CONTENTS
JSMAM VOLUME 8, FALL 2008
From the Editor
7
by Dan C. Weilbaker, Ph.D.
ACADEMIC ARTICLES
Levels of Sales Leadership Support: An Exploratory Study
8
By John W. Wilkinson
Sales Leaders as Senior Level Managers:
A Conceptual Framework for Examining Upper Echelon Theory
23
Evaluating the Impact of Collegiate Sales Training
and Education on Early Salesperson Performance
32
By Michael Rodriguez
By Megan K. Leasher, Christopher R. Moberg
APPLICATION ARTICLES
Don’t Sell Me—Persuade Me
By Julia O’Connor
46
Tough Selling Times and Trade Shows
By Julia O’Connor
48
Customer Service is IN the Booth!
By Julia O’Connor
50
Mission Statement
The main objective of the journal is to provide a focus for collaboration
between practitioners and academics for the advancement of application,
education, and research in the areas of selling and major account management.
Our audience is comprised of both practitioners in industry and academics
researching in sales.
©2009 By Northern Illinois University. All Rights Reserved. ISSN: 1463-1431
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
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Fall 2008
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EDITORIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
EDITOR—Dan C. Weilbaker, Ph.D.
McKesson Pharmaceutical Group
Professor of Sales
Department of Marketing
Northern Illinois University
dweilbak@niu.edu
EUROPEAN EDITOR—Kevin Wilson
Sales Research Trust
Peyrenegre
47350 Labretonie
France
Kevin@sales-research-trust.org
ASSISTANT—Candace Gardner
Administrative Assistant
Professional Sales Program
Department of Marketing
Northern Illinois University
ccgardner@niu.edu
Vol. 8, No. 4
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
EDITORIAL BOARD
Rolph E. Anderson
Drexel University
Ramon A. Avila
Ball State University
Terri Barr
Miami University—Ohio
Jim W. Blythe
University of Glamorgan
Pascal Brassier
ESC Clermont - Graduate School of Management
Richard E. Buehrer
University of Toledo
Steven Castleberry
University of Minnesota—Duluth
William L. Cron
Texas Christian University
Laura Cuddihy
Dublin Institute of Technology
René Y. Darmon
ESSEC Business School
Dawn R. Deeter-Schmelz
Ohio University
Bill Donaldson
Aberdeen Business School
Sean Dwyer
Louisiana Tech University
Paolo Guenzi
SDA Bocconi
John Hansen
University of Southern Mississippi
Jon M. Hawes
University of Akron
Earl D. Honeycutt
Elon University
Thomas N. Ingram
Colorado State University
Mark C. Johlke
Bradley University
Northern Illinois University
Buddy LaForge
University of Louisville
Terry W. Loe
Kennesaw State University
Daniel H. McQuiston
Butler University
Pete Naude
Manchester Business School
Stephen Newell
Western Michigan University
Nikolaos Panagopoulos, Ph.D.
Athens University of Economics & Business
Nigel F. Piercy
University of Warwick
Richard E. Plank
University of South Florida, Lakeland
Chris R. Plouffe, PhD
Florida State University
Ellen Bolman Pullins, PhD
University of Toledo
David Reid
Bowling Green State University
Gregory A. Rich
Bowling Green State University
Rick Ridnour
Northern Illinois University
Elizabeth Rogers
Portsmouth Business School
Jeffrey K. Sager
University of North Texas
Charles Schwepker, Jr.
Central Missouri State University
C. David Shepherd
Georgia Southern University
William A. Weeks
Baylor University
Michael R. Williams
Illinois State University
Fall 2008
From the Editor
This is the final issue of our third year of publishing the Journal of Selling & Major
Account Management. I am really excited about this issue and I hope you find as
many interesting and useful items as I did.
We continue to work hard to obtain quality academic articles as well as articles
from practitioners that are relevant and timely. To accomplish this goal we continue to need both academic contributions as well as practitioner articles to fill the
demand for four issues per year.
In this issue we provide three academic articles and three practitioner articles. The application articles
are all focused on one issue, trade show selling. Since this is not a topic we have provided before, it
made sense to focus all of the application articles on this one topic.
The first academic article comes from Australia and looks at the impact of leadership support on
individual performance and organizational outcomes. This exploratory study opens the door for examination of sales manager training and its impact on organizations.
The second academic article deals with sales leadership as well but from the perspective of echelon
theory. The goal of the paper is to assist firms in selecting the best leaders for the future.
The final academic article revisits an area very close to sales academics heart. The article examines
the impact of collegiate sales education and early sales performance for those individuals.
Our thanks goes out to Julia O’Connor, a renowned expert in trade show selling, for providing three
important topics related to trade show selling. The first trade show application article focuses on
persuading potential clients instead of just telling them everything you know.
The second article offers some suggestions on how to use trade shows in tough selling times, like
today. The case study provides some insight into how a company can better use their trade selling
resources.
The final trade show article focuses on customer service. The main point here is that customer service needs to happen while at the trade show and not left to salespeople after the show.
Our continued thanks go to the University Sales Center Alliance for their financial support to help
the journal while we build our subscriber base. Our thanks also go to the dedicated members of the
Editorial Review Board and our ad hoc reviewers.
Dan C. Weilbaker, Ph.D.
Editor, The Journal of Selling & Major Account Management,
McKesson Pharmaceutical Group Professor of Sales,
Northern Illinois University
Vol. 8, No. 4
8
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
Levels of Sales Leadership Support:
An Exploratory Study
By John W. Wilkinson
Leadership of the sales force is important since it has a substantial effect on both sales force performance and
organizational outcomes. This paper provides an analysis of results of an exploratory Australian study regarding levels
of leadership support received by business-to-business salespeople. Responses from 144 salespeople in three firms
identified major gaps in both general leadership support and sales leadership support. Further research is
recommended to establish whether these initial findings reflect the general situation within Australia and other
countries, and to investigate relationships between underlying factors. Given the importance of the sales function,
confirmation of the findings would warrant attention from human resource and marketing management.
Background
Increasing complexity facing sales forces
(Jones, Dixon, Chonko, and Cannon, 2005)
requires additional leadership support from
sales managers (Ingram, LaForge, Locander,
MacKenzie, and Podsakoff, 2005). Given the
importance of selling within many firms
(Atuahene-Gima and Micheal, 1998; Cravens,
Grant, Ingram, LaForge, and Young, 1992;
Farrell and Hakstian, 2001), one might expect
sales managers to provide high levels of
leadership support. Certainly, there is ample
evidence that management support has
positive effects on salespeople and their
performance (Ingram, LaForge and
Schwepker, 2007; Jaramillo and Mulki, 2008;
Martin and Bush, 2006).
However, anecdotal evidence obtained during
the past decade from mature, part-time
students with experience as salespeople, and
from participants of sales training workshops
delivered by the writer, suggested that some
Australian sales managers were providing low
levels of leadership support.
Those suggestions seemed completely
plausible. Many sales managers are appointed
to their first sales management position due to
Northern Illinois University
their success as salespeople rather than their
potential leadership capabilities (Miller, 2000).
They usually receive inadequate management
training (Anderson, Mehta and Strong, 1997;
Shepherd and Ridnour, 1995), despite (1) the
job requirements of personal selling and sales
management being very different (Miller,
2000), (2) many salespeople having difficulties
making the transition from salesperson to
sales manager (Anderson et al., 1997; Kelly,
1992), and (3) recognition by “newly recruited
sales managers … that sales management
training is necessary for them to perform
effectively” (Mehta, Dubinsky and Anderson,
2002, p. 437). Clearly, some sales managers are
likely to lack the management expertise to
provide adequate leadership support.
The current study was undertaken to assess
whether the anecdotal evidence about levels
of leadership support reflects the situation
within Australian firms, an extensive literature
review having failed to identify any studies
directly addressing this issue.
The lack of such research is not surprising
given observations such as the following:
“Despite the acknowledgment that leadership
is important, treatment of the topic within the
marketing and sales management literatures is
Academic Article
limited” (Flaherty, Mowen, Brown and
Marshall, 2009, p. 43). However, findings
from two studies regarding the relationship of
leadership support and several other factors
are consistent with the suggestion that some
sales managers provide only low or moderate
levels of leadership support. While the reports
of those studies do not include discussion
regarding levels of leadership support per se
and do not cover a comprehensive set of sales
leadership activities, summary statistics are
provided relating to responses to
questionnaire items on aspects of sales
leadership support.
Firstly, based on responses to four questions
within a ‘supportive leadership’ scale (each item
incorporating a Likert-style scale anchored by
‘Not at all’ = 1 and ‘To a great extent’ = 7),
Jaramillo and Mulki (2008, p. 43) report the
overall mean and standard deviation to be 5.54
and 1.39, respectively. Unless the distribution
of responses is skewed, those summary
statistics indicate that nearly one-sixth of
responses would be 4 or lower on the 1-7 scale.
Secondly, Amyx and Alford (2005, p. 352)
report means and variations for 14 items
comprising a ‘positive leader reward behavior’
scale, each item again incorporating a
seven-point Likert scale (with ‘Strongly
disagree’ = 1 and ‘Strongly agree’ = 7). The
overall mean for the scale is 5.24 and the mean
of the (derived) standard deviations for all
items is 1.56. Again assuming a reasonably
normal distribution, more than one-sixth of
responses would be 4 or lower on the 1-7 scale.
The focus of the current study was the
leadership support received by salespeople
within three business-to-business sales
organizations, all being leaders in their
respective industries. Business-to-business
sales organizations were selected since
personal selling is particularly important to
such organizations (Jackson, Keith and
Burdick, 1987) and, therefore, leadership
support should be a major management issue
within such organizations.
Fall 2008
9
Aim of Study
The aim of this exploratory study was to
identify the degree to which sales managers
provide leadership support and whether
substantial gaps exist in the levels of
leadership support provided to salespeople. It
was believed that results could identify an area
warranting further research, with findings
being useful to human resource managers and
senior marketing managers when making
decisions about sales management
appointments, training and development.
Personal Selling and Sales Leadership
Leadership is closely aligned to designing a
vision and providing guidance toward the
attainment of that vision (Gueldenberg and
Hoffmann, 2000), and often has the goal of
lifting employees’ vision to a higher level and
raising employee performance to a higher
standard (Drucker, 1977; Pettinger, 2000).
Leadership involves the direction, support,
evaluation and control of employees, and
requires a balance between achieving the task,
building and developing the team, and being
concerned for the individual (Szilagyi and
Wallace, 1990).
Effective leadership requires role clarity,
performance orientation (positive and timely
feedback about performance, and access to
required resources), action orientation
(making necessary decisions instead of leaving
issues unresolved, even if appropriate
decisions are unpalatable), and responsiveness
to the concerns of staff so that work-related
uncertainty is reduced (Viljoen and Dann,
2003). Motivation can comprise both extrinsic
and intrinsic factors, and both financial and
Vol. 8, No. 4
10
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
non-financial rewards, some of which can
differentiate between job incumbents in ways
that respond to their emotional involvement
in their jobs (Patrickson, 2001).
Consistent with the above definitions, sales
leadership includes three interrelated activities:
(1) formulation, (2) implementation, and (3)
evaluation and control (Churchill, Ford,
Walker, Johnston, and Tanner, 2000). It
includes clarification of the strategic role of
the sales force, development and direction of
salespeople, and evaluation of salespeople’s
effectiveness and performance (Ingram,
LaForge, and Schwepker, 1997). With respect
to evaluation and control, emphasis on
behavior- and outcome-based sales
performance factors is recommended by
various writers (Brown and Peterson, 1996;
Grant and Cravens, 1999; Piercy, Cravens, and
Morgan, 1998). Since professional selling
requires a range of skills, sales managers must
develop their salespeople to ensure they have
those skills (Holmes and Srivastava, 2002).
Sales leadership has additional challenges since
“a significant number of salespeople operate
in social, psychological, and physical isolation
from other company employees” (Ingram et
al., 2005, p. 138).
Research Methods
Development of measurement scales and
questionnaire items was assisted by the use of
an existing catalogue of leadership activities
and two frameworks of personal selling and
sales management (Wilkinson, 2004, 2009)
during semi-structured interviews with four
management and marketing academics and
nine sales practitioners.
Northern Illinois University
The catalogue of leadership activities is
provided in Table 1. While not an exhaustive
catalogue, it provided sufficient detail ─ along
with the two frameworks ─ to initiate
discussion during the semi-structured
interviews and to assist within the
cross-referencing phase during the development of draft questionnaire items (discussed
below).
The frameworks of the personal selling and
sales management processes are illustrated in
Figures 1 and 2. While perhaps more
comprehensive, these are consistent with
other frameworks, such as those of Baldauf,
Cravens and Grant (2002), Futrell (2006),
Ingram, LaForge, Avila, Schwepker and
Williams (2006a; 2006b), Jackson and Hisrich
(1996), and Manning and Reece (2004).
Input from the academics led to development
of two scales, relating to ‘general leadership
support’ and ‘sales leadership support’. Draft
questionnaire items within each scale were
developed from a review of scales used by
prior researchers in related studies, and
through cross-referencing of the leadership
and selling activities identified in the
above-mentioned catalogue and frameworks.
The items were modified following analysis of
feedback from sales practitioners during the
semi-structured interviews.
The practitioners were three sales managers
and six salespeople working in business-tobusiness sales organizations. Each had
successfully completed an undergraduate or
postgraduate marketing program at University
of South Australia and had undertaken a
course in personal selling or sales management
Academic Article
Fall 2008
11
Table 1 Leadership activities
Source: Wilkinson, 2009, p. 81
Type of
leadership
activity
Related activities or specific
elements of leadership activity
Identifying sources
Planning
Decision-making
Bartol and Martin (1991); Churchill et al. (2000); Szilagyi and Wallace (1987); Viljoen and Dann (2003)
Direction
Establishment of standards
Goal-setting
Instruction
Role clarification
Style of leadership behaviour
Brown and Barker (2001)
Cummings and Worley (1993)
Ingram et al. (1997)
Slater and Olson (2000)
Brown and Barker (2001)
Facilitation
Support
Coordination or provision of
infra-structure, information,
procedures, and facilities or staff
Customer service support
Team-building
Joint selling
Jackson and Hisrich (1996); Pettinger (2000); Viljoen
and Dann (2003)
Szilagyi and Wallace (1987); Wood, Wallace, Zeffane,
Schermerhorn, Hunt and Osborn (2001)
Churchill et al. (2000)
Training
Coaching
Mentoring
Holmes and Srivastava (2002)
Ingram et al. (1997); Jackson and Hisrich (1996);
Patrickson (2001); Szilagyi and Wallace (1987)
Delegation
Empowerment
Brown and Barker (2001); Wood et al. (2001)
Motivation
Challenge
Compensation
Recognition
Vision
Churchill et al. (2000)
Pettinger (2000)
Drucker (in Jackson and Hisrich, 1996)
Patrickson (2001); Pettinger (2000)
Supervision
See direction, advice and guidance, monitoring, and control
Advice and
Guidance
Feedback
Mentoring
Responsiveness to concerns
Szilagyi and Wallace (1987)
Viljoen and Dann (2003)
Bartol and Martin (1991)
Monitoring
Performance measurement
Churchill et al. (2000); Ingram et al. (1997); Slater and
Olson (2000); Szilagyi and Wallace (1987)
Evaluation
Appraisal
Review
Cummings and Worley (1993)
Anderson and Oliver (1987); Szilagyi and
Wallace (1987)
Control
Corrective action
Punishment
Reward
Bartol and Martin (1991)
Churchill et al. (2000)
Cummings and Worley (1993); Patrickson (2001);
Szilagyi and Wallace (1987)
within that program. They were interviewed
separately over a period of about six weeks,
each interview being about an hour in
duration. None were from the three firms that
participated in the final study. Questionnaire
items were reviewed by several senior sales
managers from the three firms that
participated in the final study. Only very
Vol. 8, No. 4
12
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
Figure 1 Framework of personal selling and sales management
Source: Adapted from Wilkinson, 2009, p. 90.
(Shaded components are directly relevant to this study. Other components provide context.)
Activities of
sales manager
· Direction
· Facilitation
· Training
· Delegation
· Motivation
· Advice and
guidance
Organizational
support (affected by
facilitation by sales
manager)
· Promotional
· Customer service
· Info systems
· Other infrastructure
Salesperson
attributes
· Capabilities
· Level of
motivation
External
environmental factors
· Territory factors
· Competitive
environment
· Customer buying
behaviour
· Economic factors
Salesperson
behavioural
performance
·Activities
·Effectiveness
·Effort
Internal factors
· Performance of
other salespeople
· Performance of
sales support
people
· Performance of
other functional
Salesperson
outcome
performance
(results)
Feedback
Recruitment and
selection activities of
firm (including
participation of
sales manager)
Induction (also with
involvement of sales
manager)
Feedback
Recruitment and
selection activities
of firm
Induction of sales
manager
Continuing
management
training
Mentoring by
senior managers
Organizational
outcomes
(results)
Activities of sales manager
· Monitoring
· Evaluation
· Behaviour-based control
Activities of sales manager
· Monitoring
· Evaluation
· Outcome-based control
minor changes were made following those
reviews. Finally, the questionnaire was
pre-tested by several salespeople from the two
larger participating firms (those participants
being excluded from the final study). No
changes appeared necessary based on
feedback obtained from those participants.
Constructs relating to the two components of
leadership support were measured using
multiple-item scales (McQuitty, 2004; Peter,
1979; Steenkamp and Baumgartner, 2000). All
questionnaire items (besides those relating to
respondent identification) were based on Likertstyle scales. All items were based on a five-point
(1─5) scaling format, anchored with end-points
of “No─Disagree strongly” (‘1’) and
Northern Illinois University
“Yes─Agree strongly” (‘5’).
Data collection involved completion of
questionnaires by salespeople in three firms
regarding the leadership support they were
receiving. This approach was taken since
managers are not considered to be good at
evaluating themselves relative to objective
criteria (Atwater, Ostroff, Yammarino, and
Fleenor, 1993). In addition, subordinates’
perceptions of a manager’s leadership style are
considered likely to be more accurate than
self-perception or the perceptions of colleagues
or senior managers (Zigarmi and Zigarmi, cited
in Avery, 2001). Similar approaches have been
used in prior studies assessing the leadership
behaviour of managers (Tirmizi, 2002).
Academic Article
Fall 2008
13
Figure 2 Framework of the business-to-business selling process
Source: Wilkinson, 2004, p4.
After management approval was obtained,
questionnaires were mailed to 215 salespeople in
the three participating firms. Management and
participating salespeople were offered summary
reports of the findings, but no other
inducements were offered. Salespeople were
advised that
management would not be
provided details of individual responses or of
which salespeople had (or had not) participated
in the study. Completed survey forms were
returned directly to the researcher. Following
initial data analysis, semi-structured interviews
were conducted with a sample of sales managers
from participating firms to assist with the
interpretation of findings.
The research methods are consistent with those
of prior related studies. The response rate
(of 67%) is favorably placed within the range of
response rates achieved in those prior studies,
such as Atuahene-Gima and Micheal (1998),
with a response rate of 14%; Babakus, Cravens,
Johnston, and Moncrief (1999), with a response
rate of 58%; and Rich (1997), with a response
rate of 75%.
Vol. 8, No. 4
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Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
Discussion of Results
Following initial mailings and up to two
reminder letters, 144 usable responses to
questionnaires about leadership support were
received from salespeople, providing a
response rate of 67% (varying from 57% to
83% for the three firms). These responses
related to 30 sales managers within the three
firms. Comparisons of early and late responses
indicated an absence of respondent bias
(Saunders, 1980). Gender comparisons
between the population and respondent
sample for all participating firms indicated an
absence of gender bias.
General Leadership Support
Exploratory factor analysis, using the principal
axis factoring method of extraction, was
undertaken on data relating to a battery of 21
items regarding general leadership support
received by responding salespeople, to assess
whether or not the measurement scale was
one-dimensional. Initial eigenvalues (10.4,
accounting for 51.5% of variance; 1.1 and 1.1)
indicated the existence of three factors, with
the first factor being much more ‘meaningful’
than the others. The scree plot suggested the
existence of just one factor. The factor matrix
indicated that all 21 items loaded meaningfully
on only the first factor. Only one
communality value was lower than 0.45. All
bivariate correlations were found to be
significant at the 99% confidence level, with
all but one correlation being above 0.30 and
most being above 0.55. A value of 0.95 was
found for Cronbach’s alpha. Based on these
results, the scale was considered to be
internally reliable (Bryman and Bell, 2007;
Field, 2005).
Northern Illinois University
Based on responses to the 21 questions
regarding general leadership support, no items
were found to have modes with scores above
4 (on a 1─5 scale, with sample size varying
from 142 to 144). Five items were found to
have a mode of just 3. Overall, 18% of scores
were found to be below 3, compared with
44% above 3. These results indicate that there
were gaps in the general leadership support
being received by some salespeople. Cluster
analysis was undertaken to assess whether the
gaps were being experienced generally or by
just a small proportion of salespeople. Given
the range of items within the scale, cluster
analysis was considered superior to simple
categorization, such as that based on overall
mean scores. Various other researchers have
used cluster analysis (Barker, 1999, 2001;
Cannon and Perreault, 1999; Homburg,
Workman, and Jensen, 2002), some in areas
related to sales (Anderson et al., 1997; Kelly,
1992).
Based on exploratory hierarchical cluster
analysis, two-step cluster analysis and
K-means cluster analysis, a three-cluster
solution appeared most appropriate. Each
cluster comprised respondents from all three
firms. Results are summarised in Table 2.
Nearly 20% of responding salespeople were
receiving low levels of general leadership
support, the overall cluster mean (2.2) being
only marginally above the second lowest possible
score. Almost 40% of respondents were
receiving moderate levels of support, the
overall cluster mean (3.2) being only
marginally above the mid-range score of 3.
Finally, less than half of the respondents were
receiving high levels of support. These results
Academic Article
Fall 2008
15
Table 2 Levels of general leadership support
Questionnaire item
Do you believe you know exactly what your job comprises and what
performance levels your manager expects of you?
Does your manager explain relevant corporate or divisional goals when
negotiating/setting your performance criteria?
Does your manager ensure that you obtain adequate commitment/support
from a ‘selling support team’?
Does your manager assist you to obtain necessary resources and/or
Support from within your company (such as head office marketing, other
sales offices, logistics, manufacturing, and information technology)?
Generally, does your manager provide you with, or facilitate your access to,
required information and other resources?
Generally, do you receive adequate personal communication, facilitation
and support from your manager?
Does your manager set a positive example through his/her own behaviour
and serve as an appropriate role model to staff?
When performance standards are not met, does your manager appear to
take appropriate/corrective action within the salesforce, or to influence
other parts of the company to take appropriate/corrective action?
Generally, does your manager make necessary decisions — even if
unpalatable — instead of leaving issues unresolved?
Generally, is your manager responsive to your concerns, so that your
work-related uncertainty is minimised?
Does your manager provide guidance?
Does your manager delegate authority to you?
Does your manager monitor your performance?
Does your manager monitor your day-to-day effort (as distinct from your
sales results)?
Does your manager appear to recognise your individual attributes and assess
your individual performance rather than stereotyping?
Does your manager review or critique your performance with you and
provide adequate feedback?
Generally, does your manager provide constructive and timely feedback
about your performance?
Does your manager provide useful feedback about your sales activities?
Does your manager provide useful feedback about your sales outcomes/
results?
Do you receive adequate/appropriate financial rewards in recognition of
your performance?
Do you receive adequate/appropriate non-financial rewards in recognition of
your performance?
Overall cluster mean
ClusterG1
(n=24)
ClusterG2
(n=52)
ClusterG3
(n=60)
3.2
4.0
4.5
2.3
3.3
4.2
2.0
3.0
3.9
2.2
3.3
4.0
2.4
3.7
4.3
2.5
3.4
4.2
2.2
3.3
4.3
2.4
3.2
3.7
2.6
3.5
4.2
2.7
3.2
4.4
2.0
2.8
2.3
3.0
3.5
3.4
4.2
4.4
4.3
1.7
2.7
3.6
2.3
3.6
4.5
1.8
3.0
4.3
1.8
3.0
4.2
2.0
2.9
4.0
1.9
3.1
4.2
1.7
2.6
3.5
1.8
2.6
3.4
2.2
3.2
4.1
Scale: 1 = ‘Disagree strongly’ to 5 = ‘Agree strongly’.
Based on K-means cluster analysis and listwise case exclusion for missing values.
Vol. 8, No. 4
16
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
confirm that substantial proportions of
responding salespeople were experiencing
sizable gaps across the full range of items
comprising general leadership support.
Sales Leadership Support
Exploratory factor analysis was undertaken on
data relating to a battery of 18 items regarding
sales leadership support to assess whether or
not the measurement scale was
one-dimensional. Initial eigenvalues (7.5,
accounting for 41.8% of variance; 1.7; 1.5 and
1.1) indicated the existence of four factors, but
with the first factor being much more
‘meaningful’ than the others. The scree plot
suggested the existence of up to four factors.
The factor matrix indicated that 14 items
loaded meaningfully on only the first factor,
while four other items loaded on two different
factors. The latter four items all related to
aspects of organizational support and, therefore,
could be considered outside of the sales
leadership support domain (as suggested by
the factor analysis). These four items therefore
were deleted. For the modified scale, all
communality values were found to be at least
0.3, with most above 0.5. All bivariate
correlations were found to be significant at the
99% confidence level, with most above 0.3. A
value of 0.91 was found for Cronbach’s alpha.
Based on these results, the modified scale was
considered to be internally reliable.
Based on responses to the modified scale of
14 questions about sales leadership support,
five items were found to have modes with
scores of 1-3 and no items were found to have
modes with scores above 4. Overall, 31% of
scores were found to be below 3, compared
with 43% above 3.
Northern Illinois University
These results indicate that major gaps existed
in the sales leadership support being received
by some responding salespeople. Again,
cluster analysis was undertaken to assess
whether the gaps were being experienced
generally or by just a small proportion of
salespeople. A three-cluster solution was
found to be most appropriate. Results are
summarised in Table 3, indicating that about
20% of salespeople were receiving low levels
of sales leadership support, nearly half were
receiving moderate levels, and less than
one-third were receiving high levels. Clearly,
substantial proportions of salespeople were
experiencing sizable gaps across the full range
of items comprising sales leadership support.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Based on responses from 144 business-tobusiness salespeople from three leading
Australian firms in distinctly different industries,
sizable proportions of respondent salespeople
were receiving low or moderate levels of general
leadership support and/or sales leadership
support. Gaps in the levels of sales leadership
support being received by responding
salespeople appear even greater than those in
the levels of general leadership support.
Confirmation of these exploratory results in
subsequent studies would be concerning for
management, since adequate and effective
leadership support by sales managers can
have a major effect on the performance of
their salespeople (Anderson, Dubinsky, and
Mehta, 1999; Barker, 1997; Grossman and
Cotton, 2004; Martin and Bush, 2003;
Yammarino, 1997).
Academic Article
Fall 2008
17
Table 3 Levels of sales leadership support
ClusterS1
(n=26)
ClusterS2
(n=60)
ClusterS3
(n=40)
Does your manager provide support if/when you find prospecting ‘tough’?
2.3
3.0
3.9
Does your manager help to obtain initial appointments with prospects if/
when you find this difficult?
1.3
2.6
3.3
Does your manager make regular joint sales calls with you?
1.3
2.4
3.3
Does/Do your manager and/or other company managers/specialists assist
in your account management activities at your larger customers/prospects?
2.3
3.3
4.0
Does your firm have effective internal communication, enabling
coordination of sales-related activities or collaboration with customers
(helping establish/maintain customer relationships)?
2.6
3.1
4.3
Does your manager or any technical specialist help you to assess needs of
prospects or additional needs of existing customers, if/when necessary?
2.2
3.0
3.8
Does your manager or any technical specialist help you identify the most
appropriate ‘solutions’ for customers or prospects, if/when necessary?
2.0
3.5
4.0
Does your manager or any technical specialist help you in analyzing reasons
for failure to obtain business from prospects or for the loss of customers, if
necessary?
1.6
3.0
3.6
Do(es) your manager, other management staff or technical specialists assist
you in sales presentations, if necessary?
1.9
3.7
4.2
2.0
3.7
3.9
1.5
3.2
3.9
Do(es) your manager, other management staff, or specialists from technical
or production areas of your firm assist you to undertake follow-up and
relationship-building activities, if/when necessary?
2.2
3.1
4.1
Do your manager, other management staff, or specialists from technical or
production areas of your firm assist you to evaluate your firm’s supply
performance and to provide feedback to operations areas if necessary?
2.1
2.8
4.0
Do your manager or technical specialists help you to analyze reasons for
failure to obtain additional business from existing customers, if/when
necessary?
2.0
2.9
3.9
Overall cluster mean
1.9
3.1
3.9
Questionnaire item
Does your manager or other management staff assist you in negotiations, if
necessary?
Does your manager or other management staff assist you in closing, if
necessary?
Scale: 1 = ‘Disagree strongly’ to 5 = ‘Agree strongly’.
Based on K-means cluster analysis and listwise case exclusion for missing values.
Vol. 8, No. 4
18
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
The results are understandable given the
reported lack of management training of many
sales managers (briefly discussed below), and
the previously-mentioned findings of prior
researchers that many salespeople have
difficulties making the transition from
salesperson to sales manager.
Regarding management training, a study by
Adams in 1965 found that sales management
training was provided by just one of 44
responding United States firms, while a study
by Coppett and Staples in 1980 found that
fewer than half of responding firms in 16
industries in the US provided any
management training (Anderson et al., 1997).
More recently, based on responses from sales
training executives, Shepherd and Ridnour
(1995) identified the content of sales
management training programs of 93 US
firms, using three scales relating to training.
With just one exception, for all items within
each scale, at least half of the responses were
for a ‘slight level of training’ or ‘no training at
all’. Similarly, based on responses from almost
300 US sales managers, Anderson et al. (1997)
found that 57% of respondents had received
no formal sales management training. With
such low levels of management training, many
sales managers probably lack the expertise to
provide adequate leadership support.
Post-survey feedback from 3-4 sales managers
within each participating firm confirmed that
all were aware of the need to provide
leadership support but had competing
priorities that often resulted in less time being
devoted to leadership activities than desirable.
This feedback is consistent with suggestions
by Miller (2000) about work pressures on sales
Northern Illinois University
managers. Several sales managers also
admitted that there were some leadership
activities that they felt they were untrained to
undertake in a competent manner. Several
even admitted that there were some activities
about which they had no prior knowledge.
Given the importance of personal selling in
many firms, results from this study suggest
that marketing management and human
resource management should review their
firms’ sales management practices. It also
would be appropriate to review levels of sales
management training in case there is indeed a
link between management training and the
provision of leadership support.
In particular, business-to-business sales
managers often are responsible for a key
company resource, having the potential “to
influence a variety of organizational
outcomes” (Deeter-Schmelz, Kennedy and
Goebel, 2002, p. 617). “Salesperson
performance, satisfaction, and commitment”
often constitute a “crucial” element of
company performance (Yilmaz, 2002,
p. 1389), especially in the areas of “sales
volume, profits, and customer
satisfaction” (Baldauf and Cravens, 2002,
p. 1367). Given the findings from this
exploratory study, senior management needs
to ensure that salespeople are receiving
adequate leadership support ─ or risk a
decline in marketing competitiveness.
Current economic conditions and trends in
other environmental factors add weight to that
warning.
For example, an increasingly competitive
environment and “escalating customer
Academic Article
Fall 2008
19
demands for new and greater value” are likely
to require “revolutionary changes” within the
traditional sales force and its management
(Lane and Piercy, 2004, p. 659). “Highperforming sales managers” will be required to
ensure that salespeople have the expertise to
perform effectively and efficiently in a
competitive environment (Deeter-Schmelz et
al., 2002, p. 617). They will need to be
“effective day-to-day supervisors” and
“strategy-driven leaders capable of influencing
others” to ensure that sales force goals are
achieved (Ingram, LaForge and Leigh, 2002,
p 561).
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Dr. John Wilkinson is offshore program
director within the School of Marketing and a
research associate with the Ehrenberg-Bass
Institute for Marketing Science at University
of South Australia. Previously, he has held
marketing and sales management positions
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sales management.
Academic Article
Fall 2008
23
Sales Leaders as Senior Level Managers:
A Conceptual Framework
for Examining Upper Echelon Theory
By Michael Rodriguez
This paper introduces a conceptual framework, upper echelon theory, and its link to executives who possess
unique characteristics that allows them to deliver the leadership needs of an organization. Specifically, the
paper suggests that sales experience may be a better indicator of success for firms who pursue high growth
ambitions. Two propositions are introduced: (1) the association between the executive’s output-function
experience and the delivery of the organization’s strategy and (2) the link between executive job demands
and the sales executive’s characteristics. The purpose of this paper is to assist firms and their boards to
select future leaders and executives who can best deliver the strategic goals of the firm.
Introduction
A recent trend has been the increased
turnover in organizations at the executive
level. In Booz Allen’s study of CEOs, the
consulting firm found that annual CEO
turnover had grown 59% from 1995 to 2006
(Lucier, Wheeler and Habbel, 2007). In 2006
alone over 1,112 chief executives exited the
“corner office”, according to Chicago
consulting firm, Challenger, Gray and
Christmas. Table 1 provides a small sample of
executives that left their respective
organization and their tenure at the position.
As shown, only two executives served in their
position for over two years.
Numerous reasons explain the short tenure of
recently departed executives: increased market
competition, shareholder impatience, and/or
lack of strategic fit. The survey conducted by
Booz Allen found that CEO turnover was
most related to poor performance. Viacom’s
former CEO and 26 year veteran, Tom
Freston, for example, was fired due to
Viacom’s lagging stock price. Freston had
served as CEO for only eight months. There
has been previous research describing the
phenomenon of executive turnover, but very
limited research explains the reasons for
corporate leaders’ departures.
One can argue that the executive’s
background may not have been an ideal fit for
the strategic direction of the firm. That is,
C-Level executives may have lacked the
background, skills, or experience that would
have enabled them to meet their
organization’s expectations. Firms looking to
implement significant change such as a new
strategy need outgoing leaders, who can take
risks and initiate change in order to make an
immediate impact within their respectful
organization.
This paper analyzes and discusses a specific
characteristic many C-Level executives do not
possess: sales experience. The fundamental
purpose of this discussion is to introduce and
examine upper echelon theory and its link to
executives who have the unique characteristics
to lead and achieve the needs of their
organization. The upper echelon perspective
“states that organizational outcomes –
strategic choices and performance levels – are
partially predicted by managerial background
characteristics” (Hambrick and Mason,
pg. 193, 1984). This leads to an important
question: is there a positive link between
CEOs with sales experience and an
organization’s success?
This paper also considers the aspect of
executive job demands and its relationship to
Vol. 8, No. 4
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Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
TABLE 1
Company
Executive
Tenure
Background
Ford
Anne Stevens
11 Months
Marketing
Airbus
Charles Champion
13 Months
Engineering
Wal-Mart
Lawrence Jackson
10 Months
Operations
Sears
Craig Monaghan
5 Months
Finance
J.C. Penny
Catherine West
7 months
Operations
Tom Freston
Viacom
8 months
Advertising
Henry McKinnell
Pfizer
5 years
Finance
Roger Deromedi
Kraft
3 Years
Economics and Marketing
executives with sales experience. Hambrick,
Finkelstein and Mooney, define executive job
demands “as the degree to which a given
executive experiences his or her job as (being)
difficult or challenging” (pg. 4, 2005). This
paper proffers a framework to aid
practitioners, serving on company boards and
committees, better select future business
leaders based upon their strategic fit with the
firm.
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND
LITERATURE DISCUSSION
Upper Echelon Perspective
The CEO’s role in creating competitive
advantage and gaining exceptional
performance has been a major focus for many
academic researchers (Carmelli, 2006).
Hambrich and Mason (1984) state:
“organizational outcomes – both strategies
and effectiveness – are reviewed as reflections
of the values and cognitive bases of powerful
actors in the organization” (pg. 193). For
instance a senior level manager with an
operations background may be an ideal fit for
a firm seeking a cost-reduction strategy.
However, what about firms that need to shift
the corporate strategic direction to high
growth and increased shareholder value?
Those firms would need to implement a
strategy that can be fraught with significant
change and risk.
Northern Illinois University
“…Willingness to take risk is important because
changing firm strategy involves risk: established ways
of conducting business are abandoned in favor of
making commitments to strategic directions for which
the payoffs are not guaranteed” (Wiersma and Bantel,
1992, pg. 92).
In Wiersema and Bantel‘s study, they provide
evidence that a relationship exists between the
demographic background of top management
teams and corporate strategic change. There
are two important contributions made by their
research. First, through their strategic
decisions top management teams have an
important influence on the direction of firms
(Child, 1972).
Second, the demographic
characteristics of top management teams have
a significant relationship with a strategyrelated organizational outcome (Wiersema and
Bantel, 1992). Both contributions support
upper echelon theory that states that
organizational outcomes are often predicted
by managerial background characteristics
(Hambrick and Mason, 1984). Based upon
these findings, companies seeking strategic
change that involves high growth and
increased shareholder value should seek top
managers who possess a background and
expertise delivering aggressive results and
meeting high-level expectations.
In the development of upper echelon theory,
the focus is on executive background
Academic Article
Fall 2008
characteristics rather than on psychological
dimensions of the executive (Hambrick and
Mason, 1984). The theory states that the
organizational outcomes can be predicted by
the professional background of management.
Figure 1 below describes the overall Upper
Echelon Perspective.
25
1. Output Functions – marketing, sales, and
product research and development (Miles and
Snow, 1978).
2. Throughput Functions – focused on
improvement in efficiency such as production
or operations.
Figure 1 – An Upper Echelon Perspective of Organizations
The Objective
Situation
(external &
internal)
Upper Echelon Characteristics
Psychological Observable
Cognitive base Age
Values
Functional Tracks
Career Experiences
Education
Socioeconomic Roots
Financial Position
Group Characteristics
The model suggests that upper echelon
characteristics are a reflection of the situation
faced by the organization. Hambrick and
Mason’s model begins with the objective of
the firm. The specific objective or unique
situation directly relates to the values and
characteristics of the upper echelon. These
values and characteristics are then
determinants of the overall strategic direction
of the organization. The dependent variables
listed--profitability, growth, and survival-measure performance and are linked to the
upper echelon’s characteristics (Hambrick and
Mason, 1984). Said differently, corporate
leaders play a crucial role in the strategic
direction of the organization. The authors also
develop a number of propositions that
describe associations between the
characteristics of the executive and the
organization. One that is of particular interest
is the proposition regarding functional track.
There are three functional track categories:
Strategic Choices
Product Innovation
Unrelated
diversification
Acquisition
Capital Intensity
Plant and equipment
newness
Forward Integration
Financial Leverage
Administrative
Complexity
Response Time
Performance
Profitability
Variations
In
Profitability
Growth
Survival
3. Peripheral Functions – Finance and law
(Hayes and Abernathy, 1980).
In 2002, Hermann and Datta conducted a
study of 126 CEO successions. The study
examined successor characteristics and
discovered that all new CEOs possessed
throughput functional background versus
output functional background.
In other
words, new CEOs possessed neither sales nor
marketing experience.
Spencer Stuart, a
leading global executive search firm, also
published a study detailing background and
career characteristics of leading S&P 500
CEO’s. Their study reported that the three
most common-held functions were finance,
operations, and marketing with finance being
the most common among CEOs since 1997
(see Figure 2 below).
The report concluded that newly appointed
CEOs implemented strategies with which they
were most familiar and comfortable. As a
Vol. 8, No. 4
26
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
Figure 2 - Most Common Career Functions – SpencerStuart, 2004
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
Sa
le
s
Pl
an
ni
ng
&
O
pe
ra
tio
D
ev
ns
el
op
m
en
t
tin
g
La
w
M
ar
ke
an
ce
rin
ne
e
Fi
n
g
g
tin
En
gi
ng
Co
ns
ul
Ba
nk
i
Ac
ad
em
ia
0%
result, new CEOs in the early stages of their
tenure are risk averse and avoid strategies that
may jeopardize their career (Hermann and
Datta, 2002). “In addition, the early years of a
CEO's tenure are typically characterized by
limited task knowledge, making it more
difficult for CEOs to endorse risky strategic
options” (Hambrick and Fukutomi, 1991,
pg 724).
In today’s economic landscape, organizations
are not giving CEOs much time to deliver
results. These firms need leaders who can
deliver performance and execute the goals set
by management. Why do firms, looking to
implement growth strategies, continue to hire
individuals with throughput and peripheral
background versus that of output functions
like sales and marketing? The next section
discusses the characteristics of output function-related experience and the potential
impact on company performance.
Characteristics of Sales Leaders
Organizations that look to achieve revenue
growth, increase customer satisfaction, or
deliver a new product to the marketplace
search for professionals with specific skills,
Northern Illinois University
characteristics, and experience delivering
performance. Existing theoretical paradigms,
like learning theory, suggests that specific
work experience has a positive relationship
with job performance (Fu, 2009; Weiss, 1990).
Based on past research, it is reasonable to
expect that an executive that possesses
experience in obtaining new clients and
generating revenue may be a strategic fit for
firms with aggressive organizational goals.
These firms should consider individuals with
sales experience since salespeople are
responsible for generating revenue, profits,
customer satisfaction, and achieving quota
within defined timeframes.
“The salesman is responsible for developing and
maintaining a satisfactory business relationship
between his customers and his company…the salesman
must have the ability to anticipate and adapt to
different social situations and must have a need for the
prestige and recognition that come from successfully
representing often opposing viewpoints” (Lamont and
Lundstrom, 1977, pg. 521).
To reiterate, upper echelon theory, states “there
will be a positive association between the degree of
output-function experience and the extent to which the
firm emphasizes outputs in its strategy (Hambrick
Academic Article
Fall 2008
and Mason, 1984, pg.199). Therefore
proposition one as an extension of upper
echelon theory is developed:
Proposition 1: Firms seeking increased growth
and shareholder value will find a positive
relationship between organizational
performance and an executive’s background in
sales.
27
ability to scan the environment and develop
adaptive responses (Mintzberg, 1973; Miles
and Snow, 1978). Top Management Teams
(TMT) need to have the necessary skill set to
analyze both internal and external factors.
Understanding external environments, such as
competition and regulation, may mean the
difference between winning or losing a client.
Figure 3 – Conceptual Framework for Examining Upper Echelon Theory and
Sales Characteristics
Objectives of Firm:
• High Growth
• Increased Shareholder
Value
Corporate Leader
• Sales Experience
• Sales Management
• Competitive Analysis
Expertise
• Successful Sales Track
Record
• Profit and Loss
Responsibility
Strategic Initiatives
• Investment in Sales Teams
• Product Input
• Client Driven Focus
• Increased Marketing
• New Market Penetration
Organization Performance
• Increased Revenue
• Increased Shareholder Value
• New Client Growth
• Dominant Position in Marketplace
• More Competitive
• Penetration of New Markets
Executive Job Demands
Prior research has primarily focused on the
effect of individual job demands related to
performance, satisfaction, and personal stress
(Hambrick, Finkelstein, and Mooney, 2005).
Limited research has been conducted
regarding job demands at the executive level.
Another research gap is the absence of the
effect external environment has on
senior-level executives. For example, CEO’s
may have the expertise to analyze internal
strengths and weaknesses, but often lack an
Thus, understanding the external environment
is crucial for organizational leaders seeking
higher growth and increased shareholder
value. Hambrick, Finkelstein and Mooney
(2005) describe in their paper “that the level
of job demands depends on the degree to
which the executive’s capabilities are
appropriate for the situation” (pg. 8). Also,
understanding the fit between organizational
strategy and managerial characteristics is
essential to the concept of meeting executive
job demands (Edwards & Cooper, 1990;
Gupta, 1984; Gupta & Govindarajan, 1984).
Vol. 8, No. 4
28
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
Three factors determine executive job
demands: task challenges, performance
challenges, and executive aspirations
(Hambrick, Finkelstein and Mooney, 2005).
CEOs, while highly motivated, may vary in
their drive to perform for the organization.
Executive aspirations may correlate differently
in relation to their personality factors, stage of
career, and alignment of executive awards
(Hambrick, Finkelstein and Mooney, 2005).
Additional research in this area is crucial for
successful future selection of company
executives. For example, understanding a
specific candidate’s aspiration may enable
firms to determine if he or she will be able to
meet or pursue specific organizational job
demands. Firms that seek both increased
growth and shareholder value requires an
executive that can handle high job demands.
According to extant research, executives who
are exposed to such job demands are
“boundedly rational” in their strategic
decision-making (Cyert & March, 1963). As a
result of bounded rationality, executives rely
on past experience to make decisions.
“Executives who face high job demands will economize
in their strategic decision making by relying on their
experiences to search for and interpret information, as
well as to select among options” (Hambrick,
Finkelstein and Mooney, 2005, pg. 478)
Therefore, an executive’s past experience in a
specific area is a crucial aspect in the strategic
direction of the organization and decisions
made by executives who are under significant
job demands will closely reflect their
backgrounds (Mischel, 1977) – their functional
backgrounds (Kimberly and Evanisko, 1981).
Senior sales executives, for example, are
constantly under pressure to meet quotas,
exceed management and client expectations,
win competitive battles, and deliver revenue to
the firm. These individuals are bounded
rationally every day and must rely on past
experiences that have led them to success in
similar stressful situations. An organization
achieves competitive advantage by
Northern Illinois University
“implementing strategies that exploit their
internal strengths, through responding to
environmental opportunities, while
neutralizing external threats and avoiding
internal weaknesses” (Barney, 1991, pg. 100).
Sales executives are likely to align their
strategic choices based on both internal and
external analysis. They will leverage the
strength of their organization in a sales
opportunity but at the same time understand
the threats to that opportunity emanating
from competitors, substitutes, or government
regulation. Sales professionals operate as
boundary spanners in multiple ways within
their respective firm. Sales leaders must work
effectively internally with their peers as well as
with customers and partners outside the
company (Ingram et al. 2005; Tanner,
Honeycutt, and Erffmeyer 2008).
C-Level managers are faced with different
challenges and job demands. Similarly, sales
executive are faced with a number of distinct
and highly stressful objectives.
Sales executives that understand how to
compete, handle stressful situations, and can
draw upon successful experiences from the
past will be able to deliver results for
their organization. Based upon the above
discussion it is proposed that:
Proposition 2: For an organization with
greater job demands, a positive relationship
exists between an executive with sales
experience and the delivery of strategic choice
for the organization.
MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS
This paper discusses how organizations need
to consider sales experience as a qualifying
characteristic for future CEOs. Empirical
testing of the propositions should be
conducted to confirm the relationship
between sales experience and the
organization’s strategic fit. Based upon the
conceptualization of upper echelon theory and
sales background, there are several
implications that are important for
Academic Article
practitioners and researchers to consider.
First, this paper raises an issue regarding
increased turnover at the executive level.
Choosing a CEO is never an easy task.
However, prior to identifying potential
candidates for a C-level position, board
members and senior executives should clearly
define the skills and expertise needed not only
to lead their company but that are also
consonant with the firm’s future strategic
direction.
Second, the paper theorizes that CEO
turnover and decreased tenure may be due to
the “gap” between an executive’s background
and organizational objectives. As previously
noted, many CEOs’ past background
experience was gained in peripheral or
throughput functions like operations and/or
finance. Firms with growth objectives need
CEOs that are growth oriented. These CEOs
must be able to meet the executive job
demands of the organization, execute the
firm’s strategy, and deliver performance. In
sum, today’s firms need executives with
functional output experience gained through a
sales and marketing background.
Third, the conceptual model presented
extends upper echelon perspective as it applies
to the fit between the firm’s strategic direction
and a manager’s background characteristics.
When firms pursue an aggressive strategic
direction, the job demands for the CEO are
more intense and more challenging.
Organizations require the necessary leadership
and expertise not only to sustain but to deliver
exceptional growth, increased revenues, and
sustained competitive advantage (Porter,
1985).
Firms looking to achieve these
objectives should strongly consider candidates
with sales experience, a successful track record
in relationship management, and competitive
analysis expertise.
Sales executives are
accustomed to handling the executive job
demands of companies with high expectations
due to the very nature of their stressful job
Fall 2008
29
function and therefore deliver results as a
member of senior management.
A principal benefit of upper echelon theory is
a firm’s ability to better select executives
(Hambrick and Mason, 1984). By requiring a
successful sales background as a characteristic
for a future CEO, firms are better able to
replace a retiring executive for a firm with a
high growth strategy. Another benefit of
upper echelon theory, as it applies to this
conceptual discussion, is the ability of top
leaders to surround themselves with qualified
executives.
A CEO with finance or
operations background may not be the best
scanner of the environment but can hire an
individual with this specific skill set and whose
background matches the strategic fit of the
organization.
FUTURE RESEARCH DISCUSSIONS
AND SUMMARY
In order to gain a better understanding of the
phenomenon of senior management
departures, researchers can implement a
number of research methodologies.
Archival Research
Researchers can study information from
existing records of companies (Graziano and
Raulin, 2004). This approach would be to look
at companies whose senior management
departed after a short tenure (less than 12
months). The next step would be to explore
the functional background of those corporate
leaders: output vs. throughput function (Miles
and Snow, 1978). This research may be able
to draw a correlation between those departed
and whether or not they lacked output
functional background, such as sales.
Differential Research Methods
Another method of research is to follow
companies who replaced the former CEO
with an executive whose background and
expertise were more sales focused.
Differential research compares two or more
groups that are differentiated on the basis of a
Vol. 8, No. 4
30
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
pre-existing variable (Graziano and Raulin,
2004). This research has the potential to
gauge the extent to which dependent
variables, like revenue growth or client
retention, increased under a CEO whose
background was sales focused.
Case Study Research
A popular approach in field research is the
utilization of case studies, which enable
researchers to make extensive observations of
a single group (Graziano and Raulin, 2004). A
potential study can look at a company whose
strategic direction is high growth and
increased shareholder value. The firm would
have a CEO with a non-sales related
background who was replaced by an executive
with sales related expertise. This study can
potentially offer insight about the company’s
performance under two CEOs with
contrasting backgrounds.
In summary, it appears that many CEOs and
senior level executives possess backgrounds
that have focused more on throughput
functions such as operations or finance. The
current trends in CEO turnover and shorter
tenures suggest these corporate leaders were
not a proper fit for their firms. Would a
senior manager with professional expertise in
sales be a better fit? Should organizations
look more closely at sales executives to lead
their company? Can a sales executive who
lacks a finance and operations background
lead an organization in the long-term?
Additional research on upper echelon
perspective and executive job demands, as it
applies to senior sale managers, can provide
answers to these questions.
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Michael Rodriguez is an assistant professor
at Elon University in Elon, North Carolina.
His research interests include utilization of
Customer Relationship Management from a
sales professional’s perspective and Sales
Leadership and Management. He has also
developed and facilitated sales training
programs for corporate clients at William
Paterson University.
Vol. 8, No. 4
32
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
Evaluating the Impact of Collegiate Sales Training
and Education on Early Salesperson Performance
By Megan K. Leasher, Christopher R. Moberg
Sales organizations invest a tremendous amount of time and resources in the training of salespeople. While
the impact of sales training has been studied in the literature, much less is known about the value of sales
education and training in college before salespeople are hired. This research study collected data from
recent graduates of a mid-sized, Midwestern university and found that students who participated in sales
internships and graduated from the university’s sales program reported higher levels of overall job
performance and quicker ramp-up time early in their career when compared to students without extensive
sales education and work experience. Implications of the results for colleges of business and sales
organizations recruiting entry-level salespeople are discussed.
Introduction
In a recent PBS Documentary entitled “The
New Selling of America,” it is argued that the
selling profession will be instrumental in
protecting the competitiveness and success of
the United States economy in the complex,
rapidly changing global marketplace (Think
TV, 2008). In order to maintain the current
size of the U.S. sales force at approximately 18
million salespeople, it is estimated that up to
two million new salespeople must be added to
the U.S. work force each year. Because many
of these new salespeople will be recruited
from universities, business schools can play a
critical role in maintaining the competitiveness
of the U.S. sales force by addressing student
concerns and perceptions of sales careers and
by better preparing and training students in
sales education (e.g Spillan et al., 2007;
Honeycutt and Ford, 1995; Stevens and
Macintosh, 2002-03; Sojka and Gupta, 2000).
Given the strong demand for recent college
graduates as entry-level salespeople, there has
been a surprisingly poor response by higher
education across the U.S. to provide sales
training and education. Out of more than
2,000 business schools in the U.S., there were
only about 40 universities at the end of 2008
that offered majors, minors, or certificates in
sales. This small number of sales programs
Northern Illinois University
means that only an estimated 2,000 of the two
million new salespeople needed by
corporations each year are arriving with any
significant coursework or training in sales.
(Please see Appendix 1 for a listing of
University Sales Programs).
Because universities are not responding to
market demand and are essentially leaving
most training responsibilities for new
salespeople to hiring organizations,
opportunities are being missed to foster
collaboration among universities and sales
organizations to develop and support sales
training for college students.
More
importantly, with the large demand for new
salespeople and the apparent benefits of sales
training for recent college graduates, it may be
worthwhile to determine why many business
schools are deciding not to provide sales
education to their students. Successful and
satisfied alumni can have a positive impact on
business schools by making donations,
recruiting future graduates, and by
participating in many other service-related
activities that support the college and
university mission. Therefore, it is important
for business schools to identify and overcome
the barriers barring the implementation of
sales training programs that can better prepare
their students for successful careers.
Academic Article
One contributing factor to the low number of
sales programs in the United States may be the
public’s negative perception of the sales
profession and the view that many salespeople
are untrustworthy and dishonest (Hartman,
2006; Spillan et al., 2007). Another factor may
be the common view by many faculty and
administrators on university campuses that
business schools provide professional training
and that selling is a vocation rather than a true
academic pursuit.
Gaining approval for
centers or degree programs in selling can be
challenging in this type of environment.
One tool in overcoming the stereotypes of
selling may be the documentation of more
empirical evidence connecting college sales
training to more successful careers for
students and increased organizational
productivity for hiring firms. However, there
is currently scant research connecting
collegiate sales training to improved
on-the-job performance. Currently, most of
the evidence about the value of sales training
and internships in college is anecdotal and
qualitative, as reported by faculty and program
directors at universities with sales programs or
by company recruiters (e.g. Weilbaker and
Williams, 2006) . Empirical research typically
focuses on the perceived value of sales courses in
college by students, faculty, and sales managers
(e.g. Bristow et al., 2006(a); Bristow et al., 2006
(b)). While positive feedback from employers
and graduates is encouraging, research is needed
that empirically supports the relationship
between university sales education and early
career successes. Establishing a positive and
significant relationship between university sales
education and sales performance will pave the
way for more sales programs to be added at
other universities and provide additional support
for ongoing programs.
Therefore, the main goal of this study is to
empirically examine the value of sales training
and internships during college to the early
stages of sales careers. The paper will begin
with a brief literature review on previous sales
performance research, sales training research,
Fall 2008
33
and collegiate sales education and training
research. The paper will conclude with
sections on research questions, method,
results, and the implications for universities
and sales firms.
Literature Review
Salesperson Performance
Salesperson performance is one of the most
commonly researched topics in the sales
literature. A wide variety of variables have
been empirically examined in relation to
improved salesperson performance. One
commonly used taxonomy categorizes
potential determinants of salesperson
performance into five groups: personal,
organizational and environmental factors;
aptitude; skills; motivation; and role
perceptions (Churchill et al., 1985(a)). In a
seminal meta-analysis examining the
relationship between several factors and
salesperson performance, Churchill et al.,
(1985(b)) found that approximately 24% of
the variance in salesperson performance could
be explained by salesperson attributes (Role
Perceptions – 9%; Skills – 7%; Motivation –
3%; Aptitude – 2%; Personal Variables – 2%;
and Organizational and Environmental
Variables – 1%). Since the publication of this
meta-analysis, research on salesperson
performance has continued to focus largely on
the impact of those variables identified in the
Churchill et al., (1985(a)) taxonomy (Sharma et
al., 2007).
Recently, Sharman et al., (2007) encouraged
fellow researchers to move away from
examining the impact of traditional categories
of salesperson attributes on performance and
to search for those determinants that may
explain the other 75% of the variance in
salesperson performance. They examined the
impact of a salesperson’s knowledge structures
on performance. Knowledge structures “refer
to salespeople’s knowledge of their customers
and the way in which the customer and selling
knowledge is organized” (p. 170). Their
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Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
research discovered that knowledge structures
accounted for 50.2% of the variance in
salesperson performance in a retail setting,
representing a much higher percentage of the
variance than previously accounted for in
traditional salesperson attributes
(e.g., Churchill et al. 1985(a)). While the
impact of knowledge structures needs to be
examined in other settings, these results have
implications for the importance of sales
training because it is presumed that
salesperson knowledge structures can be
modified and improved through effective sales
training and education, unlike many of the
traditional categories of salesperson attributes
often linked to performance.
Weitz and Bradford, 1999). Others argue that
not enough firms have responded to the
changing expectations of today’s salesperson
and that sales training programs remain
transaction-based and ineffective (e.g.,
Chonko et al., 1993; Pelham, 2006). Artis and
Harris (2007) recently suggested that sales
managers begin training salespeople to use
self-directed learning in addition to traditional
sales training. By developing a self-directed
learning orientation, salespeople should be
able to independently solve problems they
encounter in their relationships, which should
lead to better outcomes for the customer and
improved firm performance (Artis and Harris,
2007).
Sales Training’s Impact on Performance
While there are numerous studies that posit a
relationship between the adoption of a
relationship marketing orientation and
improved firm or salesperson performance
(e.g. Hunt and Morgan, 1994; Kalwani and
Narayandas, 1995), there has been a lack of
research that actually compares the
effectiveness of sales training that
incorporates relationship marketing and other
important behaviors and skills to improved
performance (Pelham, 2006). The relationship
between learning orientation and performance
has also been examined (e.g., Farrell, 2000;
Slater and Narver, 2000), but the direct impact
of training on a learning orientation has not
been assessed. In conclusion, while some
sales programs have adjusted the content and
focus of their training, there is still a need to
assess the impact of salesperson training on
performance (Pelham, 2006).
It is estimated that over $14 billion a year is
spent by U.S. firms on sales training and that
over 70 days of training are provided to
salespeople in their first year (Wilson et al.,
1998; Attia et al., 2008). College-level sales
training through coursework, role plays, and
internships should lead recent college
graduates to be better prepared for their first
job in sales. Their on-boarding and early
career performance should be better than
those new salespeople without prior training.
More effective training and stronger
performance can be differentiating factors for
companies as they compete in a global
marketplace and can also save firms money in
training and development costs during a
salesperson’s first year on the job.
The impact of sales training programs on
individual and firm performance has been
examined in the sales literature, but the focus
has typically been on training after an
employee has been hired, not before. One
recent trend by some firms has been to adjust
sales training programs to match the reality of
today’s expectations that a salesperson will
serve as an advisor and problem-solver for
their customers while striving to develop
long-term relationships (e.g. Pelham, 2006;
Northern Illinois University
One recent study attempted to examine the
impact of sales training on performance.
Pelham (2006) found that sales training that
applied a consulting-oriented training
approach combined with consulting-oriented
evaluation processes was positively associated
with customer retention, sales force efficiency,
and profit growth. In a previous study,
Pelham (2002) also found a connection
between consulting-oriented training
Academic Article
programs and enhanced customer value.
Leach and Liu (2003) evaluated four different
methods of evaluating sales training and
concluded that positive reactions by
employees to training and knowledge
retention were both related to more effective
sales training outcomes. Another recent study
recognized the need for sales training in an
increasingly complex and competitive global
marketplace, but concluded that many firms
do not know how to evaluate the effectiveness
of their training programs (Attia et al., 2005)
They proposed a three-stage model for
training salespeople that identifies eight
different assessment areas that sales managers
can use to improve the impact of training on
salespeople and the firm.
College Sales Training
Even though there are indications that
knowledge structures have an impact on
performance (Sharma et al., 2007; Weitz et al.,
1986), empirical research focused on the
impact of collegiate sales training and
education on performance is scarce, or purely
anecdotal in nature. While there is a narrow
stream of research in the sales literature that
examines sales education and training at the
collegiate level, the research does not connect
training to improved performance.
In an early survey of collegiate sales programs,
Weilbaker and Williams (2006) found that
students from sales programs had higher
placement rates and starting salaries than
students without formal sales training.
Qualitative research with recruiters also found
that companies reported lower training costs
and turnover rates with sales center students
because of their sales coursework and
experiences. These students also reported
higher levels of satisfaction with sales
positions (Weilbaker and Williams, 2006).
Several researchers have examined the
perceptions of college students toward careers
in professional selling (e.g, Sojka and Gupta,
2000; Honeycutt and Ford, 1995; Spillan et al.,
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35
2007). In a study examining the perceived
value of college sales courses for entry-level
sales positions, Bristow et al., (2006(b)) found
that both sales managers and educators
believed sales courses improved selling skills
for graduating students.
However, sales
educators reported a higher level of perceived
value from the sales courses than sales
managers. In a comparison of perceptions
between sales and non-sales students, Bristow
et al., (2006(a)) found that students who had
taken a sales course held a much more
positive perception of sales careers.
Research Questions
Because there is scarce research examining the
empirical connection of sales education and
training with sales performance, this research
is exploratory in nature.
Due to the
exploratory nature, the goals of the research
are phrased as research questions rather than
hypotheses.
Research Question #1: What is the profile of a
typical graduate from a sales program?
With so little known about graduates from
college sales programs, a profile of the typical
graduating student, the types of jobs they are
securing, their first-year job performance, and
their average starting salaries can provide
some initial insights. Employers may be able
to use these profiles to target potential new
hires and to develop competitive
compensation packages and offers to college
students.
Research Question #2: Do college graduates
who have completed the requirements of a university
sales program perform better in their first sales job
than college graduates without participation in a sales
program?
Anecdotal and qualitative evidence suggests
that those students participating in sales
programs arrive better prepared for their first
sales job, proceed through training more
quickly, display faster ramp-up time, and
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36
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
perform significantly better achieving sales
goals during the first two years of their careers
than those students who do not participate in
a collegiate sales program.
The limited
research in this area indicates that sales
students see more value in sales training and
feel more prepared and confident than
non-sales students about their first entry-level
sales job (Bristow et al., 2006(a); Bristow et al.,
2006(b)). However, research in this area
needs to move beyond the perceptions of
sales students to examine the potential
relationship between collegiate sales training
and early sales performance.
Research Question #3: Do college graduates
who have completed a sales internship prior to
graduation perform better in their first sales job than
college graduates without a sales internship?
With few sales programs currently existing in
the U.S., many college students do not have
the option to pursue extensive sales education
in the classroom. However, students at all
universities can pursue sales internships that
provide sales training and experience prior to
graduation. Therefore, examining whether
graduates who completed sales internships
perform better than those who did not can
generate additional information about the
impact of sales training during college. The
results may also provide colleges of business
with some support to encourage sales
internships for those students interested in
sales careers even if they attend a university
without a formal sales program.
Method
A survey was developed to collect the
empirical data needed to examine the research
questions. In this section, the data collection
method will be reviewed.
Survey Development
The survey questions and response formats
were designed by the authors. The first
section of the survey asked respondents to
answer several demographic questions,
including school attended, major, graduation
Table 1
Performance-Related Variables
Question
Response Format
What percentage of achievement did you attain in
your financial sales goals (e.g. revenues, margins)?
Percentage entered
What percentage of achievement did you attain in
your new customer goals?
Percentage entered
What percentage of achievement did you attain in
your customer service goals (e.g. retention,
delivery, overall satisfaction)?
Percentage entered
5-point scale:
Compared to your peers in the same position,
how would you rate your overall performance?
1=Extremely Poor
to 5=Excellent
Compared to your peers in the same position,
how would you rate your ramp-up time in this
position?
Northern Illinois University
5-point scale
1= Much Slower
to 5 = Much Faster
Academic Article
year, and a history of sales-related positions
held since graduation. The next section asked
respondents to rate their job performance on
several dimensions. Respondents were asked
to report the percentage of achievement in
their financial, new customer attainment, and
customer retention goals. They were also
asked to compare their overall performance
and ramp-up time to peers using semantic
differential questions (See Table 1). Finally,
respondents were asked to report their
perceived preparation for their first sales job
based on the coursework, interaction with
faculty members, mentoring, and internships
they participated in during college.
Data Collection
Data was collected electronically using an
internet-based survey software program.
E-mail invitations were sent on three separate
occasions to recent alumni of a mid-sized,
Midwestern university with a sales program
housed in the college of business. The final
alumni list that served as the study’s
population was developed by combining the
sales program’s alumni database with a
database of recent marketing graduates,
resulting in a total of 580 potential
respondents.
After three requests for participation, 142
people responded to the survey for a response
rate of 24.4% (142/580). However, because
the goal of the research was to examine early
performance of graduates in sales jobs, only
those who reported that their first
post-graduation job was in a sales role were
included in the study. After eliminating 28
respondents with a first job not in sales, there
were 114 alumni in the final analysis sample.
Thus, the effective response rate for the
analysis dataset was 19.7% (114/580).
Profile of Sample
Of the 114 respondents, 39 (34.2%) reported
that they graduated from the sales program at
the university. As expected, the vast majority
(n = 98, 86.0%) of these graduates received a
Fall 2008
37
degree in Marketing, with other commonly
reported majors including Finance,
Management, and Management Information
Systems. The alumni graduated between 1999
and 2007, with the bimodal graduation years
reported as 2002 and 2006 (25 graduates each
year). Forty-six percent (n = 52) of the alumni
were female, with an overall average age of
26.99.
Results
Research Question #1: What is the profile of a
typical graduate from a sales program?
The first research question focused on
identifying the profile of a typical graduate
from a sales program. In this exploratory
study, thirty-nine participants identified
themselves as having graduated from the
university’s sales program. The graduates
received their degrees from 1999 through
2007, with a mode of 11 in 2006. Of these
graduates, a vast majority reported having
received a degree in Marketing (n = 30,
76.9%). For the few that reported a second
major (n = 9), the most frequently cited were
Finance, Management, and Management
Information Systems (2 reported for each).
The sales program graduates reported taking,
on average, just under six (5.8) sales-related
courses while in school. Nearly all (n = 36,
92.3%) reported participating in an internship
while in school, with thirty-one (79.5%) of
these internships serving as paid internships.
For their first sales job after graduation, the
most commonly reported job titles were
“Sales Representative,” “Sales Manager,”
“Account Executive,” and “Account
Manager.”
When asked for total annual income in the
first full year of their sales position, the
majority (60%) earned an annual income of
$30,000 to $60,000 in their first position, but
21% earned $60,000 to $90,000 annually.
Even though these income figures include
base salary, commission, and bonuses earned
throughout the year, these salary results are
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38
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
impressive considering the National
Association of Colleges and Employers
reported an average starting salary of $44,005
for recent graduates employed in sales roles in
2008.
When asked the percentage of goal attainment
in three areas during their first sales job,
graduates of sales program reported achieving
93.48% of their financial sales goals (revenues,
margins), 80.68% of their new client
attainment goals, and 82.67% of their
customer service goals (retention, delivery,
overall satisfaction). When asked to compare
their early performance to peers in the same
position, 83.7% of sales program graduates
reported faster ramp-up times than their peers
and 81.0% reported above average or much
better overall job performance than their
peers.
Research Question #2: Do college graduates
who have completed the requirements of a university
sales program perform better than college graduates
without participation in a sales program?
The second research question compared
on-the-job performance of sales program
graduates (n=39) to college graduates that had
not participated in the sales program (n=75).
T-tests were conducted to compare the two
groups on the five performance questions
included in the survey. The results can be
found in Table 2.
There were no significant differences found
on the first three performance questions:
financial goals, new customer goals, and
customer service goals.
However, sales
program graduates did rate their overall
performance and ramp-up time significantly
higher than non-sales program graduates rated
their own performance and ramp-up time.
Research Question #3: Do college graduates
who have completed a sales internship prior to
graduation perform better than college graduates
without a sales internship?
The third, and final, research question again
looked at on-the-job performance, but this
Table 2
Comparison of Sales Program and Non-Sales Program Graduates
Sales Program
Graduates
Mean
SD
Non-Sales Program
Graduates
Mean
SD
Df
t
Financial Goal
Attainment
93.48
33.60
87.63
37.94
84
0.70
New Customer
Goal Attainment
80.68
36.08
79.59
48.20
80
0.10
Customer Service
Goal Attainment
82.67
44.84
82.02
30.82
81
0.08
Performance
Compared to Peers
3.14
0.71
2.81
0.81
110
2.08*
Ramp-up
Compared to Peers
3.19
0.70
2.82
0.91
110
2.14*
Item
Note. *p < .05. M = Mean. SD = Standard Deviation. Degrees of freedom vary due to unanswered
questions.
Northern Illinois University
Academic Article
39
Fall 2008
Table 3
Comparison of Students Who Did and Did Not Participate In a Sales Internship
Participated in an
Internship
Item
Financial Goal
Attainment
Did Not Participate
in an Internship
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
df
t
94.61
39.08
82.83
31.73
84
1.48
New Customer
Goal Attainment
85.16
52.54
73.70
32.36
80
1.15
Customer Service
Goal Attainment
82.98
38.24
81.27
31.63
81
0.22
Performance
Compared to Peers
3.08
0.75
2.71
0.79
110
2.49*
Ramp-up
Compared to Peers
3.11
0.85
2.73
0.84
110
2.34*
Note. *p < .05. M = Mean. SD = Standard Deviation.
Degrees of freedom vary due to unanswered questions.
time compared graduates who had completed
a sales internship prior to graduation (n=63)
to those who had not completed such an
internship (n=51). The t-tests are summarized
in Table 3.
When comparing graduates who had
completed an internship to those who had
not, no significant differences were once again
found on the first three performance
questions. However, graduates with a sales
internship similarly rated their overall
performance and ramp-up time significantly
higher than those who did not complete a
sales internship.
Discussion
This exploratory research revealed several
insights on the impact of sales education and
internships on the early job performance of
recent college graduates. First, the profile of a
typical graduate from the sales program at this
university indicated reasonably high
achievement of sales goals during their first
full year in a sales role (80.68-93.48%) and a
majority reported higher performance and
quicker ramp-up time than their peers in the
same sales position. The results also suggest
that total first-year compensation for sales
graduates is above the national average for
entry-level sales positions.
Although the percentage of goal achievement
for sales graduates in their first year on the job
was reasonably high, it was not significantly
higher than those who did not graduate from
a sales program. However, sales program
graduates did report significantly higher
overall performance and quicker ramp-up
time than those students who did not
participate in the sales program.
The
importance of sales experience before
graduation was further supported by the
comparison of students with sales internships
to those without. The results demonstrated
significantly higher overall performance and
quicker ramp-up time for students who had
completed sales internships.
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Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
The results of this research should be of
particular interest to sales organizations and
their recruiting teams. With the typical sales
organization providing over 70 days of
training for new salespeople in the first year
(Kaydo, 1998) and investing up to $100,000 in
training costs for some positions (Johnston
and Marshall, 2006), there is pressure to make
good hiring decisions. Based on the results of
this research, organizations should strongly
consider recruiting at universities with sales
programs and to use sales internship
experiences as a key decision-making criterion
when hiring at any university. Given the
training investment made by sales
organizations, they should be particularly
interested in the quicker ramp-up time
reported by students with sales education and
internships.
This research can also be used by departments
and colleges to support the value of adding
sales education and programs to the
curriculum at their respective universities.
The HR Chally Group, a global sales research
and consulting firm and sponsor of the
University Sales Education Foundation,
estimates that approximately 50% of all
college graduates, irrespective of major, are
hired into first jobs that are primarily sales
positions. Even if this estimate is inflated,
there can be no doubt that the vast majority of
college graduates being hired as salespeople
enter the workplace insufficiently prepared by
their college education. If one part of the
mission for a college of business is to
adequately prepare students for successful
careers in business, this research demonstrates
the importance of sales training and
experience in helping prepare college
graduates for early success in their sales
careers.
While the interests of students should clearly
be the primary concern, there are factors that
make the investment in sales education of
financial interest to colleges of business. A
quick review of the top sales programs in the
Northern Illinois University
United States reveals that each is supported
financially by corporate sponsors. From data
that is available, it appears that annual
sponsorships range from $5,000 to $25,000.
Many corporations are also spending up to
$25,000 to sponsor national sales
competitions organized by different entities.
While these sponsoring organizations are
clearly supporting the professional
advancement of the sales profession, they are
also gaining access to and developing
relationships with those few students that are
receiving sales education and training. Given
the current state of the higher education
industry and dwindling state support for
public universities, the willingness of sales
organizations to invest in sales education
should not be ignored. New sales programs
can be largely funded by corporate sponsors
and provide new revenue streams for colleges
of business.
Limitations and Directions for Future
Research
In this pilot study, data was only collected
from one university and one sales program.
In addition, the majority of the respondents
were marketing majors. At this university,
marketing majors are required to take an
introduction to sales course as part of the
major. Therefore, even those graduates in this
study who did not participate in the sales
program had taken at least one required sales
course. In fact, the respondents in the sample
who had not participated in the sales program
still averaged almost two sales courses taken
while in school, which may partially explain
why more significant differences were not
found in this research. Clearly, future research
on the impact of sales education should
include multiple universities to improve the
diversity and representativeness of the sample.
Increasing the number of universities included
in the research would also address another
limitation of this study, which was a relatively
small sample size. While the response rate
Academic Article
from this sampling frame was acceptable
(20%), the small size of this pool of graduates
resulted in analysis samples of 39 sales
graduates and 75 non-sales graduates. While
these sample sizes are technically above the
minimum needed (n=30), future research
should strive for larger sample sizes.
Another limitation of the research was the use
of self-report data for the performance
questions. Subjective, self-reporting questions
are regularly used in business research, largely
because it is often easier to collect data from
individuals than it is to have supervisors rate
multiple individuals objectively. However,
future research needs to collect performance
data directly from supervisors at several
organizations that hire graduates from both
sales and non-sales programs.
In addition to collecting performance and
compensation data directly from supervisors,
future research needs to include more
performance and job-related variables. For
example, perceived job fit was a variable that
was not included in this research.. Because
perceived job fit can be related to job
performance, it is important that future
research considers whether job fit, and other
job-related variables, affects performance as
much as sales training and education. And
while there is a stream of research on college
student perceptions of sales careers
(e.g. Honeycutt and Ford, 1995; Spillan et al.,
2007), it would be interesting to measure the
perceptions of sales as a profession from
actual salespeople and determine whether the
attitudes toward selling and levels of job
satisfaction differ between those with college
sales training and those without.
Future research should also include the
traditional salesperson performance
(e.g. Churchill et al., 1985(a)) and knowledge
structures variables (e.g. Sharma et al., 2007)
along with collegiate sales education variables
so that the relative impact of all variables on
salesperson and firm performance can be
Fall 2008
41
evaluated. And while this research examined
the early performance of salespeople, it did
not measure turnover or length of time in
sales positions. Practitioners are also keenly
interested in turnover and length of service as
key indicators of effective recruiting and
training of salespeople, so future research
should include turnover and tenure as
variables.
Conclusion
This research found significant differences in
performance between sales-program graduates
and non-sales program graduates.
Sales
graduates rated their comparative
performance and ramp-up speed significantly
higher than those who had not graduated
from such a program. Similar results were
found for students that had completed sales
internships.
Taken together, this study is the first to assess
and document the true benefits of pursuing
university sales education and sales
internships. Even with a small sample size,
many significant differences between students
with and without sales training were revealed.
These results support the perceived benefits
of sales programs for students and employers.
Given the mutual interest shared by colleges
and corporations in the successful launching
of sales careers by young graduates, it is hoped
that this research will spur more interest in
and support of collegiate sales training and
education.
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press/display.asp?year=2008&prid=281.
Pelham, A. (2006) “Do Consulting-Oriented
Sales Management Programs Impact
Salesperson Performance and Profit?”
Journal of Business and Industrial
Marketing, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 175-188.
Pelham, A. (2002) “An Exploratory Model and
Initial Test of the Influence of Firm Level
Consulting-Oriented Sales Force Programs
on Sales Force Performance,” Journal of
Personal Selling and Sales Management, Vol.
22, No. 2, pp. 97-109.
Sharma, A., Levy, M. & Evanschitzky, H. (2007)
“The Variance in Sales Performance
Explained by the Knowledge Structures of
Salespeople,” Journal of Personal Selling
and Sales Management, Vol. 27, No. 2,
pp. 169-181.
Slater, S. F. & Narver, J. C. (2000) “The Positive
Effect of a Market Orientation on Business
Profitability: A Balanced Replication,”
Journal of Business Research, Vol. 48,
No. 1, pp. 69-73.
Sojka, J. Z. & Gupta, A. K. (2000) “Student
Perceptions of Sales Careers: Implications
for Educators and Recruiters,”
Mid-American Journal of Business, Vol. 15,
Spring, pp. 55-63.
Academic Article
Spillan, J. E., Totten, J. W. & Ziemnowicz, C.
(2007) “What are Students’ Perceptions of
Personal Selling as a Career?” Journal for
Advancement of Marketing Education,
Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 19-30.
Stevens, C. D. & Macintosh, G. (2002-03)
“Personality and Attractiveness of Activities
Within Sales Jobs,” Journal of Personal
Selling and Sales Management, 23, Winter,
pp. 23-37.
Top University Sales Education Programs
(2009), The University Sales Education
Foundation,
www.saleseducationfoundation.org.
Think TV, The New Selling of America,
Documentary (2008), Think TV
Productions.
Weilbaker, D. C. & Williams, M. (2006)
“Recruiting New Salespeople from
Universities: University Sales Centers Offer
a Better Alternative,” Journal of Selling &
Major Account Management, Vol. 6, No. 3,
pp. 30-38.
Weitz, B. A., Sujan, H. & Sujan, M. (1986)
“Knowledge, Motivation, and Adaptive
Behavior: A Framework for Improving
Selling Effectiveness,” Journal of Marketing,
Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 174-191.
Weitz, B. A. & Bradford, K. D. (1999) “Personal
Selling and Sales Management: A
Relationship Marketing Perspective,”
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Wilson, P., Strutton, D., & Farris, M. T. (2002)
“Investigating the Perceptual Aspect of
Sales Training,” Journal of Personal Selling
and Sales Management, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp.
77-86.
Megan K. Leasher, Ph.D.
Megan Leasher is a Senior Project Consultant
with the HR Chally Group and holds a Ph.D. in
Industrial/Organizational Psychology from
Wright State University. Her research has been
published in several academic journals and presented at national conferences, including the
Fall 2008
43
annual meeting for the Society for Industrial and
Organizational Psychology. She has won several
awards, including the RHR International Outstanding Dissertation Award (on behalf of the
Society of Consulting Psychology), the Society
for Human Resource Management Foundation's
Graduate Student Leader Award, and has been
named to Who's Who in American Universities
and Colleges. Megan currently serves on the
Board of Directors for the Miami Valley Human
Resource Association, where she has been an
active member for the past four years.
Within Chally, her responsibilities include conducting validation research and training for clients, serving as an assessment law and statistical
expert, overseeing internal research, developing
research partnerships, and conducting continuous psychometric analysis of the Chally Assessment.
Christopher R. Moberg, D.B.A.
Chris Moberg is Chair of the Marketing Department and the Robert H. Freeman Professor of
Logistics Management at Ohio University. He is
also the Director of External Relations for the
Ralph and Luci Schey Sales Centre. He received
a D.B.A. from Cleveland State University
(2000), an M.B.A. from Miami University
(1989), and a B.B.A. from the University of New
Mexico (1988).
Professor Moberg teaches Marketing Strategy,
Supply Chain Management, and Marketing Research Methods. His research interests include
supply chain management, internal integration,
service networks, professional services marketing, marketing and sales education, and student
ethics. His research has been presented at several national conferences and has appeared in
many journals, including the Journal of Business
Logistics, International Journal of Physical Distribution
& Logistics Management, International Journal of Logistics Management, Supply Chain Management Review,
Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, Annals
of Operations Research, Marketing Education Review,
Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Professional
Services Marketing, and Services Marketing Quarterly.
APPENDIX Following
Vol. 8, No. 4
44
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
Appendix 1
University Sales Programs 2009
SCHOOL
LOCATION
STUDENTS
Athens University of Economics & Business
Athens, GRE
10
Ball State University
Muncie, IN
350
Baylor University
Waco, TX
115
Bradley University
Peoria, IL
40
California State University, Chico
Chico, CA
50
Central Michigan University
Mt. Pleasant, MI
60
College of St. Catherine
St. Paul, MN
180
DePaul University
Chicago, IL
700
Dublin Institute of Technology
Dublin, IRL
20
FH Wien Studiengage der WKW
Vienna, AUS
340
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL
200
Georgia Southern University
Statesboro, GA
90
Groupe Clermont School of Management
Clermont-Ferrand, FRA
Illinois State University
Normal, IL
278
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN
175
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, GA
150
Michigan State University
Lansing, MI
33
Missouri State University
Springfield, MO
137
Montpellier 1 University
Montpellier, FRA
20
Nicholls State University
Thibodaux, LA
50
Northern Illinois University
Dekalb, IL
180
Ohio University
Athens, OH
250
Portsmouth Business School
Portsmouth, UK
140
The College of New Jersey
Ewing, NJ
20
University of Akron
Akron, OH
100
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Little Rock, AR
60
University of Central Florida
Orlando, FL
40
University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT
250
University of Dayton
Dayton, OH
200
University of Houston
Houston, TX
180
University of Louisville
Louisville, KY
15
Northern Illinois University
1,450
Academic Article
Fall 2008
University of Nebraska at Kearney
Kearney, NE
214
University of Toledo
Toledo, OH
413
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
385
University of Wisconsin Eau Clair
Eau Claire, WI
100
Washington State UniversityVancouver
Vancouver, WA
30
Western Carolina University
Cullowhee, NC
75
Western Kentucky University
Bowling Green, KY
160
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, MI
350
Widner University
Chester, PA
30
William Paterson University
Wayne, NJ
85
45
Source: Top University Sales Education Programs 2009, HR Chally
Vol. 8, No. 4
46
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
DON’T SELL ME - PERSUADE ME
By Julia O’Connor
Trade shows have the disadvantage of
compressed time. You might have 30 seconds
or 30 minutes but it’s not a regular sales call.
You can’t talk faster all you can do is just
listen closely to the attendees and try to
persuade them that your firm can solve their
problems.
Here are nine conversation points, and
examples, to consider when speaking with
people at trade shows to persuade them
instead of selling them.
AUTHORITY - Why are you important?
What gives you the authority to ask for a
clients business? Perhaps it’s your firm’s
expertise in a certain area, or a partner’s
experience. It should not be because your
company has a long history or is the newest
widget-maker on the block.
TIP - It has to be a proactive, not a reactive,
reason. “We’ve taken the position that
e-learning is critical. We developed a great
program in-house that improved our sales
productivity 45%, and now we’re sharing it
with others in our industry.”
COMMITMENT - Is your firm committed to
your industry? Are you a leader or just in the
pack?
TIP - Don’t say you’re committed to customer
service, tell me how. “We found that 85% of
our customer service calls come during regular
business hours, but we never want you to
have to wait for an answer, so our 800
number and online help desk are staffed
24/7.”
CONFORMITY - Are you certified? In every
industry, some form of certification carries
importance and gives you and your firm
authority. Knowing that as a consulting firm,
half of your staff are CPAs, lets them know
Northern Illinois University
that you conform to accounting standards.
TIP - Don't just tell me why you are ISO9000
certified; tell me why it’s important to your
company. “We were the first HVAC company
in this area to be certified and it really helps us
focus our goals to service clients like you.”
CONSISTENCY - Clients want to know you
have a track record and that you’ll maintain it
when they remain with you.
TIP - Explain how you maintain the
consistency. “We’re spending $5million in
R&D this year for product improvement, but
we’ll always stock the MX49 that your firm
uses, because we own that mold. ”
CONTRAST - How are you different from
your competitors? Avoid giving your
competitor a plug and don’t refer to them by
name.
TIP - Answer questions with a comment that
shows your company’s leadership. “We’re
aware other firms are taking the low road, but
we’ve always preferred the high road because
the vision is better.”
CONFLICT (2 TYPES)- This area can be
broken into two separate areas. If there’s a
twinge of personality clash either personal or
business related in your conversation, pass the
visitor over to another staff member.
Personal Conflict- we all like to do business with
people for whom we have a good personal
feeling, so if there’s a twinge of personality
clash in your conversation, pass the visitor
over to another staff member.
TIP - You don’t want to blow a deal because
he or she didn’t “like” you. “You know, I
think Sam has a better handle on your
concerns, so let me introduce you to him
now.”
Application Article
Business Related Conflict- This is business - In
today’s fast, competitive world, not everyone
is aware of the relationships on the business
side, or if there is a history your firm has with
the visitor’s firm.
TIP - Be up to date on your company’s status,
ask about relationship problems before the
show. “Yes, I understand we didn’t get the bid
for the job in Chile, but since we added
enterprise software our costs have reduced
considerably. I know we’ll be more aggressive
on your next bid.”
RECIPROCATE - Is this a potential
partnership? Every client should be viewed as
a partner. Sometimes, you have to give more
in a partnership than you get.
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After years of informal instruction, Trade
Show Training was incorporated to provide
structured training ranging from trade show
basics to the ergonomics of exhibit design.
She designed Camp Sho-M-Sel-M to improve
sales staff performance in the trade show
environment.
She holds degrees from The University of
Georgia in Advertising, an MA in Mass
Communications from The University of
Iowa, and an Indiana University MBA in
Marketing. She is a frequent speaker on
marketing, networking, entrepreneurship and
trade shows.
TIP - Don’t view the reciprocity as a
guaranteed 50-50 relationship. “We’ll be
happy to include co-op advertising in our
agreement with you. All we ask is, when the
advertising works for you, that you refer other
wholesalers like your firm to us.”
SCARCITY - How unique are your firm’s
talents, products and services? What makes
me have to choose you?
TIP - Be certain of your facts before you
boast - “Are you aware we are the only firm to
provides secure Internet access for coffee
grinder repair shops?
Julia E. O'Connor
President and Founder
Trade Show Training, Inc.
Julia has always been in sales. She has always
focused on getting the results and to obtain
this she will guide, train, and teach.
Her careers range from public and
professional education design, to freelance
advertising-public relations, to real estate
investment portfolio management.
Since 1982, Julia has been working with clients
in trade show marketing.
Vol. 8, No. 4
48
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
TOUGH SELLING TIMES and TRADE SHOWS
By Julia O’Connor
THE AH-HA MOMENT
Ah…the good old days. The times you went
to a trade show and did the schmoozing, the
nibbling, the drinking, the chatting, the
gossiping, and the fun stuff. Of course, you
wrote a little business, and hopefully pre-sold
a bunch more. You were as social as your
industry expected. So, life was good.
THE OH-NO MOMENT …
HEAD IN THE SAND
What happens if you just ignore the economic
news and don’t pay attention to what’s
happening in your industry? Whether you
keep doing the same things, or you take a
buzz saw to your exhibit program, you may be
missing opportunities or overspending for
reduced results. Times are different, tougher,
and require a rationale approach.
Oh…the bad new days. Of course, you were
attuned to the movements in your industry
that butted against your niche, but you
certainly didn’t expect seismic shifts as quickly
as this past year produced. You didn’t expect
credit constipation plus clients and
competitors. So, life is shaky.
Remember, trade shows are NOT
ISOLATED MARKETING EVENTS. They
are part of your integration of all marketing
materials and efforts. So, chasing the elusive
ROI - return on investment - for a trade show
can be difficult.
ARE THESE TOUGH TIMES
1. HOW DO YOU MEASURE EFFORTS?
Trade shows are different because you may
have less control over who visits you, but
there has to be a system in place before you
attend the show.
They are unless you are selling anything but
credit repair services? Remember we have
been through this before. Maybe not as
severe and maybe not as worldwide as it is
now. Maybe not tanking the financial services
sectors as bluntly as it is today.
So, what are the best ways to hang on, to
promote business, to keep abreast of
information, to separate industry gossip from
the facts?
The good news is that trade show industry is
alive and well. The interesting thing about this
industry is that it keeps plugging along despite
the economy. Maybe there are fewer folks
walking the aisles, fewer exhibitors, smaller
footprints, but unless it’s a true horse-andbuggy industry and no one is buying anything,
it is alive and profitable.
Northern Illinois University
TIPS TO CONSIDER:
2. HOW MUCH PROMOTION? If you’re
introducing a new product at the show, what
is your lead time for promotion? How many
inquiries does this promotion generate before
the show versus after the show?
3. WHAT’S YOUR PURPOSE? Is it an
opportunity to get publicity, to market the
company, to sell a particular product, to
recruit partners or employees? Measure by
samples given, amount of trade press received
after the show, the number of applicants who
actually became employees, the number of
license agreements signed within a year.
Planning for all of the components that a
Application Article
trade show can bring you, gives you a better
sense of the impact a show can have on your
company and your bottom line.
4. WHO FOLLOWS UP? The farther the
distance and longer the time frame, the less
likely the lead will be contacted. What is your
system for reporting on the progress of the
lead?
5. WHAT’S YOUR SALES CYCLE? Trade
shows shorten the sales process. If your sales
cycle is usually three months from
qualification to completion, a trade show lead
should close in that time frame or less.
This means you have to plan, track, and
follow-up. Consider trade shows to be
targeted marketing which allow you to get
closer to the client in a faster, more
trustworthy fashion.
Fall 2008
49
to the trade show. Plus, it made Corporate
look like a hero.
(3) Marketplace - The local trade shows
allowed for more one-on-one sales meetings,
boosted opportunities for clients to bring
referrals to the show, and put the company
name before the community. It garnered press
in general local media as well as the regional,
state and local trade publications, and
improved the image of the firm in its
community.
Lesson Learned - Review all of your
marketing dollars and see where you can
spread the corporate wealth. Despite the
Internet, clients often buy at the local level
and this builds your brand name and
relationships for future sales.
A Case Study: Slash and burn (cutting the
exhibit space)
A smaller company with a number of
distributors decided to decrease some of its
national trade shows and support its divisions
and local markets to promote brand
awareness. Here are the results:
(1) Budget - Actually, the money didn’t
decrease that much but the co-op dollars were
better utilized. Since there was a split of
corporate dollars to local dollars, exhibitor
visibility in local and regional community and
professional organizations (trade associations,
chamber of commerce, etc.) increased. Rather
than a huge exhibit at a dozen national shows,
the firm reduced space at nine shows,
dropped three shows, so corporate expanded
its local presence by many dollars.
(2) Hubris - Wow! What a charge for a local
distributor and its staff. This was an
ego-driver into the trenches of sales. It was a
treat for the lowly sales person to invite a
client or prospect to meet at a special
before-the-show event (distributor sponsored
lunch and presentation) and give free tickets
Vol. 8, No. 4
50
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
Customer Service is IN the Booth!
By Julia O’Connor
Is Customer Service just another feel-good
business buzzword? Maybe your experiences
are like mine. You make a phone call and then
you’re dropped into voice-mail hell, no way
out and no one to direct you. You’re on
interminable hold, ah, there’s a click - then
disconnect. You buy an item, return it and can
only get store credit. You call the repair
department and spend a day waiting for
service.
Do you think the president of the company
gets the ‘service’ you do? Customer service
has become a matter of procedures, scripts
and flow-charting to take the problem to the
lowest level, or out of the loop entirely. For
example, if you’re in New York, your service
representative may be an outsourced call
center in Philadelphia or the Philippines.
The most famous phrase of all time is “That’s not my job.” If you think customer
service is something that happens after the
trade show, you’re wrong. Read the following
tips about embracing customer service and
what people really want from you as an
exhibitor.
Front-line Service is IN the Booth
Customer service may be a defined
department in your firm, or a procedures
manual that’s passed around, or it’s in the
mission statement. The fact of the matter is
that no matter what your company says - or
doesn’t say - the exhibit visitor sees your staff
in the booth as the embodiment of your firm’s
customer service.
Perception is critical. Visitors who believe that
your firm provides good customer service Northern Illinois University
whether they themselves are customers or not
- are closer to making a decision in your favor.
Make sure the stories about your firm are
positive.
Know your problems before you go to the
show. Whether you’ve made the front page of
the business press or there’s something
smoldering in a back room, be prepared to
solve problems when you’re on the floor. You
can’t fake it - you have to know what visitors
will say, and the official response by your firm.
A ‘No Comment’ is not acceptable.
Continue to Improve
Whether your show is a two-hour cocktail
reception or a two-week endurance challenge,
there are lessons to be learned from each
experience. If you just go, come back and
never discuss ways to make it better, you've
wasted valuable time and input.
Visitors expect you to be sharp, and
knowledgeable about your firm. They also
want you to be appreciative of the time and
effort they put into visiting your space. Ask
for feedback from visitors. How? You can ask
“Are there additional your questions I can
answer?” or “Was this demonstration
helpful?” or, most importantly, “What’s our
next step in doing business with you?”
Critique your own staff. You can observe the
chatterboxes, the sloppy appearances and the
bored demeanors. Make notes and either
correct the problems or change staff for the
next show. Ask your staff for feedback. Were
there problems? For example - the literature
didn’t arrive, the staff felt short-handed, the
demo really didn’t answer the questions or
Application Article
there were technical glitches. Perhaps there
were some personality clashes, too many inexperienced staffers, too many engineers or, best
of all, the balance was just right and they’ll all
like to do it again.
Really Listen
Here’s the problem - you’re in the booth. You
know your product and you want to tell
everybody absolutely everything about it. Your
enthusiasm is wonderful but you overwhelm
the visitor. They feel blasted with words.
Your exhibit, the graphics, the
demonstrations, and the brochures should
answer the general questions about your firm.
Remember though that time is short and
people may read nothing that’s in your space.
They may be totally unfamiliar with your firm
and its products, and they’ll ask “So, what do
you do?” Be ready with a very simple
explanation, and be prepared to say it 100
times a day.
Before the show, review your normal sales
process and find ways to pare it down.
Understand the words and phrases that are
“hot words” the prospect will use when
there’s interest. Listen carefully for these key
words and prepare to take action. Also listen
for new concerns about your firm, products,
or of the industry in general.
Who’s in Charge?
Customer service problems are leadership
problems and Customer Service starts at the
top. When the President and management of
your company haven’t experienced the hoops
that the Average Joe has to jump through to
get information, return a product or lodge a
complaint with your company, then they have
distanced themselves as a Company from the
actuality of a Client.
Before you go to the show, call your
company’s general customer service line with
a routine problem. Keep track of how long it
takes and how many people you speak with
before you connect with a person who can
Fall 2008
51
solve your problem. Do not use the web site,
assume you don’t have a computer. For real
frustration, assume you don’t have a
push-button phone. Anything that requires
more than two minutes on hold and two
transfers will lose you customers.
No matter the size of your staff, be certain
that each show has a general manager and
each shift has a manager with authority to
solve problems on the spot. Be certain
everyone knows the pecking order before you
step on the show floor.
Hold everyone accountable for what happens
on the floor. While each person may have
responsibility for a special component of the
show, it must be considered a Team Effort.
Visitors expect your firm to speak with one
voice, for everyone in the booth to be
knowledgeable, polite and looking forward to
doing business with them.
Celebrate success. You’ll know when the show
was good. There’s a feeling beyond the
number of leads gathered or business booked.
You’ll feel that you contributed to the effort
of your firm, you’ll be satisfied with your
team’s performance - well, you’ll just feel
good.
Match Personalities
Each show has a personality unto itself. It may
be heavily technical or very arty. Each industry
has its own vocabulary, rhythm and standards.
If you don’t understand the relationships or
nuances of the show to the buying patterns of
the industry, you won’t be very happy.
Don’t assume that the audience equals the
name of the show. For example -there are
technical shows which include technical staff
who are influencers and non-technical
purchasing staff who make the actual
purchase. The company president may be an
engineer but not have the final say on
accounting software.
If you have the opportunity to match
personality to the buying audience, you will be
Vol. 8, No. 4
52
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
more successful. It requires skill to place staff
which are both detail-oriented to talk with the
detail-seekers, and extrovert-big-picture
people who can communicate with those who
want a “ballpark” quote or can answer the
“what if...” questions.
Visitors believe that how you treat them at the
show is how they will be treated if they
become a client of your firm. This is
absolutely the best time to put your Customer
Service Extraordinaire effort into your time in
the booth.
Northern Illinois University