Title: Does spiritual intelligence contribute to sales force effectiveness?

Authors: V. Kalyani; R. Saravanan

Addresses: Anna University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India ' Sree Narayana Guru Institute of Management Studies, KG Chavadi, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract: The present digitalisation era has made the marketing environment more complex and volatile demanding for more cognitive flexibility amongst organisations, but they stumble as their sales workforce may not be competent to face this ever-changing scenario. The rational sales approach will no longer be relevant in turbulent times and it is the right time for sales organisations to imbibe higher levels of intelligent quotient namely spiritual intelligence (SI) among their sales workforce. This can drive sales individuals to higher levels of cognitive thinking, flexibility and adaptability. This article applies this psychological concept to the sales workforce as it demands for more patience, cognitive thinking and adaptability along with the required sales skills. This article presents a conceptual framework showing how SI acts as a key source of increasing human capital and overcoming the major issues of career development with respect to sales force career plateau and career motivation.

Keywords: sales force; cognitive thinking; adaptability; organisational performance; spiritual intelligence; human capital; career development; sales force effectiveness; intelligent quotient; digitalisation; marketing environment; career plateau; career motivation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEMR.2020.111157

International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing, 2020 Vol.11 No.4, pp.352 - 368

Received: 21 Apr 2018
Accepted: 07 Jun 2018
Published online: 12 Nov 2020 *

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