Emotional intelligence, adaptive selling, improvisation and sales performance a study on salespeople in ho chi minh city

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY International School of Business Nguyen Thi Han EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, ADAPTIVE SELLING, IMPROVISATION AND SALES PERFORMANCE A STUDY ON SALESPEOPLE IN HO CHI MINH CITY MASTER OF BUSINESS (Honours) Ho Chi Minh City-Year 2016 UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY International School of Business Nguyen Thi Han EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, ADAPTIVE SELLING, IMPROVISATION AND SALES PERFORMANCE A STUDY ON SALESPEOPLE IN HO CHI MINH CITY ID: 22130019 MASTER OF BUSINESS (Honours) SUPERVISOR: Dr LE NHAT HANH Ho Chi Minh City-Year 2016 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Firstly, I would like to express my gratefulness to my supervisor Dr Le Nhat Hanh for her professional guidance, intensive support, valuable suggestions, instructions and encouragement during the time of doing my research I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr Nguyen Dong Phong, Dr Tran Ha Minh Quan, Dr Nguyen Dinh Tho, Dr Nguyen TN Que and Dr Pham Phu Quoc for their valuable time as the members of the thesis examination committee Their comments and meaningful suggestions were contributed significantly for my completion of this research My sincere thanks are given to all of my teachers at International Business School – University of Economics of Ho Chi Minh City for their teaching and guidance during my master course ABSTRACT Today, the market is extremely competitive, many international retail groups have entered the market, providing greater choices for consumers whilst creating intense competitive challenges A key challenge facing firms is to determine how to deploy highly effective salesforce in order to perform in this complex environment In this dissertation, the study examines the mutual impact of emotional intelligence on adaptive selling and improvisation, and subsequently exploring its effect on sales performance in Vietnam A combination of mail and in person survey was used to collect the data A pilot test was conducted prior to final survey administration The results of the data illustrated strong support for the conceptual model This study contribute to sales management literature by understanding emotional intelligence-sales performance relationship Consequently, these findings indicate several managerial implications for recruitment, training, work practices, and policies at the workplace Key words: emotional intelligence, adaptive selling, improvisation and sales performance ACKNOWLEDGEMENT CONTENTS Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the research and research problem ABSTRACT ABBREVIATION 1.2 Research objectives 1.3 Research methodology 1.4 Research structure Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Adaptive selling and Improvisation 2.2 Emotional Intelligence 2.3 Sales Performance 2.4 Adaptive selling, Improvisation and Sales Performance 2.5 Emotional Intelligence and Sales performance 2.6 Conceptual model Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research design 3.1.1 Research process 3.1.2 Measurement scales 3.2 Quantitative study 3.2.1 Sample 3.2.2 Data analysis procedures Chapter 4: DATA ANALYSIS 4.1 Respondents’ demographics 4.2.1 CFA for the first-order constructs 4.2.2 CFA for second-order constructs 4.2.3 CFA for the final measurement model 4.3 Structural equation modeling (SEM) 4.4 Discussion Chapter 5: CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS, AND LIMITATION .48 5.1 Managerial implications .48 5.2 Limitations and future research 49 REFERENCES .51 APPENDICES 56 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Conceptual model 15 Figure 3.1 Research process 18 Figure 4.1 CFA model of Improvisation 28 Figure 4.2 CFA model of Adaptive selling .30 Figure 4.3 CFA model of Sales Performance 31 Figure 4.4 CFA model of Emotional Intelligence 34 Figure 4.5 Final measurement model 40 Figure 4.6 Structural results (standardized estimates) 42 LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Source of data collection 22 Table 4.1 Respondents’ characteristics 27 Table 4.2 The first run of CFA (of Improvisation, Adaptive selling and Sales performance) 29 Table 4.3 Summarized of CR, AVE and Cronbach’α (first order constructs) 32 Table 4.4 The first run of CFA (Emotional Intelligence) 33 Table 4.5 Summarized of CR, AVE and Cronbach’α (Emotional Intelligence) .35 Table 4.6 Correlation (Emotional Intelligence) 36 Table 4.7 Summarized of CR, AVE and Cronbach’α (final model) 36 Table 4.8 CFA Summary of eliminated item 38 Table 4.9 Correlations (final measurement model) 39 Table 4.10 Unstandardized structural paths 41 Table 4.11 Measurement validation 43 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix A List of in-depth interviews’ participants 61 Appendix B Qualitative in-depth interview 61 Appendix C Qualitative in-depth interview findings 64 Appendix D Questionnaire (English Version) 67 Appendix E Questionnaire (Vietnamese Version) 70 Appendix F Correlations among components of Emotional Intelligence, Adaptive selling, Improvisation and Sales Performance 73 ABBREVIATION AVE Averaged variance extracted CFA Confirmatory Factor Analysis EI Emotional Intelligence HR Human Resource MSCEIT Mayer Salovey Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test SEM Structural equation modeling SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences TNS Taylor Nelson Sofres TPP Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement WTO World Trade Organization Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the research and research problem Over the last 30 years since Doi Moi, the policy of opening the country and integrating into the international economy has become a primary strategy of Viet Nam, in line with structural reforms, aiming at economic growth and sustainable development The reforms have changed the lives of Vietnamese consumers At present, the country represents an attractive market with vast potential According to Kearney (2008), with a population of nearly 90 million people, rapid economic development, relative political stability, and an underdeveloped local retail system, it was the most attractive emerging market destination for retail investment Major international retailers wish to penetrate deep into this market In accordance with its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments— Vietnam became a member of the WTO in 2007—Vietnam fully opened its retail sector after January 2009 Furthermore, Vietnam also stand out among the TPP countries and Vietnam’s average applied tariffs on imports are 9.5%, one of the highest levels among TPP members Many international retail groups have entered the market, providing greater choices for consumers whilst creating intense competitive challenges for domestic players Domestic retailers and the Vietnamese authorities have raised concerns about losing market share to new foreign retail giants A relatively young population, coupled with rising income levels, increased urbanisation, and an attractive business environment supported by lower trade barriers and reduced corporate tax rates, have enhanced Vietnam’s position as a high potential growth market A survey by the Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) World Panel Vietnam revealed three major characteristics among the new generation of consumers First, they are younger than those in the previous generations (50 Souchon, A L., Diamantopoulos, A., Holzmüller, H H., Axinn, C N., Sinkula, J M., Simmet, H., & Durden, G R (2003) Export information use: a five-country investigation of key determinants Journal of International Marketing, 11(3), 106-127 Spiro, R L., & Weitz, B A (1990) Adaptive selling: Conceptualisation, measurement and nomological validity Journal of Marketing Research, 27(1), 61-69 Strauss, J P., Barrick, M R., & Connerley, M L (2001) An investigation of personality similarity effects (relational and perceived) on peer and supervisor ratings and the role of familiarity and liking Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 74(5), 637-657 Sujan, H., Sujan, M., & Bettman, J R (1988) Knowledge structure differences between more effective and less effective salespeople Journal of Marketing Research, 25(1), 81-86 Tett, R.performance: P., Jackson, aD.meta‐analytic N., & 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Journal of Marketing, 73(3), 69-85 Weitz, B A (1978) Relationship between salesperson performance and understanding of customer decision making Journal of Marketing Research, 15(4), 501-516 Weitz, B A., & Bradford, K D (1999) Personal selling and sales management: A relationship marketing perspective Journal of The Academy of Marketing Science, 27(2), 241-254 Wong, C S., & Law, K S (2002) The effects of leader and follower emotional intelligence on performance and attitude: An exploratory study The Leadership Quarterly, 13(3), 243274 60 APPENDIXES Appendix A List of in-depth interviews’ participants No Full name Age Job title (years old) Le Hoang Thach 25 Gioi Di Dong mobile ) Nguyen Tan Vy Vien Thong A) 31 Bui Thanh Suong 24 (The Gioi Di Dong) Le Thanh Khuc Salesman (The Salesman ( Salesperson 26 Salesman(DaiThanh Phat service company) Mai Thi Mi 26 Salesperson Nguyen Ngoc Khue 28 (Comestic) Salesperson Appendix B Qualitative in-depth interview Introduction Thanks for your attentions into the interview of the research “the relationships between Emotional Intelligence and sales performance of salespersons.” All your opinions are meaningful for the interview Please present your thinking and ideas honestly! I will read loudly each measurement item If you fully understand, I will be reading a next item If you not understand or you think it is not suitable for the Vietnamese context, please tell me why, and tell me your suggestions 86 Measurement scale used in qualitative research Variables Measurement items Emotional Wong & Law, Intelligence SelfEmotions Appraisal I have a good sense of why I have certain feelings most of the time I have good understanding of my own emotions I really understand what I feel I always know whether or not I am happy Others- I always know my friends’ emotions from their behavior Emotions I am a good observer of others’ emotions Appraisal I am sensitive to the feelings and emotions of others I have good understanding of the emotions of people around me Use of Emotion I always set goals for myself and then try my best to achieve them 10 I always tell myself I am a competent person 11 I am a self-motivating person 12 I would always encourage myself to try my best Regulation of Emotion Reference 13 I am able to control my temper so that I can handle difficulties rationally 14 I am quite capable of controlling my own emotions 15 I can always calm down quickly when I am very angry 16 I have good control of my own emotions 2002 Improvisation Akgum, 2007 I figure out my sales presentation as I go along I follow a rigid, well defined sales presentation plan I improvise when making my sales presentation I strictly follow my sales presentation plan My sales presentation is an ad-libbed action Adaptive selling I am flexible in the selling approach I use Spiro and Weitz, 1990 I can easily set a wide variety of selling approaches I vary my sales style from situation to situation I not use a set sales approach I treat all customers pretty much the same I like to experiment with different sales approaches I change my approach from one customer to another Sales Performance I produce a high market share for this company in a specific territory I make sales with the highest profit margin I generate a high level of dollar sales I maintain a high level of current customer retention I find and develop new customer relationships Farh et al., 1991 Appendix C Qualitative in-depth interview findings The findings of in-depth interview got agreements of interviewees on the below contents: They confirmed their understanding about emotional intelligence, improvisation, adaptive selling, and sales performance as well as the consequential relationship among these dimensions However, the measurement scale has some items which are not suitable for the Vietnamese contexts, especially the tourism and hospitality working environment of Vietnam They need to be modified and complemented to be more appropriate In detail, the items were modified as below: Respondents' Original Information measurement scales Comments Final measurement Scales Emotional Intelligence: Meaning Le Hoang Thach– 25 years old, salesman Bui Thanh Suong– 24 years old, salesperson I always know whether or not I am happy The respondents Modified: in specific recommended the situations, I always researcher to add the know whether or not I phrase “in specific am happy Le Thanh Khuc –26 situations” in front of the years old, salesman sentence Nguyen Tan Vy – 31 years old, salesman I have good control of my own emotions The interviewee Modified: In general, recommended the I have good control of researcher to add the my own emotion phrase “in general” in front of the sentence to make this scale more understandable Adaptive selling: Meaning Bui Thanh Sương – 24 years old, salesperson I not use a set sales approach With regard to this item, respondent suggested the researcher to emphasize Modified: I not use a set sales Mai Thi Mi – 26 years the sales approach for all old, salesperson eventuality Hence, the Nguyen Ngoc Khue-28 term “for all selling years old, salesperson situation” suggested approach for all selling situation adding Psychological empowerment: Impact Nguyen Tan Vy– 31 years old, salesman Nguyen Ngoc Khue – 28 years old, I figure out my sales presentation as I go along Salesperson The interviewees Modified: I figure out suggested adding the my sales presentation word “smoothly” to help as I go along the readers clearly smoothly understand this sentence Sales performance: meaning Le Hoang Thach – 25years old, salesman Nguyen Tan Vy– 31 I generate a high level of dollar sales With regard to this item, the interviewees mentioned that it is not years old, salesman realistic It is nearly Bui Thanh Sương – 24 impossible for years old, salesperson Vietnamese subordinates Le Thanh Khuc –26 to handle whatever years old, salesman comes their ways Mai Thi Mi – 26 years old, salesperson Nguyen Ngoc Khue – 28 years old, salesperson Modified:I generate a high level of sales Le Hoang Thach – Beside the classification Additional item: The 25years old, salesman items, all respondents company that you are Nguyen Tan Vy– 31 recommended adding working for is: years old, salesman this item for statistical Bui Thanh Sương – 24 purpose years old, salesperson Le Thanh Khuc –26 years old, salesman Mai Thi Mi – 26 years old, salesperson Nguyen Ngoc Khue – 28 years old, salesperson Le Hoang Thach – All respondents Additional time 25years old, salesman recommended adding a range: a year Nguyen Tan Vy– 31 time range such as “with experience years old, salesman a year experience” in this Bui Thanh Sương – 24 dimension to help the years old, salesperson readers easily to measure Le Thanh Khuc –26 and evaluate years old, salesman Mai Thi Mi – 26 years old, salesperson Nguyen Ngoc Khue – 28 years old, salesperson Appendix D Questionnaire (English Version) QUESTIONAIRE Dear Sir/Madam I am Nguyen Thi Han, a student of Master Program of University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City I am undertaking a research to investigate the relationships between Emotional Intelligence and sales performance of salespersons It should take you no longer than 10 minutes to complete the questionnaire Although your response is significantly important to my research, your participation in this survey is voluntary Your personal information will not be disclosed without your permission I Section A: How many years experience you have in sales .……… (years) Sales fields Electric sales Cosmetic Service Others ………………………………… How would you describe your earnings? Commission only Paid Salary Commission and based salary Others (Please indicate) What was your actual sales compared to target sales during each of the last years expressed as a percentage? not achieved, under 50% not achieved, từ 51-99% achieved from 100-150% achieved 100% achieved over 150% II Section B: To what extent you agree with each of the following statements, please indicate your answer using the following 7-point scale where: Strongly disagree Disagree 34 Somewhat agree Agree Somewhat Neither agree nor disagree disagree Strongly agree Strongly disagree Question → Strongly agre e I have a good sense of why I have certain feelings most of the time I have good understanding of my own emotions I really understand what I feel In specific situations, I always know whether or not I am happy I always know my friends’ emotions from their behavior I am a good observer of others’ emotions I am sensitive to the feelings and emotions of others I have good understanding of the emotions of people around me I always set goals for myself and then try my best to achieve them I always tell myself I am a competent person I am a self-motivating person I would always encourage myself to try my best 7 I am quite capable of controlling my own emotions I can always calm down quickly when I am very angry In general, I have good control of my own emotions I figure out my sales presentation as I go along I follow a rigid, well defined sales presentation plan I improvise when making my sales presentation I strictly follow my sales presentation plan My sales presentation is an ad-libbed action I am able to control my temper so that I can handle difficulties rationally I am flexible in the selling approach I use I can easily set a wide variety of selling approaches I vary my sales style from situation to situation I not use a set sales approach for all selling situation I treat all customers pretty much the same I like to experiment with different sales approaches I change my approach from one customer to another I produce a high market share for this company in a specific territory I make sales with the highest profit margin I generate a high level of dollar sales 7 I maintain a high level of current customer retention I find and develop new customer relationships III Section C: Background Information Gender: Male Female Age group:15-2930-4950-64over 65 Marital status:Single Marriage without children Marriage with children Education: High school Graduate Master PhD Income per month (1,000,000vnd/month) < 5-15 15-30 30-50 >50 Family Members: 5>5 Thank you for your co-operation in completing this questionnaire! Appendix E Questionnaire (Vietnamese Version) PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT NGƯỜI BÁN HÀNG Tôi tênNguyễn Thị Hân, thành viên nhóm nghiên cứu luận văn thạc sỹ Trường Đại học Kinh tế TP.HCM.Tôi tiến hành nghiên cứu công việc người bán hàng (salesperson) Tôi mong anh/chị dành khoảng 10 phút để giúp tơi hồn thành bảng khảo sát Tôi xin chân thành cảm ơn giúp đỡ anh chị, xin cam đoan tất thông tin thu thập dùng cho mục đích học thuật, liệu xử lý ẩn danh tuyệt đối bảo mật PHẦN I: THÔNG TIN TỔNG QUÁT 1.Anh/Chị làm công việc bán hàng năm? .……… (năm) Lĩnh vực bán hàng Anh/Chị tham gia Bán hàng điện máy Bán mỹ phẩm Dịch vụKhác ………………………………… Hình thức trả lương mà Anh/Chị nhận là: Chỉ hoa hồng Hoa hồng lương bảnHình thức khác………………………(ghi rõ) Doanh số bán hàng thực tế Anh/Chịso với doanh số mục tiêu năm qua Không đạt, 50% Không đạt, từ 51-99% Đạt từ 100-150% Đạt 100% Đạt 150% Xin anh/chị đọc cẩn thận phát biểu suy nghĩ xếp loại lựa chọn anh/chị cách khoanh trịn hoặcđánh dấu vào số thích hợp khoảng từ đến bảng đánh giá Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý Hầu không đồng ý Không đồng ý chút Trung lập Đồng ý chút Hầu đồng ý Hoàn toàn đồng ý PHÁT BIỂU Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý → Hồn tồn đồng ý Hầu biết rõ lại có cảm xúc Tôi hiểu rõ cảm xúc Tơi thực hiểu tơi cảm nhận Tơi ln biết có hạnh phúc hay không 70 Tôi nhận biết cảm xúc bạn thông qua hành vi họ Tôi người quan sát tốt cảm xúc người khác Tôi nhạy cảm với cảm xúc người khác Tôi hiểu rõ cảm xúc người quanh Tôi đặt mục tiêu cho thân cố gắng để đạt chúng Tơi ln tự nói với thân người có lực Tôi người biết tự động viên thân Tơi ln ln động viên cần nổ lực 7 Tơi có khả kiểm sốt cảm xúc Tơi ln lấy lại bình tĩnh nhanh chóng tơi tức giận Tơi kiểm sốt tốt cảm xúc Tơi tìm giới thiệu bán hàng tôi tiến triển công việc 7 Tơi kiểm sốt tâm trạng tơi giải khó khăn cách sáng suốt Tôi làm theo cách cứng nhắc kế hoạch giới thiệu bán hàng hoạch định Tôi ứng biến giới thiệu bán hàng Tơi hồn toàn làm theo kế hoạch giới thiệu bán hàng Sự giới thiệu bán hàng hành động mang tính ứng biến Tôi linh hoạt phương pháp tiếp cận bán hàng mà áp dụng Tơi dễ dàng đưa loạt phương pháp tiếp cận bán hàng Tôi thay đổi phong cách bán hàng tơi tùy tình Tôi không áp dụng phương pháp tiếp cận bán hàng cố định Tôi đối xử với khách hàng giống Tơi thích trải nghiệm phương pháp tiếp cận bán hàng khác Tôi thay đổi phương pháp tiếp cận tùy khách hàng Tôi tạo thị phần cao cho công ty khu vực làm việc 96 Tôi tạo doanh thu với tỉ suất lợi nhuận cao Tơi đóng góp nhiều vào doanh số bán hàng công ty Tơi trì mức khách hàng cao Tơi tìm kiếm phát triển mối quan hệ khách hàng PHẦN IV: THƠNG TIN KHÁC Giới tính: Nữ Nam Tuổi:15-2930-4950-64 65 trở lên Tình trạng nhân:Độc thânĐã cưới, chưa có conĐã cưới, có Trình độ học vấn: Dưới đại học Đại học Thạc sĩTiến sĩ Giáo sư Thu nhập bình quân hàng tháng: < triệu 5-15 triệu15-30triệu30-50triệu>50 triệu Gia đình anh/chị có thành viên: 5>5 XIN CHÂN THÀNH CẢM ƠN ANH CHỊ ĐÃ HOÀN THÀNH BẢN KHẢO SÁT Appendix F Correlations among components of emotional intelligence, adaptive selling, improvisation and sales performance Correlation r(SE) 1-r t-value p-value (1-r) Improvisation SalesPerformance 0.306(0.060) 0.69 11.59 0.00 AdaptiveSelling Improvisation 0.269(0.061) 0.73 12.07 0.00 SelfEmo Improvisation 0.133(0.062) 0.87 13.91 0.00 OtherEmo Improvisation 0.144(0.062) 0.86 13.76 0.00 UseEmo Improvisation 0.142(0.062) 0.86 13.79 0.00 RegularE Improvisation 0.040(0.063) 0.96 15.28 0.00 AdaptiveSelling SalesPerformance 0.575(0.051) 0.43 8.26 0.00 SelfEmo SalesPerformance 0.309(0.060) 0.69 11.56 0.00 OtherEmo SalesPerformance 0.233(0.061) 0.77 12.55 0.00 UseEmo SalesPerformance 0.352(0.059) 0.65 11.01 0.00 RegularE SalesPerformance 0.353(0.059) 0.65 11.00 0.00 SelfEmo AdaptiveSelling 0.245(0.061) 0.76 12.39 0.00 OtherEmo AdaptiveSelling 0.250(0.061) 0.75 12.32 0.00 UseEmo AdaptiveSelling 0.255(0.061) 0.75 12.26 0.00 RegularE AdaptiveSelling 0.251(0.061) 0.75 12.31 0.00 SelfEmo OtherEmo 0.640(0.048) 0.36 7.45 0.00 SelfEmo UseEmo 0.584(0.051) 0.42 8.15 0.00 SelfEmo RegularE 0.562(0.052) 0.44 8.42 0.00 OtherEmo UseEmo 0.600(0.050) 0.40 7.95 0.00 OtherEmo RegularE 0.592(0.051) 0.41 8.05 0.00 UseEmo RegularE 0.632(0.049) 0.37 7.55 0.000 ... ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY International School of Business Nguyen Thi Han EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, ADAPTIVE SELLING, IMPROVISATION AND SALES PERFORMANCE A STUDY ON SALESPEOPLE IN. .. of emotional intelligence on adaptive selling and improvisation and subsequently in sales performance of salespeople who are working in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam In particular, this study addresses... explaining the role of emotional intelligence in adaptive selling and improvisation, and subsequently in sales performance of salespersons H1 (+) Adaptive Selling H3 (+) Sales performance Emotional