6

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Salesperson Performance:
Behavior, Role Perceptions,
and Satisfaction

Copyright 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Changing Role of Sellers

Sales revenue may oversimplify

sales effectiveness
Are sellers as important as
product?
Sellers slightly more important,
but salesperson + company
create synergy
Should companies invest in sales
or product?
Many are investing in product
while using alternative selling
channels

Source: HR Chally Group (2007), The Chally World Class Excellence

Research Report:
The Route to the Summit. Dayton, OH: HR Chally Group.

6-2

Understand salesperson performance

model
Identify components of the model
Discuss role perception process
Understand why the role of
salesperson is susceptible to role
issues
Discuss how role conflict, role
ambiguity, and role accuracy
influence a salespersons role
perceptions
6-3

Model of the determinants of a salespersons performance

6.1
6-4

The Model

Job performance a function

of five basic factors

Role perceptions
Aptitude (Qualification)
Skill level
Motivation
Personal, organizational and
environmental variables
6-5

Role Perceptions

Role accuracy - degree to which a

salespersons perceptions of role
partners demands are accurate
Role conflict - salesperson
believes role demands of two or
more role partners are
incompatible
Role ambiguity salesperson
believes he/she does not have
information necessary to perform
job adequately
6-6

Aptitude

Enduring personal
characteristics that determine
individuals overall ability to
perform a sales job

Physical factors age, height, sex,

and physical attractiveness
Aptitude factors verbal
intelligence, mathematical ability
and sales expertise
Personality characteristics
empathy, ego, sociability,
aggressiveness, and dominance
6-7

Aptitude

Cognitive abilities Verbal intelligence

Aptitude
Intelligence

Math ability

Sales aptitude

Enduring personal characteristics that

determine individuals overall ability to
perform a sales job

6-8

Personality
Responsibility Dominance

Need for
power

Personality

Need for
achieveme
nt

Sociability

Self-esteem
Creative/
flexibility

Enduring personal traits that reflect an

individuals consistent reactions to
situations encountered in the environment 6-9

Skill
Vocational skills Sales presentation

Skill
Vocational esteem

Interpersonal

General
manageme
nt

Learned proficiency at performing necessary

tasks

6-10

Motivation

Effort willingly expended on

activities associated with the
job
Function of:

Expectancy estimate of effort

required to improve performance
Valences of performance
perception of the desirability of
attaining performance
improvement
6-11

6.1 Different
Salespeople/Different Drivers

Deeper meaning
Joy
Goals
Team success
Leadership
Rewards

Source: Gschwandter Gerhard, Do You Have Enough Fuel to Win?

SellingPower.com, September, 2007.

6-12

Personal and Organizational

Variables

Job experience
Closeness of supervision
Performance feedback
Influence in determining
standards
Span of control
Amount of role conflict
Perceived ambiguity
6-13

Organizational Citizenship
Behaviors (OCBs)

Sportsmanship
Civic Virtue
Conscientiousness
Altruism

6-14

6.2 Critical Global Sales

Skills

Cultural sensitivity
Flexibility
Patience
Technology friendly

Source: Frank Beeman, Selling Around the World,

SellingPower.com, October, 2007.

6-15

Rewards

Extrinsic controlled by
people other than the
salesperson
Intrinsic salespeople
primarily attain for/within
themselves

6-16

Satisfaction Dimensions

The job itself

Fellow workers
Supervision
Company policies and
support
Pay
Promotion/advancement
opportunities
Customers
6-17

6.3
Components of job
satisfaction

6-18

Role Perceptions

Ambiguity
Conflict
Inaccurate role
perceptions

Psychological
stress
Anxiety

Lowered
performance

6-19

Role Development Stages

Role partners
communicate
expectations

Salespeople
develop
perceptions

Salespeople
convert
perceptions
into
behaviors

6-20

6.4
Sales perceptions of
the job

6-21

Vulnerability of Salespersons
Role

Operate at firms boundary

Performance affects many
others
Role changes often, is
innovative

6-22

6.3 Ethical
Salespeople/Unethical
Customers

Salespeople must

Know they are expected to adhere

to corporate ethical standards
Know they will be supported by
management
Have the tools to make good
ethical decisions
Clearly understand ethics policies
Have a process for handling ethical
issues
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Role Conflict and Ambiguity

Inaccurate
Role
Perceptions

Role Conflict

Role
Perceptio
ns

Role
Ambiguity
Consequence
s

6-24

Conflict and Ambiguity

Different role partners mean

different expectations
Perceived role expectations are
consistent among salespeople
Role ambiguity plagues many
salespeople in some aspect of
their job
Salespeople often perceive
conflict between company
policies or expectations and
customer demands
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Psychological Consequences of
Conflict and Ambiguity

Salesperson becomes the

person in the middle w/
conflicting expectations
Perceived lack of necessary
information causes loss of
confidence
Perceived role conflict affects
extrinsic job satisfaction
Role ambiguity affects extrinsic
and intrinsic job satisfaction
6-26

Behavioral Consequences of
Conflict and Ambiguity

Dysfunctional behavior
Increased turnover
Satisfaction and
performance correlate
positively

6-27

6.4 Balancing Work and

Family

66% not enough time for children

64% not enough time from spouse
38% heavy technology users feel
overworked
51% heavy technology users have
high stress
40% angry w/ employer
49% looking for other employment
28% not enough energy for family
activities

Source: Ellen Galinsky, James T. Bond, Stacy S. Kim, Lois Backon, Erin Brownfield, and
Kelly Sakai, Overwork in America: When the Way We Work Becomes Too Much, Families
and Work Institute, 2004. Ellen Galinsky, Stacy S. Kim, and James T. Bond, Feeling
Overworked: When Work Becomes Too Much, Families and Work Institute, 2001;
National Study of the Changing Workforce (Executive Summary), Families and Work

6-28

Causes and consequences of a salespersons job

perceptions

6.5
6-29

Managing Conflict and

Ambiguity

Experience reduces role conflict

Increased voice in role
definition reduces role conflict
Close supervision reduces
ambiguity
Input in evaluation standards
reduces ambiguity
Close supervision can increase
conflict
6-30

Role Accuracy

Correct understanding of
job performance
expectations

Price negotiations
Promise of shorter delivery
times
Handling customer back
charges and adjustments
6-31

Common Activities for

Industrial Salespeople
Selling
Working with orders
Servicing the product
Information management
Servicing the account

6-32

Common Activities for Industrial

Salespeople

Conferences/meetings
Training/recruiting
Entertaining
Out of town traveling
Working with distributors

Source: Developed from variables by William C. Moncrief, Selling

Activity and Sales Position Taxonomies for Industrial Salesforces,
Journal of Marketing Research, 23 (August 1986), pp. 261-270 and
William C. Moncrief, Ten Key Activities of Industrial Salespeople,
Industrial Marketing Management, 15 (November 1986), pp. 309-

6-33

Common Performance Criteria

for Industrial Salespeople

Total sales volume, increase over last

year
Degree of quota attainment
Selling expenses, decrease versus last
year
Sales profitability, increase over last
year
New accounts
Administrative performance
improvement
Customer service improvement
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Common Rewards for

Industrial Salespeople

Pay
Promotion
Nonfinancial incentives (contests,
travel, prices, etc.)
Special recognitions (clubs, awards,
etc.)
Job security
Feeling of self-fulfillment
Feeling of worthwhile accomplishment
Opportunity for personal growth and
development
Opportunity for independent thought
and action
6-35