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Researchers and practitioners recognize that listening is a crucial basic skill on a par with reading, writing, and speaking (Cooper, 1988). Recognizing the importance of effective listening companies such as [...]

At the beginning of the last decade, Krugman and Ferrell (1981) noted within the pages of this journal that advertising agency personnel had questions about the ethical behavior of their [...]

Although widely recognized as essential to success, little research has focused on effective listening skills in the personal selling context. This paper reviews effective listening as seen in existing sales and communication literature. Further, it presents both a cognitive process model of the interpersonal listening process and a model that explicates the relationship between listening, adaptive selling and sales performance. In addition, a series of research priorities and research propositions are presented to stimulate future research. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Vertical Exchange Theory was introduced by Castleberry and Tanner (1986) as an integrative framework of the process by which sales managers and salespeople interact. This paper presents the results of two studies that explore propositions of the Vertical Exchange Theory. The findings have implications regarding traditional methods of sales research. These implications and implication concerning Vertical Exchange Theory are discussed. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

The value of corporate web sites for recruiting sales staff is discussed.

The vertical-dyad-linkage model (VDL) is offered as a tool to explore the infrastructure of a sales team. Building on the philosophy found in most sales management literature that salespersons are to be managed as individuals, VDL theory allows an exploration of the underlying social organization that is present in all sales forces. Thus, the style that a manager uses with a particular salesperson will vary depending on the exchange relationship established (cadres, hired hands). The objectives of the paper are to explore the general tenets of VDL theory, to assimilate the theory in sales management, to provide implications for sales managers and salespeople, and to discuss the important implications for sales management research. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

A survey of 155 US sales training managers yielded 112 usable responses as to the objectives and practices of sales training. The survey was designed as a follow-up to a 1978 Conference Board report which indicated that: 95 percent of companies provide sales training and 40 percent of these programs emphasized the teaching of product knowledge. The follow-up survey's results include: (1) that 90 percent of sales training programs have stated objectives, (2) that 28 percent of these objectives relate to improving sales revenues, (3) that 8 percent of the training objectives mention product knowledge, (4) that the largest percentage of training time is actually devoted to product training, (5) that most sales training takes the form of lecturing, (6) that 55 percent of the programs include trainee testing, and (7) that most program evaluations are performed by trainees.