Abstract
Sales call anxiety (SCA) is a commonly reported fear of customer rejection by individuals making sales calls. The study focuses on the physiological symptoms, one of the four dimensions outlined by Verbeke and Bagozzi (2000), including shaky hands, sweating, quivering voice, upset stomach, dizziness, and drop in blood pressure. The research observes students in a sales class during two separate semesters to investigate SCA and factors effecting anxiety reported by the students. The longitudinal study surveyed students throughout the course to measure self-reported anxiety levels before, during, and after a multi-week telephone sales call class project. The study sought to explore whether anxiety levels would decrease over the period of the exercise, whether physiological symptoms would decrease over the same period, and if any of those factors were experienced more frequently than others measured. 63% of students reported a decrease in anxiety over the longitudinal study. 51% of students experienced a decrease in the experience of physiological symptoms measured, and tiredness was the most reported factor measured in the students who participated. In order to improve the overall impression conveyed by salespeople, study findings can be used to determine factors and corresponding physiological symptoms to decrease anxiety during sales calls.
Presenters
Anna TalafuseAssistant Professor of Marketing, College of Business, Montana State University Billings, Montana, United States Brenda Dockery
Student, Masters, Montana State University Billings-Retired, Montana, United States Jessica Perius
Business Program Instructor, Montana State University Billings, Montana, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
KEYWORDS
Anxiety, Sales Call Anxiety, Call Reluctance, Marketing, Learning Transfer Theory
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