Contingent cross-selling and up-selling relationships with performance and job satisfaction: an MOA-theoretic examination

Abstract

Cross-selling and up-selling are common sales strategies firms use to increase the revenue their salespeople garner from customers. However, these sales approaches are difficult to implement and a large percentage of these programmes fail. Examinations of cross-selling and up-selling traditionally rely on transactional databases which do not assess the salesperson's orientations and attitudes. To overcome this limitation, the authors capture the behavioural tendencies towards cross-selling and up-selling by salespeople and embed them within a motivation-opportunity-ability (MOA) theoretical framework. Variables which fit an MOA categorization moderate the efficacy of cross-selling and up-selling on performance and job satisfaction. Using a multi-industry sample of 224 business-to-business salespeople, findings indicate a unique subset of factors differentially interact with cross-selling and up-selling in predicting performance and job satisfaction.