How and when do the ambidextrous frontline sales employees achieve superior sales performance?

Abstract

PurposeBusiness-to-business (B2B) firms increasingly have a need for frontline sales employees who can both sell and service customer account, a task known as sales-service ambidexterity which may pose significant challenges to frontline sales employees. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to show that one has to be cognizant of the potential negative consequences brought about requiring frontline sales employees to engage in sales-service ambidexterity and find a way to mitigate such negative consequences.Design/methodology/approachThe multisource data for this study was collected from frontline sales employees and their respective supervisors working across multiple B2B pharmaceutical companies in a Southeast Asian country. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and PROCESS Macro.FindingsThe results reveal a negative indirect effect of sales-service ambidexterity sales performance through role overload. This negative indirect effect is fully neutralized when information exchange is high but not when it is low.Originality/valueThis study underscores the importance of not only the negative consequence of sales-service ambidexterity but also offers insights into how this negative consequence is neutralized so that sales performance is maximized.

Effects of the manager's goal orientation on frontline service employees' service–sales ambidexterity conversion

“…Fostering SSA among employees is a complex challenge that involves organizational changes, dual job roles, and conflicting work tasks (e.g. Evans et al, 1999;Hughes and Ogilvie, 2020;Jasmand et al, 2012;Sok et al, 2022). This study emphasizes how dual job roles, which are intrinsic to SSA, can affect employees directly and profoundly, often challenging or frustrating them (Sok et al, 2022).…”

“…Evans et al, 1999;Hughes and Ogilvie, 2020;Jasmand et al, 2012;Sok et al, 2022). This study emphasizes how dual job roles, which are intrinsic to SSA, can affect employees directly and profoundly, often challenging or frustrating them (Sok et al, 2022). To perform their expanded job roles, employees need essential resources, so we use conservation of resources theory as an anchor to analyze their SSA conversion.…”

“…The dual job roles associated with SSA can cause FSEs to exhaust their working capacity, between exploiting service delivery efficiency and exploring sales opportunities (Jasmand et al, 2012;Yu et al, 2013). Conceivably, SSA creates additional pressures to FSEs who were initially hired for a service role by adding sales responsibilities, which likely elevates their stress and decreases performance (Jasmand et al, 2012;Sok et al, 2022). According to Rapp et al (2017, p. 70), "Ultimately, the capacity of employees to function ambidextrously depends on two general factors: (1) whether they perceive dual sales and service roles as a stressor, and (2) if so, the kinds and amounts of resources that are available to meet the added demands incurred by the stressor-in this case, the dual-role demands of sales and service."…”

“…Ku and Huang (2016) explore conditions in which service providers should attempt cross-sales without frustrating customers and report that customer satisfaction decreases if the cross-sales effort has little relevance to the core services. Sok et al (2022) analyze the difficulty of implementing SSA and suggest that firms must be conscious of the potential negative consequences of requiring frontline employees to engage in SSA. With an information exchange view of sales activities, they emphasize resource capacity and show potentially diminishing SSA, due to role overload.…”

“…Conceivably, SSA creates additional pressures to FSEs who were initially hired for a service role by adding sales responsibilities, which likely elevates their stress and decreases performance (Jasmand et al. , 2012; Sok et al. , 2022).…”