通过销售人员的勇气和政治技巧提高企业对企业关系的质量

IF 2 4区 管理学 Q3 BUSINESS
C. H. Schwepker, Megan C. Good
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引用次数: 2

摘要

目的两个特征-毅力和政治技巧-似乎通过改善客户关系质量为工业营销人员提供了有意义的价值。本研究的前提是调查企业对企业销售人员的这些特征的作用,因为它们影响销售方法和最终的长期客户关系。之前的学术研究和实践文献都指出,政治技巧和勇气与销售人员有单独的联系,但在对客户关系的影响方面,它们主要没有被同时探索。本研究中使用的数据来自240名企业对企业销售人员的样本,通过使用国家数据经纪人的在线平台以电子方式收集。他们对自己的勇气、政治技巧和客户关系质量做了自我报告。这些结构组合在一个结构方程模型中。采用SPSS/Amos软件进行多因素分析。验证性因子分析用于评估每个结构的测量特性,而结构方程模型用于评估假设关系。研究结果表明,毅力与政治技巧直接相关,两者都与人际关系质量呈正相关。本研究的结果为现有的客户关系文献提供了可信度,并有助于扩展我们的理解,特别是适用于企业对企业的销售人员。特别是,我们更多地了解了毅力和政治技巧在影响销售人员建立和维持客户关系的能力方面所起的作用。在理论贡献方面,本研究从卖家的角度探讨了两个潜在重要的销售特征和关系质量,以扩展对客户关系的研究结果。虽然勇气被认为是结果绩效的先决条件,但勇气和政治技巧之间的相互作用,以及它们对企业对企业销售人员客户关系质量的影响,迄今尚未得到检验。这项研究扩展了之前关于勇气和政治技巧的研究,考察了两者之间的联系以及对关系质量的影响。我们的研究强化了坚毅和政治技巧的重要性,发现两者之间的协同作用表明,当销售人员拥有或发展这些特征时,它们可以加强企业对企业销售人员的关系建立。作为筛选过程的一部分,销售领导可以通过管理销售人员的勇气和政治技巧量表,并通过培训和指导在销售人员中培养这些价值观,从而受益。销售领导应该强调在关注客户时采用这些方法的积极影响。该研究通过改进对卖家沟通和影响特征如何影响客户关系的理解做出了实际贡献。研究结果强调了参与一些活动的重要性,这些活动可以改善与买家的联系,并努力提高毅力水平,帮助销售人员克服在建立客户关系所需的正常活动中面临的任何挑战。遇到日常或短期的障碍,如果不坚持不懈地处理,可能会导致销售人员感到沮丧,放弃更具挑战性的客户,尽管继续与客户合作以获得长期成果的未来潜在回报。此外,政治技巧本身,再加上勇气,使企业对企业的销售人员能够利用沟通说服他人,尤其是客户,以有利于企业对企业买卖双方的方式行事。勇气和政治技巧可以结合起来建立和维持关系,尽管有任何需要勇气的短期障碍。更好地理解企业对企业销售人员对所研究的变量的观点,可以潜在地改善销售人员的招聘和培训,使其采用有益的特征,使他们能够建立客户关系,并最终提高销售业绩。本研究的原创性和价值在于提出了企业对企业销售组织中三个普遍问题之间的联系。毅力、政治技巧和关系质量为企业对企业的销售行为和卖家的后果提供了宝贵而独特的见解。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
Improving Business-to-Business Relationship Quality Through Salespeople’s Grit and Political Skill
ABSTRACT Purpose Two characteristics – Grit and Political Skill – appear to offer meaningful value to industrial marketers through improving customer relationship quality. The premise of this study is to investigate the role of these characteristics of business-to-business salespeople as they influence selling approaches and ultimately long-term customer relationships. Previous research in both academic and practitioner literature has noted political skill and grit are individually linked to salespeople but remain chiefly unexplored simultaneously and in terms of their impact on customer relationships. Methodology/Approach The data used in this research are from a sample of 240 business-to-business salespeople collected electronically by using the online platform of a national data broker. Self-reports were made about their grit, political skill, and customer relationship quality. These constructs were combined in a structural equation model. SPSS/Amos software was used to conduct multivariate analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the measurement properties of each construct, while structural equation modeling was applied to evaluate the hypothesized relationships. Findings Results suggest grit is directly related to political skill and both are positively related to relationship quality. The results from this study lend credence to existing customer relationship literature and serve to extend our understanding, specifically as applied to business-to-business salespeople. In particular, we learn more about the role of grit and political skill in affecting the ability of salespeople to establish and maintain customer relationships. Research Implications In terms of the theoretical contribution, this study explores a seller’s perspective of two potentially important sales characteristics and relationship quality to extend findings on customer relationships. While grit has been considered an antecedent of outcome performance, the interaction between grit and political skill, and their impact on business-to-business salespeople’s customer relationship quality had heretofore not been examined. This study extends previous research on grit and political skill by examining the association between the two as well as the impact on relationship quality. Our research strengthens the importance of grit and political skill by finding the synergy between the two indicates that when these characteristics of salespeople are possessed or developed they can enhance the relationship building conducted by business-to-business salespeople. Practical Implications Sales leaders may benefit from administering the salesperson grit and political skill scales as part of the screening process and developing these values among salespeople through training and coaching. Sales leaders should emphasize the positive impact of adopting these in focusing on customers. The study makes a practical contribution through an improved understanding of how a seller’s communication and influence characteristics impact customer relationships. The findings underscore the importance of engaging in activities shown to improve connections with buyers and striving for levels of grit that assist the salesperson in overcoming any challenges faced in the normal set of activities required to build customer relationships. Encountering daily or short-term impediments that if not managed through perseverance may result in a salesperson being frustrated and abandoning more challenging accounts, despite the future potential payoffs by continuing to work with the account to obtain long-term outcomes. Additionally, political skill by itself and in conjunction with grit enables the business-to-business salesperson to utilize communication to persuade others, especially customers to act in ways that benefit both business-to-business buyers and sellers. Grit and political skill may combine to establish relationships and maintain them despite any short-term obstacles that require grit. An improved understanding of business-to-business salespeople’s perspectives of the variables under study can potentially improve the hiring and training of salespeople to adopt beneficial characteristics that will enable them to build customer relationships and ultimately improve sales performance. Originality/Value/Contribution of the Paper The originality and value of this study rest with proposed connections between three prevalent issues in business-to-business sales organizations. Grit, political skill, and relationship quality provide valuable and unique insights into business-to-business selling behaviors and seller consequences.
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来源期刊
CiteScore
2.20
自引率
35.70%
发文量
22
期刊介绍: The Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing® encourages diversity in approaches to business marketing theory development, research methods, and managerial problem solving. An editorial board comprised of outstanding, internationally recognized scholars and practitioners ensures that the journal maintains impeccable standards of relevance and rigorous scholarship. The Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing features: •basic and applied research that reflects current business marketing theory, methodology, and practice •articles from leading researchers covering topics of mutual interest for the business and academic communities
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