Communicating with B2B buyers after “Dropping the Ball”: Using digital and non-digital communication formats to recover from salesperson transgressions

IF 5.9 2区管理学 Q1 BUSINESS

International Journal of Research in Marketing Pub Date : 2024-06-01 DOI:10.1016/j.ijresmar.2024.01.005

Stephanie M. Mangus , Huanhuan Shi , Judith Anne Garretson Folse , Eli Jones , Shrihari Sridhar

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Salespeople are inundated with new sales enablement tools and digital communication options daily, creating new ways to communicate with customers and navigate the inevitable case of “dropping the ball.” This research investigates how different communication formats cushion the blow and minimize damage from salesperson transgressions. Study 1 utilizes firm-provided communication and performance data paired with survey data from business-to-business (B2B) customers to find that the use of synchronous communication (face-to-face (F2F) in contrast to email) mitigates the negative impact of relational transgression but has no such effect on the impact of sales process transgression. Study 2 utilizes an experiment with B2B professionals to identify that synchronous communication (videoconferencing and F2F in contrast to email) improves relationship satisfaction and customer positive word of mouth (PWOM) more for relational than sales process transgressions. Study 3 extends these findings with an experiment exploring additional communication formats (phone and text) while exploring perceived salesperson competence and warmth as mediating mechanisms in the model. Taken together, F2F or synchronous communications should not be viewed as the unilaterally preferred communication format during transgressions, and salespeople should balance communication needs with resource constraints.

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在 "掉链子 "后与 B2B 买家沟通：利用数字和非数字沟通形式从销售人员的过失中恢复过来

销售人员每天都会接触到新的销售工具和数字通信方式，从而创造出与客户沟通的新方法，并避免不可避免的 "失误"。本研究调查了不同的沟通形式如何缓冲销售人员的失误，并将损失降到最低。研究 1 利用公司提供的沟通和绩效数据以及企业对企业（B2B）客户的调查数据，发现使用同步沟通（面对面（F2F）而非电子邮件）可减轻关系越轨的负面影响，但对销售过程越轨的影响没有影响。研究 2 以 B2B 专业人士为实验对象，发现同步沟通（视频会议和 F2F 与电子邮件相比）对关系越轨比对销售过程越轨更能提高关系满意度和客户正面口碑（PWOM）。研究 3 扩展了这些发现，通过实验探索了更多的沟通形式（电话和短信），同时将感知到的销售人员能力和热情作为模型的中介机制。综上所述，F2F 或同步沟通不应被视为越轨时单方面首选的沟通形式，销售人员应在沟通需求与资源限制之间取得平衡。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Journal of Research in Marketing BUSINESS-

CiteScore

11.80

自引率

4.30%

发文量

审稿时长

66 days

期刊介绍： The International Journal of Research in Marketing is an international, double-blind peer-reviewed journal for marketing academics and practitioners. Building on a great tradition of global marketing scholarship, IJRM aims to contribute substantially to the field of marketing research by providing a high-quality medium for the dissemination of new marketing knowledge and methods. Among IJRM targeted audience are marketing scholars, practitioners (e.g., marketing research and consulting professionals) and other interested groups and individuals.