Sales Managers' Motivation to Coach Salespeople: an exploration using expectancy theory (original) (raw)
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Managerial coaching is a process of feedback provision, behavioral modeling, and goal setting with subordinates to improve their performance and address their personal challenges. Despite the popularity of coaching as a management practice, the impact of coaching on objective measures of performance remains unclear. To this end, we tested a multi-level model linking managerial coaching frequency and skill to the sales goal attainment of 1,246 sales representatives in 136 teams within a pharmaceuticals organization over a year. Managers’ coaching skill, which was evaluated in the context of a training exercise, was directly related to the annual sales goal attainment of the sales representatives that they supervised. This effect was partially mediated by team-level role clarity as predicted by feedback intervention theory and goal setting theory. Additionally, coaching skill had a cross-level moderating effect on the relationship between coaching frequency and sales goal attainment; coaching frequency had a negative effect on goal attainment when coaching skill was low. We discuss the implications of this finding for coaching research and practice. Overall, our results demonstrate the clear theoretical and practical importance of effective managerial coaching by drawing on multi-source and multi-level measurements with a predictive design.
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.
Whom to hire and how to coach them: a longitudinal analysis of newly hired salesperson performance
Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 2019
Salesperson hiring decisions are critical for firms, and managers typically accept one of two viewpoints regarding optimal hiring strategies. The first asserts that prior sales experience allows new salespeople to perform immediately upon hire and represents a valuable hiring heuristic. The second believes lack of prior experience allows managers to mold new salespeople to the hiring firm's needs. Further complicating matters, formal sales education programs are gaining in popularity and may represent an alternative hiring heuristic for sales managers. Using unique multisource data (from both B2B and B2C firms), the authors explore the effects of these hiring heuristics in driving salespeople's longitudinal performance trajectories, along with the moderating role of post-hire manager coaching behaviors. Results of the longitudinal growth models show the distinct and opposing effects of each hiring heuristic and coaching strategy. The authors also identify critical areas of future research and managerial practice.
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Although the sales control literature acknowledges the importance of salesperson's intrinsic and extrinsic (I/E) motivation due to their correlations with sales control and sales performance, the global nature of salesperson's I/E motivation inhibits a thorough understanding of motivation in the sales control context. This study expands the literature of salesperson motivation by incorporating the cognitive and affective components of I/E motivation in the sales control context. Empirical results from a survey of salespeople support the hypotheses that the cognitive and affective components of I/E motivation have distinct antecedents and consequences that would not otherwise have been captured by the global motivation constructs. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
Performance Improvement Quarterly, 2014
Coaching has been identified as a key managerial behavior that organizations must promote to develop employees and achieve higher levels of performance. Despite this agreement and an increasing interest in coaching, there is still a paucity of studies exploring the impact of coaching on individual performance. This paper presents an empirical investigation from two international field studies, one using B-to-B salespersons working in Latin America and the other one using B-to-C frontline employees from a service organization in Canada. Building on Leader-Member Exchange Theory we propose that coaching increases individual performance beyond the potential impact of sales experience and tenure. We find that coaching can explain between 2.9% and 6.2% of the variance in performance when controlling for tenure and experience. The paper makes several scientific and managerial contributions, and also opens new avenues for research.
PROFESSIONAL SALES COACHING: AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW AND RESEARCH AGENDA
ABSTRACT To enable their salespeople to achieve and maintain desired levels of competence and productivity, selling organizations continually invest in training and development programs that emphasize relevant task-related, growth-related, and meta-KSAs (Cron et al. 2005; Powers,
Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 2009
Career stage theory suggests that salespeople vary in their motivation systematically across career stages. However, empirical evidence using valence, expectancy, and instrumentality components of motivation have failed to fi nd consistent support. Drawing on social psychology and recent sales literature, we decompose global intrinsic and extrinsic (I/E) motivation into distinct cognitive and affective dimensions to empirically test a more current conceptualization of salesperson motivation. Empirical results using a cross section of salespeople indicate that salespeople's I/E motivation differs along the cognitive, but not affective, dimensions across career stages. Specifi cally, salespeople in the establishment stage were found to have higher levels of challenge seeking than those in the disengagement stage, and compensation seeking was higher among exploration-and establishment-stage salespeople than those in the maintenance stage. The research fi ndings highlight the need to distinguish between cognitive and affective dimensions of I/E motivation in understanding career stage-based expectations of salesperson motivation.
Motivational factors in sales team management and their influence on individual performance
This study analysed the intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors of sales teams and these factors' influence on team members' performance in a pharmaceutical industry context. A quantitative survey was conducted by distributing a questionnaire to a sample of 326 salespeople working in Portugal. The data were analysed using two statistical approaches: descriptive analysis of the variables and structural equation analysis. The results show that the intrinsic factors that best explain sales teams' motivation are 'personal goals' and 'skills acquired'. Extrinsic factors that best explain motivation in this context are 'transparency and loyalty in interactions with bosses' and 'trust in the company'. 'Participation in the growth of the company's business' and 'attitude' are the factors that most influence team performance in terms of results and behaviour, respectively. Resumo Este estudo analisou os factores motivacionais intrínsecos e extrínsecos da equipa de vendas e a sua influência no desempenho dos membros da equipa no contexto da indústria farmacêutica. Foi efectuada uma pesquisa quantitativa, distribuindo um questionário a uma amostra de 326 comerciais que actuam em Portugal. Os dados foram analisados com recurso a duas abordagens estatísticas: a análise descritiva das variáveis, e análise de equações estruturais. Os resultados revelam que os factores intrínsecos que melhor explicam a motivação da equipa de vendas são as " metas pessoais " e " competências adquiridas ". Os factores extrínsecos que melhor explicam a motivação neste contexto são a " transparência e lealdade no contacto com as chefias " e " confiança na empresa ". A " participação no crescimento dos negócios da empresa " e a " Atitude " são os factores com maior peso no desempenho ao nível dos resultados e comportamental, respectivamente.