This paper explores effective techniques for optimizing a sales force while decreasing turnover based on 10 empirical studies. It examines the hiring process and impact of company image on attracting talent. Surprisingly, the best candidates were found to be existing employees in non-selling roles who were familiar with the company. Relationship-building techniques between management and staff like servant leadership and leader-member exchange were found to reduce turnover by increasing organizational commitment. Maintaining positive customer relationships through appropriate sales contests and understanding customer moods were also determined to improve performance and sales.

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Effective Techniques to Optimize a Sales Force while Decreasing Turnover
Brett Chase
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

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Abstract
This paper explores ten peer reviewed empirical study’s to investigate effective techniques
organizations can use to optimize a sales force while decreasing turnover. Each article offers a
unique perspective on the relationship between organizations, sales people, and their customers.
They are described in chronological order throughout the paper. First, the initial hiring process is
examined using company image and its impact on attracting and retaining the best profit
producers. Then, approaches to strengthen relationships between management and staff are
presented relating managerial support, organizational commitment, and job performance to
turnover. Next, the relationship between sales people and customers are tested using hypothetical
scenarios. To emphasize the importance of this relationship, customer relationship management
devices are used to measures actual data. Finally, the driving force behind successful
organizations is identified by the genuine conviction of the salesforce to adamantly support the
products and services they are selling.

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Effective Techniques to Optimize a Sales Force while Decreasing Turnover
Before the initial hiring process begins and the criteria is identified for selection the
image of the company must be factored into the equation. The better Image the company has the
better talent they will attract and retain. With this in mind, a scale was developed by Berthon, P.,
Ewing, M., & Hah, L. L. (2005) to measure employer attractiveness. They used students that
were just about to enter the job force and determined the factors that they considered important
when looking for their ideal employer. The data that was collected was used to develop a
measurement for employer attractiveness.
The unique dimensions of the scale consisting of social, development, application,
interest, and economic values was confirmed to be a valid scale to assess employer
attractiveness. Organizations can utilize the power of this tool to give them a distinct advantage
in the marketplace. By increasing their image based on what potential job seekers are looking for
they can reduce the cost of employee acquisition and increase retention. The organization’s
improvement of employee relations will create a more productive salesforce that will transfer to
better customer relationships leading to a more profitable organization.
Organizations with good brand images have earned a certain amount of notoriety and
have the potential to grow their salesforce if they capitalize on their moment in the spotlight. Not
everyone can make the cut, so how do hiring managers choose the best profit producers? To
answer this question, Darmon, R. Y. (1993) took salespeople that were recruited from various
sources with different experience levels and evaluated them to determine their potential long
term monetary value. Cost and revenue information by salespeople's sources had been gathered
from company's accounting records after a three month trial period. When the profit was
correlated with salespeople according to their initial competence level, it was possible to

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compare the profitability of salespeople coming from different employment backgrounds and
initial experience.
Surprisingly, his hypothesis that that there would be a higher increase in sale figures from
participants with a greater level of sales experience in the field was disconfirmed. The best
source of candidates were found to be already working within the company in non-selling
positions. This study argues that familiarity with the company itself rather than being proficient
in sales techniques may be a more important factor in long term sales growth. These employees
are already familiar with the firm and can be trained and motivated to become revenue producers
for the company as well.
Retaining valuable employees and utilizing them in different areas of the company can
have a tremendous effect on the profitability of the organization. This transition into sales can be
extremely volatile. If it is not handled appropriately it can increase employee’s propensity for
turnover intention. They must go through vast amounts of product training while realizing the
stresses of quota attainment under new management. A good leader can guide multiple
employees through these challenges by using Ehrhart’s seven dimensions of servant leadership.
This is a practice of leadership that focuses on positive working relationships between a superior
and their group. It promotes an uplifting work environment in which feelings of attachment and
loyalty to the organization are created.
In a study conducted by Jaramillo, F., Grisaffe, D. B., Chonko, L. B., & Roberts, J. A.
(2009) responses from five hundred and one salespeople were taken from an online survey and
used to examine the correlation between servant leadership and turnover intention. It was found
that servant leadership directly affects turnover intention through person–organizational fit, and
organizational commitment. Ehrhart’s seven dimensions can be used not only as a guideline to

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create positive working relationships but also to lower turnover intention among employees. This
will create a more harmonious atmosphere that is conducive to job satisfaction and performance.
Leader member exchange (LMX) is another approach that can strengthen relationships.
This theory focuses on the connection between sales management and their staff on an individual
level rather than a group. To test this concept DeConinck, J. B. (2011) sampled salespeople as
well and measured their responses to test the effects of leader member exchange on turnover.
Using actual turnover data rather than turnover intentions, it was found that leader member
exchange is positively related to turnover through organizational commitment. Salespeople in a
high LMX relationship with their sales manager reported higher organizational commitment,
leading to lower turnover. This study as well as the previous study related managerial support to
turnover through organizational commitment.
These results suggest that organizational commitment is a strong indicator of whether or
not an employee will leave a company. Organizational commitment can also be used to predict
performance. To expand this theory and make it more applicable, methods used to increase job
performance and reduce employee propensity to leave were examined in the Asian market place.
Rutherford, B., Park, J., & Han, S. (2011) surveyed Korean sales employees from department
stores to test the effects of organizational commitment and exhaustion on performance and
salespeople’s propensity to leave an organization.
They found that organizational commitment related positively with job performance.
Validating are previous two studies, the results also indicated that when organizational
commitment increased salespeople’s propensity to leave decreased. An increase in emotional
exhaustion was also examined and had a direct impact of increasing employee propensity to

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leave. This provides a unique perspective that proves that organizational commitment,
managerial support, and job performance are not the only factors that indicate turnover.
Managers can use these theories as a guide to increase job performance and decrease a
salesperson’s propensity to leave. To be successful, sales managers must go a step further and
advise their staff on effective sales techniques to use. The most traditional technique is known as
sales contests. To analyze the potential outcome of this technique Poujol, F. J., & Tanner, J. F.
(2010) gave sales people in the financial industry scenarios to measure how sales contests
influence customer orientation. The results indicated that contests with lower frequencies of
solicitation reported greater customer orientation. Salespeople were also found to have positive
customer orientation when the contest was organized in teams rather than an individual format.
When mangers are advising their staff to use this sales technique, they should make sure
that the entire group of salespeople are included. They should also advise them not to bombard
their customers with phone calls and emails. Sales contests must be targeted to specific
customers in longer time frames. This will help to maintain a positive relationship between the
customers and the sales staff. The better long term relationship the sales staff have with their
customers, the more sales goals they can achieve.
Communication between salespeople and their customers should ideally be beneficial to
both parties. Sales people abuse that trust when they bombard their customers with phone calls
and emails because they are forced to participate in a sales campaign. Even when trust has been
established, the mood of the customer may interfere with their purchase decisions. To examine
the implications that mood has on purchase decisions Puccinelli, N. M. (2006) used students to
examine the effect between customers and salespeople with contrasting emotions.

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Playing the role of the customer, the student’s mood was manipulated to be positive or
negative prior to engaging with salespeople with altering moods. Actors recruited through
theatrical organizations on the university campus served as the salespeople. The results found
that customers in a negative mood had even worse feelings after encountering a salesperson with
a positive mood. These feelings had a direct effect on their evaluation of the product showing a
willingness to pay less. This implies that when customers are in a bad mood, a salesperson’s
positive attitude is ineffective. It not only makes the customers feel worse, it also leads them to
believe that the product or service that is being sold is worth less money.
Forcing the sale in this scenario would have negatively impacted the relationship between
the salesperson and the customer. Furthermore, it would have drove down the value of the
products and services being advertised. This study as well as the previous study are related by
hypothetical scenarios done in a controlled environment. They were able to test cause and effect
relationships without the potential loss of real currency. Having done this study in a controlled
environment also avoided the risk of endangering real relationships between salespeople and
their customers.
To measure the real impact between salespeople and customers Yim, F. H., Anderson, R.
E., & Swaminathan, S. (2004) collected survey data from managers in various investment and
insurance companies in Hong Kong. The data gathered was used to test the effectiveness of their
customer relationship management devices (CRM) on company performance. The CRM was
measured on four key components. This consisted of focusing on key customers, managing
knowledge, organization structure, and incorporating CRM based technology. The performance
metrics that were measured were customer satisfaction, customer retention, and sales growth.

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Results indicated that the technological components of CRM did not significantly
enhance any of the performance metrics. When CRM technology is used only for data
warehousing, database marketing, and pushing automated campaigns and advertisements it
diminishes the relationship between the salesperson and the customer. The technology of the
CRM should never be used as a substitute for real time interaction between customers and sales
staff. The successful combination of focusing on key customers, managing the knowledge of
CRM activities, and organizing the staff around the CRM will increase customer satisfaction,
customer retention, and sales growth.
One of the CRM’s main purpose is to provide salespeople with the ability to focus on key
customers by managing the knowledge of their customers past purchases and interactions. This
knowledge can have a profound effect when it comes to future purchases adding the ability for
cross selling of multiple products. In a comparative study of cross selling practices, Vyas, R. S.,
& Math, N. B. (2006) tested this theory on public and private sector banks located in India.
Through qualitative interviews with top executives at these public and private sector banks, their
perspectives revealed different tactics utilized by both financial institutions to get to the same
goal of profitability.
Sharing the results of the study, both sectors were able to learn from each other’s
strengths and weaknesses. Private sector banks needed to decrease their aggressive cross selling
efforts and take on the customer focused values of the public sector banks. The public sector
banks needed the technology of the private sector banks to utilize CRM tools to utilize their
customer base. These banks can also prosper by offering their staff incentives and specialized
training.

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By incorporating the techniques of their competitors they will be able to further the
effectiveness of their own cross selling initiatives. High level executives must view their
competition in the market place as a beneficial guide to success rather than a hindrance.
Organizations need to be consistently improving and adjusting to the changing marketplace in
order to survive. Optimizing the effectiveness of cross selling in an organization’s salesforce is
one of the most profitable ways to not only survive in the marketplace, but to prosper.
Salespeople have to coordinate these techniques while managing relationships
with their supervisors as well as their customers. While this may be imperative to the overall
success of the salesforce, perhaps the most vital attribute is the salesperson’s ability to identify
with the products and services they are selling. To explore this notion, Badrinarayanan, V., &
Laverie, D. A. (2011) examined the influences a manufacturer and their representatives have on
brand identification among retail salespeople.
The retailer’s intranet was used to examine these influences because salespeople were
familiar with the system and accessed it on a daily basis to learn about their responsibilities,
tasks, and announcements made by the manufactures. Utilizing the company’s intranet,
salespeople were chosen at random and assigned to complete a survey regarding a specific
manufacturer. The same format was used to assess the manufacturer’s brands as well as their
representatives. It was found that when manufactures had a good brand image and their
representative’s acknowledged retail sales people, brand identity would increase among the
salesforce. Once the retail sales person identified with the brand, they made a greater effort to
sell the product.
Retail salespeople represent an important link for manufacturers. They communicate their
thoughts and opinions directly to the retail customer. They should be looked at as an extension of

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the manufactures themselves. These salespeople are the last and arguably the most important
factor before the purchase decision is made by the customer. They have the final choice as to
which product they want to advise their customer to purchase. This study argues that if the retail
sales person identifies with the manufacture’s brand, they will make a greater effort to sell that
product.
I have researched many ways in which an organization can implement techniques to
optimize their salesforce but none of them will be effective if the individual salesperson does not
believe in the product. Ultimately, the driving force behind any successful organization is the
genuine conviction of their salesforce to adamantly support their products and services. The
salesforce is the company’s first customer. If the salesperson is not invested in the product, then
it is less likely that the customer will be as well.

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References
Badrinarayanan, V., & Laverie, D. A. (2011). Brand Advocacy and Sales Effort by Retail
Salespeople: Antecedents and Influence of Identification with Manufacturers'
Brands. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 31(2), 123-140.
Berthon, P., Ewing, M., & Hah, L. L. (2005). Captivating company: dimensions of attractiveness
in employer branding. International Journal of Advertising, 24(2), 151-172.
Darmon, R. Y. (1993). Where Do the Best Sales Force Profit Producers Come From? Journal Of
Personal Selling & Sales Management, 13(3), 17-29.
DeConinck, J. B. (2011). THE EFFECTS OF LEADER-MEMBER EXCHANGE AND
ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION ON PERFORMANCE AND TURNOVER
AMONG SALESPEOPLE. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 31(1), 21-
34. doi: 10.2753/PSS0885-3134310102
Jaramillo, F., Grisaffe, D. B., Chonko, L. B., & Roberts, J. A. (2009). EXAMINING THE
IMPACT OF SERVANT LEADERSHIP ON SALESPERSON'S TURNOVER
INTENTION. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 29(4), 351-365.
Poujol, F. J., & Tanner, J. F. (2010). The Impact of Contests on Salespeople’s Customer
Orientation: An Application of Tournament Theory. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales
Management, 30(1), 33-46.

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Puccinelli, N. M. (2006). Putting Your Best Face Forward: The Impact of Customer Mood on
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Associates), 16(2), 156-162. doi:10.1207/s15327663jcp1602_6
Rutherford, B., Park, J., & Han, S. (2011). Increasing Job Performance and Decreasing
Salesperson Propensity to Leave: An Examination of an Asian Sales Force. Journal of
Personal Selling & Sales Management, 31(2), 171-184.
Vyas, R. S., & Math, N. B. (2006). A Comparative Study of Cross-Selling Practices in Public
and Private Sector Banks in India. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 10(4), 123-
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Yim, F. H., Anderson, R. E., & Swaminathan, S. (2004). Customer Relationship Management:
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