5.4 Salespeople

Two studies were conducted by Wagner, Rashotte and Sternberg (1994; see also Wagner, Sujan, Sujan, Rashotte, and Sterberg, 1999) with salespeople. The objective of the first study was to develop and validate a "rules-of-thumb" approach to measuring tacit knowledge. Previous studies relied on empirical scoring, using either the correlation between items and an index of group membership or the deviation from an expert profile. Wagner et al. sought to identify a more objective, expert-based scoring method based on the rules of thumb that salespeople use to optimize their performance.

Based on a interviews, literature on sales, and personal experience, these investigators generated a list of rules of thumb for salespeople. The rules of thumb were divided into several categories, such as setting sales goals, handling the customer who stalls, attracting new accounts, and handling the competition. In the category of attracting new accounts, examples of rules of thumb included (1) be selective in regard to whom you direct your promotion efforts and (2) ask your customers to provide leads to new accounts.

The sample consisted of two groups. The first group consisted of salespeople with an average 14 years sales experience. The second group consisted of 50 undergraduates at Florida State University. The participants were administered eight sales scenarios, with 8 to 12 response options constructed by the rules-of-thumb approach. The options included accurate representations of the rules of thumb as well as weakened or distorted versions of them. Responses were evaluated based on the extent to which participants preferred the actual or distorted versions of the rules of thumb. In addition to the sales test, the undergraduates completed the DAT Verbal Reasoning test.

Participants were asked to rate the appropriateness of each strategy for addressing the problem. Points were awarded based on the participant's endorsement of the actual rules of thumb. Wagner et al. found that scores on the tacit-knowledge test improved with experience. The average score for salespeople was 209 versus 166 for undergraduates. The total scores for undergraduates were uncorrelated with verbal-reasoning test scores.

In the second study, measures of sales performance were obtained in addition to tacit-knowledge test scores. Participants included 48 life-insurance salespeople with an average of 11 years sales experience and 50 undergraduates at Florida State University with no sales experience. Participants in both groups completed the TKIS, and undergraduates completed the DAT Verbal Reasoning test. In addition, the investigators obtained from the salespeople data on the number of years with the company, number of years in sales, number of yearly quality awards, yearly sales volumes and premiums, college background, and business education.

Tacit knowledge again increased with experience, with the scores 165 and 206 for undergraduates and salespeople respectively. Significant correlations were obtained between tacit-knowledge scores and number of years with the company (.37), number of years in sales (.31), number of yearly quality awards (.35), and business education (.41). When local and global scores were also computed, Wagner et al. found that global tacit-knowledge scores also correlated significantly with yearly sales volumes and premiums (rs ranging from .26 to .37). The tacit-knowledge scores again did not correlate significantly with verbal-reasoning scores.