RELATIONSHIP SELLING: ITS EFFECTS ON SALESMAN PERFORMANCE IN SERVICE INDUSTRY
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RELATIONSHIP SELLING: ITS EFFECTS ON SALESMAN PERFORMANCE IN SERVICE INDUSTRY
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study.
For any firm to be successful, it is critical to be able to identify and validate salesperson attributes and behaviours that predict high sales performance. According to this theory, numerous research have been undertaken on selling behaviours,
their individual and organisational antecedents, and salesperson performance (e.g., Franke and Park 2006; Guenzi, De Luca, and Troilo, 2011; Plouffe, Hulland, and Wachner 2009).
Salesperson goal orientations have been identified as important drivers of various salesperson actions and sales performance. They refer to individual differences in goal preferences in achievement situations (Dweck and Legett, 1988; Kohli, Shervani, and Challagalla, 1998)
and can be classified into two major categories: learning goal orientation, which involves acquiring new skills and mastering new situations, and performance goal orientation,
which involves demonstrating and validating one’s competence to others (Dweck and Legett, 1988). Over the previous two decades, their essential antecedents and results have been established in the context of selling (Sujan, Weitz, and Kumar, 1994; Harris, Moven, and Brown, 2005; Ahearne, Lam, Mathieu, and Bolander, 2010).
However, a closer examination of the salesperson goal orientation research indicates some major gaps and inconsistencies in the goal orientations’ performance relationships.
First, goal orientation research have yielded inconsistent results about the relationship between learning orientation and performance, ranging from clear positive relationships (e.g., VandeWalle, Brown, Cron, and Slocum, 1999) to no relationship (e.g., Kohli et al., 1998).
Furthermore, multiple research have discovered that, contrary to theory, performance orientation explains salesperson performance better than learning orientation (Porath and Bateman, 2006). Some research have proposed and offered data to support the notion that the interaction of time and goal orientations may resolve these inconsistencies (Ahearne, Lam, Mathieu, and Bolander 2010).
Kohli et al. (1998) contended that learning orientation may not effect or even hinder selling success in the near term, but may boost performance in the long run by allowing salespeople to build their skills.
The gaps in the findings and related propositions suggest that the largely unexplored subject of the impact of salespeople’s selling experience on goal orientations should be investigated further.
Second, previous research has focused mostly on the immediate main antecedents and effects of goal orientations. Scholars have recently urged for more studies on selling that investigate other forms of relationships,
such as mediation and moderation, in order to gain a better understanding of the interrelationships between selling behaviours and the processes by which they affect performance (Plouffe, Hulland, and Wachner 2009).
Goal orientations, which concern the mental framework that individuals use to interpret and respond to achievement situations (Dweck and Legett, 1988) and are closely related to learning, are likely to influence selling behaviours not only directly but also through interaction, for example, by assisting salespeople in adapting their selling style more effectively.
Ignoring these potential indirect impacts can lead to an underestimating of the role of various goal orientations in selling performance, indicating that more research is needed on the topic.
Furthermore, past research has found no evidence of moderators of adaptive marketing, emphasising the importance of the chosen perspective (see Franke and Park, 2006).
This study aims to fill recognised gaps in research on selling goal orientation by developing a fresh understanding of the link between relationship selling and salesperson performance in the Nigerian service industry, with a focus on the banking sector.
1.2 Statement of Problem
Salespeople are often regarded as a dynamic force in the corporate world, and their efforts have a direct impact on the many activities of organisations. They introduce organisations’ products to their customers. Customers believe that salespeople represent the organisation.
The longevity of service organisations, such as banks, is dependent on their interactions with the environment. Providing high-quality service and relying simply on experience is insufficient in the banking industry, particularly in a highly competitive country where financial services abound. It is extremely difficult for bank marketers to use service knowledge as their sole weapon (Wong et al, 2008).
Customer satisfaction and adaptable selling behaviours are critical characteristics in banking services, influencing salesperson performance directly or indirectly (Singh 2012). Banks are expected to give good services to their customers, and this effort is reflected in the performance of its salespeople.
The more competitive and uncertain the environment, the more important it is to investigate and enhance salespeople’s performance (Keillor and Parker, 2000). As a result, the purpose of this study is to look into the aspects that influence salespeople’s performance. Previous research has found that job happiness, adaptable selling behaviours, customer orientation, and service history all influence salespeople’s performance.
Some studies have looked at the effects of job satisfaction, customer orientation, and adaptive selling behaviours on sales performance (Frank and Park, 2006; Bloes, 2001; O’Hara et al, 1991), but few have looked at the impact of selling experience (O’Hara et al, 1991; Siguaw and Honeycutt, 1995; Singh and Das, 2013).
The goal of this study is to fill a vacuum in the literature on relationship selling and salesman performance, as well as to evaluate the moderating effects of selling experience and job commitment on these correlations.
By analysing the impact of selling experience on these linkages, we can gain insight into the relationship between sales performance and important influencing elements, which has practical consequences for controlling and optimising salesperson performance.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The overall goal of this study is to investigate the link between relationship selling and salesman performance in the Nigerian service industry:
a) To investigate the practice of relationship selling and its impact on sales performance in the Nigerian banking industry.
b) To demonstrate the impact of relationship selling on client retention within the industry.
c) Understand the idiosyncrasies of the banking business in utilisation and strategizing with relationship selling.
d) To assess the moderating influence of sales experience in tying relationship selling to sales success in the Nigerian banking industry.
e) To demonstrate the effects of relationship marketing on banks’ overall performance in terms of market share improvement.
1.4 Research Questions.
To help achieve the aims of this study work, the following questions will be asked:
a) How prevalent is relationship selling in Nigeria’s banking business, and how does it affect sales performance?
b) How does relationship selling affect client retention in the industry?
c) What are the banking sector’s unique approaches to using and strategizing relationship selling?
d) How does sales experience influence the link between relationship selling and sales performance in the Nigerian banking industry?
a) What are the effects of relationship selling on bank overall performance in terms of market share growth?
1.5 Research Hypothesis
H01: Relationship selling has no major impact on customer retention in the banking business.
H02: There are no notable differences in the banking sector’s use of and strategy for relationship selling.
H03: Sales experience has no substantial moderating effect on the relationship selling and sales performance in Nigeria’s banking business.
H04: Relationship selling has no substantial impact on banks’ overall performance in terms of market share growth.
1.6 Justification and Significance of the Study
This study will be useful in numerous ways. First, it will be relevant in the sense that it will provide a fundamental grasp of the concept of relationship selling and organisational performance, with a focus on the Nigerian banking industry.
This understanding will assist all financial market stakeholders in developing effective marketing and sales policies for their products and services.
To that purpose, it will benefit the following stakeholders: researchers, the general public, the academic world, small-scale business owners or managers, and governments.
The research effort will provide the researcher with a thorough grasp of relationship selling and salesperson performance.
Many people are unfamiliar with the complexities of relationship selling and salesperson performance. This research will provide light on the concept, allowing customers and marketing executives to investigate and improve their relationships in the Nigerian banking business.
This scientific endeavour will undoubtedly contribute to the existing body of knowledge. It can also be used as a reference source and topic for future research.
The government will also benefit from this work because various government agencies or regulatory bodies, such as the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission, among others, can ensure that the interests of the entire Nigerian population are protected through various types of relationship selling.
1.7 Scope and limitations of the study
The geographical scope of this effort will be focused on the Nigerian economy, with a specific emphasis on the banking industry. The banking business, as defined above, is any economic activity carried out by firms licenced to move monies from the surplus unit of the economy to the deficit unit of the economy.
In terms of background, this paper will look at the causes and other issues that influence relationship selling and salesman performance in the Nigerian banking market. Thus, other unconnected actions of Nigerian banks may not be fully reflected until they have an impact on the research aims.
Certain constraints or limitations may arise during the course of this study. One of these constraints is that, due to the scope of the study activity, the researcher may be constrained in terms of the depth of literature and other concerns related to the banking industry because the researcher must focus on issues concerning bank bankruptcy.
1.8 Definition of Terms.
Personal selling: An spoken presentation between a salesperson and one or more potential customers with the goal of closing the transaction.
Relationship selling refers to all selling efforts aimed at building, developing, and maintaining successful relational exchanges between the salesperson and the customer (either an organisation or an individual), and, ultimately, between the selling and buying firms. Furthermore, this method necessitates continuous satisfaction of the customer’s needs, both product and interaction-related.
Sales performance is the measurement of how many sales an employee generates for a company. Sales performance is calculated by comparing the number of sales made to the number of customers with whom an employee interacts.
The service industry includes industries that provide services to both corporations and consumers.
Sales management entails developing a selling strategy as well as implementing and overseeing the firm’s personal selling efforts.
Salesforce assessment entails analysing whether or not sales objectives were fulfilled and account management standards were adhered to.
Interpersonal skills are mental and communicative algorithms used during social communication and engagement to accomplish specific effects and outcomes.
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