The Impact of Sales Failure on Att Ributions Made by “Resource-Challenged” and “Resource-Secure” Salespeople
The IMpacT of SaLeS faILure on aTTrIbuTIonS Made by “reSource-chaLLenged” and “reSource-Secure” SaLeSpeopLe
Michael Mayo and Michael L. Mallin The present study investigates if the types of attributions salespeople use to account for a sales failure (internal or external) depend on the impact the failure has on their net resource inventory. The relative sizes of net resource inventories (resources left following a sales failure) were used to classify salespeople as either “resource challenged” or “resource secure.” Results indicated that how salespeople were classified as well as the loss of a specific resource at different career stages determine, in part, the attribution type that salespeople assign for their sales failures. Revisions to an expectancy-causal model are suggested and application to other sales areas where managing or comanaging resource inventories is discussed.
Losing a sale may significantly affect employee morale and work efforts (Sujan 1986; Sujan, Sujan, and Bettman 1988; Sujan, Weitz, and Sujan 1988) as well as corporate performance (Dixon, Spiro, and Jamil 2001). The sales literature has primarily examined the type of attributions salespeople make following a sales failure to better understand how they might adjust their subsequent selling behaviors and efforts (Teas and McElroy 1986). Prior research in this area has centered on past performance and individual differences (Dixon and Schertzer 2005; Dixon, Forbes, and Schertzer 2005; Dixon, Spiro, and Jamil 2001) as the basis for salespeople attributing a cause for a sales loss. Although relevant, such factors are limiting in that they only account for certain situational and personal variables as the basis for salespeople assigning cause for their failures. In an effort to identify other important variables, Mallin and Mayo (2006) found that the impact (on personal, career, and financial goals) of a sales failure is an important moderating variable between sales performance and the type
Michael Mayo and Michael L. Mallin The present study investigates if the types of attributions salespeople use to account for a sales failure (internal or external) depend on the impact the failure has on their net resource inventory. The relative sizes of net resource inventories (resources left following a sales failure) were used to classify salespeople as either “resource challenged” or “resource secure.” Results indicated that how salespeople were classified as well as the loss of a specific resource at different career stages determine, in part, the attribution type that salespeople assign for their sales failures. Revisions to an expectancy-causal model are suggested and application to other sales areas where managing or comanaging resource inventories is discussed.
Losing a sale may significantly affect employee morale and work efforts (Sujan 1986; Sujan, Sujan, and Bettman 1988; Sujan, Weitz, and Sujan 1988) as well as corporate performance (Dixon, Spiro, and Jamil 2001). The sales literature has primarily examined the type of attributions salespeople make following a sales failure to better understand how they might adjust their subsequent selling behaviors and efforts (Teas and McElroy 1986). Prior research in this area has centered on past performance and individual differences (Dixon and Schertzer 2005; Dixon, Forbes, and Schertzer 2005; Dixon, Spiro, and Jamil 2001) as the basis for salespeople attributing a cause for a sales loss. Although relevant, such factors are limiting in that they only account for certain situational and personal variables as the basis for salespeople assigning cause for their failures. In an effort to identify other important variables, Mallin and Mayo (2006) found that the impact (on personal, career, and financial goals) of a sales failure is an important moderating variable between sales performance and the type