Influence Tactics for Effective Adaptive Selling

TLDR

Adaptive selling research shows that effective salespeople tailor influence tactics to buyer characteristics, yet little is known about which tactics work best for different buyer types. The authors develop a theoretical model based on Kelman's influence processes to identify the tactics salespeople use and determine which tactics resonate with task‑, interaction‑, and self‑oriented buyers. They test the model using data from 193 bidirectionally matched buyer–seller dyads. The results confirm the model, revealing that buyers are more complex than assumed and that salespeople employ the theory‑prescribed combination of tactics to persuade each buyer type.

Abstract

The adaptive selling literature identifies effective salespeople as those who match their influence tactics to suit the characteristics of buyers. However, prior research is largely silent on the specific influence tactics that salespeople use and the effectiveness of these tactics across different types of buyers. The authors propose a theoretical model that uses Kelman's (1961) underlying influence processes of internalization, compliance, and identification to identify the seller influence tactics that salespeople use and to assess which of these tactics will resonate with three types of buyers: task-oriented buyers, interaction-oriented buyers, and self-oriented buyers. The authors test their model with data from 193 bidirectionally matched buyer–seller dyads. The results strongly support the theoretical model and suggest that buyers are more complex than originally presumed. However, salespeople seem to recognize this complexity and use the combination of influence tactics prescribed by theory for persuading these types of buyers.