Why Sales Managers Matter: How Supervisory Coaching Affects Salespeople\u27s Job Performance

Today’s business environment is very competitive, forcing companies to make additional efforts to develop and keep sustainable advantages. Thus, research aimed at finding ways to increase company performance has become critical. One specific managerial tool, sales coaching, has been hailed by academics and practitioners alike as vital to improving a salesperson’s job performance. With a company’s survival dependent on the success of their salespeople, research on sales coaching is crucial. The purpose of this research is to gain a better understanding of the relationship between sales coaching and a salesperson’s work-related attitudes and behaviors. Using self-determination theory, this research examines how a quality coaching relationship with one’s sales manager influences a salesperson’s sale creativity and job performance. This research uses partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to investigate the direct, mediated, and moderated relationships among the variables studied using data from 332-salespeople working in the United States. Results suggest that a quality coaching experience does positively influence a salesperson’s sales creativity and job performance. Theoretical and managerial implications as well as directions for future research are provided

Engaging with Customers on Social Media: Insights from Business-to-Business Companies

Social media are an important part of a company’s ability to directly engage with customers. However, the lack of an established definition of engagement creates challenges for scholars and practitioners attempting to assess return on investment derived from social media marketing. In addition, limited scholarly literature exists regarding how B2B customers specifically react to social media. To enhance understanding of how a B2B company’s social media activity affects customer engagement, this manuscript will examine social media utilization and customer response