communication. Listening is vital for sales people in order to have open communications with their managers.

Finding 2:The higher the Sales manager’s listening skills, the greater the sales representative’s self-efficacy.

Implication [1&2]: To improve the performance of sales representatives and managers offer training to improve their listening skills.

Finding 3:The higher the salesperson’s confidence in his/her ability to perform well in a specific task, the greater is his/her ability to build customer relationships.

Finding 4:The higher the salesperson’s confidence in his/her ability to perform well in a specific task, the greaterthe quality of his/her job performance.

Finding 5:The higher the sales representative’s confidence in his/her ability to perform well in a specific task, the greater is the representative’s satisfaction with his/her manager.

Implication [3, 4&5]: Encourage role plays and similar techniques among sales representatives to improve their self-efficacy which would in turn enhance their job performance, satisfaction with manager and overall job satisfaction.

For a PDF copy of the complete study, contact:

Steve Young