The relationship between effective counseling and effective selling behaviors

Charles E. Pettijohn, Linda S. Pettijohn and Albert J. Taylor

Selling is undergoing a metamorphosis The selling function and the people performing it are often maligned by the media and the general public. Much of the negative perception of the sales function and those performing it can probably be attributed to the belief that sales personnel are constantly trying to get people to buy, regardless of their needs and to make money at the other persons expense. However, selling seems to be undergoing a sort of metamorphosis. More and more authors are discussing partnership selling (Weitz et al., 1992) or non-manipulative selling (Alessandra et al., 1987). The prevailing attitude of both academicians and practitioners seems to be one of promoting customer satisfaction and goodwill. Correspondingly, there is a tendency to change the sales nomenclature from salesman to such terms as sales counselor, professional representative, or sales consultant (Manning and Reece, 1992). The fact that this is not just a fad may be indicated by a 1978 article in Sales and Marketing Management entitled Every salesperson a psychologist (Scanlon, 1978). Perhaps the change in name is designed to be consistent with the change in the sales representatives job, from selling to advising, from talking to listening, from pushing to helping, etc. Therefore, it may be theorized that the outstanding sales personnel of the future will work in a manner more similar to counselors in the area of psychotherapy than as hustlers or con artists. It can be suggested that the salesperson of tomorrow may be one who is more skilled in counseling than in traditional selling. If the proposition that the sales function has evolved from one that emphasizes selling to one that emphasizes counseling is accepted, it would follow that the best salespeople are those who are most skilled in counseling (all other factors being equal). The research discussed in this article is designed to explore the proposition that counseling skills relate significantly and positively to sales performance. If the results of this research indicate that the counseling skills possessed by a sales representative are positively related to that individuals performance, then practitioners and academicians could be well-advised to emphasize the concept of sales counseling and advising in their hiring and training activities. Related literature In the counseling literature, certain conditions have been identified as being necessary and sufficient for positive therapeutic change (Rogers, 1957). This statement means certain counselor behaviors are necessary to facilitate the positive results that may be expected from the counseling process. These conditions have been identified as facilitative conditions and continue to be discussed and recommended in counseling textbooks (see Hansen et al., 1986; or Gladding, 1988). According to Rogers (1957) the counselor-based therapeutic ingredients include congruence; warm, positive regard; and empathic understanding. Congruence is defined as the counselors capacity to
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Facilitative conditions are necessary for positive results

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be genuine and integrated in the confines of the counseling relationship (Rogers, 1957). In a selling sense, the description of the congruent salesperson may be one that indicates that the salesperson is not defensive or phony during the sales interaction (i.e. one who is honest and open). The second dimension, unconditional positive regard for the client, indicates that the counselor is accepting of the other individual in the relationship (Rogers, 1957). In a sales context, this would be indicative of the salesperson who is capable of communicating to his/her customer the fact that he/she possesses a nonevaluative caring and positive regard for the buyer, regardless of their (the buyers and sellers) agreement or disagreement on the various topics discussed. Rogers (1957) contends that empathy entails the counselors capacity to sense the clients private world. In a sales situation it could be indicative of the salespersons being sensitive to the buyers feelings and thoughts and being able to communicate this understanding in a manner consistent with the buyers ability to comprehend. While numerous authors have developed lists of the therapeutic ingredients, it seems that Rogerss list continues to be the most popular and well known and most alternatives are nearly mirror images of the ingredients Rogers advanced. Moreover, a method of assessing the counselors possession of these ingredients has been facilitated by the use of many scales and measurement systems. The Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory One scale which has been used to assess the counselors levels of the therapeutic ingredients is the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory (BLRI), developed by Barrett-Lennard (1962). The BLRI can be used to assess the facilitative conditions specified as it explicitly examines empathy, congruence, and regard (regard is evaluated by two separate scales one measuring regard and the second the unconditionality of regard). Barrett-Lennard (1962, p. 6) states that the BLRI possesses the following characteristics: the appeal of anchored response categories, relative ease and economy of administration, the advantages of minimizing comparison of answers to related items, and more flexibility in regard to eliminating items or adding new items. The BLRI can be used by either client or counselor and has been shown to be a reliable and valid measure of the therapeutic ingredients in numerous studies (Barrett-Lennard, 1962; 1972; 1978; 1981; Gurman, 1977; Kurtz and Grummon, 1972; Walker and Little, 1969). Of the therapeutic ingredients, empathy is probably the one most researched and discussed in the selling literature. In fact, many selling and sales management textbooks state that empathy is a critical skill for the highly effective salesperson (e.g. Buskirk and Buskirk, 1992; Chonko et al., 1992; Churchill et al., 1990; and Futrell, 1992). Perhaps the justification underlying the transferability of empathy from counseling applications to its applicability in sales is indicated by an early article in the psychology literature which stated in everyday situations, we depend necessarily on our capacity to perceive and predict the behavior, thoughts and feelings of the other person (Bender and Hastorf, 1950, p. 558). It seems that empathy is continuously identified as a critical selling skill (e.g. Alessandra and Cathcart, 1985; Beveridge, 1985; Chambless, 1985; Feinman, 1983; Main, 1985; and Peterson, 1983; 1988). However, each of these writings is prescriptive in its emphasis and fails to provide empirical evidence to support the authors positions. While support for empathys role in personal selling is persuasive in an anecdotal fashion, empathys role in effective
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personal selling is less well accepted when one examines the empirical literature. The role of empathy in effective selling One of the earliest empirical studies of empathys role in effective selling was conducted by Tobolski and Kerr (1952). The findings in this study were somewhat mixed. It was discovered that empathy was significantly related to effectiveness when the performance of new car salesmen was evaluated. However, empathy was not significantly related to the performance of used car sales representatives. Greenberg and Mayer (1964) discussed the results of a study which indicated that empathy and ego strength were significantly and positively related to selling effectiveness. Their basic conclusions have been repeated in numerous articles (e.g. Greenberg and Greenberg, 1983; 1985). However, it may be noted that the validity of these results has been questioned by Weitz (1979). Weitz contends that since the test used to assess empathy and ego in the Greenberg and Mayer studies is proprietary and since the methodology underlying the studies has not been thoroughly reported, that the findings of their studies may not necessarily be valid. Lamont and Lundstrom (1977) found that empathy was negatively related to selling effectiveness. In Lamont and Lundstroms study, empathy and a variety of other personal characteristics and personality variables were examined to determine their impact on sales effectiveness. The results indicated that empathy was significantly, but negatively, related to managerial ratings of performance; and unrelated to the objective performance measures used in the research. In a separate study designed to uncover characteristics that differentiate above average and average sales personnel, empathy was one of several variables assessed by using the 16 Personal Factor Questionnaire. The results of the study indicated excellent pharmaceutical sales representatives tended to be warm, easygoing and cooperative. The authors (Sager and Ferris, 1986) contended that these findings are consistent with research supporting empathy, social orientation and approval seeking as being characteristic of excellent salespeople. Pettijohn et al.(1989) examined empathy and its effect on sales effectiveness by using the empathy scale of the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory. The results of their research indicated that empathy was not significantly related to sales effectiveness. Thus, in an empirical sense, empathy and its relationship to sales effectiveness is an issue that has yet to be conclusively answered. Behaviors should be related to sales performance Based on the empathy literature discussed, one may still be uncertain of the degree to which empathy is related to effective selling. Moreover, the other therapeutic ingredients and their impact on the selling relationship have not been researched to the extent that empathy has been researched. Nevertheless, it seems that an intuitive evaluation of the therapeutic constructs would indicate that these behaviors should be positively related to sales performance, just as empathy should be related to sales performance. However, research attempting directly and empirically to measure such dimensions of sales behavior has not been discovered. It would seem logical to assume that most buyers would prefer working with sales representatives who are honest (congruent); who sincerely like them (regard); and who understand their verbal and nonverbal expressions (empathy). However, the sales literature examined does not specifically address all of these behavioral dimensions. Consequently, the primary
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purpose of this study entails an evaluation of whether the counseling variables of congruence, regard, unconditionality of regard, and empathy relate to sales effectiveness. If it is discovered that these variables singularly or in tandem work toward more effective sales performance, it may be recommended that sales managers and trainers adopt the tactics used in the counseling profession and engage in the appropriate training and selection activities designed to accentuate the use and presence of these behaviors. Methodology Data were obtained by contacting eight car dealers located in a metropolitan area in Tennessee and soliciting their cooperation. Each dealer agreed to assist in the study by providing the names of each sales representative in his salesforce and each salespersons performance. A quantitative measure of performance was obtained by asking each sales manager to provide the number of units sold by each salesperson during the most recent 60-day period. Since one might assume that the quantitative measure of performance may not be totally adequate, a qualitative measure of performance was also obtained. The qualitative measure of performance was obtained by asking each sales manager to rank his/her salesforce into three equal groups consisting of high, average and low performers. The qualitative and the quantitative measures of performance were used because each of the eight dealerships sales managers were both willing and able to provide these data and because these measures could be perceived as providing rather comprehensive and accurate measures of the salespersons overall performance. A questionnaire was constructed to accomplish the research purposes. The questionnaire consisted of the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory (BLRI), various demographic questions and questions requested by each dealer. The BLRI questions were used with only minor modifications (e.g. replacing the term customer for the word patient or client) owing to the fact that numerous prior studies had indicated that the scale is both reliable and valid. The counseling dimensions evaluated in the study included empathy, regard, unconditionality of regard, and congruence and the definitions used by Barrett-Lennard (1962) to define these terms are provided below. Definition of terms used Empathy. Qualitatively it [empathy] is an active process of desiring to know the full present and changing awareness of another person, or reaching out to receive his communication and meaning, and of translating his words and signs into experienced meaning that matches at least those aspects of his awareness that are most important to him at the moment (p. 3). Regard. The affective aspect of one persons response to another. Level of regard is the general tendency (at a given time) of the various affective reactions of one person in relation to another (p. 4). Unconditionality of regard. This concept is specifically concerned with how little or how much variability there is in one persons affective response to another. It is defined as the degree of constancy of regard felt by one person for another who communicates self-experiences to the first (p. 4). Congruence. The degree to which one person is functionally integrated in the context of his relationship with another, such that there is absence of
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Car salespeople were studied

conflict or inconsistency between his total experience, his awareness, and his overt communication. The highly congruent individual is completely honest, direct, and sincere in what he conveys, but he does not feel any compulsion to communicate his perceptions, or any need to withhold them for emotionally self-protective reasons (p. 4). The remaining portions of the questionnaire were pretested by asking the dealers to evaluate their clarity and ability to accomplish the research objectives. Following this stage, the questionnaires were delivered to each dealership and distributed by the sales manager to each member of the salesforce. To assure the sales representatives that their responses would remain confidential and to alleviate potential managerial pressures for certain types of responses, the salespeople completed the questionnaires at their convenience and were provided with stamped return envelopes that were addressed to the researchers. A total of 122 questionnaires were distributed and 113 usable responses were obtained to provide a response rate of 92.6%. The data obtained were subsequently analyzed by using the appropriate statistical tests of significance (F-tests and 2 tests) to examine the impact of the various counseling dimensions and a global counseling score (computed by combining the scores obtained on the four counseling subscales) on salesperson performance. Testable hypotheses were developed Results The purpose of the research entailed an empirical evaluation of the relationship between sales performance and the salespersons counseling skills. To facilitate the accomplishment of the purpose of the research, two testable hypotheses were developed: H1: The number of units sold by each salesperson will not vary significantly with the salespersons counseling skills (empathy, regard, unconditionality of regard, and congruence). H2: The salespersons relative ranking in the salesforce will not vary significantly with the salespersons counseling skills (empathy, regard, unconditionality of regard, and congruence). The demographic characteristics of the sample are shown in Table I. As indicated in the Table, the vast majority of respondents were male. The majority of the salespeople had received educational training beyond the receipt of their high school diplomas. Most were over 40 years old and the sample had a mean of 5.4 years of experience. The mean number of units sold over the 60-day period examined was 13.7. The salespersons mean counseling scores, ranges and alpha coefficients are provided in Table II. As the Table reveals, the mean regard score is 33.0, for empathy the mean score is 32.7, unconditionality of regards mean score is 25.2, and the mean for congruence is 38.6. These scores exceed the scores that would be obtained by the typical individual using the BLRI. Typical individuals, exhibiting neither high nor low levels of the therapeutic dimensions, would receive the following ratings: regard 24.5; empathy 24.5; unconditionality of regard 21; and congruence 28. The alpha coefficients seem to indicate acceptable levels of internal consistency with scores for each scale ranging from a high of 0.70 (empathy) to a low of 0.58 (unconditionality of regard).
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Characteristic Sex Male Female Education Doctorate Masters College degree Attended college High school Attended high school Finished grade school Age (years) > 65 55-64 50-54 45-49 40-44 35-39 30-34 25-29 20-24 Experience Units sold _ X = 5.4 (SD 5.8) _ X = 13.7 (SD 6.2)

Frequency

111 2

98.2 1.8

1 3 24 57 22 5 1

0.9 2.7 21.2 50.4 19.5 4.4 0.9

1 14 7 14 25 16 12 17 7

0.9 12.4 6.2 12.4 22.1 14.1 10.6 15.0 6.2

Table I. Demographic characteristics of the sample

Skill (number of questions) Empathy (7) Regard ( 7) Unconditionality of regard (6) Congruence (8)

Range 24-42 25-38 18-36 28-48

Mean (SD) 32.7 (3.4) 33.0 (2.4) 25.2 (3.7) 38.6 (4.3)

Coefficient alpha 0.66 0.70 0.58 0.67

Table II. Salesperson counseling skills

A correlation analysis provided a general examination of the relationships between the variables included in the research. Consistent with expectations, there are significant correlations present with respect to the counseling variables. However, it seems that the majority of the counseling variables are not significantly correlated with the number of units sold by the sample. Empathy, regard, and unconditionality of regard were not significantly correlated with the number of units sold by the sample. Congruence was the only dimension of counseling behavior that was significantly correlated with the number of units sold by the sample. The correlation between units sold and congruence is 0.23, and this correlation is significant at the p < 0.03 level of significance. Test results Table III provides the results of the tests of the first null hypothesis pertaining to the relationship between counseling skills and the number of units sold over the most recent 60-day period. As shown, the null hypothesis
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Skill (%) Empathy Low (38) Middle (35) High (27) Regard Low (41) Middle (38) High (21) Unconditionality Low (37) Middle (37) High (26) Congruence Low (39) Middle (32) High (29)

Mean units sold (SD)

F-value

Significance

13.1 (5.7) 13.2 (5.9) 15.2 (6.9)

1.24

0.29

13.9 (6.1) 13.3 (6.6) 14.0 (5.7)

0.13

0.88

14.5 (7.2) 13.0 (5.6) 13.3 (5.3)

0.67

0.51

12.6 (6.8) 12.8 (4.4) 16.2 (6.3)

3.94

0.02

Table III. Salesperson counseling and units sold

is supported as it relates to empathy, regard, and unconditionality of regard. While no significant differences exist in terms of these dimensions, it should be recognized that in the cases of empathy and regard the differences in scores are in a manner which would indicate that greater levels of these counseling skills would lead to increased levels of performance. Moreover, the null hypothesis cannot be supported as it relates to congruence. The results show that the differences in the mean number of units sold are significant at the 0.05 level. The results indicate that a significant difference exists between the salespersons levels of congruence and the number of units sold. Individuals ranking low in congruence had a mean of 12.6 units sold, with increases in the level of congruence the mean number of units sold increases to 12.8. At the highest level of congruity, the mean number of units sold increases to 16.2. Duncans multiple-range test indicates that significant differences exist between the highest levels of congruence and the more moderate level and between the highest level of congruence and the lowest level of congruence. Hypothesis H2 cannot be rejected Results of tests of the second null hypothesis, which evaluated the relationship between the salespersons managerial rankings and that persons level of counseling skills, are shown in Table IV. As shown, none of the dimensions of counseling behavior were significantly related to managerial ratings of performance at the 0.05 level of significance. Thus, the null hypothesis specified in H2 cannot be rejected. The most significant differences in managerial ratings and counseling scores is provided in the cases of regard (0.07) and congruence (0.09). In the case of regard, the results are mixed, with higher levels of regard being negatively related to the salespersons performance ratings. When congruency is examined, performance ratings were positively and directly related to the managerial rankings of performance.
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Rank Counseling skill (%) Empathy Low (39) Middle (35) High (26) Regard Low (41) Middle (38) High (21) Unconditionality Low (37) Middle (38) High (25) Congruence Low (38) Middle (32) High (30) Low (25%) Middle (40%) High (35%)

Significance

42.9 39.3 17.9

36.4 31.8 31.8

38.5 35.9 25.6

1.75

0.78

53.6 39.3 7.1

29.5 38.6 31.8

46.1 38.5 15.4

8.56

0.07

39.3 39.3 21.4

31.8 43.2 25.0

41.0 30.8 28.2

1.69

0.79

57.1 28.6 14.3

27.3 38.6 34.1

35.9 28.2 35.9

7.99

0.09

Table IV. Demographic characteristics of the sample

Discussion The research was designed to examine the relationship between the sales performance and the counseling skills possessed by 113 car sales personnel. The analysis was performed to determine whether the skills, identified as necessary for effective counseling, overlap with the skills required for effective selling. The results indicate that the skills required for effective counseling generally are not significantly related to sales performance, as measured by units sold or managerial rankings of performance. However, there is one notable exception to these generalizations, congruence is significantly and positively related to effective sales performance. Thus, this study indicates that effective sales performance is positively related to the salespersons being honest and genuine in the sales relationship. A positive relationship between honesty and sales performance The results of the study may be perceived as discouraging by some, owing to the absence of a relationship between empathy, regard, unconditionality of regard, the global measure of counseling performance, and sales performance. However, it is believed that the discovery of a significant positive relationship between the salespersons being congruent and sales performance provides an encouraging result. This result indicates effective selling is related to ones being honest and genuine when dealing with clients. The reason this finding seems encouraging is due to the belief that this may be the easiest skill of all to possess and develop, because everyone has the capacity to be genuine. In addition, this result is viewed positively because it reveals that those individuals who believe selling is a game in which the sales representative attempts to hustle some unsuspecting buyer with a shoe shine and a smile may be forced to realize that selling entails much more.
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The managerial implications of the study are derived from the fact that congruence was positively and significantly related to sales productivity. It may seem that car salesmen are provided training in deception and fast talking. These results indicate that the stereotypical dishonest car salesman is not necessarily the most productive. Thus, it is concluded that in the automotive industry, sales managers and others responsible for hiring and training automotive sales personnel will be remiss if they base their hiring and training activities on the standards established for the stereotypical car salesman. Instead, selection and training may be based on activities designed to enhance the sales representatives ability to be honest and congruent with the consumer during the sales relationship. Limitations and future research The results reported in this article are preliminary to the degree that the study is largely exploratory. Therefore, most of the limitations of the research pertain to the need to expand the sample, conduct additional studies to validate the results, the use of additional scales to measure counseling behaviors, the use of different measures of sales effectiveness, and the need to examine the relationship between the counseling skills and other types of sales personnel. The results of the study may be attributed to the fact that the sample consisted of only car sales representatives. Automotive salespeople may differ from other sales personnel in the degree to which they are required to interact with the customer and this may help explain the findings of the research. The BLRI, while widely reported as being a reliable and valid instrument in the counseling literature, may not be valid for the assessment of the counseling skills for sales representatives. In addition, the customer/client may have provided a more accurate measure of the salespersons counseling skills, than would the salespersons self-evaluation. Consequently, future studies should be designed to validate the results by examining the relationship between counseling skills and a larger sample of salespeople. In addition, future research should be performed to examine whether different types of sales representatives require more or less of the counseling skills. For example, do industrial salespeople require more of the counseling skills than retail salespeople? Future research may be conducted to assess salesperson counseling skills by using alternative measures of such skills. Finally, future studies may examine the relationship between performance and counseling skills by using other measures of sales effectiveness. Conclusion In conclusion, while the results of the study fail to reveal significant relationships between effective sales performance and the counseling skills of empathy, regard, and unconditionality of regard, these findings are consistent with prior research in the area of empathy. Prior empathy research has failed to indicate consistently significant positive relationships between empathy and sales performance. In addition, it was discovered that congruence is significantly related to effective sales performance. This discovery represents a first, because no prior research was found which examined the relationship between congruence and sales performance. Thus, this research provides initial evidence to support the proposition that salespeople can be honest and genuine and by doing so enhance their potential for success in this competitive field.
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Additional research is required

Salespeople can be honest and genuine!

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Peterson, R. (1988), The canape approach to professional selling, Industrial Distribution, Vol. 77, May, pp. 111-5. Pettijohn, C.E., Dawson, L.E. Jr and Soper, B. (1989), Therapeutic assessment of salespersons empathy and sales performance, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 64 No. 108, pp. 883-6. Rogers, C. (1957), The necessary and sufficient conditions of therapeutic personality change, Journal of Counseling Psychology, Vol. 21, pp. 95-103. Sager, J.K. and Ferris, G.R. (1986), Personality and salesforce selection in the pharmaceutical industry, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 15, pp. 31924. Scanlon, S. (1978), Every salesperson a psychologist, Sales and Marketing Management, Vol. 130, February 5, pp. 34-6. Tobolski, F.P. and Kerr, W.A. (1952), Predictive value of the empathy test in automobile salesmanship, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 36, October, pp. 310-1. Walker, B.S. and Little, D.F. (1969), Factor analysis of the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory, Journal of Counseling Psychology, Vol. 16, November, pp. 516-21. Weitz, B.A. (1979), A critical review of personal selling research: the need for contingency approaches, in Albaum, G. and Churchill, G.A. (Eds), Critical Issues in Sales Management: State of the Art and Future Research Needs, Division of Research, College of Business Administration, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR. Weitz, B.A., Castleberry, S.B. and Tanner, J.F. (1992), Selling: Building Partnerships, Richard D. Irwin, Homewood, IL.

Charles E. Pettijohn and Linda S. Pettijohn are both Associate Professors of Marketing at Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield, Missouri, USA. Albert J. Taylor is a Professor of Marketing at Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tennessee, USA.
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