Gleaning Marketing Intelligence from the Sales Force

• Main Authors: Bonfrer, Andre, Peters, Don, Mazany, Peter
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 1993
• Subjects: Marketing
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/2300; https://doi.org/10.1108/eb010246
• Institution: Singapore Management University

An examination is conducted of the relationships between particular managerial practices and qualities of soft intelligence information provided by the sales forces of firms responding to a mail survey. The hypotheses explored were formulated from a review of the literature and anecdotal data. Among the findings are positive associations between managerial practices designed to improve the information provided by the salesforce - such as training, involvement in decision making, recognition, and performance evaluation - and various dimensions of the information gleaned from the salesforce. The use of the salesforce as a source of marketing information is recommended, and key managerial practices are identified that may be used to improve the flow of information from the salesforce to the organization's information system.