Customer equity drivers and future sales

Research on linking operational marketing inputs to customer attitudes and customer behavior has been gaining significance concomitant with the growing recognition that customers are market-based assets. In response to this, researchers and practitioners have proposed several conceptual models. Despite recent advances in research, the results are still inconclusive as to the relationship between customer attitude and future sales. A reason for this could be due to the paucity of studies combining survey-based data with behavioral data to understand better the drivers of customer behavior. With that in mind, the authors investigate the effects of customer perceptions of key marketing actions on customer attitudes and actual customer behavior as reflected by future sales. The authors propose that customer perceptions of value, brand, and relationship—“customer equity drivers”—affect loyalty intentions and future sales. The results of the study, which is based on a sample of 5694 customers of a large European do-it-yourself retailer, suggest that customer equity drivers can significantly predict future sales, even after the authors control for the current sales level.

The variance in sales performance explained by the knowledge structures of salespeople

The last major study of sales performance variance explained by salespeople attributes was by Churchill et al. (1985). They examined the effect of role, skills, motivation, personal factors, aptitude, and organizational/environmental factors on sales performance—factors that have dominated the sales performance area. About the same time, Weitz, Sujan, and Sujan (1986) introduced the concepts of salespeople's knowledge structures. Considerable work on the relationship of the elements of knowledge structures and performance can be found in the literature. In this research note, we determine the degree to which sales performance can be explained by knowledge structure variables, a heretofore unexplored area. If knowledge structure variables explain more variance than traditional variables, then this paper would be a call to further research in this area. In examining this research question in a retail context, we find that knowledge structure variables explain 50.2 percent of the variance in sales performance. We also find that variance explained by knowledge structures is significantly different based on gender. The impact of knowledge structures on performance was higher for men than for women. The models using education demonstrated smaller differences.

Internationalizing sales research:current status, opportunities and challenges

With economic activity in emerging markets growing at 40 percent, and with 10 percent and more of the firms in the Global Fortune 500 now headquartered in emerging economies, intense interest lies in the globalization of business activities, including the sales function. This systematic review of the international sales literature in a selection of the most influential journals explains, consolidates, and analyzes current knowledge. This paper also explores the challenges inherent in conducting international sales research, including conceptualization, research management, and data collection issues. Finally, we suggest ways to move forward for researchers in this field, including pertinent topics and how methodological and practical constraints might be addressed.

Social network theory and the sales manager role:engineering the right relationship flows

Sales leadership research has typically taken a leader-focused approach, investigating key questions from a top-down perspective. Yet considerable research outside sales has advocated a view of leadership that takes into account the fact that employees look beyond a single designated individual for leadership. In particular, the social networks of leaders have been a popular topic of investigation in the management literature, although coverage in the sales literature remains rare. The present paper conceptualizes the sales leadership role as one in which the leader must manage a network of simultaneous relationships; several types of sales manager relationships, such as the sales-manager-to-top-manager and the sales-manager-to-sales manager relationships, have received limited attention in the sales literature to date. Taking an approach based on social network theory, we develop a conceptualization of the sales manager as a "network engineer," who must manage multiple relationships, and the flows between them. Drawing from this model, we propose a detailed agenda for future sales research. © 2012 PSE National Educational Foundation. All rights reserved.

International selling and sales management:sales force research beyond geographic boundaries

An introduction is presented for this issue which includes the articles "Internationalizing Sales Research: Current Status, Opportunities and Challenges" by Nikolaos G. Panagopoulos and colleagues, "Cultural Intelligence in Cross-Cultural Selling: Propositions and Directions for Future Research" by John D. Hansen and colleagues, and "A New Conceptual Framework of Sales Force Control Systems" by Ren Y. Darmon and Xavier C. Martin

Work-related stressors and psychological strain in the sales force:the role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

The contemporary workplace appears rife with psychological strain, which can have considerable deleterious outcomes to the firm and the individual. However, research on strain in the sales force is underdeveloped. This paper reports the results of a study of the antecedents and consequences of psychological strain in the sales force, with particular attention to the roles of role ambiguity, emotional exhaustion, and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Emotional exhaustion is found to increase strain. Intrinsic motivation reduces strain under conditions of relatively high role ambiguity, but leads to more strain under conditions of low role ambiguity. Strain is found to have a J-shaped relationship with turnover intentions, and is linearly related to lower job satisfaction and lower job performance.

Linking performance outcomes to salesperson organizational citizenship behavior in an industrial sales setting

More than ever before, firms in the industrial marketplace are focusing on the contribution of the salesperson and selling role to organizational success. Considerable recent research shows that not only in-role but also extra-role behaviors-organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs)-are important in modeling salesperson performance. Yet, to date little effort has focused on examining the impact of OCB on relevant performance outcomes. Employing a sample of 207 industrial field salespeople from two companies and industries across the United States, this study reveals differences in impact of OCB on four diverse performance outcome types. The findings are discussed in terms of managerial applicability to industrial sales organizations, and a resulting set of next research steps is presented.

Tracking and updating academic research in selling and sales management:a decade later

This study examines the state of academic research in selling and sales management (S&SM) from the years 2003-7, ten years after the data collected by Moncrief, Marshall, and Watkins (2000). Sales articles are reviewed that appeared in 19 marketing journals and evidence is provided on the state of the S&SM discipline by comparing the number of authors, authorships, and publications versus a comparable five-year period a decade ago. Of interest are the universities that produce and employ faculty in S&SM and to identify those schools and geographic regions that are publishing the majority of articles. Publication distribution trends across journals are also examined. A dramatic increase in non-U.S. authors and authorships is noted versus the prior study. Overall, the findings indicate that, perhaps contrary to some popular misconceptions, the state of S&SM research is healthy, vibrant, and evolving.

The influence of marketing factors and substance characteristics on pharmaceutical sales in a state-controlled prescriptions pharmaceuticals market

The present dissertation investigates the influence of brand as well as substance-related marketing attributes on prescription pharmaceutical sales within a state-controlled market. For this purpose, a systematic literature review was conducted in the first instance, during which knowledge about the most relevant research within this field was gathered. Consequently, over 538 publications were reviewed and indicated as being potentially relevant, leading to an eventual count of 98 core publications. However, most of these studies had been conducted in the mainly unrestricted US market. These findings were then summarised and statistically evaluated. In a second step, based on the literature review, a qualitative study, containing focus and Delphi groups, was then performed. The participants in these studies were involved in pharmaceutical marketing within a state-controlled prescriptions pharmaceuticals market. Consequently, the findings were slightly different to those derived by the systematic literature review. Based on this second step, seven hypotheses were proposed. In the third step, these hypotheses were tested, using collected data and a secondary market dataset provided by a market research institute. A statistical analysis was then performed, applying descriptive as well as multiple regression analytical methods. The evaluation of the results resulted in a conceptual model of physician targeting, leading to several theoretical, methodological and managerial implications.

Why do firms invest in consumer advertising with limited sales response? A shareholder perspective

Marketing managers increasingly recognize the need to measure and communicate the impact of their actions on shareholder returns. This study focuses on the shareholder value effects of pharmaceutical direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) and direct-to-physician (DTP) marketing efforts. Although DTCA has moderate effects on brand sales and market share, companies invest vast amounts of money in it. Relying on Kalman filtering, the authors develop a methodology to assess the effects from DTCA and DTP on three components of shareholder value: stock return, systematic risk, and idiosyncratic risk. Investors value DTCA positively because it leads to higher stock returns and lower systematic risk. Furthermore, DTCA increases idiosyncratic risk, which does not affect investors who maintain well-diversified portfolios. In contrast, DTP marketing has modest positive effects on stock returns and idiosyncratic risk. The outcomes indicate that evaluations of marketing expenditures should include a consideration of the effects of marketing on multiple stakeholders, not just the sales effects on consumers.