Spring 2006
CONTENTS
JSMAM VOLUME 6, SPRING 2006
5
From the Editor
By Dan C. Weilbaker, Ph.D.
ACADEMIC ARTICLES
6
Situational Salesforce Leadership Using Sales Control and Trust
By Michael L. Mallin and Ellen Bolman Pullins
Personality and Relational Time Perspective in Selling
19
By Gerrard Macintosh
Exploring the Practice of Undercover Selling
34
By Vincent P. Magnini, Earl D. Honeycutt, John N. Gaskins, and Sharon K. Hodge
APPLICATION ARTICLES
Using Presentations to Cultivate Stronger Customer Relationships
46
By Mark Shonka and Dan Kosch
Sales: A Process That Can Be Improved by Using Six Sigma
54
By Jeff Reinke
Practice Makes Perfect: A Case Study for Skill Development
60
By Michael R. Williams, John M. Hawes, and Linda M. Foley
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.
©2006 By Northern Illinois University. All Rights Reserved. ISSN: 1463-1431
Vol. 6, No. 2
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
Strategic partners and sponsors
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Spring 2006
Manuscripts
1. Articles for consideration should be sent to Editor: Dan C. Weilbaker, Department of Marketing Northern Illinois University,
DeKalb, IL 60115 USA or by fax: 001 815-753-6014 or by Email to dweilbak@niu.edu
2. Articles in excess of 6000 words will not normally be accepted. The Editor welcome shorter articles, case studies and reviews.
Contributors should specify the length of their articles.
3. A manuscript copy of the contribution along with four (4) copies should be submitted if possible with a copy on 3.5"
diskette in Microsoft Word format, author's name(s) and short title of the article. Alternatively, the contribution may be emailed to
the above address as a Microsoft Word document; however contributors are advised to check by telephone that submissions have
been received. Neither the editor nor Northern Illinois University, Department of Marketing accepts any responsibility for loss or
damage of any contributions submitted for publication in the Journal.
Biographical note - supply a short biographical note giving the author(s) full name, appointment, institutions or
organization / company and recent professional attainments.
Synopsis - an abstract not exceeding 100 words should be included.
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diagram to appear shaded may be submitted by way of illustrative example. These should be numbered consecutively and
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References - should be cited using the Harvard method. No footnotes should be used for references or literature citations.
Wherever possible, full bibliographic details (e.g., volume number issue number or date, page numbers publisher year of
publication) should be included.
Footnotes - for clarification or elaboration should be used very sparingly - they may be indicated in the text and at the
beginning of the footnote by the use of asterisks and / or daggers.
4. Any article or other contribution submitted must be the original unpublished work of the author(s) not submitted for
publication elsewhere.
5. Manuscripts should be typewritten using one side of 81/2” X 11” or A4 paper with all margins of 1" and double-spaced.
Font style should be Times New Roman in 12 pitch. Footnotes should be typed at the bottom of the page and numbered
consecutively throughout the text.
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7 An address for correspondence (including Email address) should be supplied as well as a telephone and fax number at which
the author(s) may be contacted. .
8. Authors undertake to check proofs and to return them within the specified date. They should be free from grammatical,
syntax or spelling errors. Failure to return proofs will result in the publication of the article at the editor’s discretion in which
event the editor does not accept liability for any changes made to grammar syntax, spelling or other changes deemed necessary.
The editor reserve the right not to accept any alterations or corrections made.
PERMISSIONS
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Subscriptions
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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—Ieva Engel
Professional Sales Program Secretary
Department of Marketing
Northern Illinois University
iengel@niu.edu
Vol. 6, No. 2
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
EDITORIAL BOARD
Rolph E. Anderson
Drexel University
Mark C. Johlke
Bradley University
Ramon A. Avila
Ball State University
Eli Jones
University of Houston
Sonke Albers
Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel
Buddy LaForge
University of Louisville
Terri Barr
Miami Unviersity—Ohio
Terry W. Loe
Kennesaw State University
Jim W. Blythe
University of Glamorgan
Daniel H. McQuiston
Butler University
Richard E. Buehrer
University of Toledo
Pete Naude
Manchester Business School
Steven Castleberry
University of Minnesota—Duluth
Stephen Newell
Western Michigan University
William L. Cron
Texas Christian University
Nigel F. Piercy
University of Warwick
Laura Cuddihy
Dublin Institute of Technology
Richard E. Plank
William Paterson University
René Y. Darmon
ESSEC Business School
Gregory A. Rich
Bowling Green State University
Dawn R. Deeter-Schmelz
Ohio University
Rick Ridnour
Northern Illinois University
Bill Donaldson
Aberdeen Business School
Elizabeth Rogers
Portsmouth Business School
Sean Dwyer
Louisiana Tech University
Jeffrey K. Sager
University of North Texas
Paolo Guenzi
SDA Bocconi
Charles Schwepker, Jr.
Central Missouri State University
Jon M. Hawes
University of Akron
C. David Shepherd
Kennesaw State University
Earl D. Honeycutt
Elon University
William A. Weeks
Baylor University
Thomas N. Ingram
Colorado State University
Michael R. Williams
Illinois State University
Northern Illinois University
Spring 2006
From the Editor
The Journal of Selling & Major Account Management continues to
strive to have the academic learn from the practitioner and the practitioner to learn from the academic. Both worlds provide their own
value, but the combination provides synergy. Thus, the second issue
of Volume 6 continues to move the sales academic and sales practitioner closer.
The three academic articles tackle a variety of issues that may help
practitioners improve their selling processes. The first looks at Situational Sales Force Leadership with control and trust. The second
article examines personality and its impact on relational time. The
third article deals with a relatively new concept of undercover selling.
The three application articles in this issue provide the practitioner with:
1. Key information on making presentations to various buyer types.
2. The implementation of six sigma process improvement in a sales context for a Fortune
15 company.
3. A case study providing insights and information to improve selling skills in either the
academic or company venue.
If there are issues that affect your sales lives, and you are not seeing any coverage, please
contact me. Our goal is to provide pertinent information to both the academic and
practitioner.
Dan C. Weilbaker, Ph.D.
Editor and
McKesson Pharmaceutical Group
Professor of Sales
Northern Illinois University
Vol. 6, No. 2
6
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
SITUATIONAL SALESFORCE LEADERSHIP USING SALES
CONTROL AND TRUST
By Michael L. Mallin and Ellen Bolman Pullins
The authors propose a situational leadership framework using dimensions of sales control (outcome-based versus
behavior-based) and managerial trust in the salesperson. They argue that a more parsimonious and comprehensive
model of sales management, over existing models, can be constructed by taking into account both details of the sales
environment and the sales manager – salesperson relationship quality. Six leadership styles emerge as being appropriate
for managing salespeople in different environment: Contingent- (low trust; outcome-based control) these reps should
be closely managed using outcome-based sales incentives to ensure performance. Facilitating- (moderate trust;
outcome-based control) allows the manager to play the role of supporter whereby the onus of day-to-day decisionmaking and problem solving rests in the hands of the salesperson. Delegating- (high trust; outcome-based control) the
salesperson and manager jointly decide on the problem, but decision-making is delegated to the salesperson to decide
how to accomplish the goal. Directing- (low trust; behavior-based control) sales manager will provide much
instruction, telling the salesperson what, how, and when tasks should be performed. Coaching-(moderate trust;
behavior-based control) 2-way communication exists between the salesperson and sales manager in an attempt to
engage in productive dialogue leading to ideas and suggestions for improved performance. Sponsoring-(high trust;
behavior-based control) the salesperson provides the strategic direction on the account and the sponsoring sales leader
supports the account plan. Certain managerial behaviors and actions stem naturally from each style and are reviewed in
the article. Implications and strategies for sales manager implementation of each leadership style are presented, as well
as suggestions for further research on the topic.
A Framework of Situational Salesforce
Leadership Using Sales Control and Trust
Salesforce managers play a critical role in the
success or failure of individual salespeople and
collectively, the sales organization. In fact,
Dubinsky (1999) claims that when salespeople
fail, sales management is to blame. Studies
supporting this notion show that a sales
manager’s mode of regulating the activities and
outcomes of salespeople result in consequences
affecting a salesperson’s motivation,
performance, and job satisfaction (Anderson and
Oliver 1987; Oliver and Anderson 1994).
However, how managers go about directing the
activities of the salesforce to ensure the
attainment of sales performance objectives
remains a quintessential issue in salesforce
management.
The sales management literature has addressed
this issue by proposing distinct models of
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leadership centered on rewards for managing
sales transactions (i.e., transactional; Bryman
1 9 92 ), co m m o n sa l e s g o al s (i . e. ,
transformational; Bass 1985, 1990), or the quality
of manager-salesperson relationships (i.e., leadermember exchange; Castleberry and Tanner 1986;
Graen and Schiemann 1978; Lagace 1990).
However, few academic works to date have
combined aspects of all three.
The primary role of the sales manager is to
ensure that the salesforce meets the firm’s goals
for the current planning period and to develop
the people reporting to them (Dalrymple, Cron,
and DeCarlo 2001). Although the role may seem
clear, sales management involves the integration
of many complex tasks, one of which is control
over the activities required to accomplish
organizational goals (Honeycutt, Ford, and
Simintiras 2003). Managerial sales control may
be delineated as outcome-based (i.e., toward the
generation of outputs such as sales units,
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7
revenue, profits, etc.) or behavior-based (i.e.,
managing the activities leading up to the sale
such as sales calls, product demonstrations,
customer service activities, etc.; Anderson and
Oliver 1987; Cravens et al. 1993; Krafft 1999;
Oliver and Anderson 1994). By itself, sales
control is an effective means to ensure that
salespeople work toward achieving
organizational goals, however it fails to account
for the interpersonal relationship between
manager and salesperson. In addition, in any
sales management situation, there is an
additional alternative, that is to trust. To date,
no one has considered trust as a complimentary
dimension of salesforce leadership.
alternative approach to choosing a leadership
strategy that suits both the type of sales control
environment and the level of trust that she has in
the salesperson. Thus the objective of this
research study is to propose a sales management
tool of situational salesforce leadership based on
both managerial sales control and interpersonal
trust in the salesperson.
Consider the boundary-spanning role of the
salesperson and the geographical dispersion of a
salesforce. These factors add challenges to the
role of the sales manager (Spiro, Stanton, and
Rich 2003). Typically, salespeople work away
from the company’s main facility, thus a
manager cannot directly supervise each
individual’s work in person on a regular basis.
This physical separation from the salesforce may
increase the difficulty to implement either sales
control strategy (i.e., performance feedback and
monitoring of outcomes/behaviors may not be
feasible). In these cases, it becomes necessary to
consider other (interpersonal) factors in
choosing a managerial strategy. One such factor,
trust, has received attention in the sales and
management literature.
Generally, trusted
subordinates can be counted on to complete
tasks and perform with little direct managerial
involvement while untrustworthy workers pose a
risk to the organization by acting
opportunistically or shirking of their duties
(Williamson 1996). As important as this may
seem, existing sales leadership models limit the
focus on using trust to enhance the relationship
quality between sales manager and salesperson
(Castleberry and Tanner 1986; Lagace 1990).
Trust is all but ignored relative to its use as a
complementary factor in the selection of an
appropriate leadership style. This presents an
opportunity to provide managers with an
Salesforce Leadership
BACKGROUND
To begin, we present an overview and review of
models of leadership followed by a development
of our proposed situational leadership
framework using the research from salesforce
control and sales trust literature.
Sales research has advanced two general views of
sales leadership; these are leadership style and
leader-member exchange hereafter referred to as
LMX (Ingram, et al. 2005). Leadership style
centers on the behaviors of the leader as either
transactional (Bryman 1992) or transformational
(Bass 1985, 1990). A transactional leadership
approach calls for a manager to provide either
positive (e.g., recognition and/or approval) or
negative feedback (e.g., reprimands and/or
disapproval) to salespeople contingent on their
effort or performance (MacKenzie, Podsakoff,
and Rich 2001). Alternatively, transformational
leadership involves changing the way followers
approach their work by altering their values,
attitudes, beliefs, and goals (Bryman 1992).
Whereby transactional leadership’s focus is on
instrumental compliance, transformational
leadership’s main source of influence is
internalization or identification (Kelman, 1958). In
sales, a manager practicing transactional
leadership is likely to pay (or withhold)
commission for sales output while the
transformational leader may work closely with
salespeople to hone their behaviors so that they
may become better at identifying and responding
to customer needs and building long-lasting
customer relationships. Thus, a core construct
in these leader styles is the performance
dimension (outcomes versus behaviors).
Vol. 6, No. 2
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Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
An alternative model of leadership is LMX. The
focus of LMX is on the sales manager salesperson dyadic relationship (Castleberry and
Tanner 1986; Graen and Schiemann 1978) and
the differing treatment that salespeople receive
from their manager depending on the strength
and trust in the relationship. These relationships
are defined based on the sales manager viewing
the salesperson as a “cadre” or “hiredhand” (Castleberry and Tanner 1986; Lagace
1990). Cadres (also referred to as the “in”
group) tend to receive more support and better
training, territories, and quotas that are
attainable. Due to higher levels of managerial
trust in the salesperson, communication with the
cadre tends to be frequent, positive,
motivational, and intimate (Lagace 1990; Lagace,
Castleberry, and Ridnour 1993). Alternatively,
the hired-hand receives far less mentoring,
favorable territories and quotas, and
communication with the sales manager. Lower
levels of trust in these salespeople are indicative
of these relationships (Lagace 1990).
Individually, the transactional/transformational
approach and LMX do not adequately combine
the task and relationship dimensions of
leadership. The focus of the former is on either
outcome or behavior performance whereby the
latter centers on the quality of the relationship. A
situational leadership model developed by
Hersey and Blanchard (1969, 1982) seems to
better accomplish this integration. By focusing
on the combination of directing subordinate
activities and building personal relationships with
subordinates, they argue that leadership styles
should vary from situation to situation. This
leadership model has evolved to its present form
where four leader styles (delegating, supporting,
coaching, and directing) are defined relative to
the leader’s levels (low-high) of exhibiting directive
behavior and supportive behavior. Higher levels of
directive behavior are the extent to which a
leader engages (with a subordinate) in one-way
communication, is highly prescriptive with
direction, and closely supervises performance.
Higher levels of supportive behavior are
Northern Illinois University
characterized by two-way communication,
listening, facilitating interaction and subordinate
involvement in decision-making (Blanchard
1985). Furthermore, the model suggests that the
subordinate’s level of maturity (combining
competence and commitment) determines which
of the four leader styles should be used. A
criticism of this model is that a manager may not
always be in a position to accurately assess a
subordinate’s level of competence and
commitment (i.e., maturity). In the salesforce
management domain for example, a new-hire or
agency rep may have had limited exposure to his
manager.
Although these salespeople may
indeed be mature, without prior verification, the
sales manager cannot personally account for
their competence or commitment levels. Trust,
on the other hand is in the perception of the
sales manager. Therefore, from a practical
standpoint, for the sales manager who believes
his instincts, trust can be easily assessed and
developed with exposure to the salesperson.
This should be clearer to the manager than
trying to understand particularly, a salesperson’s
internal commitment.
An alternative situational leadership model can
be proposed by suggesting that sales managers
consider aspects of both sales control and trust
when choosing a leadership approach. Doing so
would enable managers to account for the both
the selling environment as well as the
interpersonal nature of the manager –
salesperson relationship. In order to make this
leap, a discussion of both sales control and trust
are necessary in order to ground the reader in
definitions and applications to sales.
Sales Control Considerations in Salesforce
Leadership
Sales managers use sales control to ensure the
attainment of desired organizational objectives
(Challagalla and Shervani 1996). Sales managers
will use various control systems in order to
increase the likelihood that the salesforce will
perform the necessary functions in order to
produce the required sales output to meet the
Spring 2006
sales organization’s goals. Anderson and Oliver
(1987) developed a series of research
propositions suggesting that managers should
choose strategies to manage their salespeople
using a balance of outcome-based and behaviorbased sales control systems. Outcome-based
control systems involve relatively little
monitoring of salespeople, relatively little
managerial direction of salespeople, and
objective measures of results (e.g., sales, revenue,
profits.)
Alternatively, behavior-based sales
control systems require considerable monitoring
of activities and results, high levels of managerial
direction and involvement in sales activities, and
subjective methods of performance evaluation.
In addition, performance measures are usually
centered about the salesperson’s job inputs (call
planning, making sales calls, sales proposals).
Thus, managers must choose a sales control
strategy on the basis of organizational objectives,
organizational structure, and compensation
system dimensions.
Based on this conceptualization, sales control
can be viewed as similar to directive behavior (as
used in Hersey and Blanchard’s leadership
models). Using sales control as a dimension of
situational salesforce leadership provides more
versatility over directive behavior in that it (sales
control) includes aspects of managerial
evaluation, reporting, supervision, and
compensation and as such enables managers to
more strategically pick leadership options.
Outcome-based sales control’s focus on less
monitoring, supervision, and measurements
based on outputs is close in the description of
low levels of directive behavior. Likewise,
behavior-based sales control centered on higher
levels of monitoring, supervision and measures
of sales activities seems close in nature to high
levels of directive behavior. Thus, we propose
that the sales control continuum of outcomebased to behavior-based can be used to describe
one dimension of situational salesforce
leadership.
Trust Considerations
Leadership
in
9
Salesforce
Trust has been shown to be a major building
block in the relationship between salesperson
and sales manager (Brashear, Boles, and Brooks
2003; Castleberry and Tanner 1986; Lagace 1990;
Rich 1998). The trust a sales manager develops
in his salesperson is likely to result from shared
values and goals (Brashear, Boles, and Brooks
2003; Morgan & Hunt 1994), a belief in the
salesperson’s integrity (Brower, Schoorman and
Tan 2000; Butler & Reese 1991; Nooteboom
1997; Whitener et al. 1998), and the willingness
to have open/honest communication (Brashear,
Boles, and Brooks 2003; Hawes, Mast, and Swan
1989; Rich 1998). In turn, managerial trust in a
salesperson has positive effects on cooperation,
shared values, commitment, and satisfaction and
negative effects on conflict, uncertainty, and
opportunistic behavior (Jones and George 1998;
Mayer, Davis, and Schoorman 1995; McCallister
1995; Morgan and Hunt 1994). However, to
date, most of this literature looks at how the
trust of the sales manager impacts the
salesperson and all but ignores trust as the
mechanism for doing so. Clearly, since trust
represents the extent to which the sales manager
can depend on the salesperson, the sales
manager can adjust his or her behavior when
more trust is present, thus strategically accruing
these benefits, while safeguarding the fact that
the salesperson’s performance must not suffer.
In this light, a limitation in the leadership models
discussed to this point is the under-utilization of
managers using trust to assist them in choosing a
leadership style, with appropriate behaviors.
Recognizing this, we propose the second
dimension of salesforce leadership to be the level
of trust that the sales manager has in the
salesperson.
Trust is fundamentally a psychological construct
and it has been widely applied in psychology,
sociology, economics, management, and sales
research. From the psychology literature, trust is
an expectancy, held by one individual that
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10 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
another individual can be relied upon based on
past experiences (Rotter 1967, 1971, 1980).
From an economics point of view Williamson
(1996) defines trust generically as a manager’s
expectation that a subordinate will perform as
required coupled with his assignment of the
probability that the subordinate will fulfill
desired actions. Based on these two views, the
implication to sales management is that a
manager may trust a salesperson if previous
interactions between the two have resulted in
favorable outcomes. Granted, there are infinite
number of scenarios and interactions that a sales
manager could consider when trusting a
salesperson (e.g., engaging in ethical behavior
with customers, consistent in fulfilling
administrative responsibilities, engaging in
activities required to meet organizational goals,
to mention a few). Seeing that the primary
function of sales management is to direct the
activities of the salesforce toward meeting
organizational goals and objectives (Ingram, et
al. 2004), we settle on a single definition of a
sales manager’s trust in a salesperson as his
expectation and confidence that the salesperson will
achieve his future performance goals and will
not behave opportunistically.
A manager may operationalize this by reflecting
on previous transactions with the salesperson to
make a trust assessment. This appraisal will be
based on both a cognitive and affective
component of trust formation (Lewis and
Wiegert 1985). Thus a sales manager will base
his trust in the salesperson on what he takes to
be “good reasons” based on evidence as well as
considering the emotional ties that link the two
individuals (McAllister 1995). For example, if
the salesperson historically delivers on forecasted
sales, generates high levels of customer
satisfaction, and is honest and loyal, the manager
has a stronger basis for trusting the salesperson.
Conversely, if the manager has had limited
exposure to the salesperson or has witnessed
undependable or dishonest behavior, then trust
is likely to be low. Obviously this is a continuum,
and not a set of absolutes.
Northern Illinois University
An example of this would be the sales manager’s
expectation that a salesperson make ten sales
calls a day. In a high trust situation (based on
that salesperson’s history of hard work), the sales
manager can be almost certain that at the end of
the week, fifty calls will be made by that
salesperson. There are no required call reports
to turn it. The mechanism to ensure compliance
of this task is merely trust. Obviously, under
these conditions, the sales manager is vulnerable.
If the salesperson decides to shirk or lie about
the number of calls made, little can be done by
the sales manager to verify performance. As a
result, sales may suffer.
However, if the
salesperson is true to his word and makes fifty
calls that week, the salesperson will likely be
trusted in the weeks to come. We argue that
using trust as a dimension of salesforce
leadership provides for a versatile situational
leadership style framework. First, managers are
able to assess levels of salesperson trust based on
cognition (e.g., “this salesperson has delivered in
the past so will likely continue to do so in the
future”) as well as affect (e.g. “this salesperson is
an honest and loyal person”). Second, by
including trust with sales control, a broad set of
leadership options become available to
managers.
A sales manager’s trust formation in the
salesperson can be impacted by many factors,
including the salesperson’s direct reporting
relationship to the manager, salesperson tenure
with manager, managerial span of control, and
managerial physical proximity to salespeople,
among others. Such factors inevitably impact
the frequency and type of transactions that occur
between sales manager and salesperson resulting
in a range of relationships (from agency
representative to company hired/direct reporting
salesperson). The following section illustrates
and describes our integrated framework of
approaches to sales leadership using sales control
and trust.
A SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP MODEL
Table 1 illustrates our proposed model of
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11
units, revenue, profit margin, and market share;
usually tied to organizational objectives. In
some cases, the salesperson may not be vertically
integrated within the salesforce (i.e., an
outsourced resource). These selling resources
may be manufacturer’s reps, distributor reps, or
independent agents. In addition, implementation
issues force distance between salespeople and
managers, due to large proximities and increasing
span of control. Based on the level of trust that
a manager has in the individual salesperson,
leadership style may be contingent, facilitating, or
delegating. The extent to which the manager trusts
the salesperson will vary across these styles.
Each type is further defined.
situational sales leadership utilizing the
constructs of sales control and trust. The model
suggest that sales managers can choose from six
sales leadership styles dependent on the type of
sales control they choose to employ (given
constraints from the environment they operate
within) and the level of trust they have in the
salesperson.
In the following section, we
describe each leadership style. We tend to use
extreme examples, anchoring the continuum of
sales control; however we recognize that a
manager might move more toward one style or
another as the specific account objectives and
the manager’s own comfort level varies. While
some may be genuinely using a combination of
control mechanisms, we believe most individual
relationships will actually be characterized as
more in one direction or the other.
A contingent sales leadership style is delineated
based on low levels of trust that the sales
manager has in the salesperson and an
orientation to outcome-based controls. Much
like in a transactional leadership approach, a
manager will provide either positive (e.g.,
recognition and/or approval) or negative
feedback (e.g., reprimands and/or disapproval)
to salespeople contingent on their effort or
performance (House 1971; MacKenzie,
Podsakoff, and Rich 2001; Yammarino,
Spangler, and Dubinsky 1998). A likely example
would be an agency representative or a
salesperson reporting to a manager with a large
Sales Leadership When Sales Control is
More Outcome-based
Sales control considered to be more outcomebased is one in which managers will use relatively
little monitoring and direct supervision of
salespeople. This is because typically more
commission (than salary) is used to drive and
reward performance (Anderson and Oliver 1987;
Oliver and Anderson 1994). Performance is
based on objective sales output that includes
Table 1: Situational Salesforce Leadership Using Sales Control and Trust
LEADERSHIP STYLE
High Trust
Delegating
Sponsoring
Moderate Trust
Facilitating
Coaching
Low Trust
Contingent
Directing
More Outcome-based sales
control
More Behavior-based sales control
Vol. 6, No. 2
12 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
span of control. It could also occur with a new
or low trusted salesperson in a system
characterized by outcome-based performance
metrics.
In this selling environment, one
manager may be responsible for a large territory
covered by many representatives. Here, the
manager has little (if any exposure) to many of
the reps, thus making it difficult to assess any
level of trust other than low. This scenario is
addressed in the literature (Anderson and Oliver
1987; Williamson 1996) by suggesting that, in
order to reduce transaction costs and the risk of
opportunism, these reps should be closely
managed using outcome-based sales incentives
to ensure performance.
Less reliance on
behavior monitoring, evaluation, and direct
supervision will be needed since a pay for
performance (e.g., commission) compensation
plan will drive results.
A facilitating sales leadership style is one in which
moderate levels of trust in the salesperson exists,
and an outcome-based control style is used.
Limited transactions with the salesperson, a mix
of positive and negative encounters, or a
particular rep could be in the process of earning
her “stripes” could cause trust to be moderately
assessed. Overall, the environment is not
conducive to close relationships with the
manager or organizational objectives focus the
salesforce on outcomes.
A direct report
salesperson whose skills are developed and has a
modest track record of performance may fall
into this category. Because of the outcomebased sales control environment, this salesperson
may travel a lot trying to meet sales goals, yet still
needs some monitoring and support from his
manager to address increasingly complex sales
opportunities. A facilitating sales leadership style
allows the manager to play the role of supporter
whereby the onus of day-to-day decision-making
and problem solving rests in the hands of the
salesperson. The primary role of the sales
manager is to help break down barriers and
provide encouragement to the salesperson, while
monitoring and rewarding outcomes to assure
goals are met.
Northern Illinois University
High levels of managerial trust in the
salesperson, accompanied by an outcome-based
orientation typify a delegating sales leadership
style.
Per the definition of trust, past
transactions with the salesperson had been
positive providing the manager with high levels
of confidence that future transactions will
continue to be as well. The manager may be in a
situation where other demands on his or her
time make outcome-based control more
practical. For example, these might be the sales
organization’s top performers in that they
consistently produce sales outputs, period over
period. Similar to the definition provided by
Hersey and Blanchard (1982), a delegating
leadership style calls for the salesperson and
manager to jointly decide on the problem
definition. Decision-making is then delegated
totally to the salesperson to decide how to
accomplish the goal. Due to high levels of trust
in the salesperson, the manager has confidence
in the salesperson’s ability to consistently
produce sales and rewards based on continued
output. Outcome-based tracking can be relatively
automated and need not be closely monitored.
Sales Leadership When Sales Control is
More Behavior-based
When sales control is more behavior-based,
managers use higher levels of behavior
monitoring and supervision of salespeople.
Here, more salary (than commission)
compensation is often used because salespeople
are paid for demonstrating the behaviors or
activities that lead up to the sale (Anderson and
Oliver 1987; Oliver and Anderson 1994).
Performance is based on subjective assessments
such as pre-call planning efforts, the quality of
sales proposals, and various customer service/
satisfaction activities; usually derived from
organizational objectives and implementation
considerations. These salespeople tend to be
members of the direct salesforce and could be
assigned various selling roles from territory sales
rep (managing a large number of smaller
accounts) to strategic account manager
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(responsible for one or few large accounts).
Based on the level of trust that a manager has in
the individual salesperson, leadership style may
be directing, coaching, or sponsoring. Each type is
further defined.
Lower levels of managerial trust in the
salesperson, with higher levels of behavior-based
control, characterize the directing sales manager.
A new-hire, for example, may pose a situation
where the manager has not yet formed trust in
the salesperson. Due to undeveloped skills,
limited opportunities to perform, and position
on the learning curve, trust formation at this
stage of the salesperson-sales manager
relationship is difficult. From the leadership
style of Hersey and Blanchard (1982), the
directing sales manager will provide much
instruction, telling the salesperson what, how,
and when tasks should be performed, consistent
with behavior-based control.
As this salesperson continues to develop his
skills, practice his trade, and demonstrate to the
manager that he can fulfill organizational goals,
moderate levels of managerial trust may evolve
(i.e., the manager is starting to see a pattern of
consistency emerge).
In an environment
conducive to behavior-based control, at this
point, the manager may progress to a coaching
sales leadership style. Coaching, as described by
Hersey and Blanchard (1982), involves more 2way communication between the salesperson
and sales manager in an attempt to engage in
productive dialogue leading to ideas and
suggestions for improved performance. Based
on growing trust levels, the sales manager may
feel that the salesperson’s observations and ideas
may provide valuable insight to compliment
those of the manager’s.
High levels of trust in the salesperson, combined
with behavior-based control systems, lead to a
sales leadership style of sponsoring. Typically, a
sales manager will entrust the organization’s
most prized customer opportunities to those
salespeople that can be counted on to preserve,
grow, or win-over customer relationships. Thus,
13
the objective of these salespeople may be to
retain and grow a substantial revenue stream or
make gradual progress toward winning a
competitor’s revenue within an account. In this
case, the salesperson provides the strategic
direction on the account and the sponsoring
sales leader plays the role necessary to support
the account plan. The role of the sales manager
may be to build a relationship with executives
within the customer organization, allow for
budget to host customer positioning events, or
to arrange for dedicated resources (customer
service, technical support, RFP response team,
etc.) to support the account. These are more
behavior-based in orientation and require a high
level of trust in the salesperson.
The six sales leadership styles described in the
integrated (sales control – trust) framework
provide sales managers with an expanded array
of managerial choices given the sales
environment and their unique relationship with
each salesperson. The following discussion
presents implications for sales research and ideas
for implementation by sales managers.
DISCUSSION & MANAGERIAL
IMPLICATIONS
The most significant contribution of this
framework of situational sales leadership is that
it is the first to provide a unified way to combine
dimensions of sales control and trust in defining
leadership options for sales managers. In doing
so, we provide managers with a more
comprehensive array of managerial options
based on both the selling environment and the
sales manager – salesperson relationship.
Previous well-researched traditional models
(transactional/transformational leadership,
LMX, and situational leadership) focus either
exclusively on the sales environment (e.g.,
transactional/transformational leadership) or the
relationship between sales leader and salesperson
(e.g., LMX theory). Although the Hersey and
Blanchard (1969, 1982) leadership models do
address issues of leader direction and support,
their approach is somewhat limited in that it
Vol. 6, No. 2
14 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
Table 2: Characteristics of Sales Control Type
Characteristics
Mechanisms Used
More outcome-based
More behavior-based
Minimum supervision
Maximum supervision
Little reporting
Much reporting
Formal evaluation
Informal reviews
Evaluation of objective outcomes
Evaluation of subjective behaviors
Incentive compensation (commission)
Fixed compensation (salary)
Sales quotas
Sales call plans
Performance metrics
Activity tracking logs
Performance reviews
Coaching
Employment contracts
Trust
implies that managers will always exhibit some
degree of salesperson supportive behavior
(which becomes difficult to assess in a new
relationship). Furthermore, existing leadership
models require an assessment of salesperson
developmental level (a relatively complex
construct assessed by a combination of
salesperson competence, confidence, and
motivation) in order to select the appropriate
leadership style. The underlying assumption
here is that the manager is able to accurately
assess these traits (which is not always the case.)
From a managerial implication point of view,
this manuscript provides sales management with
a practical tool for customizing leadership
strategies at the individual salesperson level. To
assist in the implementation of this tool, Table 2
is offered as a guideline for managers to assess
their sales control strategy based on the degree
of salesperson monitoring, supervision, and
types of measurements used to evaluate
salespeople. As pointed out in the literature
(Oliver and Anderson 1994), sales control will
more than likely take on a hybrid form (i.e.,
combination of outcome-based and behaviorbased).
Seeing this, sales managers much
recognize that they may operate somewhere in
the middle of the sales control continuum.
Therefore, judgment must be used when
Northern Illinois University
choosing a leadership style or combining aspects
of multiple styles. Furthermore, when assessing
salesperson trust levels, managers should ask
themselves questions relative to their
relationship with the specific salesperson (e.g.,
“Based on her previous actions, can I expect the
same behaviors/outcomes in the future?” “Is he
an honest person?” “Do I trust her?”) To assist
managers in carrying out each leader style, Table
3 is offered as guidelines to sales managers for
implementation.
Several important managerial implications can be
derived from this framework.
First, by
integrating both the interpersonal relationship
(i.e., trust) with the salesperson and the
constraints of the organizational environment
(i.e., sales control), sales managers can more
strategically identify and implement a specific
leadership strategy designed to achieve specific
organizational goals and objectives.
For
example, if bottom line results are the goal then
a manager has three (outcome-based) leadership
strategies to choose between (depending on the
quality of their relationship with each
salesperson). Likewise, if customer relationship
building is desired, then three other (behaviorbased) leadership strategies may be considered.
Secondly, by using the interpersonal relationship
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15
Table 3: Guidelines for Implementing Sales Leadership Style
If sales leadership style is:
Use these implementation strategies:
Communicate quotas and sales goals in writing
Contingent
Use commission, sales contests, and spiffs
Require daily performance tracking
Actively work to remove obstacles and barriers to salesperson success
Facilitating
Support salesperson’s efforts but don’t take on outcome ownership
Reward outcome performance with commission and incentives
Discuss with salesperson what needs to be accomplished (ID problem)
Delegating
Make it clear that implementation is up to them (how, when, where)
Empower salesperson to “run the show” and reward success
Be empathetic to salesperson’s relative newness and inexperience
Be patient, salesperson “may not yet know what he/she doesn’t know”
Directing
Embrace and encourage salesperson’s enthusiasm
Provide clear and specific direction
Ask questions to ensure understanding of task(s)
Closely supervise and monitor progress toward task completion
Discuss sales call plans, objectives, and strategies prior to sales calls
Make joint sales calls with salesperson and observe selling behaviors
Coaching
Discuss sales call performance; point out successes and areas needing
improvement
Lead by example; demonstrate selling skills where appropriate
Listen
Discuss and agree upon an account plan and strategy with salesperson
Set medium, and long range goals for strategic accounts
Sponsoring
Discuss how performance and progress will be measured and evaluated
Understand / execute the leadership role appropriate for each account
Recognize small accomplishments leading up to longer range goals
factor of trust to choose a leadership strategy,
managers are likely to impact salesperson
motivation and reduce turnover. Motivation
may focus a salesperson’s effort toward attaining
external rewards (e.g., compensation,
recognition, etc.) or internal rewards (e.g., pride,
job-fulfillment, career development, etc.). Given
an understanding of what types of rewards drive
an individual salesperson’s effort, a sales
manager may be able to more easily assess levels
of trust (in the salesperson). In turn, this higher
quality trusting relationship is likely to result in
higher levels of job satisfaction and reduce the
likelihood of salesperson turnover.
There seem to be two particular applications
Vol. 6, No. 2
16 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
where this framework may be most usefully
applied. First, we see this as a key diagnostic
tool for a sales manager who is struggling with
one or more salespeople in his or her span of
control. The manager may be misapplying
leadership behaviors. Take for instance the
salesperson that may have been under this sales
manager for an extended period of time. While
a low trust supervision style may have initially
been appropriate, over time the salesperson may
have repeatedly demonstrated his
trustworthiness and may be dissatisfied that he is
not rewarded with more autonomy and
responsibility. Application of this framework
may help the manager identify the issue and
subsequently alter her leadership approach with
the salesperson. Further, a manager could be
ineffectively attempting to use more behavior or
outcome based control that the organization or
external environment allows.
Careful
consideration of this may allow the manager to
adapt to the most operative leadership style.
The second application that stems from this
framework is one of training and evaluation.
For the new manager, unsure how to respond to
the various individuals and situations, this can
provide a useful training tool to initially aid in
the selection of appropriate management styles.
Senior management may also use it to assess and
evaluate new managers as they transition into
their role.
CONCLUSION
The purpose of our research was to suggest that
by using sales control and trust as leadership
framework dimensions, a parsimonious and
comprehensive model of sales management can
be constructed taking into account details of the
sales transaction (i.e., outcome versus behavior
based sales environment) and the relationship
quality between sales manager and salesperson.
In doing so, six leadership styles emerge as being
appropriate for managing salespeople in diverse
resource environments. The distinction between
the two is important because selling goals may
differ depending on how performance is
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measured and evaluated as well as the extent of
salesperson monitoring and supervision required
of the sales manager.
Also, with today’s selling environment becoming
more complex, it is critical that sales managers
lead their salesforce to exhibit the selling
behaviors required to build long lasting customer
relationships. The first step toward this goal is
to ensure that salespeople are committed,
motivated, and rewarded to do so. One way for
managers to accomplish this is to select
governance strategies tailored to the specific
salesperson situation. By choosing a leadership
style best suited for the selling environment and
the belief that a salesperson will meet the
demands and expectations of their selling goals,
sales managers can be confident in their own
ability to best serve their customers, salespeople,
and the sales organization.
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18 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
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Northern Illinois University
Michael L. Mallin is an Assistant Professor of Sales
and Marketing at University of Toledo.
E-mail: Michael.Mallin@utoledo.edu
Ellen Bolman Pullins is an Associate Professor of
Marketing at University of Toledo.
E-mail: Ellen.Pullins@utoledo.edu
Spring 2006
19
Personality and relational time perspective in selling
By Gerrard Macintosh
Relational Time Perspective (RTP)
Many sales organizations have recognized the importance of their salespeople taking a longer-term relational approach
to selling. However, very little research has been devoted to understanding the role of time perspective in selling.
This study introduces the concept of relational time perspective in selling, defined as a generalized predisposition to
take a long-term approach in dealing with customers and potential customers. Relational time perspective reflects the
utility of considering success over a longer time horizon.
Benefits to the Firm
The literature suggests that a relational time perspective should lead to more relational selling behavior, which in turn
has been found to increase relationship quality and customer commitment to the firm.
Factors related to RTP
Research on general time perspective suggests that it is influenced by personal, social, and institutional variables. The
research presented here examines both personality characteristics and sales experience as potential predictors of RTP.
Study Results
Structural Equation Modeling was used to examine the relationships between four personality characteristics (selfesteem, locus of control, empathy, and dogmatism) and RTP. Total experience in sales was also examined as a
predictor. Self-esteem, locus of control, and empathy were found to be positively related to RTP and dogmatism was
negatively related. Experience was not significantly related to RTP. Together, the four personality characteristics
predicted 64% of the variance in RTP.
Managerial Implications
The study suggests that personality may be an important consideration in the selection of salespeople for a relationship
marketing oriented firm. Since firms may hire both experienced and inexperienced salespeople, both personality
measures and the measure of RTP may be useful selection tools. Personality measures would be appropriate for
inexperienced salespeople (who have not yet developed a RTP).
Introduction
Recently, a number of authors have discussed
relationship selling as a distinct approach to
handling customer interactions ( Bejou, Wray,
and Ingram1996; Beverland 2001; Weitz and
Bradford 1999). Many important relational
constructs have been researched including trust,
cooperation, and commitment. Research in sales
shows a clear link between trust in the
salesperson and positive outcomes such as
loyalty and commitment (Crosby, Evans, and
Cowles 1990; Doney and Cannon 1997;
Macintosh and Lockshin 1997). In their seminal
piece on relational exchange, Dwyer, Schurr, and
Oh (1987, p. 12) review Macneil’s (1980)
dimensions that differentiate between discrete
and relational exchange, and conclude that “the
most important is the fact that relational
exchange transpires over time.” However, the
influence of time on relationship selling has
received very little research attention. A number
of different time-related constructs may be of
interest to researchers, but the focus in this study
is on individual time perspective.
An individual’s time perspective is an important
factor underlying goal setting, decision making
and behavior (Lennings, Burns, and Cooney
1998). Time perspective is a cognitive construct
Vol. 6, No. 2
20 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
that reflects a person’s ability to anticipate the
future and reflect on the past (Nuttin and Lens
1985). Temporal extension is a dimension of
time perspective that seems particularly relevant
to marketing relationships and relational strategy
because of its influence on goal setting and
motivation (Hulbert and Lens 1988). Temporal
extension can be thought of as a measure of
distance, reflecting the time span a person
considers when thinking about personal or social
goals or events (Lennings, Burns, and Cooney
1998). At one extreme of temporal extension, is
an “atomist” perspective (Cottle 1969), where
time is perceived as a series of discontinuous
events.
At the other extreme, is the
“actualizer” (Lennings, Burns, and Cooney
1998), with a long, integrated time perspective.
This distinction from time perspective theory
has an interesting parallel with the distinction
between discrete and relational exchange.
Relational Time Perspective
Our intent is to focus on time perspective in
relation to customer interactions, which we call
relational time perspective. Relational time
perspective in selling is conceptualized as a
generalized, predisposition to take a long-term
approach in dealing with customers and
potential customers. Relational time perspective
captures the temporal extension of an individual
in regard to customers or potential customers
and reflects the utility of considering success
over longer time horizon. Gjesme (1983)
highlights an important distinction between
one’s “general future (time) orientation” (across
all contexts) and one’s future orientation in a
specific situation. Similar to Oner’s (2000)
conception of Future Time Orientation for
Romantic Relationships, our conception of
relational time perspective lies between these
two extremes. Ganesan (1993) defined longNorthern Illinois University
term orientation (in channel relationships) as the
desire and utility of an economic actor of having
a long-term relationship with a specific exchange
partner. As such, Ganesan’s (1993) long-term
orientation represents a specific intention
directed at a specific exchange partner, which
Gjesme (1983) and Oner (2000) would consider
to be more like an attitude because it may only
reflect one’s value orientation toward that
particular partner.
A salesperson may, in
general, have a relational time perspective, but
not develop a long-term orientation toward a
specific account because of the characteristics of
that specific account (cannot be trusted).
Therefore, a salesperson’s relational time
perspective would be brought into each
relationship, while long-term orientation would
develop within and be a product of a specific
relationship. At the same time, relational time
perspective is more focused contextually than
one’s global time orientation (perspective), a
predisposition across all contexts and situations
(selling and non-selling).
In general, research shows that one’s time
perspective influences both goal setting and
behavior (Lens 1986; Nuttin and Lens 1985).
People with a shorter time perspective set their
goals in the near future, while people with longer
time perspectives set more long-term goals
(Simons et al. 2004). Near-term goals for people
with a longer time perspective are seen as
“building blocks” to achieve long-term goals.
Therefore, extending time perspective theory to
a sales setting, one can hypothesize that a
salespeople’s relational time perspective
influences their goal setting and behavior in
regard to their interactions with customers. For
example, one might anticipate that a salesperson
with a shorter time perspective would have
different goals for a sales call and use a different
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selling style than a salesperson with a longer time
perspective. The shorter-term salesperson might
use more aggressive persuasion and negotiation
tactics and be more inclined to try to close a sale
on the first call.
The more short-term
(atomistic) salesperson would have less concern
about the effect of current behavior on future
sales, or be less likely to integrate past events
into current decision making. On the other
hand, a salesperson with a longer time
perspective would be more likely to consider the
past and future, and use a more cooperative,
integrative/problem-solving approach to selling.
Prior research in marketing contexts suggests a
link between time perspective (long-term
orientation) and relational selling behavior, and a
link between relational selling behavior and
positive outcomes such as relationship quality
and commitment. Crosby, Evans, and Cowles
(1990, p.71) defined relational selling behavior as
“a behavioral tendency exhibited by some sales
representatives to husband/ cultivate the buyerseller relationship and see it to maintenance and
growth.” Ganesan (1993) found a positive
relationship between long-term orientation and
the use of problem solving negotiation strategies.
Further, Iven’s (2004) research shows that the
desire for having a long-term relationship is
significantly correlated with many types of
relational behavior, including information
exchange (r=.47), relational planning (r= .44),
and flexibility (r=.33).
Crosby, Evans, and
Cowles (1990) examined mutual self-disclosure,
cooperation, and contact frequency as
dimensions of relational selling and found them
to be positively related to relationship quality,
composed of trust and satisfaction. Relationship
quality, in turn, was found to be related to the
customer’s intention to continue the
relationship. Iven’s (2004) also found that long-
21
term orientation and relational selling behaviors
were significantly related to relationship quality
and were particularly important in building
customer commitment.
Therefore, although we do not specifically test
the link between relational time perspective and
relational selling behavior, both the time
perspective literature (Lens 1986) and the
literature on long-term orientation (e.g., Ganesan
1993; Iven’s 2004) would strongly suggest this
link. Prior research in a sales context has shown
that salespeople may choose different prospects
and use different cognitive decision processes in
evaluating prospects when given shorter versus
longer-term goals (Macintosh and Gentry 1995).
In addition, research (Sengupta, Krapfel, and
Pusateri 2000) on key account selling (perhaps
the epitome of relationship selling) identified a
critical characteristic of key account salespeople,
labeled “strategic ability.” Strategic ability is a
cognitive capacity that includes a focus on longterm customer interests. Therefore, we propose
that relational time perspective is an important
individual difference variable that influences
relational behavior in salesperson/customer
interactions. Graphically represented in Figure
1, relational time perspective influences
relational selling behavior, which has been found
to be related to relationship quality and
ultimately customer commitment.
Individual time perspective is influenced by a
number of personal, social, and institutional
variables (Zimbardo and Boyd 1999). For
salespeople, it could be hypothesized that a
number of individual (e.g., personality,
experience) and organizational (e.g., corporate
values, goals, or compensation) variables might
influence relational time perspective (Figure 1).
From a managerial perspective, individual
Vol. 6, No. 2
22 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework
Individual
Differences:
Organizational
Differences:
Personality
Culture
Experience
Goals
Relational
Time
Perspective
Relational
Selling
Behavior
Relationship
Quality
Customer
Commitment
specific model tested is presented in Figure 2.
Time Perspective and Personality
In general, researchers have called for a more
extensive examination of the relationship
between personality and time perspective (e.g.,
Wessman 1973). A relational time perspective
means taking a long-term approach to sales
success, which is predicated on two key factors:
(1) perceived instrumentality and (2) a
willingness to invest in the relationship.
Perceived instrumentality relates to one’s ability
to influence future outcomes. Bandura (1989)
used the term human agency in his theory of
motivation to describe an individual’s ability to
shape his/her own future. Agency variables
reflect core evaluations of one’s capability.
Instrumentality not only reflects perceptions of
capability, but also perceptions of one’s ability to
control outcomes.
Lennings, Burns, and
Cooney (1998) suggest that self-esteem and locus
of control are two important variables related to
time perspective. Both of these agency variables
play an important role in shaping one’s
perceptions that one is both capable and able to
control future outcomes.
Self-esteem
difference influences on time perspective might
be important in recruiting and selecting
salespeople who are oriented toward a more
relational perspective.
Conversely,
organizational variables would be important
constructing an environment and reward
structure that enhances relational behavior. In
this initial study, we focus on the link between
personality and relational time perspective. The
Northern Illinois University
Generalized self-esteem or self-confidence
measures the perception of one's ability and selfregard (Bagozzi 1980).
Research on
interpersonal behavior has consistently found
associations between a person’s self-concept and
measures of beliefs about and style of interacting
with others (Burns and Farina 1984). Generally,
people with a low self-esteem are less likely to try
to form relationships because of lower
expectations for self and others (Kerns and
Stevens 1996). The salesperson with high selfesteem is more likely to exhibit relationship
building behavior (e.g., trust, cooperation)
Spring 2006
23
Figure 2: Model Tested: Standardized Coefficients
Self
Esteem
Locus of
Control
Empathy
.53
.31
Relational Time
.27
-.42
Dogmatism
.04
Experience
because he/she assumes that the customer wants
to have a long-term relationship. A relational
approach to dealing with customers assumes
more risk (effort today may or may not pay off
in the future) and the delay of rewards. The
salesperson with high self-esteem is confident
that the risks necessary to develop relationships
(e.g., self-disclosure, cooperation) will be
reciprocated in the future.
However, the
salesperson with low self-esteem is less willing to
take risks and questions why the customer would
want to have a relationship, inhibiting the types
of behaviors that would contribute to building a
relationship. Research in educational psychology
has shown a significant positive correlation
between students’ self-esteem and future time
perspective (e.g., Peetsma, Hascher, and van der
Veen (2005). People with higher self-esteem are
more likely to choose longer-term goals.
Therefore, self-esteem should influence both
Vol. 6, No. 2
24 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
motivation and perceptions of ability because of
greater expectations that the relationship will be
successful and beneficial in the long-run.
H1: Self-esteem is positively associated
with a relational time perspective.
Locus of Control
Locus of Control is a personality variable
defined as one's perception that rewards and
outcomes in life are controlled by one's own
actions (internality) or external forces
(externality) (Spector 1988). Internal locus of
control has been found consistently to be related
positively to distal time perspective (Lennings,
Burns, and Cooney 1998, Vella 1977). Locus of
control is believed to influence performance
because internals hold greater expectancies
between effort and outcome and thus exert
greater effort. They also see a greater linkage
between current actions and future outcomes.
Ahmed (1985) found that entrepreneurs with
high internal locus of control were more willing
to take risks. Internality should enhance both
motivation and perceptions of ability because of
expectations that their relational behavior will
lead to positive future outcomes.
H2: Internality of locus of control is
positively associated with a relational
time perspective.
A relational time perspective also requires that
one be willing and able to invest in the
relationship (current investments will pay future
dividends).
Interdependence creates a
“dilemma,” as parties are torn between
immediate self-interest and enhancing the
relationship (Kelly and Thibaut 1978). People
invest in the relationship through relationshipconstructive behaviors which enhance the
relationship (Wieselquist et al. 1999). Typical
relationship-constructive investments include
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“willingness to sacrifice,” defined as the
willingness to forego short-term gains for the
good of the relationship (Van Lange et al. 1997)
and “accommodation behavior” defined as a
willingness to work with rather than retaliate
against an exchange partner (Rusbult et al. 1991).
We examine one personality characteristic,
empathy, which is likely to enhance investment
in a relationship and one characteristic,
dogmatism, which is likely to negatively impact
one’s willingness and ability to invest.
Empathy
Empathy is traditionally cited as a beneficial
characteristic in sales (e.g., Mayer and Greenberg
1964), although research has not always found
consistent relationships between empathy and
sales performance (see McBane 1995 for a
review). Empathy is most concisely defined as
“a way of knowing” (Wispe 1986, p.317).
Cognitively, empathy relates to one's ability to
perceive and understand another's viewpoint.
Emotionally, empathy refers to an understanding
or sharing of another person's feelings. A
cooperative/integrative selling style requires the
ability to understand the other party’s position
(e.g., Fisher and Ury 1981). From a relationship
perspective, empathy should contribute to one's
propensity and ability to be in tune with and
responsive to customers' needs, and therefore,
should be positively related to a relational time
perspective. Beatty et al. (1996) suggest that
empathy helps salespeople to read what
customers want from a relationship, allowing
them to deliver what is expected and desired.
Sengupta, Krapfel, and Pusateri (2000) suggest
that strategic ability in selling, which includes a
longer time perspective, requires cognitive
empathy to understand the customer’s
perspective. Empathy is frequently cited as
being associated with cooperative interpersonal
Spring 2006
25
behavior such as helping (Berkowitz 1972) and
prosocial behavior in organizations (Eisenberg
and Miller 1987). Research on interpersonal
relationships indicates that empathy is one of the
most important antecedents of relationshipconstructive behaviors (McCullough et al. 1998).
The model in Figure 2 reflects each of these
hypotheses and also includes sales experience as
a control variable.
H3: Empathy is positively associated
with a relational time perspective.
The sample for the study was drawn from a
listing of licensed life insurance agents in the
Province of Manitoba.
Two hundred and
seventy-five names were chosen at random to
receive the survey.
In addition to the
questionnaire, the mailing included a cover letter
that promoted the study as an opportunity for
salespeople to contribute to the profession.
Eleven were returned as undeliverable and 118
useable surveys were received for an effective
response rate of 45 percent. The sample ranged
in experience from less than one year to 44
years. A breakdown of total sales experience and
experience with their present company is
presented in Table 1.
Dogmatism
Dogmatism reflects the degree to which a person
asserts his/her opinions in an unyielding manner
(Rokeach 1960). Highly dogmatic people are
rigid and closed-minded. In addition, Dion and
Banting's (1987) research on organizational
buyers suggests that dogmatic buyers lack the
openness and cooperativeness necessary for
successful buyer/seller relationships. Therefore,
we expect that dogmatic sellers would exhibit
similar tendencies.
Rigidity and closedmindedness reduce the salesperson’s ability to be
sensitive to the needs of the other party, thereby
reducing the likelihood that they will exhibit the
types of behavior necessary for a cooperative
relationship.
H4: Dogmatism is negatively associated
with a relational time perspective.
Method
Participants
Measures
Since a relational time perspective for selling
scale did not exist, we created one for this study.
The items measuring time perspective in relation
to customer interactions were adapted from
Ganesan’s (1993) long-term orientation scale. In
Table 1: Participant Characteristics (N=118)
______________________________________________________________________________
Total Experience in Sales
Experience with Present Company
% of Total
Years
% of Total
5
45
21
5-10
23
5-10
31
11-20
25
11-20
24
<
Years
<
5
24
>
20
7
>
20
______________________________________________________________________________
Vol. 6, No. 2
26 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted
using LISREL 8 to evaluate the factor structure,
reliability, and discriminant validity. The X2 (df)
was somewhat large, 260.46(199), but less than
the recommended two times the degrees of
freedom. The other fit indicators suggested that
the fit of the measurement model was good.
The Root Mean Square Error of Approximation
(RMSEA) was 0.051, the Comparative Fit Index
(CFI) was .95 and the Goodness of Fit Index
(GFI) was .83. Summary statistics of the
measurement model are reported in Table 2 and
correlations between constructs are reported in
Table 3.
its original usage, Ganesan (1993) was interested
in capturing the long-term orientation toward a
specific channel member (e.g., I expect to work
this customer for long time). The items used
were adapted to reflect a general orientation
toward all interactions (e.g., I expect to work
with a customer for a long time).
The
personality measures were all scales that had
been used in previous research. All of the
measures consisted of 7-point Likert-type
questions. The exact items for all of the
measures are listed in the appendix.
We
collected two single-item measures of
experience: (1) total years with this firm and (2)
total years selling. Total years of experience in
selling was used as the measure of experience in
the analysis.
All of the scale items loaded significantly at less
than the .01 level on their respective constructs
and all of the standardized loadings were
above .50, with the exception of two empathy
items. Cronbach’s alpha scores (Table 2) are
above .70, except empathy (.63) which was lower
than expected (Grief and Hogan 1973). This
result is not totally unexpected, as summaries of
empathy research suggest that empathy has
proven to be difficult to measure (Wispe 1986).
Discriminant validity is evidenced by the fact
that all of the construct inter-correlations (Table
3) were significantly less than 1.00 and the phi
correlations squared were less that the variance
Analysis and Results
The recommended two-step approach in
Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was taken
to evaluate the measurement and theoretical
models (Anderson and Gerbing (1988). First,
the measurement model was assessed, and then
both the measurement and theoretical models
estimated simultaneously. This analysis was
conducted using LISREL 8.
Measurement Model
Table 2: Summary of Statistics of the Measurement Analysis
Measure
Standard
Mean Deviation
Alpha
Factor
Loadings
Relational Time Perspective
6.40
0.57
0.85
(0.66 to 0.79)
Self-Esteem
5.68
0.84
0.83
(0.56 to 0.82)
Locus of Control
5.86
0.84
0.78
(0.61 to 0.87)
Empathy
3.78
1.03
0.63
(0.38 to 0.74)
Dogmatism
2.73
1.16
0.75
(0.52 to 0.76)
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27
Spring 2006
Table 3: Correlation Matrix (N=118)
1
2
3
4
5
6
_________________________________________________________________________
1. Relational Time Perspective
1.00
2. Self Esteem
0.69
1.00
3. Locus of Control
0.59
0.67
1.00
4. Empathy
0.14
-.03
-.07
1.00
5. Dogmatism
-.24
-.04
0.01
-.39
1.00
6. Experience
0.14
0.07
-.02
0.03
-.12
1.00
extracted for each construct (Fornell and Larcker
1981). Taken together, these results suggest that
the measures exhibited satisfactory reliability,
convergent and discriminant validity.
Theoretical Model
The model was re-estimated to simultaneously
examine both the measurement model and the
theoretical model, which also included the
experience as a control variable. The theoretical
model also fit the data well. The X2 (df) was
288.72(216). The Root Mean Square Error of
Approximation (RMSEA) was 0.054, the
Comparative Fit Index (CFI) was .94 and the
Goodness of Fit Index (GFI) was.82. All of the
hypotheses were supported at less .05. The
control variable, experience, was not significantly
related to relational time perspective. Together,
self-esteem, dogmatism, empathy, and internal
locus of control explained 64% of the variance
in relational time perspective, suggesting that
personality is a strong predictor of relational
time perspective.
Limitations
A number of important limitations must be
considered in relation to the study. The first is
the generalizability of the findings across
alternative sales contexts. Life insurance is a
selling environment where salespeople have a
great deal of autonomy. Therefore, personality
may have more impact than it would in contexts
where the salesperson is less autonomous. The
results of the study may also vary in selling
contexts that are less relational in nature.
Secondly, research shows that perceptions of
time are culturally bound (e.g., Macduff 2006),
suggesting caution would be required in
extending these results to other cultures. Finally,
the reliability for the measure of empathy was
somewhat low. Future research might use
alternative measures that might prove to be
more reliable.
Discussion
The study was designed to examine the
relationship between personality characteristics
and relational time perspective in selling, defined
as a generalized predisposition to take a longterm approach in dealing with customers and
potential customers. This long-term approach to
selling is premised on both the salesperson’s
perceived instrumentality and the willingness and
ability of the salesperson to invest in the
relationship. Prior research indicated that both
self-esteem and an internal locus-of-control were
characteristics likely to enhance perceptions of
instrumentality.
As hypothesized (H1), self-esteem was found to
have a strong positive relationship with a
relational time perspective. Relational selling is a
process in which long-term outcomes are the
Vol. 6, No. 2
28 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
product of the salesperson’s efforts over time.
Self-esteem, the perception of one’s capability, is
believed to be related to a longer time
perspective because people perceive that they
have the ability to impact future outcomes
(instrumentality). Prior research has found a
positive link between self-esteem and sales
performance (Bagozzi 1980). The findings of
this study suggest that self-esteem also in
important in taking a longer-term approach.
Hypothesis 2 was also supported, as an internal
locus-of-control was found to positively related
to a relational time perspective. Salespeople who
had a stronger perception that future rewards
and outcomes were controlled by their actions
had a more relational time perspective.
Collectively, hypotheses one and two suggest
that core self-evaluations can have a positive
impact on salespeople’s relational time
perspective.
The study also proposed that both the
“willingness and ability” to invest in
relationships were important to a relational time
perspective.
Research on interpersonal
relationships suggests that investments in a
relationship depend on one’s ability to be in tune
with the other party’s interests (when and how to
invest).
Based on this research, it was
hypothesized that empathy would have a
positive relationship with a relational time
perspective (H3) and that dogmatism would
have a negative relationship (H4). Both of these
hypotheses were also supported. Empathy is
believed to be related to the willingness and
ability to invest in relationship by promoting
relationship constructive behavior. This occurs
because of a greater sensitivity and
understanding of the exchange partner.
Dogmatism was expected to have the opposite
impact, as highly dogmatic people rigidly adhere
to their own perspectives and are less willing and
Northern Illinois University
able to see or understand the others’
perspectives. In order to take a relational
approach to selling, salespeople must perceive
that their current investments will pay off in the
long-run, and further they must be willing and
able to invest in relationships.
Finally, the study included experience in sales as
a control variable. Experience was not found to
be significantly related to a relational time
perspective. This suggests that experience alone
will not lead salespeople to a more relational
approach to selling. Perhaps the quality of one’s
experience may be more important to
developing a relational approach, than the
quantity of one’s experience.
Implications
Managerial
Our study has a number of implications for
managers involved in or contemplating
relationship selling programs. First, the study
suggests that personality may be an important
consideration in the selection of salespeople for
a relationship marketing oriented company.
That is, hiring people who have a predisposition
for relationship selling. While the idea of
person-job fit is not new in employee selection,
it has been suggested that personality and
temperament may play a more significant role in
organizations where “interpersonal skills needed
in team and customer interactions are valued
attributes” (Morgan and Smith 1996, p. 2).
Secondly, it may be more important to find
(rather than train) people with an orientation
toward relationship selling because it may be
more difficult to train these relational
orientations and abilities than traditional “hard”
selling skills (e.g., Pfeffer, Hatano, and
Santalainen 1995).
Potential
salespeople
may
not
be
good
Spring 2006
relationship builders if they lack relational time
perspective, which in turn is related to
personality. Specifically, people with higher selfesteem, an internal locus of control and greater
empathy would be more likely to have a more
relational time perspective, and therefore, be
more likely to set goals and engage in behaviors
that will foster long-term relationships.
Similarly, highly dogmatic employees or potential
employees would likely have difficulty building
successful relationships.
Since firms may hire both experienced and
inexperienced salespeople, both personality
measures and measures of relational time
perspective may prove to be valuable tools in
selecting potential candidates for relational
selling positions. Personality measures would be
appropriate for firms that are hiring new
inexperienced (green) salespeople, who have not
yet developed a relational time perspective in
selling. A fairly compact set of items measuring
self-esteem, locus of control, empathy, and
dogmatism appear to be a fairly robust predictor
of relational time perspective (explained 64% of
variance in this study). On the other hand, firms
recruiting experienced salespeople could benefit
from directly assessing their relational time
perspective. Relational time perspective may
also be a useful tool in decisions about assigning
salespeople to more relational selling positions
(e.g., key accounts, strategic partners). The
personality measures used in this study or
alternative valid and reliable measures of selfesteem, locus of control, empathy, and
dogmatism could be used as selection tools.
Similarly, the measure of relational time
perspective in this study could also be used. An
important consideration in the use of any
selection tool is that the tool captures important
elements of the specific job or predictors that are
significantly correlated with important elements
29
of the job. Potential legal problems related to
discrimination can be minimized by properly
validating the measures.
Information on
validating selection tools can be found in the
U.S. Department of Labor’s Uniform Guidelines
on Employee Selection Procedures.
In addition, the study may help managers who
are trying to implement relationship
development programs understand why some
salespeople may have more problems adopting a
relational perspective. It may be in some cases
that people were hired under a different model
of selling success that required a different set of
personality traits. For example, if the company
had been more short-term oriented, an
aggressive personality may have been an asset,
but these same people may have difficulty in a
more relational environment. At the same time,
some firms’ whose strategies emphasize
transactional selling may be better off with
salespeople who are less predisposed to a
relational approach. If managers assess the
relational time perspective of their current
salespeople and find that some are not
predisposed to take a long-term approach, they
have an opportunity to specifically direct and
train these salespeople to use more relational
selling behaviors.
Research
This research should be extended to other
contexts.
One perspective of personality
research in selling has simply been to dismiss it
as unimportant because it is not a strong
predictor of overall sales performance. The
alternative perspective is that it is important, but
that we simply do not understand where and
when it is important. Approaches that take a
more complex view of the role of personality in
selling offer the promise of increasing our
understanding of its effects, particularly, studies
Vol. 6, No. 2
30 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
that focus on its effects on important mediating
and moderating variables. We suggest that
relational time perspective is one of these
important mediators because it likely influences
goals and behavior (another under-researched
but important link in the performance equation).
A valuable extension of this study would be to
examine the success or failure of mismatched
salespeople (based on relational time
perspective) in both relational and transactional
sales contexts.
Since, at least part of individual time perspective
is malleable (Lennings, Burns, and Cooney
1998), it would be beneficial to understand fully
which additional factors influence it in business
contexts, particularly, those variables that can be
controlled by management such as corporate
culture and values, goals, and compensation. An
additional avenue of research would be to
examine the linkage between time perspective
and both performance and satisfaction. The link
to performance may not be as obvious as one
might think. Crosby, Evans, and Cowles’s
(1990) research suggests that relational selling
behavior fosters opportunities to make sales and
the process used, rather than directly affecting
the quantitative outcome of sales interactions.
Further, the relational behavior/performance
linkage is likely to be contingent on how
performance is defined. Since many companies
may seek and evaluate alternative ways to define
performance as they adopt relational selling
strategies, this is an area that would benefit
significantly from further research.
Time
perspective may also be related to job
satisfaction. Recent research shows that core
self evaluations (e.g., self-esteem, locus of
control) are both directly related to satisfaction
and indirectly related through their influence on
core external evaluations, including their
approach to work (Judge et al. 1998). Reciprocal
Northern Illinois University
effects are also possible, as job satisfaction may
enhance a relational time perspective.
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APPENDIX
33
principles.
People find it difficult to convince me that I am
wrong on a point no matter how hard they try.
I would get into a long discussion, rather that
admit that I am wrong.
When someone opposes me on an issue, I usually
find myself taking even a stronger stand than I did
at first.
Summary of Scale Items
Relational Time Perspective-Ganesan (1993)adapted from
Maintaining a long-term relationship with a
customer is important.
Concessions I make to help a customer will even
out in the long run.
I focus on long-term goals in dealing with
customers.
I expect to work with a customer for a long time.
I am willing to make sacrifices to help customers
from time to time.
Self-esteem-Wells/Tigert (1971)
I am more independent than most people.
I think I have a lot of personal ability.
I like to be considered a leader.
I know that my own judgment on most matters is
the final judgment.
I can talk others into doing something.
Gerrard Macintosh is a professor of marketing at
North Dakota State University. His primary research
interests focus on interpersonal relationships in
marketing. His work has appeared in the International
Journal of Research in Marketing, the Journal of
Personal Selling and Sales Management, and Psychology
& Marketing, as well as other journals and proceedings.
E-mail: Gerry.Macintosh@ndsu.edu
Locus of Control-Rotter (1966)- Modified Version
What happens is my own doing.
Getting people to do the right things depends
upon ability not luck.
When I make plans, I am certain I can make them
work.
Many decisions that affect my performance are
made by someone else. (R)
Empathy Grief & Hogan (1973)
I tend to get emotionally involved with a friend’s
problems.
I tend to lose control when I am bringing bad
news to people.
The people around me have a great influence on
my moods.
I sometimes get emotionally involved in a
customer’s problem.
Dogmatism-Bruning et al. (1985)
I try to convince others to accept my political
Vol. 6, No. 2
34 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
Exploring the practice of undercover selling
By Vincent P. Magnini, Earl D. Honeycutt, John N. Gaskins, and Sharon K. Hodge
Because of promotional clutter, firms are utilizing covert sales agents to convey messages and influence potential buyers without the latter being aware of the seller’s role. This paper first describes the advantages and disadvantages associated with employing undercover sales agents. Advantages are explained based upon the concepts of word-of-mouth
effectiveness and agent flexibility. Disadvantages revolve around source distance, commitment and trust, ethics, and
potential intervention by legislative/industry groups. Agent compensation and point of buyer discovery also moderates
undercover sales effectiveness. Based upon these discussions, propositions and implications are presented to sales
managers.
Introduction
Firms now utilize an undercover sales force to
promote their products. For example:
•
In 2002 Sony Ericsson paid 60 actor
representatives in 10 cities to engage
strangers and ask them: “Would you
mind taking my picture?” The good
Samaritans who obliged were handed a
Sony Ericsson camera-phone to take the
shot, at which point the actor would
comment that the camera phone was “a
cool gadget” (Walker 2004, pp.70).
•
Freedom Tobacco employed undercover
agents when they launched a new brand
of cigarettes called “Legal.”
The
company sent undercover sales agents
into bars where they sat with open packs
of cigarettes on their table to wait for
someone to approach and ask for a
cigarette (www.cbsnews.com/
stories/2003/10/23/ 60minutes/main
579657.shtml - accessed 2/13/2004).
•
Hennessy, a brand of top-shelf cognac,
was marketed, in part, by 150 actors who
were hired to drink at trendy bars and
talk positively about the product with
patrons (Vranica 2005).
Personal selling, as a promotional activity, is
defined as “the two-way flow of communication
between a buyer and seller, often in a face-toNorthern Illinois University
face encounter, designed to influence a person’s
or group’s purchase decision” (Kerin et. al 2003).
Thus, personal selling is a dyadic interaction
where an “identified” sales representative is
employed to influence potential buyers. Based
upon the examples cited above, firms are now
using “covert,” “stealth,” “incognito” or
“undercover” sales agents to convey messages
and influence potential buyers. While the
frequency of covert sales agents is increasing
(Vranica 2005, Kaikati and Kaikati 2004), the
advantages and disadvantages of pursuing an
“undercover” strategy have yet to be examined.
A covert or undercover sales initiative is defined
as any person-to-person interaction where the seller or
influencer knows there is a commercial purpose to the
encounter, but the potential buyer is unaware of the
seller’s role.
In fact, many covert selling
operations require that the incognito company
representatives maintain absolute secrecy about
their roles by signing confidentiality agreements.
The primary objective of undercover initiatives is
“to get the right people talking about the
product or service without appearing to be
company-sponsored” (Kaikati and Kaikati 2004
p.6). The purpose of this paper is two-fold: (1)
to describe and explain factors that influence the
effectiveness of employing undercover sales
personnel [i.e. the ability of the strategy to
influence consumer purchase intentions]; and (2)
to offer sales managers propositions and
implications that are based upon the findings.
Spring 2006
REASONS TO EMPLOY AN
UNDERCOVER SALES FORCE
Marketplace clutter can make undercover selling
an appealing and effective marketing strategy.
That is, marketers find it increasingly challenging
to penetrate marketplace clutter to win
consumer awareness (Pieters, Warlop, and Wedel
2002).
Primetime television is 24 percent
promotional content, consumer magazines are
composed of 50 percent advertising, and
newspapers contain as much as 64 percent
advertising (Television Commercial Monitoring
Report 1995; 1994/1995 Magazine Handbook
1995). The average American consumer is
saturated daily with increasing numbers of
promotional messages. For example, consumers
were exposed to approximately 3600 sales
messages per day in 1996, an increase from 1500
in 1984 (Jhally 1998). The limited cognitive
capacity of a consumer can make it impossible to
comprehend such large numbers of sales
messages (Jacoby 1984; Malhorta 1982).
Consequently, advertising overload leads
consumers to develop coping mechanisms and
avoidance tactics that protect them from being
overwhelmed by marketing messages (Speck and
Elliott 1997). Specifically, when an environment
is replete with ad messages, consumers filter out
excess stimuli and pay selective attention to
messages that pass through an individual’s
internal screening criteria (Rumbo 2002). The
degree of filtering is even more pronounced
when the consumer has a low level of
involvement with the product category and/or
purchase decision (Kahneman 1973).
Furthermore, sustained over-exposure to
promotional clutter triggers consumer feelings of
skepticism and resentment (Goldman and
Papson 1994). Therefore, by employing covert
sales agents, firms are able to breach consumer
avoidance tactics. This penetration is possible in
an undercover scenario because the consumer is
unaware that the information exchange involves
a company marketing representative. Based
upon this discussion the first proposition states:
35
Proposition # 1: Sales clutter in the
marketplace correlates positively with the
effectiveness of a firm’s undercover sales
agent strategy.
Personal information sources play a central role
in influencing product selection (Katona and
Mueller 1954; Kiel and Layton 1981; Price and
Feick 1984), choosing service providers
(Keaveney 1995), and diffusing information
about new product offerings (Arndt 1967; Engel,
Kegerreis, and Blackwell 1969; Feldman and
Spencer 1965; Sheth 1971). In fact, word-ofmouth (WOM) exerts a greater influence on
consumer product judgments than print
information (Herr et al. 1991). For example,
positive brand attitudes are formulated on the
basis of a single, favorable WOM
communication, even when detailed product
information is also available (Mangold, Miller,
and Brockway 1999).
The usefulness of
undercover marketing relies on the assertion that
WOM remains the most effective form of
promotion (Kaikati and Kaikati 2004).
The significant influence of WOM on consumer
decision-making is attributable to its vividness as
a form of communication (Herr et al. 1991).
“Vividness refers to a message that is interesting,
concrete, and image provoking. Also, for a
message to be considered vivid it must be
proximate in a temporal, spatial, or sensory way
(Nisbett and Ross 1980). A word-of-mouth
message meets these criteria primarily because
WOM often occurs in a face-to-face encounter.
Furthermore, since WOM is a vivid form of
marketing communication, it possesses an ability
to attract attention, hold interest, and bolster the
information’s accessibility from memory (Herr et
al. 1991; Nisbett and Ross 1980). Although it can
be argued that traditional forms of personal
selling are vivid, undercover selling initiatives are
even more so because consumers tend to
mentally tune-out and/or refute formal
presentations (Petty and Cacioppo 1981);
whereas, undercover initiatives face less mental
screening. Hence, disguising an undercover sales
agent’s marketing message as WOM suggests:
Vol. 6, No. 2
36 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
Proposition # 2: The degree of vividness of
information in an undercover selling
encounter is positively correlated with the
strategy’s effectiveness.
Marketers also experience increased difficulty in
reaching potential buyers because cable TV,
satellite TV, and satellite radio are fragmenting
advertising audiences.
Likewise, TV prerecording technologies (e.g. TIVO) screen
advertisements out of viewer content. As a
result, the number of TV commercials needed to
reach 80% of 18 to 49 year old women increased
from three ads in 1995 to 97 ads in 2000 (Boyle
2003). In contrast, covert sales agents can seek
out and approach prospects that “fit the mold”
of a potential buyer or brand advocate. Even
though a covert sales agent’s reach is
significantly less than other promotional media
their effectiveness at reaching the targeted group,
like all salespersons, appears to be higher.
Moreover, since business environments
continuously change, the stealth salesperson
possesses the capability to react faster (and more
discreetly) than those firms whose large
marketing expenditures are locked into longterm promotional commitments (Ahmed 2000).
In other words, an undercover sales agent can
alter whom s/he approaches and which message
is emphasized based upon changes in the
competitive, social, or economic environment.
In such circumstances, the targeting and message
flexibility of undercover sales agents are greater
than the pliancy afforded traditional sales agents.
This is because traditional sales agents are
expected to ‘fit the mold’ of the company’s
culture that they represent.
Conversely,
undercover agents have no such mold and
consequently have more freedom to act as
“chameleons” in various situations since the
companies that they represent are disguised.
Therefore:
Proposition # 3:
3a: The targeting flexibility afforded
by undercover agents is positively associated
Northern Illinois University
with the effectiveness of an undercover sales
strategy.
3b: The message flexibility afforded
by undercover agents is positively associated
with the effectiveness of an undercover sales
strategy.
Social influence exerts a powerful effect on
consumers and is relevant to undercover sales
strategies. A particularly relevant aspect of social
influence is social proof (Cialdini 2001). The
idea behind the social proof phenomenon is that
one way to determine what is correct is to find
out what others believe is correct. Thus, in a
marketing context, consumers look to the
behavior of other consumers to determine how
they should act in a given purchasing situation;
that is, what products—and more importantly—
what brands they should buy. Individuals view
behavior to be correct when they see others
performing that behavior. Humans acquiesce to
this type of social influence for several reasons.
Some people mimic the behavior of others
because they believe that such behavior will lead
to social approval and acceptance rewards. At
other times, people look to the behavior and
decisions of others when they are uncertain how
to act or respond in a particular situation. Thus,
having undercover sales agents utilize the
product in naturalistic settings taps directly into
this social influence technique. Reliance on
social proof is greater for products that have
higher degrees of perceived risk and for
purchases that are publicly consumed; that is,
they are socially conspicuous or easily observed
by others (Ford and Ellis 1980; Bearden and
Etzel 1982). The power of social proof helps
convince consumers that if everyone is buying it,
they should be buying it too. Thus:
Proposition # 4: The degree of consumer
reliance on social proof for making
purchasing decisions is positively related to
the effectiveness of the undercover sales
strategy.
Spring 2006
REASONS NOT TO EMPLOY
UNDERCOVER SALES FORCE
AN
Since word-of-mouth communication is a social
behavior, WOM sources can be classified based
upon the “closeness” of the relationship
between the decision-maker and the source
(Brown and Reingen 1987). This closeness is
termed “tie strength” and is considered stronger
when the information source and the decisionmaker have a personal relationship. Conversely,
weaker tie strength exists when a WOM source
is an acquaintance or a stranger (Duhan et al.
1997). People in a stronger tie relationship
interact more frequently and exchange larger
amounts of information than those in a weaker
tie dyadic relationship (Brown and Reingen 1987;
Reingen and Kernan 1986).
A circumstance in which a consumer interacts
with an undercover sales agent qualifies as a
weaker tie WOM scenario because the sales
agent is only an acquaintance. This weaker tie
situation is less likely to activate a high level of
information transfer than an encounter in which
the two parties forge a stronger tie relationship
(Brown and Reingen 1987; Granovetter 1973;
Leonard-Barton 1985; Reingen and Kernan
1986).
More specifically, individuals in a
stronger tie relationship know more about each
other, including how relevant they are to one
another as sources of information about a
specific product (Brown and Reingen 1987). As
a result:
Proposition # 5: An undercover sales agent
is a weak-tie source and correlates negatively
with sales effectiveness.
In the marketing literature trust is defined as “a
willingness to rely on an exchange partner in
whom one has confidence” (Moorman,
Deshpande, and Zaltman 1993, p. 82). Similarly,
Morgan and Hunt (1994) describe trust as:
“when one party has confidence in an exchange
partner’s reliability and integrity” (p. 23). Both
definitions emphasize confidence. Confidence
on behalf of the trusting party is built through
37
consistent, competent, honest, fair, responsible,
helpful, and benevolent behaviors exhibited by
the trustworthy party (Altman 1973; Dwyer and
LaGace 1986; Larzelere and Huston 1980;
Rotter 1967). One may ask what happens when
unsuspecting consumers are approached by
undercover sales associates who possess a
hidden agenda? The likely outcome is a negative
impact on confidence and an erosion of trust.
For example, according to the Wall Street Journal,
the Sony Ericsson incognito tactic discussed in
this article’s introduction received wide criticism
(Vranica 2005).
The outcome of eroding trust is typically a
reduction in buyer commitment.
Because
commitment entails vulnerability, constituents
search for trustworthy parties (Morgan and Hunt
1994). Consequently, since trusting relationships
are held in high regard, parties strive to commit
themselves to such relationships (Hrebiniak
1974; Morgan and Hunt 1994). Theoretical
anchoring for this logic is found in social
exchange theory that posits that “mistrust breeds
mistrust and as such would also serve to
decrease
commitment
in
the
relationship” (McDonald 1981, p. 834). Hence,
if an individual discovers that s/he was targeted
by an undercover sales agent; or that s/he is
conducting business with a company known for
engaging in such tactics; decreased consumer
trust, and ultimately reduced commitment may
result. In accordance with these discussions the
next proposition states:
Proposition # 6: The erosion of commitment
and trust spawned by undercover selling is
negatively associated with the strategy’s
effectiveness.
Over the past three decades heightened
theoretical and empirical attention has been
directed at the ethical dimensions of sales
practices (c.f. Bellizzi and Hite 1989; Chonko
and Burnett 1983; Levy and Dubinsky 1983;
McIntyre, Thomas, and Gilbert 1999; Wotruba
1990). In recent years sales managers across a
broad spectrum of industries advised their reps
Vol. 6, No. 2
38 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
to address issues of ethics and corporate
responsibility (Gilbert 2003). From an ethical
perspective, consumers expect “fairness and
honesty” from a firm’s sales representatives
(McIntyre, Thomas, Gilbert 1999, pp. 43). Since
“withholding information” violates an
expectation of honesty (McIntyre, Thomas,
Gilbert 1999, pp. 46), the potential ethical
dilemmas caused by employing undercover sales
associates are evident.
The underlying advantage of employing an
undercover sales force is to disguise a sales
initiative as a word-of-mouth communication.
However, the ethical dilemma associated with
“disguising information” is that individuals pay
more attention to WOM when the source is
believed to originate from an individual with no
self-interest in promoting a product (Arndt 1967;
Silverman 1997). Since a WOM source is not
perceived to possess a hidden agenda,
consumers rely more on WOM information in
high-risk purchase scenarios (Arndt 1968;
Cunningham 1964; Perry and Hamm 1969;
Roselius 1971). Risk could entail high physical,
financial, or social consequences. Hence,
companies should proceed with caution. If
revealed, an undercover strategy could negatively
impact a brand should consumers feel that they
have been duped (Kaikati and Kaikati 2004, p.
18). As a consequence:
Proposition # 7: Consumers are particularly
vulnerable to undercover sales messages for
high-risk purchases. In these cases, the
perception of ethical violations is magnified
and relates negatively to the strategy’s
effectiveness.
In the United States, throughout the 20th
Century, the marketing element of personal
selling has been impacted by first amendment
court decisions. This is because courts are more
apt to regulate situations in which it is difficult to
monitor commercial speech (Boedecker,
Morgan, and Wright 1995). That is, personal
selling is susceptible to regulation when sales
encounters cannot be monitored by a third party.
Northern Illinois University
For example, rulings have been handed down
regarding selling efforts in industries in which
customers are vulnerable (Boedecker, Morgan,
and Wright 1995). Pharmaceutical sales reps, for
instance, must market their drugs directly to
physicians who serve as a learned intermediary
for vulnerable patients (Gemperli 2000).
Lawmakers have yet to specifically address the
situation in which one party knows that there is a
commercial purpose to an encounter, but the
other does not. Perhaps this type of encounter
has not been legally addressed because it is a
relatively recent corporate promotional tactic.
Its infancy is illustrated by a current gap between
popular press and marketing literature. That is,
numerous popular press articles refer to the use
of undercover sales agents as “viral
marketing” (c.f. Vranica 2005), but widely
accepted marketing textbooks define “viral
marketing” as a web-based promotional strategy
(c.f. Kerin et al. 2003; Kotler and Armstrong
2004). In 1996, when venture capitalist Steve
Jurvetson coined the term “viral marketing,” he
was describing marketing messages that were
transmitted via e-mail (Kaikati and Kaikati 2004).
The confusion involving terminology illustrates
that undercover marketing, for the most part, is
a new phenomenon.
Lawmakers are bound to eventually step-in to
regulate certain incognito scenarios that could
harm consumers. For example, there have been
a number of recent incidents in which celebrities
endorsed particular pharmaceuticals on
programs such as Good Morning America. In these
incidents, the celebrities were paid by drug
companies for their endorsements, but television
viewers were unaware of the celebrity’s hidden
agenda.
This undercover marketing tactic
temporarily enabled drug companies to
circumvent FDA requirements that mandate that
all drug advertising should include warnings of
potential side effects. While lawmakers would
agree that consumers have the right to be
informed about drug side-effects, the use of
undercover sales agents is new and, therefore,
Spring 2006
not yet regulated.
Since the legality of
undercover sales strategies has yet to be
established:
Proposition # 8: Legal issues surrounding
the practice of undercover selling have yet to
be clarified, and this fact is negatively
associated with the effectiveness of a longrun commitment to the strategy.
Even within an environment in which
undercover sales force situations have not been
legislatively addressed, firms that utilize
undercover sales agents should exercise caution
in making product claims. That is, salesperson
information should be factually correct and all
information should relate to topics that can be
substantiated (Boedecker, Morgan, and Wright
1995). Claims that are not verifiable can
potentially lead to efforts to regulate salesperson
speech (Schneider and Johnson 1992). For
example in the case of Freedom Tobacco, as
cited earlier, claims made in cigarette
advertisements are highly scrutinized, so
allowing undercover sales reps to make
unmonitored product claims could lead to
industry imposed regulation for sales agents. In
fact, while message flexibility can enhance the
effectiveness of undercover selling, it can also be
a drawback since it is difficult to anticipate how
a selling agent will present a product in a casual
conversation.
If systematic salesperson abuses are experienced
over a period of time, it is standard practice for
third party constituencies to track sales efforts in
particular industries. For instance, the Financial
Services Authority (FSA) monitors the sale of
financial services in the United Kingdom. The
FSA is an independent non-governmental party
granted statutory power by the Financial Services
and Markets Act of 2000 (www.fsa.gov.uk/who/
- accessed 1/20/05). Another illustration of
localized sales monitoring exists within the U.S.
life and health insurance industries. That is,
insurance companies are encouraged to join the
Insurance Marketplace Standards Association.
Membership in this non-profit organization
39
requires adherence to a specific code of
standards related to the sale of insurance (www.
Imsaethics.org – accessed 1/20/05).
In
summary, if undercover sales agents’ efforts
cannot be monitored, and if they are suspected
of making unjustifiable claims, localized
regulatory measures may transpire.
In fact, the Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Association, with headquarters in Chicago,
announced in February, 2005 a new set of codes
that they feel marketers should abide. The codes
include the following (source: The Word-ofMouth Marketing Association):
•
Honesty of Relationship: People advocating
products and services must disclose for
whom they are working.
•
Honesty of Opinion: Rather than hiring
actors, companies must use real
consumers to talk about what they really
believe about a product.
•
Honesty of Identity: Don’t impersonate a
consumer.
It is unknown how these new guidelines are
impacting the marketing arena. Nevertheless, as
undercover sales tactics become more
commonplace, self-regulating efforts are
inevitable. For instance, Consumer Alert, a
consumer advocacy organization co-founded by
Ralph Nader, takes a strong stance against
stealth marketing, viewing it to be unethical and
deceptive (Kaikati and Kaikati 2004). Therefore,
based upon the above discussion:
Proposition # 9: In the future, localized
regulations could be placed on the practice
of undercover selling, and this fact is
negatively associated with the effectiveness
of a long-run commitment to the strategy.
MODERATING VARIABLES
The effectiveness of any form of communication
is highly dependent upon source credibility.
Credibility encompasses a source’s perceived
expertise, objectivity, or trustworthiness.
Vol. 6, No. 2
40 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
Further, credibility is dependent upon the
receiver’s perception of the source’s ability and
readiness to provide accurate information
(Dholakia and Sternthal 1977). At the heart of
the issue are the source’s motivation and the
degree to which it converges or conflicts with
the receiver’s interests. One major hurdle that
an identified firm salesperson must clear is the
perception that s/he provides information that is
unfavorable to the buyer’s interests in order to
earn a reward. This is why the first step in
modern salesmanship is to establish in the
prospective buyer’s mind the proposition that
the salesperson understands that his long-term
interests are best served by helping the buyer
than by making a specific sale (Honeycutt, Ford,
and Simintiras 2003). Once the prospective
buyer trusts the salesperson is truthful and
considerate of the buyer’s well-being in all
situations, then personal selling becomes an
effective form of promotion (Morgan and Hunt
1994).
An undercover approach may work well for the
seller as long as the buyer is unaware of any
hidden agenda. But what happens if the buyer
becomes cognizant of the true purpose of the
encounter? That is to what extent, if any, is the
relationship damaged and the communication
process impeded by disclosure of the undercover
sales agent’s actual purpose? Anecdotal evidence
(Walker 2004) suggests a complex answer. The
reactions of consumers who discovered that the
source was working as part of an orchestrated
commercial effort varied from no effect to
heightened skepticism about all future
communications about products from that
source.
Also, the timing of the discovery coupled with
buyer outcomes appears to moderate the effect.
If the receiver discovered the hidden agenda
after the information had been transferred,
tested, and found to be accurate (i.e., buyer
outcomes are positive) there might be little or no
diminution in buyer satisfaction (Sternthal,
Dholakia and Leavitt 1978). In such a case, firsthand knowledge trumps skepticism. Conversely,
Northern Illinois University
discovering the deception at an intermediate
stage could lead to a greater decrease in
satisfaction. The fact that a source deliberately
hid his material stake in the outcome of the
encounter would, in many people’s minds
suggest an attempt to deceive and exploit the
receiver. With little or no first hand knowledge
to offset this possibility, the receiver might react
very strongly indeed. However, the greatest
decrease in satisfaction is likely to occur if the
information had been transferred, tested and
found to be inaccurate (i.e., buyer outcomes are
negative) after discovering the hidden agenda.
These observations lead to the next proposition:
Proposition # 10: The effectiveness of a
long-run strategic commitment to
undercover selling is moderated by the
interaction of the timing of the consumer’s
discovery of the covert agenda and the
buyer’s outcome. That is:
10a: If the discovery occurs after purchase,
and buyer outcomes were positive
(negative), there will be little or no decrease
(large decrease) in satisfaction and, likewise,
little or no decrease (large decrease) in the
effectiveness of the strategy.
10b: If the discovery occurs before outcomes
could be assessed this would lead to greater
dissatisfaction, and a larger decrease in the
effectiveness of the strategy than if the
discovery occurs after the buyer experiences
outcomes.
One would expect that a negative reaction would
be heightened in cases where the receiver
discovered that the source was being
compensated to provide information, and that
the source had deliberately hidden that fact
would intensify the reaction (Petty and Cacioppo
1981). In other words, perhaps unpaid agents
are more effective than ones who are
compensated with money. Procter & Gamble,
for example, utilizes unpaid agents. Specifically,
the company sends new products and
information to a core group of teens, who are
41
Spring 2006
free to spread WOM as they see fit (Vranica
2005). Also, when Microsoft introduced a new
game, Halo 2, the company gave gamers, that
were identified as peer influencers, tidbits about
the game before its release hoping that they
would spread the word to other gamers (Vranica
2005).
Understanding the difference in effectiveness
between paid and unpaid agents can be found in
the consumer’s motivation to attribute causality.
The rationalization processes consumers employ
to determine the causes of actions is known as
attribution theory (Kelley 1967; Weiner 1986).
Attribution theory suggests that individuals
attempt to determine whether the cause of an
action was due to something internal or external
to the person/object in question. Thus, for an
undercover sales agent, the receiver may
question whether the agent recommended the
product because s/he truly liked it, an internal
attribution, or because s/he was paid to promote
it, an external attribution. If the consumer
attributes the agent’s endorsement to an external
factor (e.g. money), rather than an internal factor
(e.g., actual liking), then trust in the sales agent
would be diminished. This decreased trust
directly impacts the credibility of the endorser
and the consumer will discount the message
and/or fail to develop a positive attitude toward
the product or brand.
Attribution theory
suggests that this reaction will be stronger when
the undercover seller is discovered to be a paid
professional than when s/he is a volunteer who
is compensated with products and perks, or not
at all. Research has also shown this effect to be
magnified when multiple paid endorsers are used
(Moore, Mowen, and Reardon 1994). Thus:
Proposition # 11: The effectiveness of
undercover selling is moderated by the
consumer’s discovery of the salesperson’s
compensation. That is, if the consumer
discovers that the undercover agent is
compensated (uncompensated), this
discovery is negatively (positively)
associated with the strategy’s effectiveness.
MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS
From a managerial perspective, undercover sales
efforts appear to be effective because agents are
able to infiltrate the potential buyer’s defenses
against commercial messages and overt sales
calls. This success occurs because buyers are less
likely to counter-argue when listening to
believable word-of-mouth messages (Petty and
Cacioppo 1981), in contrast to identified sales
calls. Although undercover sales techniques may
succeed in certain situations, this does not mean
that professional sales firms should adopt this
strategy. Limitations to an undercover sales
strategy include source distance, lack of
commitment and trust, questionable ethical
practices, and potential intervention by
legislative/industry groups.
Given these
negative repercussions, undercover sales efforts
offer a firm little opportunity to establish or
maintain long-term buyer relationships.
In fact, the negative aspects of undercover sales
efforts appear to outweigh potential gains. If
discovered, covert sales efforts could lead to
negative press, buyer boycotts, lost market share,
and lawsuits. For example, a buyer who is
injured could sue the firm for damages based
upon sales deception. In an extreme case of
lawsuit, boycott, or loss of market share, a firm
could be forced out of business by covert sales
efforts gone awry.
This examination of undercover sales behavior is
especially pertinent for business-to-business
(B2B) sales managers. Although it is unlikely
that a traditional B2B sales organization will
directly utilize undercover sales agents, it is
possible for the firm to employ undercover sales
agents in tandem with an overt sales effort. For
example, sales agents might frequent public
places (bars, restaurants, shopping malls and/or
the Internet) to spread word of mouth to
“promote” the new product/service and initiate
a “pull” force from buyers. The traditional B2B
sales force would work simultaneously to “push”
the product through the supply channel to
original equipment manufacturers (OEM),
Vol. 6, No. 2
42 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
wholesalers, and retailers.
Also important, B2B sales managers can learn
from the negative consequences of undercover
sales efforts to improve the effectiveness of the
traditional sales force. That is, the B2B sales
manager can insure his sales force engages in the
following actions: First, build buyer confidence
and trust through consistent, competent, honest,
fair, responsible, helpful, and benevolent
salesperson behavior (Altman 1973). Toward
this end B2B sales managers should train, coach,
and reward their sales force to establish and
build buyer confidence that leads to improved
sales force effectiveness. Second, even though
current laws may not address newly devised
efforts like undercover sales, the safest course of
action is to adhere to ethical guidelines. This
means that all buyer and seller interactions
should be conducted at a level that far exceeds
minimal legal standards. In the long-run, the
buyer will not discover negative facts that might
cause them to switch to another vendor. The
loss of a major customer would, in effect,
override short-term profits a firm might earn
through potentially unethical behavior.
In conclusion, an undercover sales agent plays a
new role in a firm’s promotional network, and it
is important for sales managers to understand
how covert marketing can complement sales
efforts in today’s marketplace. Perhaps most
important for sales managers to understand,
however, are the negative implications of
employing undercover sales efforts.
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Sharon K. Hodge is an Assistant Professor of
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E-mail: shodge@elon.edu
Vol. 6, No. 2
46 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
Using presentations to cultivate stronger customer
relationships
By Mark Shonka and Dan Kosch
Making the sale plants the seed that grows a
customer relationship. But it takes care and
attention to cultivate that relationship so that it
bears fruit in the long run. Unfortunately, even
the most astute account managers can face
unexpected issues that can cause even the
strongest partnerships to wither.
Moreover, the environment in which you
manage and grow an account relationship is not
unlike the one in which you had to sell – it’s very
challenging and here are some reasons why:
Competition: Your competition won’t wilt and
fade away just because you’re on top for the
moment. In fact, like a weed that becomes
pesticide-resistant, they may become even more
aggressive, constantly seeking an opportunity to
choke you out.
Differentiation: In selling to your customer,
you had to demonstrate what made your
company stand apart from the competition.
Never stop selling them, because if you don’t
demonstrate every day that you are critical to
their strength and success, they’ll forget and the
weeds of doubt will creep in.
Price: There have always been people who make
price, not value, their number one priority –
they’re called procurement officers. Once
relegated to the back offices back in the day,
they are now firmly entrenched in the executive
wing. They’re smart and savvy, and some of
them can be cut-throat. They’ve transformed
purchasing into a science. They pull out all of the
stops to get the lowest price possible; using
innovative technology and processes –
everything from quality initiatives that streamline
purchasing procedures to buying consortiums to
online vendor auctions where the lowest bidder
Northern Illinois University
wins. Often, their purpose is to make price the
only issue.
Credit for value: You’ve toiled to educate your
customers about the value you bring to the
relationship. Getting credit for that value is
important to your ability to make that
relationship flourish.
And there are other challenges, including
keeping your projects a priority, changes in your
customer’s organization, and managing their
ever-growing expectations.
An intelligent way to get to the root of these
issues is selling to and working with your
customer’s senior executives. They are the ones
who are most invested in ensuring you continue
to deliver value. They establish the priority
projects, they are concerned about the economic
health of the business and they are the ones
focused on the future. Your vision should be the
same. You need to seek opportunities to get in
front of those decision makers to continually
demonstrate the benefits of a strategic – and
ongoing – business relationship between your
companies. And, when you have those
opportunities, you must take full advantage of
them.
Reaching senior-level executives is critical and
the techniques you could use to do that can fill
an additional article. In this one, however, we’ll
focus on how to make the most of every
moment you are in front of them by reinforcing
the value of an ongoing relationship. Essentially,
your goal is to show them that like two vines
that intertwine, a solid partnership will help your
customer become stronger and better able to
withstand the winds of adversity.
The most effective way to impart the power of
Application Article
partnership is by delivering compelling,
captivating and memorable business
presentations periodically and proactively.
Why a Presentation
Because it offers you an impressive advantage. A
presentation is your opportunity to showcase
yourself as a polished, insightful, capable
professional who can conclusively demonstrate
how a relationship with you and your company
can help the decision maker achieve their
business objectives, address key issues and
implement priority strategies. As a matter of fact,
a University of Minnesota study revealed that if
you stand up and give a presentation your
customer is 43 percent more likely to be
persuaded and will be willing to pay 26 percent
more money for the same product or service.
Let’s take a closer look at the advantages of
business presentations and why they are so
powerful.
Effective, proactive presentations can help you:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Earn the right to continue to work with
senior-level management;
Build momentum for your projects;
Enhance your professional image;
Take control of communication;
Demonstrate your commitment and
sincerity;
Initiate a decisive environment; and
Create a memorable event.
Executed properly, the presentation will:
•
•
•
•
Increase customer satisfaction and
loyalty
Improve customer retention.
Provide the elements to cultivate and
grow the business relationship
Sow the seeds of new opportunity for
other products and services.
“The best way to predict the future…is to create
it.” That quote by an unknown source is what
Spring 2006
47
managing and growing account relationships is
all about – creating the future with your
customer. You’re planting the concepts today
that will help the business relationship flourish
tomorrow. Making a presentation to senior-level
management is not an alternative or back-up
strategy – it’s central to your primary strategy for
managing and growing your account
relationships.
Guidelines
Executives
for
Selling
to
Senior-Level
These underlying guidelines will help you make
the most of the presentation opportunity:
Guideline 1: Senior-level decision makers are
more likely to maintain a value-oriented
relationship with you and your company based
on what you know about them and their
business rather than what they know about you
and your products. Their priority is making sure
that the objectives of their company are being
met, so you must continually demonstrate that
your efforts support those objectives.
Guideline 2: You only get one chance to make a
good first impression. But understand that
you’re only as effective as your last presentation,
so make every one memorable.
Guideline 3: Ongoing access is critical. It’s not
enough to get to senior-level management once
– you need to be so good that you get invited
back. Getting to know your customer’s business
inside and out helps you focus on their issues.
Furthermore, it enhances their perception of you
– they’ll see you as a business resource who can
make an impact on those issues.
Guideline 4: The power of presentation always
exceeds the power of a discussion or a
document.
Guideline 5: Prove the business fit before the
product fit. Again, remember, it was proving the
business fit that got you in. As you continue to
work with your customer, resist the urge to grow
business by merely introducing them to new
products or services. Keep proving the business
fit and the business will grow itself.
Vol. 6, No. 2
48 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
Types of Presentations
There are three types of presentations that you
can use depending upon your objectives:
The Business/Positioning presentation includes
(See Figure 1):
•
The Business/Positioning presentation which
can:
•
•
•
•
•
Position a conceptual fit between your
two organizations;
Reposition your company;
Change potential misperceptions;
Position your company as a valuable
resource;
Solidify the next opportunity for
presenting a specific solution or
recommendation.
•
The Relationship Management presentation
which can:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Assist in the ongoing management of
the relationship;
Give your company credit for the value
you bring;
Reflect on the relationship;
Expand the relationship;
Resolve possible issues that may exist;
Uncover additional opportunities and
prioritize them;
Make your projects the priority.
Use the Solution/Closing presentation to:
•
•
•
Solidify the relationship;
Present specific recommendations; and
Close new business.
Cover All Your Bases
The following reviews the components in each
of the presentations. What they have in common
is a need for a dynamic cover page. It identifies
the type of presentation you’re making and
should prominently feature your customer’s
logo. This will reinforce the tie between your
two companies.
The Business/Positioning Presentation
Northern Illinois University
The presentation objectives, made up of
three components:
♦
A confirmation of your
understanding of the customer’s
business;
♦
A statement of your company’s
interest to position itself as a
business resource to your customer.
♦
A statement on how you want to
develop, expand and strengthen
your business relationship.
The agenda, which lists the contents of
the presentation including a customer
overview, an overview of your business,
the business fit and action steps/
timetable.
Figure 1: Typical Agenda for the
Business/Positioning Presentation
■
[Customer]
□
A profile
□
Business objectives
□
Strategies
□
Business issues/challenges
□
Departmental issues
■
[Company] – A Strategic Resource
■
The [Customer/Company] business fit
■
Action steps/timetable
It also includes:
•
A customer overview, including a
company profile (e.g. markets, products,
unique positioning), business objectives,
strategies, and business and
departmental issues. It’s important to
put the customer first to minimize your
chance of being perceived as a vendor.
•
How your company is a strategic
Application Article
background, history, relationship
objectives, successes, challenges,
observations, customer satisfaction and
value assessment. Review projects and
their objectives and other activities to
date.
resource – points that reinforce your
credibility as a business resource,
particularly as it relates to your current
customer/company relationship.
•
•
The business fit, which is phrased in the
customer’s terms. Describe the business
fit and opportunities between your
companies and how that fit can have an
impact on the customer’s key objectives,
strategies and business issues.
Action steps and timetable which state
your specific recommendations and the
commitments needed to carry them out.
The Relationship Management Presentation
In a Relationship Management presentation,
your objectives include:
• Reconfirming your understanding of the
customer’s business and departmental
environments.
• Providing an update on your company;
• Reviewing the customer relationship
with your company, and
• Solidifying your mutual path forward.
Your agenda also changes (see Figure 2). This
time it includes:
•
A customer review, in which you reflect
on what’s new or has changed since the
last time you presented.
•
An update on your company as a
strategic resource in which you highlight
what’s new and your track record of
growth and success, including industry
recognition or other key points that
reinforce your credibility as a business
resource. Choose the points in this part
of the agenda based on what you think
will be the most important and
compelling to the customer.
•
A review of your current business
relationship. Some of the potential
elements to explore might include
49
Spring 2006
•
Your business fit; reinforce its positive
outcomes.
•
Action steps and a timetable in which
you will outline your specific
recommendations and the commitments
needed to carry them out, including
specific dates that will help drive actions.
Figure 2: Typical Agenda for
Relationship Management Presentation
■
[Customer] – a review
■
[Your Company] – a strategic resource
– an update
■
[Customer/Your Company] – the
relationship
■
[Customer/Your Company] – the
business fit
■
Recommendations
■
Action steps/timetable
For U.S. Bank Corporate Payment Systems, this
type of presentation has been key. Here’s what
Chad Wilkins, Senior Vice President of
Corporate Payment Systems, has to say:
“The relationship management presentation is a
natural build-up to doing all the other elements
of account management right. If done
effectively, it positions you as a strategic partner
and forces the customer to see you in a different
light. The outcome of this for us has been
increased opportunities within our existing
customer base. It’s been a tremendous advantage
for us and one that has prompted us to further
our efforts with account management across all
o f
o u r
r e l a t i o n s h i p s . ”
Vol. 6, No. 2
50 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
The Solution/Closing Presentation
The solution/closing presentation has its own
unique, and highly powerful, elements:
•
•
Presentation objectives include a
background review, a review summary
of action steps and activities, a
reconfirmation of the business fit, a
review of company solutions, and how
you want to solidify the relationship and
close the presentation.
The agenda includes a background review,
action steps summary, success criteria,
solution overview, customer/company
solution fit, and actions steps and timetable.
(See figure 3)
Figure 3: Typical Agenda for the
Solution/Closing Presentation
■
Background review
□
Business initiatives
□
Business issues
■
[Customer/Company] – business fit
■
Action steps and activities
■
Success criteria
■
[Company] solution overview
■
Action steps/timetable
Figure 4: Presentation Delivery
Presentation Element
Introduction
Objectives and Agenda
Customer Overview
Your Company Overview
Current Relationship Review
Relationship History/ Background,
Relationship Objectives, Projects,
Activities to Date, Successes
Challenges and Constructive
Observations
Customer Satisfaction and Value
Assessment
Business Fit
Action Steps
Northern Illinois University
Presenter’s Tone
Taking control
From the start, your tone should indicate that you are in charge.
Prepared
The organization and detail of the objectives and agenda set the
stage for a well-prepared presentation.
Humble
When you speak about the customer’s business, be humble and
make it clear that you are confirming, not informing.
Confident
You know that your company has what this company needs, and
your tone indicates that confidence.
When you speak about the relationship your tone will change
depending on what you are saying. The following blocks give
examples.
Enthusiastic
Sensitive, Concerned
Humble, Confirming, Enthusiastic (if positive), concerned (if
negative)
Enthusiastic
Continue to indicate your belief in the business fit by your
enthusiasm.
Assertive
Go through the action steps confidently, indicating again that you
are in control, and close the discussion.
Application Article
•
•
•
The background review is an overview
of background covered in earlier
presentations including a brief rundown
of key initiatives, issues and the business
fit.
The action-steps summary is an
overview of the action steps you
established during your first
presentation. In earlier presentations,
you should have set success criteria,
responsibilities and timetables; now you
will review your outcomes.
Decision or success criteria that you
have uncovered which make this new
solution successful in your customer’s
environment.
•
An overview of the specific information
about the solution you would like to
present.
•
The solution fit is a review of the
customer’s decision or success criteria. It
highlights attributes of your solution and
how they will address those criteria.
•
Recommendations that are specifically
aimed at closing the deal.
•
Action steps that will close the deal.
components are delivered in the same or similar
style as the first two. And when you get to the
closing, the right tone is key. (See figure 5.)
Figure 5: Solution/Closing Presentation
Delivery
Presentation Element
In a Relationship Management presentation, it’s
especially important to change your tone
depending what you’re saying as you review the
relationship between your companies.
Presenter’s Tone
Action Step Summary
and Activity
Success Criteria
Confident
Solution Overview
Confident
Solution Fit
Enthusiastic
Recommendations/
Action Steps
Assertive
Humble
Ralph Waldo Emerson believed that delivery
counts. He said, “What you are speaks so loudly,
I can’t hear what you say,” Emerson was right.
Here are some additional elements that are
critical in delivering a polished presentation:
•
Pace – move crisply through your
presentation. Err on the side of caution
and don’t move too slowly. Rehearse
your presentation so that you know the
length of it and leave plenty of time for
action steps.
•
Handling questions – during your
presentation, defer questions to the
roundtable discussion afterward. During
the roundtable, address any questions
succinctly. Defer highly technical
questions or those that require a detailed
answer to a later time.
•
Tone – as in the tone of your voice.
Remember to tell a story through every
page. Don’t read your material. Your
customer can do that perfectly well. Use
your natural voice inflection and avoid a
monotone delivery. Avoid using
hesitating non-words like “um,” “er,”
and “ah.” By the same token, don’t use
extra words like “you know” or “like.”
Use silence to your advantage.
This is your chance to get back in front of the
decision maker and maintain the momentum
you’ve built up while moving the process
forward. Don’t disappoint that decision maker at
this stage of the game.
Once you have your presentations refined, it’s
time to perfect your delivery. Each section of the
presentation must have its own tone to be
effective. See figure 4 to know which approach
to take at which stage of game.
51
Spring 2006
For the Solution/Closing presentation, some
Vol. 6, No. 2
52 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
•
•
Eye contact – Eye contact is considered
one of the most potent ways of
communicating sincerity. One study
indicated that 38 percent of all meaning
that an audience receives comes solely
from eye contact with the presenter. In a
small group, look to each individual. In a
large group, look at individuals in
sections. Focus on the decision maker.
Body movement – Try to be smooth
and natural in your movements and
maintain good posture. Avoid fidgeting
with small items like keys, pens and
pointers. Be comfortable with the
presentation medium you have selected.
Avoid excessive or exaggerated
gesturing.
No matter where you are in the process of
growing your customer relationship, remember
that ongoing, proactive business presentations
give you the opportunity to plant the seeds for
future success by talking about what’s most
important to you - the high level, long-term
business solutions that you and your company
offer. What’s more, the decision makers get to
listen to a presentation about what they care
about most – solving the pressing business
concerns that keep them tossing and turning at
night.
Periodic, proactive business presentations are the
most effective way to make your case to senior
level decision makers for an ongoing business fit.
With all of the tough issues you will face in
managing and growing an account relationship,
polishing and refining these presentations are
critical to helping you effectively address those
issues and cultivate a relationship that will help
everyone savor the fruits of success.
Case Study: National Adhesives
Adhesives Sales Professional Proves Great
Presentations Can Build Powerful Client
Bonds
An Account Supervisor for National Adhesives,
Northern Illinois University
Judy Lewandowski was transfixed on winning
back a major account that had left for a cheaper
offering, but touting price and product just
wasn’t working. So she asked them about their
production goals and objectives. Her contacts
literally didn’t know what to say, so they
introduced her to someone who did – their
production manager.
“The production manager was absolutely thrilled
I was asking him about what was important to
him and that I wanted to make his job easier,”
recalls Judy.
He complained about equipment that improperly
applied the glue; the safety issues resulting from
inadequate training and hot adhesives, and
shipping preferences. What’s more he eagerly
gave Judy the names of other key players so she
could get their perspective.
“He looked at me as someone who was there to
help them – not sell them something,” points
out Judy. “He found my approach very
refreshing.”
After several hours of meetings, Judy had a clear
view of the organization’s goals and objectives
and how adhesives could help achieve them.
Moreover, she was now introduced to everyone
on the management team and simply sent them
an e-mail to set up a presentation meeting. At
that point, her credibility was strong, but it
would soon be rock solid.
She stood before them and presented her
knowledge of their business issues and objectives
based on what each of them had told her, shared
how National Adhesives could respond to those
issues and objectives – from specialized training
to new equipment to low-temperature adhesives,
and outlined specific steps to move forward
together.
“I brought together ideas from each person in
that room and I sensed their excitement about
that,” she notes.
Judy suspects that it was the only time this
manufacturer had a comprehensive report on
Application Article
Spring 2006
53
how the right adhesives could meet their
company’s objectives, especially considering the
reaction of the plant manager – the key decision
maker - who exclaimed, “You have a great
understanding of our business – and you have it
in more detail than we do!”
It’s no wonder this adhesives sales professional
is firmly stuck on the power of presentation. A
deal that she unsuccessfully tried for years to win
was closed in just five months!
Mark Shonka and Dan Kosch are Co-Presidents
of Impax Corporation, a leading sales performance
improvement company. Together, they have more than 45
years experience in direct sales, sales management, and
sales consulting and training. They are highly sought-after
authorities on a range of sales topics including selling
value, strategic account selling, strategic account
management, territory sales, inside sales, and sales
leadership. Their advice has empowered leading
organizations like IBM, 3M, DuPont, Eli Lilly,
D&B and AT&T to launch themselves beyond today’s
selling challenges and establish competitive differentiation.
Shonka’s and Kosch’s expertise has been compiled in
their book, Beyond Selling Value, published by
Dearborn Trade; it was chosen from thousands to be
placed among the top 40 business books of the year by
Business Book Review. For more information, go to
www.impaxcorp.com or call 1-800-457-4727.
* This article originally appeared in a supplement to
Velocity magazine, published by the Strategic Account
Management Association.
Vol. 6, No. 2
54 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
Sales: a process that can be improved by using six sigma
By Jeff Reinke
There is a common perception that salespeople
are cut from a different cloth. Not everyone is
born a salesperson, some even consider sales an
art form and salespeople artists. There is
definitely some validity to this view of the sales
profession, but it can also be said that sales is a
process.
Can a balance between the art and the science of
sales truly be uncovered? Can a repeatable,
predictable and scaleable sales process be
developed? We believe it can by applying the
basic fundamentals of the disciplined, datadriven approach of Six Sigma to the sales
process. McKesson is one of several Fortune
100 companies to implement the Six Sigma
methodology, however, it is the first nonmanufacturing company and one of the first
healthcare services company’s to successfully
implement.
Six Sigma was pioneered in the mid-1980’s by
companies like Motorola and General Electric,
and primarily applied to improving the
manufacturing and production processes. In
fact, the true definition of the term Six Sigma
relates to reducing defects in a process to no
more than 3.4 per million opportunities.
Obviously, this definition does not apply directly
to sales.
However, we can apply the fundamental
objective of the Six Sigma methodology to
implement a measurement-based strategy that
focuses on process improvement and variation
reduction through the application of Six Sigma
improvement projects. The ultimate goal for
applying Six Sigma methodology to a sales
process is to “shift the mean” so that a majority
of a sales force is doing the right things at the
right time by following the right process.
Northern Illinois University
As an example, we can relate this to the art/
science of football. Although the players each
have special talents, the team doesn’t win the
game by using the same play over and over
again. The coach reads the situation and selects
the right play from the playbook. The same
could be said about sales. A good salesperson
studies each situation and prospect and then
selects the right sales approach.
What is Six Sigma
Six Sigma is a business strategy committed to
improving customer quality and a key tool for
defining and implementing operational
excellence across a company. Six Sigma creates a
customer-centric culture and drives fact-based
decisions, providing the framework for
continually assessing and improving internal
processes. This proven approach is the standard
by which the success of a business can be
measured. In 1999, McKesson Corporation was
one of the first healthcare services companies to
adopt this leading-edge quality methodology as
its primary means of process improvement.
Over the past seven years, the McKesson Six
Sigma team has developed a deep understanding
of the processes and challenges particular to the
healthcare supply management environment.
The McKesson Six Sigma program is now
recognized as one of the best in its class and has
substantial experience tackling complex back
office, supply chain, and information
management projects.
With more than $150 million in internal project
savings already and a company-wide belief in the
success of Six Sigma, we are now applying this
methodology to the way we sell.
55
Application Article
Spring 2006
Sales as a Process
This will be the foundation to
developing a future state process that
fulfills business requirement.
In using Six Sigma for the sales process, there
will be cultural challenges to overcome, the first
of which is convincing key stakeholders (sales
management and the sales team) that sales is in
fact a process. To address this issue we held a
three day meeting with people from all areas that
impacted the sales process (pricing, finance,
marketing, sales leadership, sales management
and sales representatives). The meeting began by
asking each what they do.
The meeting
administrators then took the information from
all areas in order to create a process map of the
current selling process. By having all members
of the sales team participate and provide their
input, everyone began to see how each area
impacted other areas and how important is was
to reaching a sale.
Understanding the sales process also involves
overcoming the belief that calling sales a
‘process’ negates a sales associate’s unique talents
and abilities (thus making it appear that anyone
can be successful in sales). That prejudice aside,
if sales is a process, Six Sigma principles can be
applied and processes optimized.
Although a unique approach is needed to
recognize the specific attributes of the sales
process, once those attributes are established, the
overall sales process and its underlying
disciplined processes can be isolated and
improved.
Business Objectives
The business objectives for the Pharmaceutical
Sales Effectiveness Analysis effort are as follows:
1. Identify Sales Process – document
the current sales process to determine
the variability from one sales associate
to the next. Establishing an accurate
baseline will allow us to compare and
contrast to establish ‘best in class.’
Additionally, we will identify non-value
add activities within processes that are
less effective to driving client yield.
2. Create Gated Redefined Sales
Process –develop a ‘best in class’ sales
process that utilizes a gated process
structure. Each of the tollgates will
have clearly defined deliverables with an
appropriate approval process that will
allow the end-to-end sales process to
continue. This will ensure that all
business requirements have been met
and will allow for a predictable
stabilized process where probability to
close can be measured. Additionally,
we will determine if the current
organization structure will support the
redefined sales process. The goal is to
define and institutionalize a sales
process which the sales force will use
and eventually adopt as
a core
competency.
3. Establish Process Performance/
Control Metrics – identify key process
inputs and outputs for the re-defined
sales process to establish metrics that
will drive the desired behaviors. The
ability to ensure that the process is reoccurring and consistent among sales
associates over time is contingent on
these metrics.
4. Create Culture – a disciplined,
consultative, analytical sales
organization that is unified and driven
to a common agenda that will create
energy and a sense of community to
drive profitable client yield.
Measurement of Business Objectives
The business objective measures for the
Pharmaceutical Sales Effectiveness Analysis
effort are as follows:
a. Client profitability yield − output
b. Quantifiable measure of the deal
based on business requirements –
Vol. 6, No. 2
56 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
input
c. Success to close{based on
probabilities formula y% = f (a,
b, c)}
d. Customer renewal cycle times
McKesson Approach
The five steps to complete the Analysis are as
follows:
1. Benchmarking – discover the sales
process from sales associates (Jeff
Marshall, Angela Ritter, and John Jay)
who have demonstrated over time their
ability to continuously drive profitable
sales as identified by the sales leadership
team. Also, discover the sales process
for those associates that have not
established the same quality results. We
will also examine other sales processes
within McKesson, such as MPT and
Automation, as well as other external
sales processes such as Rainmaker and
Counterintuitive.
2. Data Analysis – analyze current and
historical sales data to establish trends,
impact of variables and their
interactions, outcomes to performance,
and yield percentage of good deals to
bad deals. This analysis will provide
key insight on process performance,
process capability, and critical input
variables restricting our entitlement.
3. Workout Sessions –
a structured
brainstorming event over a determined
period of time with the “right people,”
and defined objectives and outcomes.
The purpose is to analyze the
designated issue and produce solutions
by developing a comprehensive action
plan with accountability and timelines
around unresolved issues.
This
methodology, established by GE,
reduces bureaucracy and allows those in
the trenches to make improvements in
a short period of time.
Northern Illinois University
4. Brainstorming – assemble a crosssection of sales associates based on
experience, success, responsibility,
region, and customer mix to openly
discuss “what works,” “what doesn’t,”
and “what’s needed.” This team will
be limited to a maximum of 10
participants. A structured brainstorming
session will be conducted using Cause
and Effect diagrams, Failure Modes
Effects Analysis and Affinity models.
Brainstorming is the primary technique
used when conducting Workout
session.
5. Communication Plan – craft an
overarching communication plan that
will identify target audiences,
messaging, and communication
vehicles. The objectives are as follows:
a. Communicate business case
b. Communicate value proposition
c. Gain buy-in for institutionalization
d. Gauge Analysis progress
Process Scope
The scope of the Pharmaceutical Sales
Effectiveness Analysis effort includes examining
the ‘As Is” sales process for MHS field sales and
Retail field sales. Our Analysis will be conducted
within boundaries ranging from evaluating a new
opportunity to executing the strategic plan which
represents a sub-set of the entire end-to-end
process.
The Opportunity
Over the past two years, McKesson
Pharmaceutical has taken a subset of its Sales
Operations team to create a Sales Effectiveness
department. In doing so, McKesson has created
a team of individuals who are responsible for
operationally supporting its pharmaceutical sales
force. In addition, the Sales Effectiveness team
is meeting the challenge to continuously evaluate
and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of
sales efforts with the goal of greater productivity
and the establishment of a more consistent, well-
Application Article
57
Spring 2006
Asses
C u s to m e r
P r o f it a b ilit y
F ie ld S a le s
Q u a lif y s a le s
o p p o r t u n it y
S t r a t e g iz in g
a n d p la n n in g
E x e c u t in g
s t r a t e g ic p la n
C lo s in g s a le s
o p p o r t u n it y
Figure 1: Macro view of the end-to-end sales process.
defined sales process to meet McKesson’s larger
goals.
By partnering with Six Sigma, Sales Effectiveness
is defining and implementing a sales process to
reduce variability and ultimately “shift the mean”
of McKesson’s sales force; moving the bottom
half up and capitalizing on the strengths of the
high performers.
To do this, the team will focus on three main
principles:
1) Start with the customer;
2) Identify and define the sales process; and
3) Measure what is important.
Start with the Customer
We know how we want to sell to our customers,
but that does not always directly link to how our
customer wants to buy from us. To start, we
turn to the Six Sigma concept of starting with
the customer to understand the Voice of the
Customer. This process helps proactively capture
the needs of the customer by establishing the
buying process. Through customer interviews,
surveys and observation, we can discover the
process they use for making a buying decision. It
may or may not be surprising but, many
customers do not want to buy the way we sell.
For example, many organizations who sell high
ticket items try to sell value and benefits and try
to delay the discussion on price until near the
end. In doing so, the impact on negotiating and
large discounts is negated somewhat. If the
customer’s buying process is such that they need
to know if the price is even in the ballpark
before spending significant time to investigate
the purchase, then the selling company and
buying company have misaligned processes.
Once we know the customer buying process
then and only then, can we design our selling
process so that it better matches the buying
process. The probability of closing increases if
the processes are better aligned.
Identify and Define the Sales Process
Once the buying process has been established,
we can start to take a closer look at how we are
currently selling. Mapping the current sales
process, as defined by our sales force, will help
to highlight the variability among sales associates
and establish an accurate baseline. By conducting
focus groups and interviews with current sales
professionals and sales leadership, as well as
team members from finance, legal and
marketing, we set out to discover the sales
process of established, successful sales
associates. Once the current sales process has
been identified it will serve as the baseline for
measurement.
To shift the mean and reduce variability in the
sales process, we will map the successful actions
of top performers to the buying process to
ultimately establish ‘best in class’ processes.
Crafting a sales process that the sales force will
use and adopt involves not only defining and
redefining the sales process, but pinpointing the
exact process inputs and outputs to establish
metrics and drive the desired behaviors. This
will ultimately increase the predictability of the
Vol. 6, No. 2
58 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
sale to close. Through benchmarking, design
sessions, and data analysis, the team will gather
and analyze relevant sales process data from
multiple sources to quickly identify problems
and produce solutions or action plans for any
unresolved issues.
At the same time, the team will identify nonvalue add activities within processes that are less
effective in driving client yield. The outcome of
the mapping process will be the foundation to
developing a future sales process that fulfills
business requirements. We will wrap technology
around our newly defined sales process in the
form of a sales force automation solution.
Creating Success Metrics
Identifying key process inputs and outputs for
the redefined sales process establishes metrics
that will drive the desired behaviors. Through
analysis of current and historical sales data, the
team will establish trends, impact of variables
and their interactions, outcomes to performance,
and yield percentage of good deals to bad deals.
This analysis provides key insight on process
performance, process capability, and critical
input variables. Establishing metrics will ensure
that the new sales process is reoccurring and
consistent among sales associates over time.
Creating a gated sales process
Creating a New Sales Culture
A gated sales process is one with tollgates that
have clearly defined deliverables and an
appropriate approval process to ensure all
business requirements are met. For example, in
any sales engagement, it is vital for sales
associates to get to the right decision maker or
they risk wasting valuable sales time and effort
with the wrong people. Then, attainment of the
target company’s organizational chart could be
one of the ‘gates’ in this process and the vital
first step in approaching a new client. By having
a defined sales process with specific gates, it
ensures that the sales representative and buying
company have the right information at the right
time.
McKesson has not moved its way up to Fortune
15 status without having an effective sales force.
In fact, the sales force continues to surpass sales
targets year over year in spite of internal
inefficiencies and an undefined sales process.
This brings into to question why the need for
change.
The world of pharmaceutical sales is evolving.
We can no longer win on price or personality
alone. To be competitive, we need to sell value
and solutions. By creating and implementing a
repeatable, predictable sales process, we can
equip our current and future sales professionals
with a winning framework for replicating best
practices to manage, grow and measure sales
outcomes.
By breaking up the sales process into milestones
with measurable outcomes/activities, it provides
a predictable and stable process that can be
repeated successfully over and over. The sales
team can then measure probability-to-close for
each customer and determine if the current
organizational structure of the selling company
will support the redefined sales process. This
again reinforces the notion that the sales team
(pricing, finance, marketing, sales leadership,
sales management, and sales representatives)
needs to be engaged early in the development of
redefining the selling company’s selling
processes.
Northern Illinois University
Communication is key to successfully leading the
culture change. Regarding the selling process,
The Sales Effectiveness Department is in charge
of developing an overarching communication
plan to identify target audiences, messaging, and
communication vehicles that will sell the
business case and its value, gain key stakeholder
buy-in for institutionalization, and gauge project
progress..
Senior management and sales leadership must
act as change agents by communicating the
objectives of implementing a new sales process.
It will be vital to clearly communicate what will
Application Article
Spring 2006
59
be expected before, during and after
implementation of any change. As with most
companies, McKesson is using Six Sigma in the
sales organization primarily to increase sales. By
developing a selling process that better matches
the customer’s buying process, establishing
milestones and a gated selling process, and
eliminating activities that are ineffective the
effectiveness of each salesperson will increase
and McKesson will reach its stretch sales goals.
As side benefit with six sigma in sales will be to
reduce the cost of selling and thus positively
impact the bottom line. Thus, establishing and
promoting a vision of a new sales culture will
focus efforts and drive the change that will help
reach sales goals the next three years.
The resulting disciplined, consultative, analytical
sales organization will be unified and driven to a
common agenda, creating energy and a sense of
community to drive profitable client yield.
Jeff Reinke started his career with McKesson 15 years
ago as a sales rep before making the move to sales
management. In 2000, he became a Six Sigma Black
Belt and led process improvement initiatives for
McKesson. Eventually, Jeff was promoted to Vice
President of Six Sigma. Two years ago, he moved to
McKesson Pharmaceutical’s Sales Operations team to
form the Sales Effectiveness team. Since then, he has
been working to implement process improvements to
increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the sales team.
E-mail: Jeff.Reinke@McKesson.com
Vol. 6, No. 2
54 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
Practice makes perfect: a case study for skill
development
By Michael R. Williams, John M. Hawes, and Linda M. Foley
Benefits of Skill Practice Exercises
Almost all sales educators, both academic and
practitioner, appreciate the learning value
provided by student participation in skill practice
exercises, experiential exercises, mock sales calls,
or whatever else one may chose to call such
opportunities for the participants to put into
practice what has been learned from the training
program. Much has been written to document
the educational value of these exercises (e.g.,
Hannon et al. 2004; Young 2002) and various
approaches to conducting the exercises (e.g.,
Castleberry 1989; Lamont 2001; York 1995).
Indeed, skill practice exercises provide many
important benefits over other teaching methods.
Skill practice exercises or role plays provide the
opportunity to learn and practice actual skills.
Such active learning exercises and other “learn
by doing” types of activities dramatically
improve learning (Young 2002). A study by the
National Training Laboratories in Maine (see
Figure 1) found that 75% of participants learn,
or retain knowledge through “practice by doing”
types of exercises. When this is compared to
typical training methods, such as the lecture,
which only produces a 5% average retention
rate, it is very clear how advantageous skill
practice exercises are in facilitating the learning
process among salespeople or sales students.
Additionally, skill practice exercises can be
utilized in many different ways to further
increase retention. For example, the instructor
can begin by introducing some of the training
material concepts and related theories under the
assumption that participants have read the
material prior to the class. The retention rate is
5% for lecturing and 10% for reading. Then,
participants can engage in a role play or skill
Northern Illinois University
practice exercise. If recording equipment was
used, upon completion of the skill practice
exercise participants can view the recording and/
or engage in a discussion about the role play. It
is possible for students to even begin teaching
others as they evaluate performances from the
skill practice exercise. To be successful, the use
of active learning is an important aspect of what
sales educators do to help people improve selling
skills.
Figure 1: Learning Pyramid and Average
Retention Rate
5%
5%
Lecture
Lecture
10%
10%
Reading
Reading
20%
20%
Audio
AudioVisual
Visual
30%
30%
Demonstration
Demonstration
50%
50%
Discussion
Discussion Group
Group
75%
75%
Practice
Practiceby
byDoing
Doing
90%
90%
Teach
TeachOthers
Others
Source: National Training Laboratories in Maine (2006)
As every sales trainer knows, however, it is
difficult to find good skill practice exercises.
This paper provides a skill practice exercise that
has been developed, tested, and refined over a
considerable period of time. We hope that you
enjoy using it.
Learning Objectives of the High-Tech
Computer Systems Exercise
While this particular skill practice exercise
centers on the issue of dealing with a price
objection, many topics from professional selling,
negotiation, and other related business courses
Application Article
55
Spring 2006
can be highlighted. Some of these follow.
Buyer Behavior and Communication
•
Identifying and adapting to buyer’s
personalities.
• Understanding the impact of multiple buying
influences within business-to-business
buying situations.
• Reading non-verbal communication (both
from the buyer and seller, if recording is
available).
• Utilizing collaborative, two-way
communication to effectively acquire
information regarding customer’s needs and
expectations.
Relationship Marketing
•
Building an understanding of why
relationships are so important.
• Understanding how to build and strengthen
relationships.
• Thinking about the lifetime value of a
customer--how much a large customer is
worth beyond the immediate transaction.
Determine if there is a point at which a sales
person is willing to reduce immediate profits
in order to create, develop, or maintain a
relationship.
Sales Call/Presentation Planning
•
Preparing sales call objectives: minimum,
primary, and visionary.
• Deciding what point in the sales call to shift
strategies.
Sales Presentations, Negotiation, and Handling
Objections
•
Understanding the elements of the
presentation mix.
• Gaining common ground/bringing down
defense barriers and earning trust.
• Getting passed the urge to haggle over the
price objection.
• Looking for and working with hidden
objections.
• Handling the price objection.
• Closing and up-selling.
Operational Needs
Advance preparation: have the participants read
the introductory information about the scenario
before coming to the class if at all possible. If
this is not possible, allow 15 to 20 minutes for
this at the beginning of the exercise. Table 1
provides a summary of the activities and
associated times.
Once participants arrive, distribute the additional
respective “Top Secret Information” to each and
provide 15 to 30 minutes for them to read it and
to prepare their plans for how to play their
character and conduct the exercise. Members of
the selling team should be separated from
members of the buying team during this time so
as to avoid being overheard as they prepare. Be
sure that the people on the buying team do not
reveal their “Top Secret Information” to
members of the selling team and vice versa.
Prior to the skill practice exercise, tell the participants the
following:
1. The skill practice exercise does not
necessarily have to end with a sale/
purchase being made. Remind them to
Table 1: Summary of Activities
Activity
Time Required
In class or before class, each participant individually reads the common
materials for “High Tech Computer Systems”
Members of each separate team get together to discuss strategy and how
they will work together
Each buyer and seller team gets together and the sales call is conducted
20-30 minutes
All participants reconvene for a total class debriefing led by the instructor
20-30 minutes
15-20 minutes
15-30 minutes
Vol. 6, No. 2
56 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
establish and stick to their plans for the
exercise.
2. Most groups take 15-30 minutes for this
sales call.
3. Tell the participants that they are
unlikely to know all of the details that
they would like to know for this
exercise. So, they should feel free to be
creative, but reasonable and make any
assumptions that they need to conduct
the exercise.
4. Encourage the participants to try some
newly learned selling/negotiating tactics
and wish them good luck!
After the skill practice exercise, consider the following:
1. If recording equipment is available, it is very
beneficial to allow time for each group to
review their own recordings prior to the
total class debriefing. During their review of
the videotape, offer a lot of praise and
encourage the participants to focus on what
they did right, rather than what might not
be ideal. If possible, let the participants also
watch the video of at least one other group
to see how others handled the same
situation. This provides a benchmark or an
alternative frame of reference. Suggest to
participants that they examine their
nonverbal as well as their verbal
communication.
2. When the participant return for the total
class debriefing, get the various groups to
share with others what happened during the
skill practice exercise. Students will be
surprised to find out how different the skill
practice was for other groups. Early in the
semester, usually students just assume that
most groups had similar experiences. They
are interested to hear how the scenario
played out for different groups, and more
importantly, the participants are curious to
find out the dynamics that caused such
differences across the groups.
Northern Illinois University
3. One possibility is to have students report
their results and record these on a flip chart
or a white board. It helps creates a
competitive and fun atmosphere to find out
who got the “best price” on both the buying
and selling side. This usually stimulates a
discussion on what happened during the role
play that lead to those results.
4. Provide participants with the other party’s
Top Secret Information.
5. Consider attaching an evaluation form and
having students complete the form. Have
the participants respond to items on a 1-7
scale ranging from nonexistent to perfect.
Good topic areas for the scale are
communication, needs identification,
presentation, responding to objections, and
other items from the learning objectives
section of this teaching note.
6. Highlight the learning objectives. Focus on
tying their recent experience to training
program concepts.
General suggestions for handling a debriefing:
Debriefing an exercise is an important part of
the teaching/learning process. Participants need
a benchmark in order to understand the relative
success of their choice of selling strategy and its
execution. This is a necessary aspect of the
formative feedback that is so necessary for real
learning and skill improvement to occur based
on the just completed practice. The active
participation of participants in the debriefing is
also crucial to the development of reflective
thinking, an integral part of the critical thinking
process (Lockyer et al. 2004).
An excellent starting point in understanding how
to handle the debriefing is to recognize that
there are fundamentally two types of feedback,
outcome and process, and the latter is more
useful in skill development (Thompson 1998).
At the end of an experiential exercise in which a
participant played the role of a sales person, for
example, they knows if the sale was closed, how
Application Article
many units were sold, and at what price. If
several groups of participants conducted the
same skill practice exercise, however, there is
value in enabling them to find out what other
groups. Participants need benchmarks and
sharing the outcomes of other groups can
provide useful comparative information about
performance.
There is even more value in discussing the process
rather than the just the outcome.
An
outstanding, relatively comprehensive, and
highly recommended guide to handling the
debriefing session was provided by Stone (2000).
Generally, the facilitator should ask relevant
open-ended questions intended to start a student
discussion and should fight the urge to tell
participants what “should have” happened. As
Weber and Kirk (2000) noted relative to this
teaching role, “it’s not what you know, it’s what
you ask.” One should begin with general
questions encouraging participants to think and
talk about the process. Start with questions such
as “How did it go?” “What happened?” or even
“Tell me about your experience.”
Eventually, follow-up questions may be in order
and Stone (2000) provided several great
examples which are almost always universally
useful. Stone’s (2000) list of possible responses
to participant comments include remarks and
questions that can be categorized as:
acknowledgement, paraphrasing, open-ended
inquiry, digging in, challenging, generalizing, and
assertion. These are especially useful as a means
for directing the discussion.
Toward the end of the discussion, we have
found that reflection questions are also very
useful. Participants should be encouraged to
commit to a philosophy of continuous
improvement. Questions that are useful within
this context include: “What are the ‘take-aways’
from today’s exercise?” “What did you learn
today?” and “If we were to repeat the exercise
now, what would you do differently” “What did
you like most about how the other side dealt
with the issues?” Fundamentally, the goal is
57
Spring 2006
encourage participants to engage in critical
thinking, to commit to the learning process
through adoption of the concept of continuous
improvement, and to help each participant
develop to the maximum extent possible as a
professional.
HIGH TECH COMPUTER SYSTEMS
This skill practice exercise focuses on the
interaction between a computer salesperson and
the multiple buying influences of the Chief
Executive Officer and the Information Systems
Director of a regional chain of franchised tire
stores.
For your convenience, detailed
salesperson and buyer profiles are included as
‘Top Secret Information” for each character
following the discussion and set-up of the selling
situation. In this role play, one person is
assigned to play the part of Terry Williams, a
sales representative of High-Tech Computer
Systems and another will serve as the High-Tech
Computer Systems Regional Sales Manager,
Jamie Thompson, who will assist with the next
call. Additional participants play the roles of the
two members of the buying center at Royal Tire
and Battery Stores: the Information Systems
Director, Sandy Snyder, and the Chief Executive
Officer, Kim Johnson.
The Set-Up: Background and Company
Characteristics
As a salesperson for High-Tech Computer
Systems (HTCS), Terry Williams has just
completed a sales call on a key account, Royal
Tire and Battery Stores (RT & B), where they
“treat each customer like a King.” Royal Tire
and Battery Stores is a fairly large sized sales and
service organization with 225 franchised stores
across the Eastern United States. RT & B is in
the early stages of a new program in which they
are designing and specifying a linked computer
system. This new system will place a computer in
each store and tie the individual stores together
into an organization-wide network.
When
installed and operating, the system will allow the
home office to have access to real time sales
Vol. 6, No. 2
58 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
information from every store. Each store will
develop and maintain a customer data base that
can be accessed system-wide. The goal is to be
able to provide better service to customers.
Additionally, communication between the home
office and each of the stores will be greatly
enhanced.
As a result of Terry’s attention to detail in
servicing this account over the previous four
years, HTCS equipment represents the biggest
share of computers now in place at RT & B -approximately 30 percent of all units. In talking
with Sandy Snyder, Terry’s primary contact at
RT & B, Terry has learned that this proposed
new computer network system is the brainstorm
and pet project of a very “hands-on” CEO, Kim
Johnson. Consequently, the probability of the
system becoming a reality is very high. In fact,
the contract for the applications software has
already been completed. Sandy Snyder had
faxed the complete set of hardware specs to
Terry.
During an informal conversation with a good
friend Christy McClure at a party (who is the
Director of Human Resources at RT & B), Terry
had learned more about the project. It was
determined that the cost of systems installed in
each store location is not being funded directly
by RT & B. Rather, each individual store
(through a re-payment agreement with RT & B)
will actually be paying for their own equipment.
For this reason, price has really become an issue
-- Terry seemed to get the impression from
Christy that the RT & B people felt that $2,500
was about the most that each franchisee would
be willing to pay.
The Set-Up: Summary of Previous Sales Call
Terry has called on RT & B twice before for this
particular project and worked through a preproposal with the objective of getting a
commitment for the hardware package. Based
on the “insider” information and lengthy
experience with the account, Terry and the
HTCS Regional Sales Manager have had several
Northern Illinois University
strategy sessions. Their decision was to present
the HTCS DeskPro 4000, which is in the upper
end of their line. While it is not the top of the
line, it exceeds all the specified requirements.
As a part of the presentation, Terry conducted a
full demonstration of the HTCS DeskPro 4000
system. During this hands-on exhibition, Terry
worked with each member of the buying
committee at RT & B presenting the relevant
Features, Advantages, and Benefits.
Terry
received positive feedback. It appeared that
Terry had met their expectations. Feeling
confident, Terry attempted to gain commitment
by asking, “When would you like delivery and
installations to commence?” Kim Johnson
quickly interrupted and reminded Terry that it
might help if they knew the price. To this, Terry
replied with a summary of the value of the
system and quoted a delivered price of $2,595
per unit. This provided an opportunity for
bargaining (wiggle) room and the give-and-take
usually necessary in order to finalize a sale with
RT & B.
Johnson reminded Terry as to how much
business they had given to HTCS over the years.
Then Johnson looked over toward Sandy Snyder
and stated, “Sandy, you have the most
experience with this hi-tech stuff. What do you
think? It just seems a little high!” Sandy
indicated agreement and stated, “Yes, it is
considerably over some of the quotes we already
have received from other potential suppliers.”
In defense, Terry asked if the other suppliers
were bidding comparable equipment. HTCS
certainly had some lower priced units, but the
HTCS DeskPro 4000 better met the needs of the
project, especially over the long run. Sandy
Snyder responded that two of the suppliers had
quoted prices for slightly less powerful systems,
but one did offer a product with similar
specifications. Terry reiterated a strong desire to
work with RT & B on this project, a deep
commitment to getting the contract, and asked,
“What price range do we need to hit?”
Johnson jumped in, possibly hoping to bring
Application Article
about some additional information from Terry
and said, “This is a considerable order of
machines, and as you know, we must consider
their cost to the stores. If they don’t accept the
program, it won’t go!” Kim continued, “Our
stores are just not going to pay anything over
$2,000 -- they have already told us that price is
very important!”
Once more reiterating their commitment to RT
& B and acknowledging Johnson’s earlier
comment regarding how much business HighTech does with RT & B, Terry asked, “If I can
get the price down to $2,495, could I get a
commitment from you for 225 units?” Johnson
commented, “That’s a little better. Sandy, what
do you think?” Sandy then asked, “Terry, is that
as low as you can go on this project? Look, I
can’t disclose the other quotes to you, but I can
tell you that one of the bids is from a reputable
company and they are considerably under your
last price. Their model satisfies the specs and
requirements of the project.”
At this point, Kim Johnson checked the time,
appeared agitated, and then stood up and
indicated that it was time for another
appointment. Kim said, “Terry, it’s real simple.
We would prefer to continue doing business
with HTCS -- but you’re going to have to meet
the competition. Prices are really starting to fall
on this “techie stuff” and High-Tech hasn’t been
giving us any breaks on prices for some time
now. Your company is going to have to get with
it to keep our relationship. Why don’t you and
Sandy stay here and get this worked out.”
As Kim left the room, Terry asked Sandy to
clarify Johnson’s comments. “Does this mean
we might lose more than just this current
project?” Sandy nodded in the affirmative and
stated, “You bet, this is a pet project and I think
Kim feels insulted by your price” and then
continued “The price to beat is $1,900. It was
made by the same firm that is doing the software
for the project. Although they are a software
house and not an authorized dealer for computer
equipment, they are brokering the deal through
59
Spring 2006
one of their new vendors who would subcontract the delivery and on site installations to
another firm.” As the meeting ended, Terry
restated a strong conviction to do every thing
possible to deserve their business.
As Terry headed for the door, Sandy shouted
out, “Wait! There is something else you need to
know. That other bid -- they are including a real
nice laser printer, the package you showed was a
moderately priced ink-jet printer. Can you do
anything about that? The franchisees really like
the quality of those black and white laser
printers!”
The Role Play Assignment
Hold the next meeting to discuss the project.
Terry has asked Regional Sales Manager Jamie
Thompson to assist on this call.
Jamie
commented to Terry on their way into the
meeting, “This is a huge account. Don’t mess
this up!” Remember, there is no specific right
answer. Terry needs to consider what has
occurred, the potential alternatives along with
their strengths and weaknesses, and then handle
the sales call with the goal of gaining a
commitment from the RT & B buyers. In this
selling skill practice exercise, feel free to make
any reasonable assumptions about products,
services, and company policies.
TOP SECRET INFORMATION FOR
EACH CHARACTER
TERRY WILLIAMS
Title: Account Executive
Employed By: High-Tech Computer Systems
(HTCS)
Age: 31
Marital Status: S
Education: B.S.B.A. in Sales, University of
Akron
Reports To: Jamie Thompson, Regional Sales
Manager
Other Influencers: National Sales Manager
Employment History: Several years as general
manager for retail computer store prior to
Vol. 6, No. 2
60 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
joining
HTCS as a salesperson.
Personality:
Uptight and demanding, selfassured, but is also very energetic and good at
working with people developing relationships.
Other:
Did well in training and selling
performance is above the norm. Hasn’t molded
into the company culture yet.
Still a bit
independent. Likes to travel and enjoys the
outdoors. Terry wants to settle down soon and
start a family.
Inside Information: Terry is the best of friends
with Christy McClure, Director of Human
Resources at RT & B. Christy had a major
influence in helping Sandy Snyder get the job as
Director of Information Systems at RT & B.
Pricing Information: The system being
proposed would allow HTCS to profitably come
in at a price slightly under the projected $2,500
per unit price including delivery and set-up.
HTCS pays salespeople a commission that is
based on gross margin, not just sales revenue.
Terry could reduce the price to as low as $2,300
and still make a reasonable commission for this
system. But at any price below $2,200 the
commission would be marginal given the amount
of selling and service effort that would be
involved. A price below $2,100 would result in a
very small commission and a price under $2,000
would not pay any commission at all. A price
under $1,925 would be below cost and it is highly
unlikely that such a price would be approved by
the Regional Sales Manager because it is below
their direct cost.
JAMIE THOMPSON
Title: Regional Sales Manager
Employed By: High-Tech Computer Systems
(HTCS)
Age: 43
Marital Status: M
Education: MBA, Northern Illinois University
Reports To: National Sales Manager
Employment History: Several years as a sales
person for another computer firm prior to
joining HTCS as a sales manager 3 years ago.
Northern Illinois University
Personality: Quite a “driver” who demands
results, but very good at coaching and motivating
sales people. Jamie also has excellent customer
relation skills when necessary.
Other: Has aspirations for higher management.
Excellent product knowledge. Enjoys working
and does not like travel. Jamie has a spouse and
6 children.
Inside Information: Jamie is under the gun for
increased sales while also achieving a higher rate
of margin on those orders.
SANDY SNYDER
Title:
Director of Information Systems
Employed By: Royal Tire and Battery Stores
Age: 28
Marital Status: M
Education: B.S. in Management Information
Systems, Illinois State University
Reports To: Operations Vice President
Other Influencers:
Christy McClure
Employment History: Has worked several
similar jobs, but left because company cultures
conflicted with beliefs and values.
Personality:
Self-confident, analytical, is
extremely interested in the facts and figures
regarding every project, is a perfectionist, and
determined to reach the top of the corporation
some day.
Other: Sandy stays too busy at work to have
kids and spouse is feeling neglected. This may
develop into a future problem; however, they
both enjoy spending weekends together on their
boat sailing.
Inside Information: RT & B is undergoing
reorganization and many jobs are being cut;
however, Sandy’s position is pretty secure based
on current performance and continued
effectiveness. Sandy is aware of this, and has
loyalties to Christy McClure, who actively assisted
Sandy in getting the job with RT & B.
KIM JOHNSON
Title: CEO
Employed By: Royal Tire and Battery Stores
Age: 49
Application Article
Marital Status: M
Education:
M.B.A., New York University
Reports To: Board of Directors
Employment History: 8 years in sales and 10
years in sales management for three different
major firms; was selected as CEO of RT & B 6
years ago.
Personality: Uptight and demanding, especially
in “crunch” situations; an expressive who is
assertive, quick to make decisions and does not
hide temper or feelings -- no matter who is
around.
Other: Active risk taker: drives race cars and
motorcycles, likes flying, parachuting and
anythin g else th at gives a rush.
Inside Information: The grapevine at work
indicates that Kim is a candidate for promotion
to Chairman of the Board if the company
continues its strong performance over the next
three years.
REFERENCES
Castleberry, Stephen B. (1989), “Videotaped Role
Playing in the Personal Selling Classroom:
A Practical Guide,” Journal of Marketing
Education, (Spring), 33-39.
Hannon, Stephen, Hugh McBride, and Barbara
Burns (2004), “Developing Creative and
Critical Thinking Abilities in Business
Graduates: The Value of Experiential
Learning Techniques,” Industry and Higher
Education, 18 (April), 95-100.
Lamont, Lawrence M. (2001), “Enhancing Student
and Team Learning with Interactive
Marketing Simulations,” Marketing
Education Review, 11 (Spring), 45-55.
Lockyer, Jocelyn, S. Tunde Gondocz, and Robert
L. Thivierge (2004), “Knowledge
Translation: The Role and Place of
Practice Reflection,” Journal of Continuing
Education in the Health Professions, 24
(Winter), 50-56.
National Training Laboratories in Maine, (2006),
“Active Learning Strategies,” http://
www.accd.edu/spc/iic/master/active.htm
[Online]. Last accessed May 17, 2006.
Stone, Douglas (2000), “Thoughts On Facilitating
Spring 2006
61
Discussion About Negotiation,” in Teaching
Negotiation: Ideas and Innovations, Michael
Wheeler, Editor, (Cambridge, MA:
Program on Negotiation Books), 347-356.
Thompson, Leigh (1998), The Mind and Heart of the
Negotiator, Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
Weber, Mary Margaret and Delaney J. Kirk (2002),
“Teaching Teachers to Teach Cases: It’s
Not What You Know, It’s What You
Ask,” Marketing Education Review, 10
(Summer), 59-67.
York, Kenneth M. (1995), “Experiential and
Creative Management Exercises Using an
Assessment Center,” Journal of Education for
Business, 70 (January/February), 141-146.
Young, Mark R. (2002), “Experiential Learning =
Hands-On + Minds-On,” Marketing
Education Review,
Michael R. Williams is a Professor of Marketing at
Illinois State University.
E-mail: mrwilli@ilstu.edu
John M. Hawes is a Distinguished Professor of
Marketing at the University of Akron.
E-mail: jhawes@uakron.edu
Linda M. Foley is an Assistant Professor of
Marketing at the University of Akron.
E-Mail: Linda@uakron.edu
Vol. 6, No. 2
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