PROFESSIONAL SALES COACHING: AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW AND RESEARCH AGENDA (original) (raw)

Dimensions of effective sales coaching: scale development and validation

Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 2019

Coaching is the most common intervention tool used by sales managers to develop their salespeople, and the ability to effectively coach others is often what makes a sales manager successful. While sales organizations recognize the importance and positive impact of sales coaching, the unfortunate reality is that most sales managers still lack the proper training to coach salespeople effectively. One reason for this is due to the lack of clarity on the sales coaching skills and abilities that drive and improve the sales coaching process. A first step in resolving this problem is to provide practitioners and researchers with a psychometrically-sound measure of effective sales coaching. Without an adequate sales coaching scale, prior sales-related coaching research has relied heavily on managerial coaching scales. Unfortunately, due to potential reliability and validity issues with the managerial coaching scales, the use of those managerial coaching scales may not be appropriate within a sales context. As a result, this study advances a three-factor, 14-item effective sales coaching (ESC) scale that is validated among a sample of B2B salespeople. The ESC scale contains three dimensions-adaptability, involvement, and rapport-that are shown to directly and indirectly influence sales performance. We also demonstrate the ESC scale's ability to explain more variance in sales performance than the most commonly used behavior-based managerial coaching scale.

Sales trainer roles, competencies, skills, and behaviors: A case study

Industrial Marketing Management, 2008

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Recent trends in the personal selling environment, such as advances in technology, customer relationship management, and globalization, have placed a premium on training pro- grams designed to develop knowledgeable and effective sales

2010

© 2010 PSE National Educational Foundation. All rights reserved. ISSN 0885-3134 / 2010 $9.50 + 0.00. DOI 10.2753/PSS0885-3134300402 Recent trends in the personal selling environment, such as advances in technology, customer relationship management, and globalization, have placed a premium on training programs designed to develop knowledgeable and effective sales managers (Deeter-Schmelz, Kennedy, and Goebel 2002; Jones et al. 2005; Magrath 1997; Marshall and Michaels 2001). Many firms have recognized that enhancing a sales manager’s working knowledge through training can be a source of a firm’s competitive advantage (Davenport and Prusak 1998). Indeed, there is evidence that employee intellectual capital constitutes up to 75 percent of a firm’s total balance sheet (Kust 2005). Given the increased focus on developing manager knowledge and recent advances in ways to deliver information over the past decade (e.g., technology), there is a need for understanding the current role and posi...

Shortcomings of sales training programs

Industrial Marketing Management, 1993

An investigation was conducted that examined the extent to which sales training objectives are used in conducting sales training programs. Findings suggest that specific training objectives are utilized by a proportion of companies to plan and manage sales training activities. However, the systematic setting of training objectives is not practiced by many firms. These firms allow one individual or functional area to set goals, fail to seek input from experienced sales people, set general objectives, and possess differing perceptions regarding what should be taught. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Traditional and high-tech sales training methods

1992

One of the most critical issues fucing today's sales manager is cost-effective sales truining. Many firms are substantially increasing investment in sales training; however, little research has studied the usage and effectiveness of various sales training methods. This article compares and contrasts the usuge and perceived effectiveness of high-tech and traditional approuches to sales training. Findings suggest that despite optimistic predictions, high-tech training methods have not been widely adopted and use of these methods is expected to increase only modestly in the next several years. Traditional sales training methods, such us role playing, continue to be widely used. In terms of perceived effectiveness, manugers rated methods high in participant involvement and truiner interaction us the most effective in achieving selected training objectives.

Sales training: A state of the art and contemporary review

Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science, 2015

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Sales Training Evaluation: An Integrative Framework and Research Agenda

A significant gap exists in the understanding of sales managers regarding the evaluation of sales training. This problem is compounded by the absence of an integrated framework that synthesizes and explains the multiple evaluation levels .firms can employ to assess sales training programs. An initial step in moving toward a global sales training evaluation model is to offer such a framework. To this end, we present a model that integrates existing research across myriad disciplines and demonstrates opportunities to evaluate sales training at multiple levels. This article also offers research propositions that further advance sales training evaluation theory and provides practical implications for the sales management community.

Who trains salespeople?

Industrial Marketing Management, 1994

This study examines the roles played by sales managers and sales trainers in the sales training process. Findings con@m that joint participation by sales managers and trainers in sales training is higher today than in the past, yet several problem areas still exist. Sales trainers claimed to be primarily responsible for sales training in large companies, but did not seek inputs from field sales managers when planning, conducting, and evaluating training programs. In smaller firms, sales managers are almost totally responsible for sales training. However, they conduct little evaluation and follow-up activities. The implications of theseJindings are discussed, and suggestions for managerial actions are provided.

An Update on the Status of Sales Management Training

Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 2010

an UPdate On the statUs Of saLes ManaGeMent tRaininG thomas L. Powers, thomas e. decarlo, and Gouri Gupte Over the past several years, there have been significant changes that have affected the sales function and the needed competencies of sales managers. Unfortunately, there has been no recent research investigating the status of sales management training practices. The purpose of the present study is to investigate current practices of sales management training programs in terms of delivery and content. Our results indicate that training occurs at early stages in managers' careers, remote training technologies are frequently used, and significant gender differences in training perceptions exist. Limitations and future research directions are provided, as are management implications.

Factors Influencing the Impact of Sales Training: Test of a Model

International Journal of Marketing Studies, 2014

A model is derived and tested drawing from I/O psychology and sales management literature addressing sales training. Findings suggest consistent influences of the organization and sales manager on training transfer. Relationships between organizational variables, such as training climate and manager behaviors, and training outcomes are discussed. A chief takeaway of the model test concerns evidence that sequential linkages exist between individual determinants (e.g., locus of control, self-efficacy beliefs, learning orientation), salespeople's satisfaction with training, transfer of training materials (skills, time management, product knowledge), and performance.