The Influence of the Selling Situation on the Effectiveness of Control: Toward a Holistic Perspective

An important decision facing sales managers is how to coordinate the sales force. Although prior research has studied the linkage between control and salesperson performance, results remain equivocal. Drawing from the literature on control system and fit theory, the authors suggest that individual, environmental, and organizational factors combine to influence the effectiveness of control mechanisms. Three clusters are identified that describe unique, but often encountered, sales situations: (1) sink or swim-transactional, (2) tried and true-relationship building, and (3) account management-fixed but stable. Data from the study support that the effects of output, process, self, and professional controls on salesperson performance vary according to the sales situation clusters.