Deck 7: Salesperson Performance: Motivating the Sales Force

Question 1

One criticism of linking pay to financial incentives is:

A) Employees may become less interested in what they do and more interested in capturing the reward
B) Many salespeople will make too much money
C) Most salespeople are much more interested in quality of life and family-oriented non-monetary rewards
D) Environmental conditions will overwhelm the effectiveness of financial rewards unless salespeople are paid poorly
E) Personal characteristics make financial incentives sexist

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following statements about how personal characteristics affect a salesperson's level of motivation is true?

A) Highly experienced salespeople have higher valences for lower-order rewards than younger, less experienced salespeople
B) Salespeople with high internal locus of control are likely to have relatively low expectancy and instrumentality estimates
C) Highly educated salespeople are likely to have lower valences for higher-order rewards
D) Intelligent salespeople have higher expectancy and instrumentality perceptions than those with less intelligence
E) Experienced salespeople have smaller expectancy estimates than inexperienced salespeople

Answer 2

D

Question 3

During the _____ stage of the sales career path, the salesperson is likely to have lower expectancy estimates that are often inaccurate as well as inaccurate instrumentality perceptions.

A) Exploration
B) Maintenance
C) Plateauing
D) Disengagement
E) Establishment

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The four stages that make up the sales career path are:

A) Exploration, establishment, plateauing and disenfranchisement
B) Entry-level, growth, plateauing and termination
C) Exploration, growth, maintenance and attrition
D) Exploration, growth, maturity and disengagement
E) Exploration, establishment, maintenance and disengagement

Question 5

Will Presley sells management training classes to entrepreneurs and Fortune 1000 companies. Last quarter his sales were very disappointing. When asked, he admitted that his poor performance was directly related to his wife having a new baby. He had not the time to devote to sales that he should have. As a result of Will's poor performance in the last quarter, which of the following is likely to occur?

A) His expectancy estimates will be higher and his instrumentality estimate will remain the same
B) His instrumentality estimates will be lower and his expectancy estimates will remain the same
C) His expectancy estimates for the next quarter will be lower
D) Neither his expectancy nor instrumentality estimates will change
E) His expectancy estimates for the next quarter will be higher

Question 6

During the establishment stage of a salesperson's career, the salesperson will:

A) Adjust his or her self-image
B) Have the lowest instrumentality perceptions and valences for both higher-order and lower-order needs
C) Produce superior results on the job in order to be promoted
D) Need close and supportive supervision
E) Reassess career with possible redirection

Question 7

In a sales organization, what would be an appropriate strategy to motivate a ""leader?""

A) Increase their base pay
B) Recognize them for their performance according to the system
C) Quietly congratulate them for their contribution
D) Create a project or account and put them in charge of it
E) All of the above

Question 8

Which of the following statements provides important knowledge to the sales manager who wants to plan successful strategy?

A) Salespeople always react favorably to a rapidly changing product line because it adds variety to their job
B) When salespeople operate under uncertainties or limited product supply, their expectancy and instrumentality estimates are likely to be high
C) Company policies can hinder a salesperson's effectiveness by indirectly affecting their valence for rewards, accuracy of their expectations and instrumentality perceptions
D) The stronger a firm's competitive position, the lower its sales force expectancy estimates are likely to be
E) All of the above

Question 9

During the exploration stage of a salesperson's career, the salesperson will:

A) Need peer acceptance and challenging positions
B) Produce superior results on the job in order to be promoted
C) Need achievement, esteem, autonomy and competition
D) Develop creativity and innovativeness
E) Balance the conflicting demands of career and family

Question 10

Personal characteristics that might affect an individual's level of motivation include all of the following EXCEPT:

A) Her place in the organizational hierarchy
B) Her age, family size and education
C) Her personality
D) Her job experience
E) Her satisfaction with current rewards

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT one of the personality types in the Sales Management Enneagram Personality Tool?

A) Achiever
B) Team player
C) Perfectionist
D) Non-conformist
E) Enthusiast

Question 12

During the disengagement stage of a salesperson's career, the salesperson will:

A) Maintain a high performance level
B) Balance the conflicting demands of career and family
C) Have the lowest instrumental perceptions and valence for both higher-order and lower-order rewards
D) Need supportive supervision
E) Adjust to working with greater autonomy

Question 13

Which of the following statements about the stages in the sales career path is true?

A) Salespeople in the exploration stage would typically have high valences for higher-order rewards and higher expectancies than salespeople at other stages
B) Salespeople in the establishment stage have the highest valence for promotion and recognition
C) The point at which a salesperson would be resigned to remaining in sales would be in the establishment stage
D) Job performance is typically poor in the establishment stage
E) Personal commitment to the job is usually highest in the exploration stage

Question 14

Which of the following attribution of poor performance can actually have a positive impact on the magnitude of a salesperson's expectancy estimates?

A) A stable internal factor
B) A stable external factor
C) An unstable internal factor
D) An unstable external factor
E) None of the above

Question 15

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of Maslow's and Alderfer's theories is the proposition that:

A) All salespeople are motivated by higher-order rewards
B) Lower-order rewards have increasing marginal utility
C) Earnings opportunity ratios vary with lower-order selling patterns
D) Higher-order rewards have increasing marginal utility
E) Demographics contribute to establishment disengagement

Question 16

During the maintenance stage of a salesperson's career, the salesperson will:

A) Have reduced competitiveness
B) Try to avoid generating unrealistic expectations
C) Have low expectancy and instrumentality perceptions
D) Establish a stronger self-identify outside of work
E) Have higher valences for promotion and recognition than for pay

Question 17

Molly Edson sells needlecraft kits to retail stores. Last quarter her sales were 20 percent lower than they had been in the previous period. She attributed her poor performance to her inability to handle a competitor who launched an aggressive trade promotional campaign. As a result of Molly's poor performance in the previous quarter, which of the following is most likely?

A) Both her expectancy and instrumentality estimates will be higher
B) Her expectancy estimates will be higher and her instrumentality estimate will remain the same
C) Her instrumentality estimates will be lower and her expectancy estimates will remain the same
D) Her expectancy estimates will be lower
E) Neither her expectancy nor instrumentality estimates will change

Question 18

Stephan perceives himself to be a talented, hard-working salesman with considerable self-esteem. As such, it is probable that Stephan:

A) Values annual bonuses more than other salespeople in the organization
B) Has a higher valence for higher-order, intrinsic rewards
C) Is fooling himself
D) Does not concern himself with performance instrumentalities
E) All of the above

Question 19

The theories of Maslow, Alderfer and Herzberg:

A) Are examples of other motivation theories that differ from expectancy theory by emphasizing the human element
B) Suggest the greater a salesperson's satisfaction with attainment of low-order rewards, the higher the valence of increased attainment of higher-order rewards
C) Can be used to explain why closer supervision can have a positive impact on the magnitude and accuracy of both expectancy estimates and instrumentality perceptions
D) Can be used to explain the changes a salesperson experiences as he or she progresses down the sales career path
E) Are useful in conjunction with leadership theories to explain what personal and environmental variables motivate an individual to become a successful leader

Question 20

Which of the following attributions of good performance does not have a positive impact on the magnitude of a salesperson's expectancy estimates?

A) A stable internal factor
B) A stable external factor
C) An unstable internal factor
D) An unstable external factor
E) None of the above

Question 21

How is Maslow's hierarchy of needs related to sales motivation?

Question 22

Discuss the criticisms of financial incentives in sales motivation programs.

Question 23

What individual characteristics affect accuracy and magnitude expectancies?

Question 24

The ratio of the total financial compensation of the highest paid salesperson to the average in a sales force is the:

A) MBO opportunity benefit
B) Ratio of salary to bonuses
C) Earnings opportunity ratio
D) Performance indicator valence
E) Organizational motivational objective

Question 25

Which of the following statements about the impact of environmental conditions on motivation is true?

A) A wide span of control produces more accurate expectancy estimates than does close supervision
B) Salespeople that sell commodities are more likely to have less accurate expectancy estimates than salespeople who handle highly technical products
C) Environmental factors that affect motivation include size of sales territory, salesperson's job experience and strength of competition
D) In general, salespeople operating in the face of output constraints have low expectancy and instrumentality estimates
E) None of the above

Question 26

Describe the three sets of perceptions that affect motivation?

Question 27

Which of the following is the BEST way for a sales manager to deal with a plateaued salesperson?

A) Encourage the salesperson to find creative solutions to his or her boredom
B) Provide opportunities for frequent changes in job duties and responsibilities to increase job variety
C) Use bonus plans
D) Assign the salesperson to a different sales manager
E) Give the salesperson time off to consider his or her options

Question 28

Which of the following statements about incentive and compensation policies and their effect on motivation is true?

A) There is likely to be a curvilinear relationship between the likelihood of receiving recognition and promotion and the salesperson's valence for them
B) The ratio of the total financial compensation of the highest paid salesperson to that of the average salesperson's pay is referred to as the earnings equity ratio
C) Reward mix, the various types of reinforcements used by the organization, has little effect on employee's valences
D) In firms where the current financial compensation is relatively high, salespeople will only be satisfied if they are provided with the opportunity to achieve higher-order rewards
E) Within the reward mix of a typical organization, free merchandise is the most effective motivator

Question 29

What is motivation (in sales)?

Question 30

What is the most popular motivator for salespeople?

A) Time off from the job
B) Discounts on company merchandise
C) Cash awards
D) Debit cards
E) Free merchandise

Question 31

What four stages do most salespeople go through in their careers?

Question 32

Describe any three of the Sales Management Enneagram personality types and how to motivate them.

Question 33

Describe the typical stages in a sales career. How do they affect motivation?

Question 34

Which of the following statements about plateauing is true?

A) A sales manager that uses job rotation and job enrichment frequently is likely to have his or her entire sales force plateaued
B) Plateauing is also called self-imposed attrition
C) Plateaued salespeople typically have high expectancy estimates that are inaccurate
D) None of the above
E) Just prior to the fourth stage of the sales career path, nearly all salespeople plateau

Question 35

What is the difference between expectancy accuracy and magnitude?

Question 36

How has increased security concerns affected sales expectancies?

Question 37

Which of the following is one of the major causes of plateauing?

A) A too-rapid promotion to upper hierarchical levels
B) Boredom
C) Job enrichment
D) A too-detailed job description
E) A request to mentor new, inexperienced salespeople

Question 38

How do periods of economic uncertainty affect sales management strategies?

Question 39

What are performance attributions? Describe the four categories of performance attributions.

Question 40

What are expectancies?

Question 41

The disengagement stage of a salesperson's career is also referred to as the self-termination period.

Question 42

How close the sales manager supervises his or her sales force will result in increased expectancy accuracy and decreased instrumentality accuracy.

Question 43

The firm's compensation plan has a notable impact on the magnitude of a salesperson's instrumentality.

Question 44

Salespeople at the maintenance stage of their career often have the highest valences for increased pay and financial incentives of anyone in the sales force.

Question 45

Valences are employees' perceptions of the desirability of receiving increased amounts of the rewards they might attain as a result of improved performance.

Question 46

Money is not only the reward most desired by all salespeople, but also the kind of reward that is most effective at motivating them.

Question 47

What personal characteristics affect sales motivation?

Question 48

The psychosocial needs of a salesperson in the establishment stage of his or her sales career are lower-level needs.

Question 49

What is the earnings opportunity ratio?

Question 50

One approach to revitalizing plateaued salespeople is to use job enrichment.

Question 51

A salesperson who thought he was to devote most of his time to qualifying new accounts while his sales manager thought the salesperson was supposed to spend most of his time servicing customers would be having a problem with the accuracy of his expectancy perceptions.

Question 52

Salespeople with a high internal locus of control are likely to have relatively high expectancy and instrumentality estimates.

Question 53

The frequency of communication within an organization has no effect on expectancy, instrumentality, or valences.

Question 54

If a salesperson believes that her poor performance was due to a difficult competitive environment, then her expectancy estimates for the next period will be lower.

Question 55

An extreme view of financial rewards argues that:

A) Linking pay to performance can have a negative effect on motivation
B) Employees become less interested in what they are doing
C) Extrinsic motivation undermines intrinsic motivation
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 56

Inexperienced salespeople are likely to have larger expectancy estimates than experienced ones.

Question 57

Salespeople in the exploration stage of their sales career tend to have a boundless optimism that results in high psychological involvement with their jobs.

Question 58

The magnitude of a salesperson's instrumentality estimates reflects the sales rep's perceptions of his or her ability to control or influence his or her own job performance.

Question 59

The higher the earnings opportunity ratio is within the company, the higher the average salesperson's valence for pay is likely to be.

Question 60

When the magnitude of a salesperson's instrumentality estimates is relatively small, the sales rep believes there is a high probability that improved performance will lead to more rewards.

Question 61

The variable that usually has the most impact on the magnitude of instrumentality estimates is the:

A) Mental ability of the salesperson
B) Firm's compensation plan
C) Estimated lag-time from sales commitment to completion
D) Degree of supervisory control
E) Informal feedback system

Question 62

Demographic variables like age, family size, and education can all have an impact on an individual's valence for rewards.

Question 63

The greater the environmental constraints a salesperson sees as restricting performance:

A) The lower the rep's expectancy estimates
B) The lower the rep's valence for rewards
C) The higher the rep's expectancy estimates
D) The higher the rep's valence for rewards
E) The greater the importance of environmental selling

Question 64

Expectancies are the salesperson's perception of:

A) How difficult a task will be to perform in his or her working environment
B) The linkage between job effort and performance
C) What rewards he or she is likely to receive as a result of expending effort
D) The desirability of receiving more of a particular reward
E) The relationship between improved job performance and the attainment of increased rewards

Question 65

Which of the following statements about instrumentality perceptions is true?

A) A salesperson who thinks that more sales will result in a promotion when actually the organization wants him to do more follow-up service can have an inaccurate perception of instrumentality
B) One variable that has a notable impact on the magnitude of a salesperson's instrumentality is the firm's compensation plan
C) Sales managers need to compare sales force members' instrumentality perceptions with stated company policies
D) A sales manager can improve the accuracy of a salesperson's instrumentality perception through closer supervision
E) All of the above

Question 66

Generally, older, more experienced salespeople have lower valences for rewards that provide food, shelter, clothing, and security and higher valence for rewards that create opportunities for esteem and self-actualization.

Question 67

The text defines motivations as:

A) The amount of effort the salesperson desires to expend on each activity or task associated with the sales job
B) A constraint on a person's ability to perform a job
C) The factor that determines whether a salesperson has the necessary native abilities to sell
D) The individual's learned proficiencies
E) The rewards that are the result of each additional level of effort

Question 68

The less that salespeople believe they have internal control over their lives, the:

A) Greater they enjoy management
B) Lower their performance anxiety
C) Higher their performance plateau
D) Lower their magnitude of instrumentality estimates
E) More they will demand in salary

Question 69

Brad is a salaried sales rep for an engineering company. Brad is likely to have a higher magnitude of instrumentality estimate associated with:

A) Short-term sales
B) Commissions
C) Performance of administrative duties
D) Number of contracts
E) All of the above

Question 70

Highly educated salespeople are likely to have lower valences for higher-order needs.

Question 71

The magnitude of a salesperson's expectancy perceptions indicates:

A) How clearly the salesperson understands the relationship between the effort expended and the resulting achievement
B) The ranking of rewards attained as a result of improved performance
C) The degree to which that individual believes expending effort on job activities will influence ultimate job performance
D) The difficulty assigned to a task in comparison to the reward offered for performing the task
E) The degree to which an individual wants extrinsic rewards

Question 72

One way to describe instrumentalities is that they are a salesperson's ______________ of the link between job performance and various rewards.

A) Motivational expectations
B) Probability estimates
C) Price controls
D) Earnings confirmations
E) Performance attributes

Question 73

Which of the following is a characteristic of a highly motivated salesperson?

A) Takes initiative
B) Expends effort
C) Is persistent
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 74

Research indicates that a salesperson's _____________________ will more accurately perceive the linkages between effort and performance than the salesperson.

A) Family
B) Coworkers
C) Supervisor
D) Vice-president of marketing
E) All of the above

Question 75

Which of the following is an example of an environmental characteristic that impacts the magnitude of a salesperson's expectancy estimates?

A) The salesperson's overall level of self-esteem
B) The salesperson's perceived ability to perform necessary tasks
C) Restrictions on product availability due to raw material shortages
D) The salesperson's previous sales experience
E) None of the above

Question 76

Teresa is a highly motivated sales rep. She will likely spend considerable time:

A) Managing her commission structure
B) Developing sales presentations
C) Minimizing her cold calling
D) Promoting herself
E) All of the above

Question 77

Which of the following statements about the expectancy theory and its components is true?

A) Valence for performance is the perceived desirability of receiving more of a particular reward
B) Valence for reward considers the value of both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards
C) Expectancy theory is the only theory that completely explains the motivation process
D) Instrumentality is the perceived linkage between increased effort on some task such as developing sales presentations and improved performance
E) Valence for performance determines a salesperson's motivation to expend effort on a given task

Question 78

One way to describe attempts to improve the accuracy of expectancy estimates of salespeople is:

A) Ceteris paribus
B) The Peter principle
C) All's fair in love and war
D) Work smarter not harder
E) Run to a round house, they can't corner you there

Question 79

The conceptual framework for studying motivation is called:

A) The peak plateau model
B) Valence theory
C) Expectancy theory
D) Alternative choice theory
E) Accuracy and magnitude theory

Question 80

All of the following are examples of individual characteristics that impact the magnitude of a salesperson's expectancy estimates EXCEPT:

A) His/her level of self-esteem
B) His/her general intelligence
C) His/her previous sales experience
D) His/her perceived ability to perform necessary tasks
E) His/her perception of his assigned sales territory potential