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Despite the expansion of digital transformation, interpersonal interactions remain the foundation for successful business-to-business (B2B) sales meetings in complex exchanges. This study focuses on rapport building and examines it as an explicitly and implicitly manifested ongoing process covering the entire duration of a B2B sales meeting. Based on empirical findings from a qualitative study of Japanese business professionals, the study develops a process conceptualization of rapport building. It draws on the rapport management model from sociolinguistics, showing how rapport building is based on meeting individuals' fundamental needs for appreciation, approval, fair consideration, and social inclusion, besides fulfilling business-related rapport needs. Based on the data, we identified three phases in rapport building (establishing, developing, and leveraging) and various overt and covert rapport-building activities the salesperson can adopt to create and nurture rapport with a customer by relying on verbal, nonverbal, and intuitive cues. Our findings indicate that only the final phase, leveraging rapport, offers an optimal setting for discussions on future business opportunities. The study challenges the stereotypical notion of rapport as mere small talk at the beginning of a sales meeting and provides valuable managerial implications related to successful rapport building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the significance of creating tension in sales research and academic research in general. It acknowledges that many researchers struggle to generate interest in their work and fail to effectively communicate the value of their research to others. The article offers guidance to authors on how to identify research gaps, emphasize the importance of their work, and create tension in their writing. It also acknowledges the subjective nature of theoretical and practical relevance in sales research and encourages authors to seek feedback from peers. Overall, the article emphasizes the importance of creating tension in sales research to enhance the appeal and impact of academic work. [Extracted from the article]

A study involving unobtrusive observations of salespeople's behaviors in sales settings surfaces a novel insight: a salesperson's selling effectiveness with a customer may be enhanced by the way the salesperson interacts with secondary entities, such as objects and people outside the core salesperson–customer dyad. Based on this insight and social interest theory, this research introduces the construct of secondary selling. It refers to a salesperson interacting with secondary entities in a manner that indicates to a focal customer that the salesperson values these entities. The pattern of results from four follow-on studies using multiple methods and data sources indicates that, in general, secondary selling reduces a focal customer's reactance to a salesperson's recommendations, which leads to higher sales revenue and customer satisfaction. Customers with high persuasion knowledge (compared with customers with lower persuasion knowledge) are more favorably influenced by secondary selling involving company property but less favorably influenced by secondary selling involving nonfocal customers. In addition to reducing a focal customer's reactance to sales recommendations, secondary selling also helps primary selling (targeted at a focal customer) reduce the customer's reactance to a greater extent. Overall, the results provide evidence of the pervasive and influential role of secondary selling in boosting sales revenue and customer satisfaction in sales exchanges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the Special Region of Yogyakarta Province has experienced rapid growth in recent years, where in 2022 there were 342,924 business units and in 2023 it increased to 344,757 business units.CV Prasodjo is one of the MSMEs engaged in the processing of basic food ingredients or snacks with a trademark called Jempol Food. These MSMEs have experienced quite rapid development but are still experiencing a number of problems in their business operations, especially in the field of marketing. The programs implemented are the development of online promotional content, personal selling optimization, the preparation of customer databases, the development of customer loyalty programs and helping production process activities. The purpose of this program is to improve Jempol Food's business performance through training activities and marketing program development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a panel dataset of Chinese A-share listed firms during 2007–2021, we specify a fixed-effects model to examine whether and how annual report readability affects opportunistic insider selling. Our empirical findings show that lower readability of annual reports induces insiders to make more opportunistic sales. Further analysis reveals that stock overvaluation is the channel through which the readability of annual reports affects opportunistic insider sales. In addition, this effect is more pronounced among firms with less analyst coverage, higher retail concentration, and non-SOEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past two decades, there has been a decline in the use of uniform-price auctions in favor of fixed prices in markets of peer-to-peer lending, equity crowdfunding, and initial public offerings. This article aims to analytically study why this trend might be occurring. The analysis reveals that, relative to a fixed price, a uniform-price auction leads to more herding and strategic delay of bid submission and, consequently, a smaller transaction completion probability and lower expected revenue. These predictions are consistent with the empirical regularities observed for the bidding behavior and funding outcomes on Prosper, one of the leading peer-to-peer online lending platforms, and those documented in the literature for markets of equity crowdfunding and initial public offerings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manufacturers and retailers often advance sell seasonal products or services (e.g., holiday decorations, summer or winter entertainment). The authors examine advance selling in marketing channels to offer several insights. First, it is well established that a decentralized channel suffers from the issue of double marginalization; that is, the manufacturer and retailer both add positive margins when setting their prices, which results in inefficiently high retail prices. The authors find that, under a dynamic wholesale-price contract, advance selling can alleviate this double-marginalization problem and benefit the manufacturer, the retailer, and consumers. Second, the benefit of advance selling diminishes with the product's holding cost, the retailer's stockpiling ability, and the manufacturer's commitment to spot wholesale price. Third, with wholesale-price commitment, advance selling benefits the manufacturer and consumers but hurts the retailer; the manufacturer is better off making a price commitment only when its product's holding cost is sufficiently low and worse off otherwise. Last, the retailer's stockpiling ability decreases its own profit under a dynamic contract but increases it under a commitment contract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method is proposed for choosing unit cells for a group of crystals so that they all appear as nearly similar as possible to a selected cell. Related unit cells with varying cell parameters or indexed with different lattice centering can be accommodated.

Marketing planning is essential for a company. Effective marketing planning helps MSMEs to be able to target the appropriate market share and have a sustainable competitive advantage related to increasing sales turnover. However, implementing appropriate marketing strategies is still an obstacle for MSMEs. In this case, MSMEs who are members of Genpro DIY Kedu apparently still have problems regarding how to arrange effective marketing plans. Therefore, this community service program aims to provide technical understanding and training in marketing planning for MSMEs. After participating in this program, MSMEs are expected to be able to develop an effective marketing plan to increase sales and their competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital revolution has changed various aspects of life, including the trade sector. The development of information & communication technology (ICT) gave birth to renewable business models, such as e-transactions in buying and selling. However, online transaction activities in purchasing and vending also present various challenges, one of which is related to legal certainty for MSME business actors. This research aims to identify legal certainty problems MSME business actors face in online purchasing and vending. The method used in the study is a normative juridical approach that examines legislation. Data was collected through literature studies related to regulations when carrying out online buying and selling transactions, the rights of MSME business actors, and dispute resolution mechanisms. The data analysis method employed in this study is a qualitative analysis using deductive approaches. The research results show that legal clarity for MSME business actors involved in the online buying and selling process in the digitalization era is important in ensuring that trade transactions carried out via digital platforms occur with transparency, security, and by applicable legal Wprovisions. The law governing online purchasing and vending is based on principles stipulated in Article 34(1) of the 1945 Constitution. It is embodied in Legislation No. 20 of 2008 regarding Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). This regulation is the basis for all legal regulations governing MSMEs to provide adequate protection for MSME actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to identify the changes in different selling situations/styles during and post-COVID scenarios. Design/methodology/approach: To attain the above-mentioned objective, a qualitative study drawn upon the principles of the theories-in-use approach is conducted. The data were collected through 23 in-depth semistructured interviews, conducted with professional salespeople working at various levels in different industries. The data thus generated was analyzed through open, axial and selective coding, which resulted in three broad categories of changes in professional selling. Findings: The findings of the study suggest that though sales jobs are perceived to be similar in nature, but there are differences in how various selling jobs are being performed. The same is the case with the effect of the pandemic on sales jobs. The authors found that every selling style faced a different challenge due to the pandemic and so is the case for the salespeople engaged in the respective selling practice. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first research of its kind that has focused on the differences in various selling styles. Though the recent academic literature on personal selling does manifest the effect of the pandemic. But, in doing so, these studies have presented "personal selling" as an overarching concept encompassing all types of selling and have failed to differentiate between the various nuances of personal selling which include trade selling, technical selling, new-business selling and missionary selling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing research treats sales performance as a series of discrete, independent events rather than a series of sales attempts with intertemporal spillover across these attempts. This research examines whether there are systematic short-term trends ("momentum") in sales performance. To do so, the authors use the clumpiness approach to examine the existence of sales momentum in a high-frequency call-level data set obtained from two call centers of a large European firm. They further investigate the effect of positive (negative) momentum, or the positive (negative) deviation from the long-term expected performance on subsequent sales performance. Exploiting the differences in the social environment of the call centers, the authors find that the social working environment mitigates the harmful effect of negative momentum and sustains positive momentum. Further, they demonstrate that calls made midday, early-week, and late-week boost performance by mitigating the adverse effects of negative momentum. The findings suggest that monitoring sales performance can help managers detect momentum and use timely interventions to enhance sales productivity. Managers can also leverage momentum by creating a more social working environment to optimize overall salesperson performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We identify fixed-income mutual funds as an important contributor to the unusually high selling pressure in liquid asset markets during the COVID-19 crisis. We show that mutual funds experienced pronounced investor outflows amplified by their liquidity transformation. In meeting redemptions, funds followed a pecking order by first selling their liquid assets, including Treasuries and high-quality corporate bonds, which generated the most concentrated selling pressure in these markets. Overall, the estimated price impact of mutual funds was sizable at a third of the increase in Treasury yields and a quarter of the increase in corporate bond yields during the COVID-19 crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrary to the intuition that salespeople gravitate toward big-whale sales opportunities, in reality they often avoid them. To study this phenomenon, the authors integrate contingent decision-making and conservation-of-resources theories to develop and test a framework of salespeople's decision making when prospecting. Study 1 reveals that the performance impact of salesperson initial judgment of opportunity magnitude follows an inverted U-shape, indicating that salespeople's avoidance of large opportunities results from rational benefit–cost analyses due to their conservation of resources. Interestingly, salespeople use a calibration decision-making strategy (i.e., calculating expected benefits by accounting for conversion uncertainty) at the portfolio rather than prospect level, in solution- but not product-selling contexts. Ignoring this calibration effect can lead to under- or overestimation of conversion rates of up to 100%. Study 2 shows that salespeople's past performance success and experience bias this calibration. Simulations reveal that when high performers or inexperienced salespeople believe their portfolio magnitude is large and conversion uncertainty low, they are less concerned about resource conservation and improve their quota attainment by 50%. Study 3 confirms the theoretical mechanism. These findings shed new light on salespeople's decision making and suggest ways for sales professionals to improve effectiveness when prospecting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]