Stephen B. Castleberry

Effective Interpersonal Listening and Personal Selling

Although widely recognized as essential to success, little research has focused on effective listening skills in the personal selling context. This paper reviews effective listening as seen in existing sales and communication literature. Further, it presents both a cognitive process model of the interpersonal listening process and a model that explicates the relationship between listening, adaptive selling and sales performance. In addition, a series of research priorities and research propositions are presented to stimulate future research.

Salesperson empathy and listening: Impact on relationship outcomes

This study fills an important gap in the literature by developing a conceptual model that links salesperson empathy and listening skills to three outcome variables. Responses from a mail survey of 162 buyers from a variety of business organizations were used to test this model using structural equation modeling. The model has an excellent fit (X2 = 1.511, GFI = 0.99, AGFI = 0.94), and indicates a strong positive relationship between empathy and the following: salesperson listening, trust in the salesperson, and satisfaction with the salesperson. Also, listening is positively related to buyer’s trust in and satisfaction with the salesperson, but not with future interaction expectations. Trust in and satisfaction with the salesperson were positively related to future interaction expectations.

Vertical Exchange Quality and Performance: Studying the Role of the Sales Manager

Vertical Exchange Theory was introduced by Castleberry and Tanner (1986) as an integrative framework of the process by which sales managers and salespeople interact. This paper presents the results of two studies that explore propositions of the Vertical Exchange Theory. The findings have implications regarding traditional methods of sales research. These implications and implications concerning Vertical Exchange Theory are discussed.

Job Analysis and Hiring Practices for National Account Marketing Positions

National Account Marketing (NAM), a selling method growing in importance across virtually every product and service classification, has received little attention in the sales management literature. This exploratory study was undertaken to learn how firms plan and carry out the hiring of people for NAM positions. In addition, relationships were explored between performance in the NAM job and personal as well as organizational variables. Implications for NAM managers and recommendations for further research are also offered.

The Manager-Salesperson Relationship: an Exploratory Examination of the Vertical-Dyad Linkage Model

AbstractThe Vertical-Dyad-Linkage Model (VDL) is offered as a tool to explore the infrastructure of a sales team. Building on the philosophy found in most sales management literature that salespersons are to be managed as individuals, VDL theory allows an exploration of the underlying social organization that is present in all sales forces. Thus, the style that a manager uses with a particular salesperson will vary depending on the exchange relationship established (cadres, hired hands). The objectives of the paper are to explore the general tenets of VDL theory, to assimilate the theory in sales management, to provide implications for sales managers and salespeople, and to discuss the important implications for sales management research.

A Cross-Generational Comparison of Motivational Factors in a Sales Career Among Gen-X and Gen-Y College Students

This study is a replication and extension of a study by Castleberry (1990) in which 12 motivational factors related to a sales career were compared across generations. The importance of 12 key motivational factors related to sales positions were rank ordered by 1,390 college students. Respondents represented Gen-X college students from 1990 and Gen-Y students from 2006. The job itself and pay were consistently ranked first and second in both studies for “today” and “ten years in the future.” Gen-Y students rated “hygiene” factors related to job security as significantly more important than did Gen-X students. Conversely, Gen-X students rated “satisfier” factors as significantly more important than did Gen-Y students. Implications for sales managers, recruiters, and educators are provided based on the findings.

Effective Interpersonal Listening in the Personal Selling Environment: Conceptualization, Measurement, and Nomological Validity

The purpose of this research was to develop and validate a measure of the degree to which salespeople practice effective listening. After defming and discussing the construct, the development of a paper-and-pencil self-report measure of interpersonal listening in the personal selling context (lLPS) is described. Following the procedure used by Spiro and Weitz (1990), the validity of the measure was assessed via a mail questionnaire with a sample of 604 salespeople from a variety of firms and industries. Both performance and sales experience were significantly correlated with the ILPS scale. There were no significant relationships between ILPS and gender, age, or industry type. The 14-item ILPS scale that emerged from the purification process was shown to have acceptable reliability estimates, as well as evidence of face, convergent, and nomological validity. Managerial implications and directions for future research are presented.

A longitudinal field test of stockout effects on multi-brand inventories

Stockouts do present a threat to a brands stability in the marketplace. But is that threat as significant as one might initially be led to believe? The results of this study, as well as two prior efforts of similar methodology (Charlton and Ehrenberg 1976; Motes 1980), would suggest not, at least in the context of multi-brand inventories. It is strongly suggested that retailers, as well as manufacturers, need not be overly concerned about protracted adverse effects emanating from temporary stockouts at the retail level.

The ethical framework of advertising and marketing research practitioners: A moral development perspective

The purpose of this study is to explore the level of moral reasoning characterized by members of the research chain. The study used a moral development scale developed from moral cognition research...

Linking effective listening with salesperson performance: an exploratory investigation

Notes that researchers and practitioners recognize that listening is a crucial basic skill on a par with reading, writing, and speaking. Although effective listening is important in almost every profession, it seems particularly significant in business‐to‐business selling. Effective listening skills assist the salesperson in adapting to the prospect and to different sales situations. Successful application of these skills contributes to the added value of the personal selling exchange. Presents an initial attempt to explore the relationship between effective listening, adaptive selling behaviors and salesperson performance. In the past, very little has been done to measure the construct of effective salesperson listening and correlate it with key dimensions (adaptive selling and sales performance). Hopes to contribute to discovering a means of measuring the listening phenomena in a sales environment. The subjects for the study were salespeople representing a Fortune 100 international electronics manufacturer. The subjects were participating in a company‐sponsored training program at the time of the survey. Results of the study indicate support for a positive relationship between effective listening and adaptive selling, performance and job satisfaction.