Rapport building in B2B sales interactions: the process and explananda

References

• Agnihotri, R., V. A. Vieira, K. B. Senra, and C. B. Gabler. 2016. “Examining the Impact of Salesperson Interpersonal Mentalizing Skills on Performance: The Role of Attachment Anxiety and Subjective Happiness.” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 36 (2):174–89. doi: 10.1080/08853134.2016.1178071.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Ahearne, M., Y. Atefi, S. K. Lam, and M. Pourmasoudi. 2022. “The Future of Buyer–Seller Interactions: A Conceptual Framework and Research Agenda.” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 50 (1):22–45. doi: 10.1007/s11747-021-00803-0.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Ambady, N. 2010. “The Perils of Pondering: Intuition and Thin Slice Judgments.” Psychological Inquiry 21 (4):271–8. doi: 10.1080/1047840X.2010.524882.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Arli, D., C. Bauer, and R. W. Palmatier. 2018. “Relational Selling: Past, Present and Future.” Industrial Marketing Management 69 (Feb):169–84. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2017.07.018.
   Google Scholar
• Arundale, R. B. 2020. Communicating & Relating: Constituting Face in Everyday Interacting. New York: Oxford University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Bolander, W., L. Bonney, and C. Satornino. 2014. “Sales Education Efficacy: Examining the Relationship between Sales Education and Sales Success.” Journal of Marketing Education 36 (2):169–81. doi: 10.1177/0273475314536733.
   Google Scholar
• Bongers, F. M., J. H. Schumann, and C. Schmitz. 2021. “How the Introduction of Digital Sales Channels Affects Salespeople in Business-to-Business Contexts: A Qualitative Inquiry.” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 41 (2):150–66. doi: 10.1080/08853134.2021.1906260.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Borg, S. W., and W. J. Johnston. 2013. “The IPS-EQ Model: Interpersonal Skills and Emotional Intelligence in a Sales Process.” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 33 (1):39–51. doi: 10.2753/PSS0885-3134330104.
   Google Scholar
• Campbell, K. S., and L. Davis. 2006. “The Sociolinguistics Basis of Managing Rapport When Overcoming Buying Objections.” Journal of Business Communication 43 (1):43–66. doi: 10.1177/0021943605282098.
   Google Scholar
• Campbell, K. S., L. Davis, and L. Skinner. 2006. “Rapport Management during the Exploration Phase of the Salesperson-Customer Relationship.” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 26 (4):359–70. doi: 10.2753/PSS0885-3134260403.
   Google Scholar
• Chakrabarty, S., Widing, R. E. I. I., and G. Brown. 2014. “Selling Behaviors and Sales Performance: The Moderating and Mediating Effects of Interpersonal Mentalizing.” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 34 (2):112–22. doi: 10.1080/08853134.2014.890899.
   Google Scholar
• Cheung, F. M., F. Van de Vijver, and F. T. L. Leong. 2011. “Toward a New Approach to the Study of Personality in Culture.” The American Psychologist 66 (7):593–603. doi: 10.1037/a0022389.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Cho, J. Y., and E. H. Lee. 2014. “Reducing Confusion about Grounded Theory and Qualitative Content Analysis: Similarities and Differences.” Qualitative Report 19 (64):1–20.
   Google Scholar
• Comer, L. B., and T. Drollinger. 1999. “Active Empathetic Listening and Selling Success: A Conceptual Framework.” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 19 (1):15–29. doi: 10.1080/08853134.1999.10754156.
   Google Scholar
• Creswell, J. W., and C. N. Poth. 2016. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Approaches. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications.
   Google Scholar
• Dane, E., and M. G. Pratt. 2007. “Exploring Intuition and Its Role in Managerial Decision Making.” Academy of Management Review 32 (1):33–54. doi: 10.5465/amr.2007.23463682.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Dietvorst, R. C., W. J. Verbeke, M. I. R. P. Bagozzi, C. Yoon, M. Smits, and A. van der Lugt. 2009. “A Sales Force-Specific Theory-of-Mind Scale: Tests of Its Validity by Classical Methods and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging.” Journal of Marketing Research 46 (5):653–68. doi: 10.1509/jmkr.46.5.653.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Doi, L. Takeo. 1973. “The Japanese Patterns of Communication and the Concept of Amae.” Quarterly Journal of Speech 59 (2):180–5. doi: 10.1080/00335637309383166.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Dubois, A., and L.-E. Gadde. 2002. “Systematic Combining: An Abductive Approach to Case Research.” Journal of Business Research 55 (7):553–60. doi: 10.1016/S0148-2963(00)00195-8.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Dubois, A., and L.-E. Gadde. 2014. “Systematic Combining’: A Decade Later.” Journal of Business Research 67 (6):1277–84. doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.03.036.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• English, L. 2022. “Hybrid B2B Sales Will Be The Norm By 2024. How To Embrace The Future of Sales Now.” Forbes, August 23. https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryenglish/2022/08/23/hybrid-b2b-sales-will-be-the-norm-by-2024-how-to-embrace-the-future-of-sales-now/?sh=414d33332bb4.
   Google Scholar
• Fetvadjiev, V. H., and F. J. R. Van de Vijver. 2015. “Measures of Personality across Cultures.” In Measures of Personality and Social Psychological Constructs, edited by G. J. Boyle, D. H. Saklofske, and G. Matthews, 752–76. London: Academic Press.
   Google Scholar
• Fletcher, J. 2018. “Rapport Management.” In The Routledge Handbook of Language in the Workplace, edited by B. Vine, 33–54. New York: Taylor & Francis Group.
   Google Scholar
• Geiger, I. 2017. “A Model of Negotiation Issue-Based Tactics in Business-to-Business Sales Negotiations.” Industrial Marketing Management 64 (Jul):91–106. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2017.02.003.
   Google Scholar
• Giacobbe, R., D. Jackson, Jr., L. Crosby, and C. Bridges. 2006. “A Contingency Approach to Adaptive Selling Behavior and Sales Performance: Selling Situations and Salesperson Characteristics.” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 26 (2):115–42. doi: 10.2753/PSS0885-3134260202.
   Google Scholar
• Gioia, D. A., K. G. Corley, and A. L. Hamilton. 2013. “Seeking Qualitative Rigor in Inductive Research: Notes on the Gioia Methodology.” Organizational Research Methods 16 (1):15–31. doi: 10.1177/1094428112452151.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Good, V., E. B. Pullins, and M. Rouziou. 2022. “Persisting Changes in Sales Due to Global Pandemic Challenges.” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 42 (4):317–23. doi: 10.1080/08853134.2022.2132399.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Goodman, R. 2005. “Making Majority Culture.” In A Companion to the Anthropology of Japan, edited by J. Robertson, 59–72. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
   Google Scholar
• Goodman, R., and K. Refsing, eds. 1992. Ideology and Practice in Modern Japan. London: Routledge.
   Google Scholar
• Gremler, D., and K. Gwinner. 2000. “Customer-Employee Rapport in Service Relationships.” Journal of Service Research 3 (1):82–104. doi: 10.1177/109467050031006.
   Google Scholar
• Gremler, D., and K. Gwinner. 2008. “Rapport-Building Behaviors Used by Retail Employees.” Journal of Retailing 84 (3):308–24. doi: 10.1016/j.jretai.2008.07.001.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hall, E. T. 1976. Beyond Culture. New York: Anchor Books.
   Google Scholar
• Hall, E. T., and M. R. Hall. 1987. Hidden Differences: Doing Business with the Japanese. New York: Anchor Books.
   Google Scholar
• Hall, Z. R., M. Ahearne, and H. Sujan. 2015. “The Importance of Starting Right: The Influence of Accurate Intuition on Performance in Salesperson–Customer Interactions.” Journal of Marketing 79 (3):91–109. doi: 10.1509/jm.13.0505.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hirschman, E. C. 1986. “Humanistic Inquiry in Marketing Research: Philosophy, Method, and Criteria.” Journal of Marketing Research 23 (3):237–49. doi: 10.1177/002224378602300304.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Järvensivu, T., and J. Å. Törnroos. 2010. “Case Study Research with Moderate Constructionism: Conceptualization and Practical Illustration.” Industrial Marketing Management 39 (1):100–8. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2008.05.005.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Johnson, C., T. Kaski, Y. Karsten, A. Alamäki, and S. Stack. 2021. “The Role of Salesperson Emotional Behavior in Value Proposition Co-Creation.” Journal of Services Marketing 35 (5):617–33. doi: 10.1108/JSM-11-2019-0455.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Johnson, J. S. 2015. “Qualitative Sales Research: An Exposition of Grounded Theory.” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 35 (3):262–73. doi: 10.1080/08853134.2014.954581.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Julkunen, S., J. Koponen, and D. Nickell. 2022. “Understanding Value Creation through Digital and in-Person Communication in Solution.” Nordic Journal of Business 71 (1):5–25.
   Google Scholar
• Kaski, T., J. Niemi, and E. B. Pullins. 2018. “Rapport Building in Authentic B2B Sales Interaction.” Industrial Marketing Management 69 (Feb):235–52. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2017.08.019.
   Google Scholar
• Keuer, W., H. Shen, Y. Suzuki, and L. Dingemann. 2022. “How a Strategic Approach to Investor Relations Can Unlock Intrinsic Value.” Bain & Company. Accessed 29 January 2023. https://www.bain.com/how-we-help/how-a-strategic-approach-to-investor-relations-can-unlock-intrinsic-value/.
   Google Scholar
• Kidwell, B., J. Hasford, B. Turner, D. M. Hardesty, and A. R. Zablah. 2021. “Emotional Calibration and Salesperson Performance.” Journal of Marketing 85 (6):141–61. doi: 10.1177/0022242921999603.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Kidwell, B., R. G. McFarland, and R. A. Avila. 2007. “Perceiving Emotion in the Buyer–Seller Interchange: The Moderated Impact on Performance.” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 27 (2):119–32. doi: 10.2753/PSS0885-3134270201.
   Google Scholar
• Komiya, N., and K. Tudor. 2016. “Reading the Air’, Finding Common Ground: Reconsidering Rogers’ Therapeutic Conditions as a Framework for Understanding Therapy in Japan.” Asia Pacific Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy 7 (1–2):26–38. doi: 10.1080/21507686.2016.1157088.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Koponen, J., S. Julkunen, and A. Asai. 2019. “Sales Communication Competence in International B2B Solution Selling.” Industrial Marketing Management 82 (Oct):238–52. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2019.01.009.
   Google Scholar
• Lau, A. S., S.-w. Wang, J. J. Fung, and M. Namikoshi. 2014. “What Happens When You “Can’t Read the Air”? Cultural Fit and Aptitude by Values Interactions on Social Anxiety.” Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 33 (10):853–66. doi: 10.1521/jscp.2014.33.10.853.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Lebra, T. S. 2004. The Japanese Self in Cultural Logic. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
   Google Scholar
• Leech, G. 2014. The Pragmatics of Politeness. New York: Oxford University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Lincoln, Y. S., and E. G. Guba. 1985. Naturalistic Inquiry. Newbury Park: SAGE Publications.
   Google Scholar
• Locander, D. A., J. A. Locander, and F. J. Weinberg. 2020. “How Salesperson Traits and Intuitive Judgments Influence Adaptive Selling: A Sensemaking Perspective.” Journal of Business Research 118 (Sept):452–62. doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.07.013.
   Google Scholar
• Macfarlane, B., and Y. Saitoh. 2008. “Research Ethics in Japanese Higher Education: Faculty Attitudes and Cultural Mediation.” Journal of Academic Ethics 6 (3):181–95. doi: 10.1007/s10805-008-9065-9.
   Google Scholar
• Martinus, K., and D. Hedgcock. 2015. “The Methodological Challenge of Cross-National Qualitative Research – Comparative Case Study Interviews in Australia and Japan.” Qualitative Research Journal 15 (3):373–86. doi: 10.1108/QRJ-07-2013-0046.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Matsumoto, Y. 1988. “Reexamination of the Universality of Face: Politeness Phenomena in Japanese.” Journal of Pragmatics 12 (4):403–26. doi: 10.1016/0378-2166(88)90003-3.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Moncrief, W. C., and G. W. Marshall. 2005. “The Evolution of the Seven Steps of Selling.” Industrial Marketing Management 34 (1):13–22. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2004.06.001.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Ohiomah, A., M. Benyoucef, and P. Andreev. 2020. “A Multidimensional Perspective of Business-to-Business Sales Success: A Meta-Analytic Review.” Industrial Marketing Management 90 (Oct):435–52. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.08.011.
   Google Scholar
• Osland, J. S., and A. Bird. 2000. “Beyond Sophisticated Stereotyping: Cultural Sensemaking in Context.” Academy of Management Perspectives 14 (1):65–77. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4165609. doi: 10.5465/ame.2000.2909840.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Patton, M. Q. 1999. “Enhancing the Quality and Credibility of Qualitative Analysis.” Health Services Research 34 (5 Pt 2):1189–208.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Peltokorpi, V. 2007. “Intercultural Communication Patterns and Tactics: Nordic Expatriates in Japan.” International Business Review 16 (1):68–82. doi: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2006.12.001.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Pullin, P. 2010. “Small Talk, Rapport, and International Communicative Competence.” Journal of Business Communication 47 (4):455–76. doi: 10.1177/0021943610377307.
   Google Scholar
• Román, S., and D. Iacobucci. 2010. “Antecedents and Consequences of Adaptive Selling Confidence and Behavior: A Dyadic Analysis of Salespeople and Their Customers.” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 38 (3):363–82. doi: 10.1007/s11747-009-0166-9.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Sammons, K., J. Weil, N. J. Karli, and A. Watabe. 2019. Interviewer Effect and Context When Conducting Qualitative Interviews with Older Persons in Contemporary Japan. SAGE Research Methods Cases. London: SAGE Publications. doi: 10.4135/9781526477699.
   Google Scholar
• Singh, J., K. Flaherty, S. S. Sohi, D. Deeter-Schmelz, J. Habel, K. Le Meunier-FitzHugh, A. Malshe, R. Mullins, and V. Onyemah. 2019. “Sales Profession and Professionals in the Age of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence Technologies: Concepts, Priorities, and Questions.” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 39 (1):2–22. doi: 10.1080/08853134.2018.1557525.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Spencer-Oatey, H. 2000. Culturally Speaking: Managing Rapport through Talk across Cultures. London: Continuum.
   Google Scholar
• Spencer-Oatey, H. 2002. “Managing Rapport in Talk: Using Rapport Sensitive Incidents to Explore the Motivational Concerns Underlying the Management of Relations.” Journal of Pragmatics 34 (5):529–45. doi: 10.1016/S0378-2166(01)00039-X.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Spencer-Oatey, H. 2005. “(Im)Politeness, Face and Perceptions of Rapport: Unpackaging Their Bases and Interrelationships.” Journal of Politeness Research. Language, Behaviour, Culture 1 (1):95–119. doi: 10.1515/jplr.2005.1.1.95.
   Google Scholar
• Spencer-Oatey, H. 2007. “Theories of Identity and the Analysis of Face.” Journal of Pragmatics 39 (4):639–56. doi: 10.1016/j.pragma.2006.12.004.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Spencer-Oatey, H. 2015. “Rapport Management Model.” In The International Encyclopedia of Language and Social Interaction, edited by K. Tracy, C. Ilie, and T. Sandel, 1286–91. London: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
   Google Scholar
• Spencer-Oatey, H., and D. Kádár. 2016. “The Bases of (Im)Politeness Evaluations: Culture, the Moral Order and the East–West Debate.” East Asian Pragmatics 1 (1):73–106. doi: 10.1558/eap.v1i1.29084.
   Google Scholar
• Spencer-Oatey, H., and P. Franklin. 2009. Intercultural Interaction: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Intercultural Communication. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
   Google Scholar
• Spiro, R. L., and B. A. Weitz. 1990. “Adaptive Selling: Conceptualization, Measurement, and Nomological Validity.” Journal of Marketing Research 27 (1):61–9. doi: 10.2307/3172551.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Spiro, R. L., W. D. Perreault, Jr., and F. D. Reynolds. 1976. “The Personal Selling Process: A Critical Review and Model.” Industrial Marketing Management 5 (6):351–63. doi: 10.1016/0019-8501(76)90017-1.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Steward, M. D., J. A. Narus, M. L. Roehm, and W. Ritz. 2019. “From Transactions to Journeys and beyond: The Evolution of B2B Buying Process Modeling.” Industrial Marketing Management 83 (Nov):288–300. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2019.05.002.
   Google Scholar
• Storbacka, K. 2011. “A Solution Business Model: Capabilities and Management Practices for Integrated Solutions.” Industrial Marketing Management 40 (5):699–711. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2011.05.003.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Sugimoto, Y. 2010. An Introduction to Japanese Society. 3rd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Ulaga, W., and A. K. Kohli. 2018. “The Role of a Solutions Salesperson: Reducing Uncertainty and Fostering Adaptiveness.” Industrial Marketing Management 69 (Feb):161–8. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2017.11.008.
   Google Scholar
• van Maanen, J., J. Sörensen, and T. Mitchell. 2007. “The Interplay between Theory and Method.” Academy of Management Review 32 (4):1145–54. doi: 10.5465/amr.2007.26586080.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Weitz, B., H. Sujan, and M. Sujan. 1986. “Knowledge, Motivation, Adaptive Behavior: A Framework for Improving Selling Effectiveness.” Journal of Marketing 50 (4):174–91. doi: 10.1177/002224298605000404.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Weitz, B., S. Castleberry, and J. Tanner. 1992. Selling: Building Partnerships. Boston: Irwin.
   Google Scholar
• Williams, K., and R. Spiro. 1985. “Communication Style in the Salesperson-Customer Dyad.” Journal of Marketing Research 22 (4):434–42. doi: 10.1177/002224378502200408.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Yoshimura, N., and P. Anderson. 1997. Inside the Kaisha – Demystifying Japanese Business Behavior. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
   Google Scholar
• Zeithaml, V. A., B. J. Jaworski, A. K. Kohli, K. R. Tuli, W. Ulaga, and G. Zaltman. 2020. “A Theories-in-Use Approach to Building Marketing Theory.” Journal of Marketing 84 (1):32–51. doi: 10.1177/00222429198884.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar