Sales manager support: fostering emotional health in salespeople (original) (raw)
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Salesperson burnout continues to be a major concern among industrial marketing organizations. In this work, the authors examine whether certain coping strategies moderate the impact of work-related stressors on salesperson burnout; a previously unexamined area in the marketing literature. More specifically, this work examines if problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping significantly moderate the impact of role stress (ambiguity, conflict) on feelings of emotional exhaustion in an industrial sales setting. Findings indicate that problem-focused coping strategies moderate the impact of role stress on salespersons' emotional exhaustion; actually reversing the overall impact from positive to negative. However, findings surrounding the moderating effect of emotionfocused coping are mixed, raising interesting questions for future research efforts. (J.E. Lewin), Sager@unt.edu (J.K. Sager). 1 Tel.: +1 940 565 3125; fax: +1 940 565 3837.
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Effect of Motivation on Job Satisfaction of Selected Sales Representatives
Sales managers are concerned with motivation of individual salespersons as well as motivation of the entire sales force. A well motivated salesperson is expected to be satisfied with his or her job. Consequently, he or she is expected to render satisfying services to the customers. This study was able to examine intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation separately and their effects on job satisfaction. Copies of questionnaire were distributed randomly to the sales representatives of the sampled four service firms for the study. Two hypotheses were developed and were subjected to regression analysis. It was discovered that both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are crucial to enriching the job satisfaction of the sales representatives. The study makes useful recommendations which entrepreneurs and sales managers will find very useful if implemented. Keywords: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, job satisfaction.
Personal selling is a dynamic profession and a salesperson's ability to manage his/her emotions is crucial. This research examines the role that a salesperson's ability to regulate his/her emotions has on burnout, motivation, selling behaviors and perceived performance. It highlights an emotion regulation strategy which is especially adaptive for managing negative emotions, cognitive reappraisal. A conceptual framework is developed to illuminate the role of cognitive appraisal on salesperson emotional well-being, adaptive selling behavior, motivation and perceived performance. Findings indicate that cognitive reappraisal is positively related to adaptive selling behavior which is positively related to perceived performance. Further, cognitive reappraisal is negatively related to ruminative propensity and emotional exhaustion. Results are discussed in relationship to their implications for managers and researchers.
Regulation of emotions, interpersonal conflict, and job performance for salespeople
Journal of Business Research, 2015
It is human nature that personal interactions are often charged with emotions and laden with conflicts. Workplace encounters are not immune from this reality. Despite this, few studies have examined ways to reduce interpersonal conflict in the workplace. This study examines the interpersonal impact of emotion regulation (ER) on salesperson relationships with stakeholders. Using structural equation modeling, results of the analysis showed that salesperson's ER was negatively related to interpersonal conflict with co-workers (IPCW) as well as with customers (IPCC); and positively impacted salesperson's customer orientated selling behaviors. The results also support the moderating impact of salesperson's selling experience in the relationship between ER to IPCC. The negative relationship between ER and IPCC is stronger for salespeople with lower sales experience. These findings put forward important managerial implications with regard to the recruitment and training of sales professionals.
The sales manager as a unit of analysis: a review and directions for future research
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This article analyzes empirical research in which the sales manager is the unit of analysis to determine what knowledge has been generated by sales scholars about sales managers and sales management practice. It examines what we have learned from sales managers about their jobs and themselves with particular emphasis on the managerial relevance of the work. While the sales literature is vast and despite the importance of sales managers being widely recognized and accepted, an extensive search of the sales literature identified only 163 articles in which the sales manager was the focus of empirical research about what they do. To help better understand what has been discovered, these articles are examined and categorized according to the main focus of each article's research. The results show that with respect to sales managers, our knowledge is limited and substantial opportunities exist for additional research to expand our understanding of the nature, roles, and impact of sales managers as well as providing usable advice for the practice of sales management.
Emotions and salesperson propensity to leave: The effects of emotional intelligence and resilience
Industrial Marketing Management, 2015
Emotions constitute a powerful psychological force that can significantly influence the behavior and performance of salespeople. However, emotions in the workplace still constitute an underdeveloped area of study, mainly in the field of sales. Sales turnover is also particularly important in relation to sales management due to the nature of sales positions, their historically high turnover levels, and the difficulty involved in filling them. In view of the need to broaden knowledge on how to more successfully retain valuable salespeople, and the fact that B2B selling jobs are not the same across the board, this paper, while controlling the type of selling situation, analyzes the influence of two emotional skills (i.e. emotional intelligence and resilience) on salesperson propensity to leave their organization, both directly and indirectly, through their impact on work-family conflict and emotional exhaustion. The moderating effect of servant leadership perceived by salespeople on the relationship between emotional exhaustion and intention to leave is also addressed. Information provided by 209 salespeople from 105 enterprises from various industries confirms the hypotheses put forward and highlights the importance of encouraging the development of emotional skills as a way of alleviating work stress and reducing salesperson turnover. In addition, the results confirm the contribution of servant leadership towards reducing the effect of emotional exhaustion on salesperson intention to leave.
Effective Sales Management: What Do Sales People Think?
Developments in Marketing Science: Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science, 2014
By understanding effective sales management from the perspective of sales people, this study adds a new dimension to our view of sales managers. Drawing from the sales literature, this research tests relationships between key variables identified as contributing to sales manager effectiveness from previous sales research. Listening skills, open communication, and effective feedback are positioned as antecedents to self-efficacy while customer relationship development, representative job performance, and satisfaction with one's sales manager represent the outcome variables. Results support the importance of listening skills and assert that self-efficacy plays a key role in each of the outcome variables.
The impact of social support on salesperson burnout and burnout components
Psychology & Marketing, 2000
Previous research has shown that salesperson burnout affects sales productivity, employee retention, and job satisfaction. Although burnout has often been conceptualized as a multiple-component construct, research typically has approached the efficacy of burnout reduction techniques by using overall measures of burnout rather than by examining the effects of such techniques on individual burnout components. The present research investigates how social support and choice of coping strategy relate to burnout components, illustrating the need to consider such components when conducting burnout-related research. ᭧