ABSTRACT

Purpose

This paper aims to examine salesperson skills, including listening, communication, and adaptive selling, that can enable value co-creation with customers and increase sales performance, while taking into consideration the contingent role of salesperson relationship-enhancing activities.

Methodology

Survey and objective sales performance data were collected from 201 B2B salespeople in the industrial goods industry. The hypotheses were tested using PLS-SEM.

Findings

The results show adaptive selling, listening, and communication of salespeople positively impact the behaviors of salespeople to co-create value with customers. The results show that when salespeople co-create value with customers, they will have a positive effect on sales performance. Results show how value co-creation mediates the effects of listening and adaptive selling on sales performance.

Research Implications

Salespeople need to effectively listen to their customers to provide needed solutions by jointly working with them to co-create value. Similarly, a salesperson’s communication and adaptive selling skills have collective impacts that positively contribute to the value co-creation process. Results supplement previous findings in the literature by showing value co-creation holds a positive effect on sales performance at the micro salesperson level. The results offer additional support to the ongoing dialog on the role of a salesperson as a value co-creator.

Practical Implications

This study has identified several variables that engender successful co-creation by salespeople in B2B sales contexts. Findings demonstrate that salespeople who can adapt their selling approach, are good listeners, and can effectively communicate with customers can engender the value co-creation process with customers. The findings serve as a base to create professional guidelines about the skills and capabilities salespeople need to successfully execute a value co-creation process.

Originality/Value

The study adds to the literature on value co-creation by highlighting three factors that can enhance the value co-creation process at the level of salespeople leading to better sales outcomes. This research adds the existing literature on the role of value co-creation in sales by empirically examining the relationship between value co-creation and sales performance at the salesperson level.

中文翻译：

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销售人员在价值共创中的作用及其对销售业绩的影响

摘要

目的

本文旨在检验销售人员的技能，包括倾听、沟通和适应性销售，这些技能可以与客户共同创造价值并提高销售业绩，同时考虑到销售人员关系增强活动的偶然作用。

方法

调查和客观的销售业绩数据是从工业品行业的 201 名 B2B 销售人员那里收集的。使用PLS-SEM测试假设。

发现

结果表明，销售人员的适应性销售、倾听和沟通对销售人员与客户共同创造价值的行为产生积极影响。结果表明，当销售人员与客户共同创造价值时，他们会对销售业绩产生积极影响。结果显示了价值共创如何调节倾听和适应性销售对销售业绩的影响。

研究意义

销售人员需要有效地倾听客户的意见，通过与客户共同创造价值来提供所需的解决方案。同样，销售人员的沟通和适应性销售技能具有集体影响，对价值共创过程有积极贡献。结果通过显示价值共创对微型销售人员级别的销售业绩产生积极影响，补充了文献中先前的发现。结果为关于销售人员作为价值共同创造者的角色的持续对话提供了额外的支持。

实际影响

这项研究确定了几个变量，这些变量可以在 B2B 销售环境中产生成功的销售人员共同创造。调查结果表明，能够调整销售方式、善于倾听、能够有效地与客户沟通的销售人员可以促进与客户的价值共创过程。调查结果可作为制定关于销售人员成功执行价值共同创造过程所需技能和能力的专业指南的基础。

原创性/价值

该研究强调了三个因素，这些因素可以增强销售人员层面的价值共同创造过程，从而带来更好的销售成果，从而为价值共同创造的文献增添了新的内容。本研究通过实证检验销售人员层面的价值共创与销售业绩之间的关系，补充了现有的关于价值共创在销售中的作用的文献。