How do salespeople help make buyer’s resources available?

Zhang, AL; Baxter, RA; Glynn, MS

How do salespeople help make buyer’s resources available?

aut.researcher	Baxter, Roger
dc.contributor.author	Zhang, AL
dc.contributor.author	Baxter, RA
dc.contributor.author	Glynn, MS
dc.date.accessioned	2011-09-29T23:03:11Z
dc.date.available	2011-09-29T23:03:11Z
dc.date.copyright	2011-09-01
dc.date.issued	2011-09-01
dc.description.abstract	Purpose of the paper and literature addressed There is great emphasis by researchers on the issue of co-creation of value across business-to-business buyer-seller relationships because co-creation is the source of much development of improved products, processes, and relationship value outcomes. Therefore an important issue for managers in a selling organization is how they can ensure good access to the resources of their buyers, as it is the interaction between buyer and seller and the resultant integration of resources that is the basis for co-creation. This paper deals with a closely related concern: how do salespeople facilitate availability of a buyer’s important and useful resources to effect positive outcomes for the firm? The study utilizes the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing integration and network concepts and the sales literature to identify a set of dimensions of the activities into which a salesperson should put his or her efforts in order to facilitate the availability of customers’ resources to the sellers’ firm and thereby aid value creation. The study then tests the validity of these dimensions through several steps. Research method The study first reviews the literature to identify six activities to test as dimensions of a “salesperson’s level of effort” in facilitating availability of the buyer’s resources to the seller. The researchers next interview senior company executives to further develop the dimensions and help identify measures. A survey then collects quantitative data and analyzes it using correlations and confirmatory factor analysis. Research findings After purification of some items out of the scales, the study’s measurement model has good fit statistics and the dimensions of the “salesperson’s level of effort” construct show good reliability and validity. The six dimensions are effort by the salesperson in: learning about the buyer; learning about the seller (their own firm); customer contact; providing service; selling; co-ordination. Main contribution The study develops a set of measures for level of salesperson’s effort in relationship development and the ability of the seller to access its buyer’s resources. By doing so, the study provides the basis for further research into relations between salesperson’s effort, availability of buyer’s resources, and relationship outcomes which research can assess in terms of value and performance.
dc.format.medium	On memory stick distributed at the conference and on IMP web site: http://www.impgroup.org/papers.php
dc.identifier.citation	27th IMP Conference, Glasgow, United Kingdom
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10292/2167
dc.publisher	The University of Strathclyde
dc.relation.uri	http://www.impgroup.org/papers.php
dc.relation.uri	http://www.imp2011.org/conference%20programme%20at%20a%20glance.pdf
dc.rights	NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in (see Citation).
dc.rights.accessrights	OpenAccess
dc.subject	Business-to-business
dc.subject	buyer-seller relationships
dc.subject	resources
dc.subject	salesperson’s level of effort
dc.title	How do salespeople help make buyer’s resources available?
dc.type	Conference Contribution
pubs.organisational-data	/AUT
pubs.organisational-data	/AUT/Business & Law
pubs.organisational-data	/AUT/Business & Law/Marketing
pubs.organisational-data	/AUT/Business & Law/Marketing/Marketing PBRF 2012
pubs.organisational-data	/AUT/PBRF Researchers
pubs.organisational-data	/AUT/PBRF Researchers/Business & Law PBRF Researchers
pubs.organisational-data	/AUT/PBRF Researchers/Business & Law PBRF Researchers/B & L Marketing & Advertising