There Is No "I" In Team: An Investigation Of Team Dynamics In The Buyer-Seller Interaction
The importance of sales team composition and the necessary team competencies is examined in this research. This research uses team intelligence, role expectancy, team cohesion, and improvisation to build an Input-Process-Output model for sales team composition. A strategic plan is devised for the sales team presentation process through three important phases, (1) team composition (2) presentation preparation, and (3) presentation execution. The team composition process, or the formation of the team, will illuminate the competencies necessary for the salespeople who will be responsible for the presentation to the buyer in the buyer-seller interaction (i.e. the initial sales pitch). Through the understanding of team intelligence and how intelligences work together, the composition method will offer insight into which intelligences prove more effective for these particular sales teams. The preparation process will examine the factors that affect the sales team as it prepares for the presentation and the competencies the team should master in order to best prepare for the final phase, the buyer-seller interaction. The final process, the presentation execution process, will identify factors that should be of interest during the buyer-seller interaction as well as the team competencies necessary for success. Using multi-method data analysis, qualitative data collection and structural equation modeling, new constructs are identified, conceptualized, and operationalized. In addition, using multivariate probit analysis, the intelligences that have a significant impact on the probability of being chosen for a project will be defined. The outcomes analyzed were role satisfaction, presentation satisfaction, team trust, and buyer decision. This research examines which sales team intelligence factors are crucial, particularly in the buyer-seller interaction. Managers will benefit from understanding that team intelligence is an important factor in the buyer-seller interaction.
Emotional Intelligence, Input Process Output Model, Role Theory, Sales, Team, Business Administration, Management, and Operations
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