Building customer relationships while achieving sales performance results: Is listening the holy grail of sales?

Itani, Omar S.; Goad, Emily A.; Jaramillo, Fernando

doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.04.048

Cited by 75 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…Such a performance is most often achieved after a sales negotiation has taken place. Because negotiating involves face-to-face interaction between two parties, the engagement of sellers in adaptive selling – or adapting sales tactics to different buyers (McFarland et al, 2006) – and their use of relevant communication techniques appear critical during the negotiation (Itani et al, 2019; Verbeke et al, 2011). Along this vein, one communication technique recently has been identified as successfully driving sales performance: humor usage (Lunardo et al, 2018; Lussier et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breaking the ice with a joke: The relief-inducing property of humor and its effect on sellers’ performance

Lunardo

Bompar

Saintives³

2021

Recherche et Applications en Marketing (English Edition)

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Research has identified humor as a communication technique that can help sellers be more effective during their sales pitches. However, the most developed theory of humor – that is, the arousal-safety (or relief) theory – posits some relieving power of humor but has never been applied to the selling context, although such a power could reveal interesting for sellers. Therefore, in this research, we adopt a seller’s perspective and apply this theory to investigate how sellers’ feelings of relief following their use of humor can positively affect their performance during negotiations. More specifically, we investigate the serial process whereby feelings of relief that emerge from humor increase relationship quality and ultimately performance. Finally, we identify empathy as a boundary condition for the effects of humor and subsequent responses, with humor prompting greater feelings of relief when sellers have little empathy with the purchaser. Using a sample of 200 trained students in B2B sales management and a sample of 157 professional sellers, we empirically test and support these predictions, which serve as a basis for managerial recommendations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breaking the ice with a joke: The relief-inducing property of humor and its effect on sellers’ performance

Lunardo

Bompar

Saintives³

2021

Recherche et Applications en Marketing (English Edition)

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“…High levels of empathy facilitate a salesperson's customerorientation (Delpechitre et al 2019) and in order to adapt their selling strategies accordingly within a sales conversation, listening skills are of crucial importance. Salespeople with good listening skills can adapt their approaches better, create more trust with customers and thus increase their perceived value (Itani et al 2019;Ramsey and Sohi 1997). Salespeople are one of the most important contributors to customers' attitudes toward the retailer itself (Babin et al 1999), and those who possess the ability to recognize a shopper's individual needs and characteristics and can adjust their selling approaches accordingly are more successful than others (McFarland et al 2006).…”

Section: Retail Salespeople and Adaptive Selling Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A particular focus in salespeople trainings needs to be on their listening skills. The degree to which a salesperson is perceived to be a good listener enhances a consumer's trust in the salesperson and facilitates the building of lasting relationships (Itani et al 2019;Ramsey and Sohi 1997). Interviewees mentioned they would sometimes try to convert active companions, who facilitate sales conversations and show interest in the products themselves, into future customers.…”

Section: Managerial Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-designing adaptive selling strategies: the role of different types of shopping companions

2020

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This paper explores the influence of shopping companions in retail sales conversations and the necessity of designing more comprehensive sales training programs. In particular, the characteristics and behaviors of shopping companions and their subsequent effects on accompanied shoppers, the salesperson and the sales conversation are examined. Shopping companions have not played a role in adaptive selling research and most practical trainings for salespeople so far, although they can significantly affect shopper behavior and decision-making, and require distinct approaches by salespeople. Systematizing in-depth interviews with salespeople and qualitative content analysis reveal a variety of different character traits and behaviors of shopping companions that can lead to positive and negative outcomes from a salesperson's perspective. The interactions that take place between customers and salespeople are the core element of customer-oriented service in retailing. When a holistic customer-oriented service is part of their value proposition, retailers should consider redesigning training programs for salespeople and include the influence of shopping companions. In doing so, salespeople's customer orientation can be increased by augmenting their capabilities and enabling them to make use of adaptive selling techniques specifically designed for co-shopping situations.

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“…"The role of the retail salesperson has shifted and retailers have been left without a clear understanding of how to manage this change in the retailing landscape" (Rapp et al, 2015, p. 358). While existing literature has previously examined salesperson attributes in a business-to-business and B2C context (Itani et al, 2019;Janakiraman et al, 2019), the changing dynamics of this role set forces industry and academia to re-evaluate the various attributes associated with salespeople, how differing attributes can influence customer expectations during this new digitally-oriented buying process and the critical elements of customer orientation for a salesperson that leads not only to close the sale but also to positive digital word-of-mouth (Cuevas, 2018;Habel et al, 2020;Homburg et al, 2011aHomburg et al, , 2011bMarshall et al, 2012). Furthermore, these elements may differ as a function of the context (retail, direct-selling and follow-up) of the salespersonbuyer interaction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Salesperson attributes that influence consumer perceptions of sales interactions

Fergurson

Gironda

Petrescu

2021

JCM

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Purpose This paper aims to examine how modern, digital era customers in a business-to-consumer (B2C) setting prioritize salesperson-customer orientation attributes when evaluating their expectations regarding interactions with salespeople, as well as their impact on positive and negative word-of-mouth. In addition, the research further investigates which negative salesperson attributes have an impact on overall customer experience and satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach Role theory and expectancy-disconfirmation theory form the theoretical foundation for two mixed-method studies. Study 1 is an exploratory content analysis of online consumer reviews and social media word-of-mouth related to consumer experiences with salespeople. Study 2 is a three-round Delphi study investigating which salesperson orientation attributes are most important to the customer in B2C interactions. Findings The results uncover which salesperson customer orientation attributes are essential for modern consumers and how they differ as a function of context (retail, direct-selling and follow-up) and how they contribute to the generation of digital word-of-mouth. Originality/value This paper expands B2C sales interaction literature by exploring the need for differing sales attributes based on the differential function of the shopping environment.

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Building customer relationships while achieving sales performance results: Is listening the holy grail of sales?

Cited by 75 publications

References 72 publications

Breaking the ice with a joke: The relief-inducing property of humor and its effect on sellers’ performance

Breaking the ice with a joke: The relief-inducing property of humor and its effect on sellers’ performance

Re-designing adaptive selling strategies: the role of different types of shopping companions

Salesperson attributes that influence consumer perceptions of sales interactions

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