Understanding the Antecedents and Consequences of Service-Sales Ambidexterity: A Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) Framework

Drawing on the motivation, opportunity and ability (MOA) framework, we investigate the influence of charismatic leadership on salespeople’s service and sales activities—termed service-sales ambidextrous (SSA) behavior, which subsequently turn into service recovery performance outcomes. The primary aim of this research is to strengthen salespeople’s service quality in parallel to their selling activities while recovering a service failure. We validate the model using a sample of 344 business-to-business salespeople using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique. Study results show that charismatic leadership is positively and significantly related to service-sales ambidexterity. Likewise, service-sales ambidexterity has a positive and significant relationship with service recovery performance and adaptive selling behavior. Moreover, we found a significant relationship between adaptive selling behavior and service recovery performance. The results further specify that salesperson motivation, opportunity and ability to engage in SSA significantly moderate the relationship between charismatic leadership and service-sales ambidexterity. The results suggest the need for training programs that provide the salesperson with opportunities to understand the simultaneous implementation of selling strategies while also providing customer services.

The impact of support on employees' adaptive behavior: a moderated mediation model

PurposeDrawing on the social exchange theory, this study focuses on the impact of perceived organizational support (POS) and perceived supervisor support (PSS) on employees' adaptive (selling) behavior in a personal selling context. As part of the support-adaptive behavior relationship, the authors also explore the mediating role of psychological empowerment and the moderating role of customer orientation (CO).Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 200 salespeople from the financial and pharmaceutical sectors in Turkey. Hypotheses were tested with hierarchical multiple regressions and hierarchical moderated regressions.FindingsSupported salespeople feel more empowered in their jobs and show adaptive (selling) behavior. Our results also show that the impact of support on adaptive selling behavior through empowerment is stronger for salespeople with low CO.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has two limitations: the generalizability of its findings and cross-sectional design. Still, it significantly contributes to support, empowerment and adaptive behavior literature.Practical implicationsBy creating a supportive work environment and by training their managers to improve their support skills, organizations boost their employees' adaptability. Both of these support practices motivate employees to use their discretion in sales situations. Organizations should also evaluate and manage their employees' level of CO by conducting company surveys and by increasing top management communication.Originality/valueThis study tests the mediating role of psychological empowerment on the relationship between POS, PSS and adaptive behavior in the understudied personal selling context. The authors also test the moderating role of CO in the proposed model.

Examining the consequences of adaptive selling behavior by door-to-door salespeople in the Korean cosmetic industry

PurposeThis paper aims to assess the effect of adaptive selling behavior on customer outcomes, mutual outcomes and salesperson outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThe respondents were salespeople and customers in selected door-to-door cosmetics companies in South Korea. A questionnaire was used to collect the data. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data in this study.FindingsFindings show that adaptive selling behavior positively affects customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, sales performance, job satisfaction and relationship quality. These findings suggest that adaptive selling is crucial for the firm's survival depending on the industry and the product. Additionally, unlike previous studies, the authors use salespeople's self-reporting responses and customer-reporting of salespeople, which further enhances the richness and uniqueness of the results.Originality/valueStudies investigating mutual outcomes of adaptive selling behavior are scarce. The study also emphasizes that adaptive selling behavior enhances salesperson outcomes and customer outcomes and primarily uses dyadic data between door-to-door salespeople and their customers, which is not very common.

Antecedents of adaptive selling behaviour: a study of the Korean cosmetic industry

PurposeThis paper examines the antecedents of adaptive selling behavior empirically from the salespeople's, customers', and firms' perspectives.Design/methodology/approachSurvey design was used for this study. Data from 219 salespeople and their visiting customers in selected cosmetics companies in Korea are used to test the conceptual model using structural equation modeling.FindingsFindings show that intrinsic motivation, empathy, and product knowledge are germane to adaptive selling behavior among salesperson-level factors. Similarly, among the customer-level factors, the length of the relationship between salespeople and customers positively affects adaptive selling behavior. Also, while supervisory empowerment among the organizational-level factors significantly predicts adaptive selling behavior, supervisory control has a negative effect on adaptive selling behavior. The study finds that emotional intelligence and customer value demandingness do not significantly affect adaptive selling behavior.Originality/valueEven though there is extant research on adaptive selling behavior, our research differs from previous research because our research focuses on door-to-door personal selling channels. Furthermore, this study departs from previous research because it uses customer-reporting of the salespeople and salespeople's self-reporting responses.

Are your international salespeople culturally intelligent? The influence of cultural intelligence on adaptive selling behavior with B2B customers

Purpose This study aims to investigate cultural intelligence (CQ) as an antecedent of adaptive selling behavior (ASB) and cultural distance and intrinsic motivation as moderators in this relationship. Design/methodology/approach This research builds on a survey to 310 US-based international sales executives (ISE) and multiple regression analysis to test the hypotheses. Findings The results show that CQ has a significant positive relationship with ASB, both as an aggregate construct and through its metacognitive, motivational and behavioral facets. Also, intrinsic motivation moderates such relationship, whereas cultural distance does not. Research limitations/implications The study includes only a sample of US-based international salespeople in the B2B context, which limits the generalizability of the findings to salespeople from other countries or other contexts. Practical implications The findings of this research suggest that supplier companies involved in international selling should consider the cultural intelligence of their salespeople for selection, training and coaching. Originality/value This study makes an important contribution to the literature on both ASB and CQ by expanding the knowledge on how to manage international salespeople effectively, considering the conditions under which CQ effects are expected and how these vary in this context.

Formal salesforce control mechanisms and behavioral outcomes

PurposeThe current study aims to empirically examine the impact of formal salesforce control systems on salespeople and customer behavior.Design/methodology/approachData are collected from 704 salespeople and their respective visiting customers (704) in Ghana. The suggested hypotheses are tested through the structural equation (SEM) modeling technique.FindingsThe study results show that all three formal control mechanisms have positive and significant effects on customer-directed problem-solving and adaptive selling behaviors. Similarly, the study finds that salespeople's customer-directed problem-solving behavior increases, respectively, customer-directed opportunism and relationship continuity. Adaptive selling behavior also has significant positive effects on both customer-directed opportunism and relationship continuity, respectively.Practical implicationsThe study offers practical and theoretical insights into understanding salesforce control dynamics, customer-directed opportunism, adaptive selling behavior, customer-directed problem-solving behavior and continuity of relationships. The results also have significant consequences for sales organizations as they can help sales managers decide on the best form of salesforce control systems to deploy.Originality/valueThe current research demonstrates how control mechanisms can influence both adaptive selling and customer-directed problem-solving behaviors and how these could generate both customer-directed opportunism and relationship continuity.

Effect of Ability on Salesperson Performance Through Adaptive Selling Behavior as an Intervening Variable

This research was conducted at PT PX, which is a state-owned company in Indonesia appointed to produce and distribute subsidized fertilizers. PT PX is facing the risk of being diverted from fertilizer subsidies by the Government. To deal with this risk, PT PX has prepared a strategy that is to increase sales of non-subsidized fertilizers and non-fertilizer products. However, the sales performance of non-subsidized fertilizers and non-fertilizer products did not reach the target as expected. The author wants to examine whether the sales target is not achieved due to salesperson’s ability. In addition to ability, sales performance is also influenced by sales behavior done by salesperson, one of which is adaptive selling behavior. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the ability possessed by salesperson at PT PX on sales performance through their adaptive selling behavior. This research was conducted using partial least square analysis techniques. The results of this study indicate that the salesperson's ability has a significant effect on salesperson's performance through adaptive selling behavior.

An investigation of sales managers’ aggressiveness in B2B sales leadership: The sequential mediation model of emotional exhaustion and adaptive selling

The aim of this research is to investigate the influence of sales managers’ aggressiveness on ethical sales leadership and salesperson performance in B2B context, taking into consideration the sequential mediation of emotional labor and adaptive selling behavior. Sales managers spend most of their time in solving salesforce-related issues, while empirical studies have largely neglected such factors that can have negative consequences on salesforce-related tasks. In order to overcome this gap in the literature, we draw from conservation of resources (COR) theory to introduce and establish an advanced theoretical paradigm. The authors tested the model through 336 responses from B2B salesperson-manager dyads. The findings of the study reveal that sales managers’ aggressiveness has a negative association with ethical sales leadership. Also, sales managers’ aggressiveness is positively related to emotional exhaustion and negatively related to salesperson performance. Consequently, we found significant serial mediation of ethical sales leadership and adaptive selling behavior between the relationship of sales managers’ aggressiveness and salesperson performance. In last, manager decisiveness is playing as a significant moderator in the study. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are also discussed.

How Adaptive Selling Behavior Influences Performance

Sales behavior is a key criterion for judging the selling performance of salespeople. This study explores how salespeople use social networking sites (SNSs) to improve their selling performance. Accordingly, the authors examine the mediating role of adaptive selling behavior on SNSs and consider the relation between performance and service leadership. In this study, 422 salespeople are brought in direct contact with customers in Taiwan, and it is found that SNS infusion and service leadership are crucial to salespeople's adaptive selling behavior. The results provide strong evidence for the mediating effect of adaptive selling behavior on the relation between each antecedent and SNS infusion.

Linking improvisational behavior, adaptive selling behavior and sales performance

PurposeThis research examined the relationships between improvisational behavior, adaptive selling behavior and sales performance of direct sellers in Thailand. This research also investigated whether these relationships are moderated by the degree of challenge orientation and sellers' knowledge about the products.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected through a survey with sellers from a subsidiary of a multinational corporation located in Bangkok, Thailand (n = 172). Partial least squares–structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.FindingsResults from data analysis revealed positive relationships between improvisational behavior, adaptive selling behavior and sales performance. The relationship between improvisational behavior and adaptive selling behavior, as well as the relationship between adaptive selling behavior and sales performance, significantly depended on the degree of challenge orientation and the sellers' knowledge about the products.Research limitations/implicationsThe data were collected using self-report measures; the sample was sellers from a single sales organization, and cross-sectional data were used for the analysis. Overall, this study is the exploratory research that does not intend to prove the causal effect of improvisational behavior, but rather to provide new insight on some conditional factors that influence its effectiveness.Practical implicationsIt is essential for sales organizations to ensure that their sales force has adequate improvisational skills to handle sales adaptations effectively during unexpected sales situations. Some training may be offered to the sales force to develop these imperative improvisational skills.Originality/valueThe results regarding the moderating effect of challenge orientation and product knowledge provided additional insight to prior research about the potential conditions that influence the effectiveness of improvisational behavior and adaptive selling behaviors.