Contemporary Selling, 5e
Chapter 11
Chapter 11 Outline: Salesperson Performance: Behavior, Motivation, and Role Perceptions
Value-Added Information in Chapter 11
• Global Connection – “When Job and Family Collide in the 21st Century”
• Exhibits:
o Exhibit 11.1 – “The Determinants of Salesperson Performance”
o Exhibit 11.2 – “Test Your Management Skills”
o Exhibit 11.3 – “Personal Traits that Lead to Sales Success”
I. Why Is It Important for Management to Understand Salesperson Performance?
II. Salesperson Performance
A. Role Perceptions
1. Defining Role Perceptions
2. Why Are Role Perceptions Important?
B. Sales Aptitude: Are Good Salespeople Born or Made?
E. Organizational, Environmental, and Personal Factors
1. Organizational and Environmental Variables
2. Personal Variables
F. Rewards
G. Satisfaction
III. How Salespeople Influence Performance
A. The Salesperson’s Role Perceptions
1. Stage 1: Role Partners Communicate Expectations
B. The Salesperson’s Role Is Affected by Many Factors
1. Boundary Position
2. The “Remote” Sales Force
IV. How Managers Influence Performance
A. Role Perceptions
1. Role Conflict
B. Motivation
1. Motivation and Managerial Leadership
C. Incentive and Compensation Policies
V. Summary
VI. Key Terms
Role Play
Conflicts between work life and family life are common, not just in sales jobs but in many
professions. Younger students especially have little context for understanding how finding a
good balance between family and work is a key to success (on the job and at home). This role
Hints for the Instructor:
• More experienced students, such as evening professional program students, will be able
to add quite a lot to this role play from their own experiences with family–work conflict.
If you have a mixed age group, consider pairing older and younger students into the
dyads.
• The dialogue developed by the students for the role play centers around developing a
specific list of ideas and changes that Alex can make and/or recommend Rhonda make to
afford him the opportunity to achieve better family–work balance over the next few years
Discussion Questions
1. A salesperson’s past and present performances affect his or her expectations for
future performance. After experiencing several failures, many new salespeople quit
their sales job within a few months because they assume that selling is not for them.
What role can a sales manager play in such situations?
Sales managers’ actions affect every variable in the performance model. Note the following
connections:
Variables Affecting Performance
Management Actions
Aptitude
Native abilities and enduring personal
traits relevant to the performance of job
activities
Personal characteristics
Physical traits, family background,
education, work and sales experience,
lifestyle
Recruitment and Selection Policies
activities
Recruitment and Selection Policies
Role perceptions
Perceptions of job demands and the
expectations of role partners
Training and Supervision; Account
Management Policies
Motivation
Desire to expend effort on specific job
activities
Compensation and Reward Systems
2. The president of Part-I-Tyme, manufacturer of salty snack foods, is dismayed over the
dismal sales results of the past six months. A new product, a deluxe cookie, had been
taste-tested and consumers’ responses were very positive. Part-I-Tyme’s sales force
consists of over 5,000 truck-driver distributors who have excellent reputations with
their customers. Part-I-Tyme’s president is convinced that the sales force
enthusiastically supports the new product line, but it’s obvious that something is
wrong. How would you determine the nature of the problem? Can you use the model
of salesperson performance in this situation?
The model of salesperson performance, as shown in Exhibit 11.1, is crucial in determining the
nature of Part-I-Tyme’s sales problem. This model will allow Part-I-Tyme to look to each of the
3. Although many aptitude tests exist, their ability to predict sales performance has been
weak. How do you account for this?
There is no proof that broad measures of aptitude, such as physical factors (e.g., age and physical
attractiveness), aptitude factors (e.g., verbal intelligence and sales expertise), and personality
4. Frequently, sales managers use contests and recognition rewards to motivate the
sales force. If sales managers understand salesperson performance, why is it
necessary to employ these additional techniques?
The fact that a sales manager understands salesperson performance does not in itself influence
5. “I want sales representatives who can stand on their own. Once they have been
through training and show how to apply their knowledge, it shouldn’t be necessary
for me to constantly tell them how they are doing. The stars always shine; it’s the
other reps who need my attention.” Comment on this statement. Do you agree or
disagree?
As described in the text, the role of a salesperson is the set of activities or behaviors to be
performed by any person occupying that position. Perceived role ambiguity occurs when a
salesperson believes he or she does not have the information necessary to perform the job
adequately, or the salesperson is uncertain about what some role partners expect in certain
6. A sales representative for the Lead-In Technologies is faced with a demand from an
important customer that is in direct conflict with company policies. The customer
wants several product modifications with no change in price. What can the sales rep
do to handle this conflict?
This situation is an example of role conflict arising from the salesperson’s boundary position.
Here, either the customer does not know or appreciate that the company policies preclude the
product modifications he or she is demanding, or the company may have formulated its policies
7. Salespeople for the Ansul Company, a manufacturer of fire prevention systems for
B2B applications, have been told they will now have to sell small fire extinguishers to
the retail market. The salespeople have never sold in the retail market before and
have no background in this area. What role problems are likely to occur?
This situation is an example of the Ansul salespeople having to take on an innovative role by
selling a product in a new market. As a result of this innovative role, the salespeople are likely to
As a result of this innovative role, the salespeople are also likely to experience role ambiguity
and inaccurate role perceptions because they face unusual situations where they have no standard
8. Maria Gomez-Simpson, a customer service rep with Mar-Jon Associates, spends
considerable time traveling to various customer offices. As a result, she often arrives
home late. Maria asked her manager if she could rearrange her Thursday work
schedule to attend an evening class at a local college. Which of the following
statements best reflects how to manage the conflict created by Maria’s request?
a. “Since we’re talking about only one night, go ahead, sign up for the course, and
we’ll work out the details.”
Statement “b.” best reflects how to manage the conflict created by Maria’s request because it
recognizes the balance that must be struck between the two conflicting interests: Maria wants to
Ethical Dilemma – Teaching Notes
Teaching Notes
At first read, students will often dismiss Frank Harris as engaging in unethical, perhaps even
illegal, behavior. Indeed, offering gifts goes well beyond company policy and violates the strong
ethical values of the company as stated by the CEO. However, a real evaluation of the ethical
It can be helpful to review that Frank has been an above-average performer and even won sales
awards. While the dilemma does not specify, it is safe to assume that until now his behavior had
followed ethical guidelines. In addition, given his concern about what to do now, it is also safe to
An interesting discussion is to ask students if it would make a difference in their decision making
if the gifts were successful. In other words, would their decision change if they knew whether or
not Frank was successful in getting the contract from the new customer (or not successful). For
some students, it will make a difference and this opens the door for a discussion on the validity
of situational ethics as a managerial decision-making tool. There are two basic points of view:
Answers to Questions
1. What should Frank Harris do?
For a variety of reasons Frank needs to make his actions known to management and ask the
management team to understand. First, from a moral perspective, Frank needs to be truthful
about his actions to management. He has put the company’s reputation in jeopardy with the gifts
and should be clear with management about what he did and why. Second, a more pragmatic
approach would also suggest Frank tell management about giving the gifts. One way or another,
of Frank’s behavior, there are still good reasons for Frank to tell management of the gifts. As
noted, it is highly likely PrimeTech management will eventually become aware of the gifts. In
addition, by misrepresenting his expense reports, Frank places himself at great risk. Management
may forgive mistakes, but they very seldom allow employees who have falsified expense reports
2. Can you be ethical and still violate company policy on ethical practices?
Chapter 11 – Salesperson Performance: Behavior, Motivation, and Role Perceptions
A review of any company’s ethical values will find strong statements about ethical principles and
“doing the right thing.” If one conducts themselves in an ethical way, it is unlikely they would
violate a company’s ethical policies.
An issue embedded in this question relates to salespeople being fully aware of a company’s
ethical policies. It is incumbent on management to be sure salespeople are fully briefed on the
3. If you were Ron Yeaple, would you fire Frank Harris?
This is a personal question. Certainly, the facts would warrant dismissal from the firm. Are there
mitigating circumstances that could offset Frank’s firing? One could argue that if Frank
voluntarily admits to the gifts and works with management to rectify the situation at First Line
Manufacturing, he should be given another chance.
Mini-Case 11 – Ace Chemicals
Dave Parrett is facing a problem sales managers deal with all the time: how to motivate their
salespeople. In this case, Kay Powers’s performance has dropped off over the last few years.
While still performing at an acceptable level, there has been a subtle but noticeable shift in her
Answer to Questions
1. Parrett needs to review the Determinants of Salesperson Performance (Exhibit 11.1). He
should understand each of the factors that influence performance and how they interact. As part
of that process, he needs to also assess the reward and compensation system at Ace. This is
important because the nature of Kay Powers’s problem is unclear and could lie with company
It is possible this discussion will lead to Powers talking about personal issues (for example,
work/family conflict) that are beyond the direct control of the company. Parrett needs to prepare
carefully so he is ready to handle any situation.
One can question why it has taken Parrett several years to get to this point. Procedures should
have been in place to deal with performance issues sooner rather than later. While it is important
not to jump to the wrong conclusion, the decline in Powers’s performance has been occurring
over a period of years and should have been identified before now.
2. The process identified in Response 1 provides a summary of steps for Parrett to follow in
the process. Powers has demonstrated her ability over a number of years, and as a result, the
3. Many companies have come to realize that great salespeople are an important asset for
the company. Their knowledge and ability are very difficult to replace in any organization. As a
result, it is important to spend the time to learn about each salesperson and, more importantly,
deal with issues as they occur. In looking at the Ace Chemicals case, as noted earlier, that Ace