Mark P. Leach

Developing Loyal Customers with a Value-adding Sales Force: Examining Customer Satisfaction and the Perceived Credibility of Consultative Salespeople

The consultative services of business-to-business salespeople are becoming increasingly important to customers when evaluating a suppliers overall value. Thus, a customer evaluation may depend on the salespersons expertise and trustworthiness; without trust or expertise, customers hesitate to adopt the solutions presented by a salesperson. This study investigates the perceived expertise and trust of a salesperson in a business-to-business context. Findings suggest that both are important to overall customer satisfaction. Furthermore, customer perceptions of a salespersons power in the supply-firm and perceptions of the quality of interactions with a salesperson were found to be important when developing perceptions of expertise among business customers.

Investigating Interrelationships among Sales Training Evaluation Methods

Today numerous training options are available to sales organizations, and sales training teams use various means to report training effectiveness. This study utilizes Kirkpatrick’s (1959; 1960) training evaluation model and examines the interrelationships among its four levels of sales training evaluation (i.e., reactions, knowledge acquisition, behavior change, and organizational outcomes). Empirical results indicate that sales trainees’ use of training materials at work is positively related to achieving sales training outcomes, including improving (1) organizational commitment, (2) sales effectiveness, and (3) customer relations. Furthermore, trainees who had positive reactions to training were more likely to learn the material, and trainees with higher levels of knowledge retention were more likely to apply the material in the work environment. Implications are discussed that may aid sales firms to better evaluate training solutions provided by vendors and to develop more effective and accountable sales training efforts.

Examining exchange relationships among high‐tech firms in the evolving global economy

Purpose – This paper intends to further understanding of the world marketplace by examining the procurement practices of high‐tech suppliers across several countries in Central and Eastern Europe and in the USA. In particular, this examination will focus on the extent to which the smaller and less developed countries of Eastern Europe utilize IT procurement as an integral part of their purchasing strategy.Design/methodology/approach – Exploratory qualitative interviews conducted with purchasing decision makers across various high‐tech industries in Eastern Europe are compared with those in Central Europe and the USA.Findings – The findings suggest that information technology is perceived as being less valuable by European firms and is utilized to a lesser degree. In addition, multinational companies operating in Eastern Europe appear to be focused on developing the product quality and operational efficiency of local Eastern European suppliers and less concerned about facilitating their adoption of IT proc...

Corporate and Brand Web Sites as Customer Relationship Management Tools

ABSTRACT The explosive proliferation of Internet technologies, combined with the rapid acceptance of these technologies by consumers, has enticed nearly every organization to construct and implement a corporate and/or brand Web site. These Web sites allow businesses to communicate and transact with customers in new ways and with dramatically improved efficiency. Further, the marriage of Customer Relationship Management software with these Internet technologies is yielding unparalleled benefits to both organizations and consumers. Yet many of the efforts to implement either simple or complex relationship management systems have proceeded without a fundamental understanding of the specific benefits available to individual firms. While Internet-based relationship management technologies can provide powerful competitive and operational opportunities to nearly all organizations, only some forms of these approaches are appropriate for any unique firm. The goal of this paper is to provide a general overview and framework of the opportunities provided by each form of Internet relationship-building approach, a suggested implementation process for exploiting these opportunities, and the specific business, product, and market conditions that facilitate these potential advantages.

A sales process framework to regain B2B customers

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to develop a sales process framework to facilitate business-to-business (B2B) customer reacquisition. A comprehensive CRM process needs to include reacquisition strategies. Yet, very few firms have formal procedures to guide reacquisition efforts. This gap in the sales process reflects the relatively sparse literature on B2B customer reacquisition models. The present research intends to fill this gap and creates a sales process model to guide salespeople to regain B2B lost customers. Design/methodology/approach – Using critical incident technique (CIT), this study conducted in-depth interviews with 54 B2B salespeople. Each salesperson reported one successful and one unsuccessful reacquisition incidents. A total of 108 critical incidents were collected for analysis. Findings – A four-step sales process model to regain B2B customers was developed and empirically supported, including: Segment lost customers; Assess reasons for loss; Develop reacquisition activities; and...

Strategies for Trade Sales in a Changing Asian Business Culture

Multinational manufacturers of many consumer products continue to struggle with the development and management of their international sales-channels. To examine international sales-channel strategies and begin to develop a framework to guide sales-channel evaluation and development, exploratory qualitative interviews were conducted with sales executives from various American and European manufacturers of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) that are selling in Southeast Asia. Findings suggest that when developing sales-channels, FMCG manufacturer decisions are influenced by manufacturer strengths and capabilities, the strengths and capabilities of available local trade partners, consumer behavior, and environmental conditions. Furthermore, the level of power held by manufacturers and retailer sophistication are identified to be two key issues impacting sales-channel decisions. A framework utilizing these two variables is proposed that suggests that a manufacturers local sales presence increases with the level of manufacture power and retailer sophistication.

Active Waiting: An Investigation of Delayed Winback Strategies

Regardless of how effective a company’s sales process or CRM program is, inevitably, some customers will defect and switch to alternative suppliers. When customers defect, it typically is not a rash decision, but the result of a well thought out evaluation. Thus, effective reacquisition strategies are likely to involve an assessment of buying decision cycles and current relations with buying center members (some of which may have recently turned sour). Thereby, the best course of action may include simply letting some time transpire; sales organizations may find that active waiting can facilitate a stronger win-back position at some future time. Using critical incident techniques (CIT), this study qualitatively examines the reacquisition strategies of fifty industrial salespeople and specifically attempts to understand why salespeople strategically decide to wait as part of their comprehensive win-back strategy for lost customers. Interviews from salespeople who utilized a delay strategy suggest that this does not mean that the customer is ignored. Instead, thoughtful and consistent contact facilitates and lays the groundwork for future reacquisition efforts. When a delay strategy is required or chosen, our findings suggest that it is due to one or a combination of five reasons: (1) allow customer time to “cool down”, (2) allow customer to change personnel or buying influence in the buying center, (3) allow time for the replacement supplier to falter, (4) dedicate time and efforts to coordinate with the customer’s buying cycle, (5) actively improve capabilities and/or implement personnel change in the sales organization.

A Framework for B2B Customer Reacquisition: Evaluating Key Determinants to Win Back Lost Customers

B2B sales organizations constantly search for opportunities to gain, retain, and grow business opportunities for their firms. Yet no matter how effective a company’s CRM program or sales process is, inevitably, some customers will defect and switch to other suppliers. Although there are well-established sales processes to guide B2B salespeople in how to acquire new accounts and maintain customer relationships, few firms have formal win back strategy with procedures to diagnose loses and identify determinants in order to guide and train salespersons for regaining valuable lost customers. Left untrained, salespeople often deal with the problem of lost customers by re-approaching the lost customer without any advice, seeking ad hoc advice from peers or managers, or simply ignoring the lost account. The economic importance of reacquiring valuable lost customers in the B2B sector, along with the need to integrate reacquisition as the strategic second half of CRM warrants a systematic research to build a conceptual framework for B2B customer reacquisition. The current research integrates prior literature in relationship marketing, B2B sales, and service recovery to develop a conceptual framework for B2B customer reacquisition. Using critical incident techniques (CIT), our pretest study with eighteen B2B sales executives provides anecdotal evidence, and helps develop hypotheses and refine the proposed framework for future research.

Case study: Partnering strategies in a bio tech. world: the case of Dairyland Seed Company

Large agricultural producers often demand seed with high yielding genetics along with specialty traits specific to their particular needs. Dairyland Seed Company prides itself on its superior genetics and a research program that adds specialty traits while retaining the qualities of the original variety. Dairyland sources specialty trait technology from two competing suppliers – DuPont and Monsanto. Each of these suppliers is currently pursuing a strategy of forward integration through aggressive marketing programs and acquisitions. The implications for access to future technologies and long‐term survival are profound, and leave Dairyland and other smaller seed companies with strategic decisions to make. This paper examines a channel of distribution for agricultural biotechnologies and the decisions faced by a small, reputable seed company when dealing with its large multinational biotechnology suppliers. Who should Dairyland be partnering with, and can Dairyland balance supplier dependency in an attempt to avoid being eliminated from the channel?