Fatores influenciadores do desempenho em vendas: um estudo sobre o vendedor atacadista

Abstract

Understanding which factors influence sales performance and how these factors vary in different contexts is essential both for managers and for researchers in the field of sales and marketing. In an economy that is increasingly interconnected and knowledgebased, where consumers and customers are increasingly informed and demanding, new challenges are imposed on salespeople. Several studies have sought to identify the factors that exert most influence over the performance of salespeople. The importance of these factors may vary according to product type and the context in which sales are made. This paper seeks to propose and test a model that consolidates a number of factors that influence sales performance of salespeople linked to wholesale companies operating in Brazil. In addition, it aims to verify whether and how salespeople’s previous sales experience influences the relations between performance-influencing factors (PIFs) and salespeople’s performance. To achieve these objectives, this paper addresses various models validated in other sales contexts and selects one of these to later test it by means of a descriptive study based on a survey conducted with 301 outside salespeople linked to wholesale companies located in different states of Brazil. The results obtained from the survey indicate that the model tested is suitable for good adjustment items. However, not all the hypotheses of the original model were confirmed. The relationship between Self-efficacy, Effort and Performance has been confirmed and proved to be the main way that influences the performance of the salespeople. The moderating influence of experience over the relationship between the constructs Selfefficacy and Effort and between the constructs Competitiveness and Effort was not supported when the hypotheses were tested. Both the academic and the managerial implications of these tests are presented and discussed in this paper. The tested model and its scales can be used to encourage further studies in this field and serve as a tool for managers of sales teams.