Is the customer king?

Sales and service staff need to consider and influence a portfolio of relationships, not only customers, write Willy Bolander, Christopher R. Plouffe, Joseph A. Cote and Bryan Hochstei

An Empirical Comparison of Consumer Innovation Adoption Models: Implications for Subsistence Marketplaces

So called “pro-poor” innovations may improve consumer wellbeing in subsistence marketplaces. However, there is little research that integrates the area with the vast literature on innovation adoption. Using a questionnaire where respondents were asked to provide their evaluations about a mobile banking innovation, this research fills this gap by providing empirical evidence of the applicability of existing innovation adoption models in subsistence marketplaces. The study was conducted in Bangladesh among a geographically dispersed sample. The data collected allowed an empirical comparison of models in a subsistence context. The research reveals the most useful models in this context to be the Value Based Adoption Model and the Consumer Acceptance of Technology model. In light of these findings and further examination of the model comparison results the research also shows that consumers in subsistence marketplaces are not just motivated by functionality and economic needs. If organizations cannot enhance the hedonic attributes of a pro-poor innovation, and reduce the internal/external constraints related to adoption of that pro-poor innovation, then adoption intention by consumers will be lower

Testing an Enhanced, Process-Based View of the Sales Process

This paper proposes that traditional process-based frameworks of selling may be underspecified given three realities affecting the sales role today: (1) longer sales cycles, (2) an increased customer demand for total solutions, and (3) a shift from a product- to a services-centric economy. An argument is offered that suggests that there are additional, plausible phases in the modern sales process that extant frameworks of the sales process have yet to fully consider. The paper then develops a research model to test key portions of this framework. Downstream sales behaviors and outcomes of these behaviors are thus the focal point of the enhanced framework, with behavioral outcomes operationalized via the subjective value inventory, a well-validated instrument on interpersonal negotiation style. Data collected from key account managers (n = 211) for a large services-based, consultative selling organization are used to test the model. The results show an encouraging pattern of relationships within the model. Furthermore, a robust amount of variance in sales performance is explained given both self-reported and objective measures. The paper concludes with a summary of contributions and limitations as well as suggested directions for future research