Jeffrey K. Sager

A Structural Model Depicting Salespeople's Job Stress

The study develops and tests a model of salespeople’s job stress relative to its proposed determinants and outcomes. The study findings shed light on four questions concerning possible links between job stress and its precursors. The evidence gained suggests that job stress may influence intention to leave through reduced organizational commitment and that job satisfaction intervenes between salespeople’s role perceptions and job stress.

Performance and job satisfaction effects on salesperson turnover: A replication and extension

Abstract The present study replicates a salesperson-turnover study reported by Futrell and Parasuraman [28] by examining the strength of the relationship of five dimensions of job satisfaction to propensity to leave for high- and low-performing groups of salespeople. Current knowledge about salesperson behavior is extended by testing the hypothesis that propensity to leave is a strong predictor of actual turnover behavior. The results indicate that performance has a direct influence on turnover. Propensity to leave operates as one of the intervening variables in the turnover process of salespeople. A more complex relationship may exist between job satisfaction, performance, propensity to leave, and actual turnover than that reported by Futrell and Parasuraman [28].

Understanding Salesperson Turnover: A Partial Evaluation of Mobley's Turnover Process Model

AbstractThis study contributed to recent efforts aimed at understanding the turnover behavior of salespeople (Jolson, Dubinsky, and Anderson 1987; Johnston, Varadarajan, Futrell, and Sager 1987; Williamson 1983) by testing relationships drawn from a general model of employee turnover proposed by Mobley (1977). The data used to test the model were gathered from detail salespeople.Findings suggest that dissatisfaction with work and promotion aspects of the job as well as thinking of quitting and intention to quit are stages in the turnover process of the salespeople studied. Conversely, variables representing attitude towards searching for another job, attitude towards quitting and comparison of a perceived alternative job with the present job did not contribute significantly to explaining turnover for the salespeople studied. Implications of the study results for the practicing sales manager are outlined along with areas for future research.

A Longitudinal Assessment of Change in Sales Force Turnover

The utility of salespeople’s job stress, perceived fairness, job satisfaction, thoughts of quitting, job comparison, and intention to quit for differentiating individuals who remained in the job from those who left was investigated by using a discriminant model, to anlayze data from two points in time. A model that employed residualized gain scores fromn=96 salespeople, was evaluated as were separate discriminant models for both data points.

Salespeople's Use of Upward Influence Tactics (UITs) in Coping with Role Stress

Researchers’ attentions have recently focused on how salespeople cope with role stress. This study focuses on salespersons’ use of six upward influence tactics (UITs) with the immediate sales manager, and how salespeople use UITs to lessen the impact of two role stressors (perceived role conflict and role ambiguity) associated with the sales job. The study also evaluates the potential moderating role of UITs on relationships between role stress and manager satisfaction and propensity to leave. Analysis of data gathered from a heterogeneous sample revealed differences in use of UITs between salespeople classified as either high or low in role stress. Salespeople who perceive high role conflict employ assertiveness and upward appeal UITs more frequently. Salespeople who perceive high role ambiguity use exchange and coalition-building UITs more frequently. Results also suggest that salespersons’ use of assertiveness and ingratiation UITs exacerbate relationships between perceived role ambiguity and two outcomes: satisfaction with supervisor and propensity to leave. Implications of the study findings for sales managers are reviewed, as are implications for further research.

Salesperson Burnout: A Test of the Coping-Mediational Model of Social Support

Salesperson burnout continues to be a major concern among sales organizations. In this work, the authors examine whether certain coping strategies mediate the impact of sales manager support on salesperson burnout; as suggested by Thoits’s (1986) Coping-Mediational Model. More specifcally, this work investigates if problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping mediate the impact of sales manager support on feelings of emotional exhaustion in a feld sales setting. Study fndings indicate that positive sales manager support has a signifcant negative direct effect on salespersons’ emotional exhaustion. Findings also support the assertion that sales manager support encourages salespersons’ use of problem-focused coping strategies that, in turn, further reduce emotional exhaustion. In contrast, sales manager support does not signifcantly infuence salespersons’ use of emotion-focused coping; however, emotion-focused coping does signifcantly increase emotional exhaustion.

Exploring salesperson turnover: A causal model

Abstract Considerable attention has been focused on various aspects of salesforce turnover in recent years. However, a formal model of the turnover process for salespeople has yet to be proposed. The objective of the present article was to present a causal model of the turnover process for salespeople. The model is developed using four existing models of turnover behavior. Twelve relationships are proposed and discussed. Research questions for investigation within the context of the turnover model are proposed, and managerial implications of the model are outlined.

The Relationship Between Organizational Commitment, Job Satisfaction, and Turnover Among New Salespeople

AbstractThe area of salesforce turnover has emerged in recent years as a topic of considerable interest among both researchers and managers. The problem of turnover is considered to be especially acute among new salespeople. This study investigates the relationship between organizational commitment, major facets of job satisfaction (pay, promotion, supervisor, work, and coworkers) and turnover among new salespeople from a cross-sectional as well as longitudinal perspective. Among other findings, the results indicate significant differences between stayers and leavers in their level of organizational commitment very early in their tenure with the organization.

A Model Depicting Salespeople's Perceptions

This study develops a model that consolidates knowledge involving salespeoples perceptions of their sales managers behavior with knowledge relating to other perceptions and intentions. Relationships tested in the model indicate that the sales managers behavior drives salespeoples attitude, lessens their perceptions of job stress, strengthens their attachment to the organization, and inhibits their desire to withdraw. Several suggestions are drawn from the results to enhance salespeoples attachment to the selling organization and retention. The findings indicate that senior sales management needs to strongly consider increasing efforts devoted to selecting, training, and supporting first-line sales managers.

The Influence of Personal Characteristics and Coping Strategies on Salespersons’ Turnover Intentions

Understanding what contributes to salesperson turnover helps reduce turnover and its deleterious consequences. This study examines the interactive effects of salespersons’ personal characteristics and coping strategies on turnover intentions. Findings suggest that self-efficacy combined with problem-focused coping significantly reduces salespersons’ turnover intentions—more so than self-efficacy alone. In contrast, while an external locus of control orientation combined with emotion-focused coping significantly increases turnover intentions, the increase is not as great as from external locus of control alone. Neither the combined effect of self-efficacy and emotion-focused coping nor external locus of control and problem-focused coping are found to significantly influence turnover intentions.