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0019-8501/99/$see front matterPII S0019-8501(98)00032-7

Industrial Marketing Management28, 589599 (1999)

1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.655 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10010

Intercultural Interaction

Strategies and

Relationship Selling inIndustrial Markets

Roberta J. Schultz

Kenneth R. EvansDavid J. Good

The academic literature has convincingly noted the growing

importance and impact that corporate culture has on the be-

havior of firms. Correspondingly, industrial sellers are in-

creasingly relying on relationship selling as a key marketing

strategy. In conjunction with these two issues, this article dem-

onstrates how capitalizing on an effective understanding of the

buyers corporate culture can be used by sellers to achieve a

competitive advantage in developing and maintaining long-

term buyerseller relationships. The implications of this ap-

proach are also discussed. 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All

rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION

Attempts to develop frameworks dedicated to under-

standing the dynamics of the buyerseller paradigm have

been abundant in the academic and practitioner literature.In conjunction with this continued interest in relationship

selling, the need exists to revisit these buyersellerframeworks to incorporate contemporary business prac-

tices/needs [1].Relationship selling seeks to build upon the mutual

benefits sought by buyers and sellers within the context

of a single exchange into a network of transactions facili-tated by buyer and seller intimacy (e.g., [2, 3]). Yet, de-

spite advantages, business relationships are difficult to

achieve and maintain due to changing buyer and seller

Address correspondence to Roberta J. Schultz, Assistant Professor,

Department of Marketing, Western Michigan University, 2333 E. Beltline, SE,

Grand Rapids, MI 49546.

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needs [4, 5]. For instance, manufacturers may changecore business strategies, which in turn, threaten long-term

relationships with established sellers/buyers. To respond

to the changing nature of business-to-business relation-

ship opportunities and to survive in volatile business en-vironments, sellers must be able to identify where it is

appropriate to build and/or adjust buyer relationships. Inthis setting, a key determinant of the sellers success inestablishing and sustaining these relationships is often

his/her ability to understand and interact within the

buyers organizational culture.

The process of establishing a buyer relationship can belikened to a stranger (salesperson) entering a foreign cul-

ture, with little knowledge of local buyer behavior, be-

liefs, activities, motivations, customs, or organizationalnuances. For instance, a business forms salesperson may

need to carefully navigate toward the key decision maker

in the buyers firm while attending to organizational pro-tocol. Lacking sufficient sensitivity to these cultural nu-

ances could contribute to a breach of etiquette, which in

turn, may seriously jeopardize the relationship. It is under

this premise therefore, that this article seeks to addressthe influence of intercultural interactions on initiating and

sustaining buyerseller interactions [610]. Further, this ar-

ticle explores key issues relating intercultural interactionto relational selling, as well as strategies and tactics de-

signed to encourage these interactions.

IMPORTANCE OF ADAPTABILITY ININDUSTRIAL MARKETS

Relationship selling strategically creates value through

the construction of close alliances between buyers and

sellers. Relational selling requires extensive knowledge

about the other party, as well as a commitment to such is-sues as trust and cooperation [11, 12]. The majority of

the industrial salespersons time in the context of interor-

ganizational relationships therefore, is devoted to work-ing with the buyer in such activities as determining

needs, co-developing joint plans and support, and match-

ing client needs with seller abilities [13]. Consequently,

the extent of the interpersonal/cross-functional interac-tion in relational sales contexts usually results in multiple

members in the buying (e.g., finance, production, etc.)

and selling functions (e.g., sales, manufacturing) partici-

pating in the exchange process. Importantly, these com-plexities suggest salespeople must adapt to changing con-

ditions [14, 15], as they enter various buyer environments[16], while seeking to maintain and enhance client rela-

tionships [17]. For instance, conflict [18], altering priori-

ties [19], changing environments [20], organizational re-

structuring [21, 22], and vacillation within and amongindividual needs [23], all may require modifications in

selling practice that must comply with the organizational

culture of the buyer [24, 25].Yet, despite the importance of organizational culture in

business-to-business relationships, contemporary frame-

works do not explain how relational sellers strategicallyenter and/or adjust to transformations within the buyers

organizational culture. For example, how should a sales

representative of training materials access the account

decision-making hierarchy, and what protocols for salescontact should he/she utilize? This article demonstrates

that answers to these questions, in part, relate to the abil-

ity of sellers to understand and interact within the organi-zational culture of their buyers.

ROBERTA J. SCHULTZ is an Assistant Professor at WesternMichigan University, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

KENNETH R. EVANS is a Professor of Marketing and AssociateDean of the College of Business and Public Administration atthe University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri.

DAVID J. GOOD is a Professor of Marketing at Grand ValleyState University, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Sellers must be able to identify where it is

appropriate to build and/or adjust buyer

relationships.

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THE CULTURE OF BUYERS

Corporate culture has received considerable general

academic [2631] and marketing attention [3234]. Cul-

ture from an anthropological perspective focuses on theevolution, migration, and general characteristics of civi-

lization. Further, while most of the cultural work in

marketing has addressed international business strategy,

surprisingly little attention has been directed toward un-derstanding those factors that contribute to successful

cultural excursions that are commonplace to the busi-

ness-to-business salesperson. Analogous to internationalmarkets where buyers and sellers cultures can be quite

different [35], domestic salespeople must work within

the periphery of their own corporate culture and theirbuyers. As a result, understanding the issues involved in

bridging corporate cultures (intercultural interaction)

particularly in relationship selling situations [10], ap-

pears to be a valuable addition to the marketing and gen-

eral business management literature, as well as manage-rial practices.

Organizational culture is a complex concept, that hasbeen misunderstood and confused with climate, phi-

losophy, ideology, style, and even management

principles. Here, organizational culture is defined as thepattern of shared values and beliefs that helps individuals

understand organizational functioning and thus provide

them norms for behavior in the organization ([36], p. 4).

General manifestations of a corporate culture are sharedobjects, talk, behavior, and emotion, while specific indi-

cations of culture include rites, rituals, legends, stories,

values, and heroes [37, 38]. The influence of corporateculture [39] has been characterized as an informal, hid-

den force within a firm that affects the behavior and pro-

ductivity of employees beyond the more formal influ-

ences associated with written policies and guidelines [40,41]. It is this cultural context of the buyer that serves as

the salespersons workshop. Salespeople enter these en-

vironments as strangers realizing that a successful excur-sion is in no small part dependent upon their ability to

identify and adapt to the cultural demands of the buyers

organization.

THE SALESPERSON: A STRANGER IN AFOREIGN CULTURE

Salespeople often enter the buyers environment as a

stranger. However to achieve their objectives, particu-larly in relationship sales contexts, these sellers must ob-

tain a cultural intelligence of the buyers organization be-

yond the knowledge of an outsider. For example, a sellerof manufacturing equipment making a first visit with a

potential buyer understands that the lack of an existing

relationship with the buyer makes an imminent sale un-likely. To successfully engage in the early stage of the

sales process, the salesperson must participate in a vari-

ety of activities (e.g., encouraging the buyer to share pro-

prietary information). These activities must follow cul-

tural protocols including such issues as who shouldparticipate in sales discussions, what information should

be shared, and when information should be shared. Inthis setting, salespeople must become sufficiently cul-

turally adept to comply with these interorganizational

protocols.As strangers, salespeople lose their advantage of phys-

ical proximity to the buyer if they remain culturally re-

mote (e.g., due to different value and beliefs of strang-

ers) [42]. Consequently, the challenge is for thesalesperson to assume the role of a managerial anthropol-

ogist and identify appropriate behaviors for effectively

operating within the cultural domain of the buyers orga-nization [4346] while moving beyond the stranger sta-

tus that originally exists in a new selling situation.

Initially, as a stranger, relational sellers can be por-trayed as a newcomer, immigrant, or marginal per-

son [47]. In turn, each of these roles offers different

buyer penetration levels, as well as required investments

and commitments. The extent to which a given level ofcultural penetration is desired depends upon the nature of

Bridging corporate cultures appears to be

valuable.

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the relationship required to facilitate the buyer/seller ex-

change. Understanding the buyers status in this context

provides valuable insight into how (if at all) the buyingculture can be accessed by the seller. These roles are

identified in Table 1.

A newcomer might be considered as a seller whoseorientation the buyer views as positive. An example of

this might occur when an established national account

team or a just-in-time partnership is needed by buyers toaccomplish their specific goals [48]. Because of the ex-

pectation by the buyer that this stranger (salesperson) can

contribute positively to the goals of the buyer, the buyeris more likely to attempt to facilitate the sellers introduc-tion into the buying culture. In accordance with such a fa-

vored position, the seller can expect to find buyer support

when constructing a relationship under this premise. In-dustrial sellers seeking this status therefore, must be posi-

tioned so that buyers value their participation. For in-

stance, when a seller of manufacturing equipment is ableto offer a product that uniquely satisfies the needs of the

buyer, acquiring newcomer status is more likely. Hence,

being a newcomer provides the greatest opportunity for

cultural immersion, as buyers are motivated to expeditethe sellers cultural education. However, because the

newcomer status depends upon favorable exchange con-

ditions for the buyer, sellers must continue to offer suffi-cient value to maintain diplomatic privileges.

The immigrant faces ambivalent buyers, suggesting

that previous sellers have been unsuccessful in entering

the buyers culture due either to buyer or seller con-straints. Because this stage suggests a level of indiffer-

ence on the part of buyers, relational sellers desiring to

enter these cultures must commit resources that offer suf-ficient net added value, or accept the ongoing stranger

status. Visualize a company representative sent into anorganization to introduce a new account to a new productapplication. As an immigrant the seller has neither a cul-

tural past nor immediate clues of how to manage through

the cultural milieu. Overcoming buyer ambivalence can

be a critical step in establishing a buyerseller relation-ship, as the time required for cultural immersion can be

extensive, and opportunities to access the buyers culture

are limited. To obtain cultural immersion however, the

salesperson must increase the buyers motivation to in-

vest in providing cultural education (e.g., getting buyersto accept the economic advantages of bringing the seller

into the buyers cultural setting).

In contrast to the potentially positive returns of the

newcomer or immigrant, the marginal person starts onthe boundary of the buyers point of entry, and from

there, attempts to negotiate beyond stranger status [49].

This role may arise due to a need to rebuild unsuccessfulor partially successful past relationships, or to overcome

negative cultural biases held by the buyer toward the

seller. For instance, the buyer may have at one time pur-chased poorly performing products, creating tension withthe seller. Thus, while the seller may require cultural im-

mersion to design products/services to meet the buyers

needs, the buyer may have determined that this seller willnever become a cultural insider. Government purchas-

ing characterizes this type of cultural integration where

policies and procedures often dictate arms-length rela-tionships. Hence, while the seller may obtain some mini-

mal knowledge of the buyers culture, it will be difficult

Sellers must become culturally adept.

TABLE 1

Salesperson Roles as Strangers

Roles Conditions

Newcomer Welcomed by buyers (positive reception)

Buyers anticipate positive returns from relationship

with sellers

Greatest cultural penetration of buying environment

Requires investment by sellers to maintain penetration

opportunities

Buyers/sellers jointly see rewards of exchange

Immigrant Ambivalent (indifferent) reception from buyer

Sellers must emphasize buyer returns and opportunities

to commingle culturesSellers must sell advantages of further penetration

to buyers

Strategic investments by seller to become newcomer

Moderate penetration opportunities

Marginal person Unwelcome reception by buyers

Rebuilding of buyer relationships required

Penetration of buyer cultures not likely (low)

Resources should be directed to more rewarding

opportunities if client relationships desired

Minimal relationship opportunities

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to overcome negative biases or policies of the buyer thatlimit relationship opportunities.

As noted above, the buyer receptiveness (positive to

negative) plays a major role in shaping cultural immer-sion by the salesperson (the stranger). The strategies to

manage the varying levels of sellers cultural competency

and reception by the buyer are the focus of the followingdiscussion.

INTERCULTURAL INTERACTION STRATEGIES

Acculturation is the continuous process by which

strangers are socialized into a host culture, leading to-

ward a greater compatibility with or fit into the hostculture ([50], p. 3). Theoretical and research support for

the effects upon individuals acculturating into different

cultures offers a variety of applications to the sales con-

text [51, 52]. For instance, the interactions among buyer/seller corporate cultures may be frequent and pervasive,

as salespeople range from being spectators (e.g., sales

trainees) to being actively involved in, and part of thebuyers culture (e.g., participants included in joint strate-

gic planning). To obtain this cultural immersion, there

are four modes of interaction that an industrial salesper-

son may adopt: assimilation, separation, marginalization,and integration [53]. Each of these modes are presented

in Table 2.

As noted in Table 2, assimilation represents total inte-gration, where an individual relinquishes his/her own

culture and ultimately obtains citizenship within the newculture. Complete absorption into the buyers culturesuggests that the salesperson loses his/her identity with

the selling organization (the employer), which in turn

may effect the quality of the sellers advocacy on behalf

of the selling firm. This strategy may be preferable how-ever, when the selling goal is to become highly inter-

mixed into the buying firms organizational culture.

Much as a foreigner who becomes totally immersed in a

new culture, the salesperson may seek citizenship in thenew firm, disavowing primary responsibilities to his/her

employer. The danger of this cultural immersion is par-

ticularly evident however, when selling firms strategi-cally place their sales force in close, cohesive links with

buying organizations (e.g., national accounts), and as a

result, the loss of key sales personnel may be possible.For instance, AT&T had this problem for many years, asthey strategically sought to place highly technical sales-

people in close working proximity to buyers (often shar-

ing offices). Impressed with superior technical knowl-edge, clients often allowed these salespeople to become

assimilated for the purpose of gaining technical knowl-

edge, and in turn, these clients frequently hired thesesalespeople for their expertise.

Separation reflects the desire to maintain and propa-

gate ones own culture and often exists in cases of domi-

nant cultures. For instance, when a buying organization

Stranger roles suggest buyer penetration

levels, required investments, and necessary

commitments.

TABLE 2

Intercultural Interaction of Strategies and Their Impacts

Strategy Impacts on Industrial Sellers

Assimilation Relinquishing of own culture

Loss of loyalty of salespeople to selling organization

Selling organizational contact with

salespeople diminishes

Separation Buyers culture dominates

Salespeople must disregard their own culture

Potential for resentment to cultural domination

Marginalization Salespeople lose professional ties with both buying and

selling cultures

Cultural separation continues to evolve

Loss of loyalty to seller and buyer objectives and culture

Integration Requires desire to satisfy both buyer and seller cultures

Encourages long-term value to buyers and sellers

Salespeople need to balance diverse cultures and needs

Sellers must commit resources to understanding

buyer cultures

Fosters long-term buyer/seller relationships

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completely dominates the marketplace (e.g., Wal-Mart),the buyer may insist sellers honor all of their established

procedures as part of the buying ritual. Consequently, the

total commitment required to submit to a different culturesuggests adapting firms must see significant benefits to

accept this interaction. Typically therefore, separation is

useful when one party dominates a market, and the sec-ond party (e.g., the sellers) is willing to accept being cul-

turally submissive. However, when cultural domination

is not desired by one of the parties, this can produce neg-ative attitudes harmful to cultivating long-term relation-ships (e.g., resentment to being culturally dominated).

Marginalization occurs when an individual or group is

out of cultural and psychological contact with both theirown culture and another society with which they are

seeking contact. This is evidenced when firms employ

the services of the manufacturers representative to pene-trate a new market. The representative operates outside

his/her own culture and potentially outside the buyers

culture unless capable of developing buyer cultural

knowledge. By choosing to employ this sales strategy,the manufacturer must manage its marketing and busi-

ness strategies recognizing the representative must be ac-

culturated into the manufacturers culture, as well as thebuyers, despite their independence. The merits of the

representatives cultural affinity with the buyer not with-

standing, the manufacturer must accept as part of its stra-

tegic planning relatively high levels of manufactureragent and buyer cultural uncertainty.

Integration is differentiated from the previous three

strategies in that it suggests a balancing of both cultures(buyer and seller), with emphasis on the maintenance of

ones own culture (i.e., the sellers) as well as active par-ticipation in the larger society (i.e., the buyers culture).Different levels of integration range from minimal to

maximum interaction, as the salesperson seeks to become

deeply acculturated into the buyers culture while still

maintaining an identity with his/her own organization.For example, integration occurs when relational sales-

people work within the distinctly unique demands of

some clients, while satisfying different, and sometimes

conflicting requirements of employers. This can be seenwith sellers of industrial insurance, where each account

often has highly unique needs. The salesperson must pen-

etrate the buying culture sufficiently to construct a cover-age program uniquely designed for the buyer, as well as

be able to understand the culture of his/her own firm well

enough to sell the conditions and benefits of this insur-ance package. The danger to this strategy however, is that

the balancing of diverse cultures can cause problems. For

example, large differences in types of buyer/seller man-agement, criteria for success, buyers sold to, businessstandards, and philosophies of the firms, may all result in

different cultural structures between the buying and sell-

ing culture, that in turn, cause internal conflict for thesalesperson. Therefore, when integration is being used,

and vast differences regularly exist between the selling

and buying cultures, sales organizations need to offermechanisms (e.g., systematic review of internally accept-

able behaviors) to reduce conflict fostered through work-

ing in contrasting cultures. Thus, while integration is fre-

quently a preferred strategy, sellers must invest resourcesto allow for dual interaction, intervening when interac-

tion appears to be overly extensive.

While these four cultural penetration strategies offerdifferent benefits, selling organizations need to oversee

the activities of salespeople to ensure these strategies are

consistent with managerial intentions. For example, inte-gration may be the goal of the selling organization

whereas the salesperson may be pursuing assimilation.

Selling organizations need to recognize the importance of

buyer cultural competency among the sales staff. Further,training and supervisory efforts should seek to foster

these behaviors by focusing on appropriate reward mech-anisms.

In addition to the strategic issues discussed above, a

variety of seller and buyer characteristics that influence

intercultural interaction are identified in Table 3.As noted in Table 3, effective interface with the corpo-

rate culture of buyers is dependent upon the seller engag-

ing in activities consistent with the desired strategy. For

example, marginalization suggests salespeople will be

There are four modes of intercultural

interaction for industrial sellers.

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separated from buying and selling cultures. Accordingly,the activities of selling organizations should include

identifying markets of sufficient size where buyers prefer

arms-length transactions. Should the manufacturer be us-

ing independent representatives, managing some level ofperiodic contact with representatives is essential to assure

they understand the manufacturers program(s) to assure

quality and customer service. Should the manufacturersrepresentative not have continuous interaction with inde-

pendent representatives, the manufacturers cultural com-mitment to product performance is lost among all theother firms the representative is handling (causing incor-

rect or insufficient communication of product informa-

tion).

Thus, while industrial sellers participating in intercul-tural interaction should anticipate engaging in activities

to cultivate a desired strategy, these strategies and their

corresponding activities can also be influenced by severalfactors. Examples of these factors are discussed.

Seller Characteristics Influencing

Intercultural Interaction

P

AST

E

XERIENCE

. Past experience between the stran-

ger (salesperson) and the host (buyer) will influence en-tering the host (buying) culture. Examples include the

amount of prestige, and special skills sellers bring to the

relationship. For instance, when a seller has offered sig-

nificant benefits to the buyer, his/her acculturation maybe expected to be easier than a salesperson who did not

possess these attributes.

F

AMILIARITY

. Degree of familiarity with the host cul-ture prior to or during the initial period of adaptation will

influence the interaction. Knowledge about the buyersnorms, customs, social, economic and political systemshelps reduce uncertainty and contributes to the sellers

intercultural interactive capacities. As a result, exposure

to similar buyer cultures, as well as training about buyer

corporate cultures, makes the cultural interaction by sell-ers easier, and more productive. For example, a seller of

building furniture who had learned from previous inter-

actions that upper management expected large purchases

to be negotiated with an individual who was not obvi-ously in the buying group would be more likely to have

positive intercultural interaction than a less familiar

seller.

C

ONTACT

W

ITH

O

THER

S

ELLERS

. Contact with othersellers provides opportunities to interact culturally

through sharing. For sellers, favorable conditions in in-

tercultural contact include opportunities to make contactswith members of their own culture [7]. For example, if a

seller is working with a second firm in providing a coor-dinated proposal, and the second firm has previously en-tered the buyers culture, the second seller can be used as

a bridge into the clients culture. Several contemporary

business practices offer support for the salesperson be-

haviors. First, the trend toward team selling offers sales-

Intercultural strategies can encourage

interaction.

TABLE 3

Seller Activities Required for Intercultural Strategies

Strategy Sellers Should

Assimilation Focus all attention on buyer needs

Utilize salespeople who prefer/enjoy buyers culture(e.g., past employees)

Tie salespeoples rewards to understanding the culture

of buyers

Place sales personnel in physical proximity to buyer

Create mechanisms to ensure loyality of salespeople to

selling culture

Separation Allow buyer to dictate conditions/terms

Assign salespeople willing to be culturally submissive and

not combative

Determine value of own culture (e.g., economic and

human costs)

Develop knowledge of historical details of buyers

exchange policies

Marginalization Develop buyers who dont require culture intermixingEnsure independence will not impact sales performance

Support salespeople working in buyer/seller culture

Maintain some buyer/seller cultural contact for salespeople

Integration Reward salespeople who maintain long-term

client relationships

Reward salespeople who meet buyer and seller goals

Utilize salespeople comfortable in buyers environment

Build buyer interest in using sellers who meet their

firms goals

Maintain internal processes to retain cultural balance

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people and their organizations opportunities to share in

the intercultural experience with others. If resources areavailable or justified for multiple member sales teams,

sellers should attempt to capitalize on the advice and ex-

perience of other sellers who have faced either similarbuyer corporate cultures or this particular culture. Sec-

ond, and as noted in the example above, another option is

to contact sellers from other non-competing vendors who

share the need to penetrate into a buyers culture (this oc-curs most commonly when sellers interact with other

vendors fulfilling complex buyer needs).

Buyer Characteristics InfluencingIntercultural Interaction

A

CCESSIBILITY

. Accessibility of decision makers

and interpersonal interaction with members of the buyers

culture allow for more expedient intercultural interaction.For example, Peace Corps volunteers who work and livewith local residents have greater cultural immersion than

if they lived in a hotel. Applied to the industrial salesper-

son, the more time spent with members of the buyersculture (office visits, traveling together, etc.), the greater

development of the relationship. For instance, intercul-

tural interaction opportunities are increased when clientsallow salespeople to have offices on the buyers premises

(increasing opportunities for assimilation).

S

TEREOTYPES

O

F

S

ELLERS

. Categorization refers to

putting discrete elements into groups (i.e., stereotyping).Once stereotypes are formed, we tend to ignore individ-

ual characteristics, and based on our stereotypes, we in-

terpret strangers behavior and make predictions abouthow they will respond to us ([43], p. 28). In the sales

context, buyers frequently form stereotypes about sales-

people and their companies (e.g., all IBM salespeople

wear white shirts), suggesting sellers attempting accul-turation need to strengthen positive stereotypes and over-

come negative categorizations about themselves, their

company, and/or products. For instance, for manyyears Apple Computer was stereotyped as producing

very friendly software, even as competitors (e.g., Mi-crosoft) were making significant gains in this area.Hence, for some time following Apples prominence in

the market, salespeople benefited from Apples positive

halo effect.

C

RITERIA

U

SED

F

OR

A

CCEPTING

G

ROUP

M

EMBERS

.Various buyer cultures utilize different criteria for

accepting sellers into the group. Under this premise, eth-

nocentrism refers to the inclination of identifying with

the in- group and evaluating out-groups according to the

in-group standards which in turn may impact the buyersassessment [43, 54]. Accordingly, in-group members

tend to view their values and ways as right and as supe-

rior to those of the out-group. For instance, some buyercultures only consider suppliers of certain capacity capa-

bilities and credit ratings, while others utilize criteria

such as minority ownership, or location of a manufactur-

ing plant.

The Salesperson as a Cultural Anthropologist

To successfully use these intercultural strategies, in-

formation must be collected about the buyers culture.

While a number of methodologies may be used to collectcultural information, the procedures designed by cultural

anthropologists to understand foreign cultures may be

particularly useful in a sales context. The similarities be-tween foreign travelers and salespeople are noteworthywith respect to the needs to cognitively assess and de-

velop effective coping strategies necessary to adjust to

the foreign culture [6, 55]. For example, one method usessystematic observation and requires the seller to conduct

in-depth, first-hand fieldwork and to prepare an ethnog-

raphy (a description and analysis of a single culture) [5658]. Similar techniques have been used to explore the

viewpoints of technical professionals in Silicon Valley

[59]. For national and/or key accounts these methods are

often implemented to varying degrees by sales organiza-tions as they seek more information from present and fu-

ture accounts [10].

Anthropologists have employed methodologies thatfocus on comparisons and contrasts among different cul-

tural groupings. This technique typifies cross-cultural re-

searchers as they seek to identify conditions that support

or refute a particular theory. Similarly salespeople seekto identify cultural characteristics in different companies,

or for that matter branch offices of the same company,

which differ and determine the extent to which these dif-ferences contribute to necessary changes in overall sales

strategies and tactics.As a stranger, the seller initially approaches the buyer

without a working knowledge of the buyers nuances

such as intraorganizational networks and politics [60]. As

the salesperson begins the socialization journey [61], he/

she becomes more immersed in the buyers culture andmust overcome cultural barriers encountered along the

way. One frequently investigated phenomenon in this

context is the outsiders tendency to categorize/classify

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observed events into preexisting schema [62]. In in-

stances where the relative importance of the account doesnot justify extensive cultural exploration, salespeople

may find it convenient to rely on these stereotypes as-

suming that the categorization heuristic contributes toconstructive sales dialogue. By contrast, customers/pros-

pects representing business opportunities of larger mag-

nitude, demand the use of systematic information acqui-

sition dedicated to identifying the cultural nuances thatcharacterize the buyers purchase and use environment.

In these instances, efforts to identify similarities (e.g.,

categorize) are displaced by investigation methods thatseek to identify unique qualities the seller can operation-

alize into a differential advantage through successfully

establishing an intercultural relationship.

MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS

The examination of the buyers corporate culture andits effects upon the industrial salesperson offer numerous

implications. In turn, these implications should be incor-

porated into many aspects of the selling paradigm (train-ing, socialization, recruiting, etc.). For example, teaching

salespeople to respond to changes in the culture of buyers

requires the training and development of salespeople andmanagers to identify, understand, and integrate into a va-

riety of organizational cultures. Salespeople and manag-

ers must therefore design prospecting and interorganiza-

tional methodologies that guide and direct the sellingeffort in a fashion that effectively identifies and strategi-

cally integrates the buyers culture into the selling effort.

Hence, while relationship selling can be improvedthrough the insightful understanding of buyers cultures,

not all accounts demand a full-scale anthropological field

study.

Recognizing that some type of categorical scheme islikely to be employed by salespeople when sizing up or-

ganizational culture related characteristics of the buyer,

sales managers should seek to integrate in training andsupervision categorization criteria that contribute to con-

structive assignment of lower priority clients. While ref-erence has been made to the use of such schemes amongsalespeople when determining the customers buying

style, there is no reason not to believe that a similar ap-

proach to cognitive processing might characterize assess-

ment of the buyers organizational culture as well [63].A number of potential advantages result from develop-

ing effective methods of investigating and using knowl-

edge of buying cultures. For example, organizations ded-

icated to relationship selling may find it beneficial to

develop pre-employment assessment methods to identifyif salespeople are willing and able to integrate into other,

often diverse, cultures. Conversely, the need also exists

to identify salespeople who demonstrate personal quali-ties (e.g., a lack of flexibility) which are less effective in

facilitating cultural integration within the buyers organi-

zation. Correspondingly, complete socialization withinthe buyers organization is not desirable as the salesper-

son may lose perspective failing to be an effective repre-

sentative of the selling organization.

IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCHERS

The issues raised in this article assess an important butinadequately addressed topic in the field of marketing re-

search. Exploring the impact of the buyers corporate

culture on the seller offers numerous opportunities for fu-ture academic research. For instance, promising work hasbeen performed in the area of quantifying corporate cul-

tures through the use of competing means model [64].

This approach may be applied in comparing combina-tions of buyer and seller cultures in different contexts. It

would also be useful to explore strong versus weak cul-

ture influences in buyerseller interaction.Other opportunities for future research include exam-

ining the proposed model in different contexts (types of

sales positions, types of products, industries, types of re-

lationships, effects on buyers and the buying center, etc.).This article focuses primarily on the performance of the

process from the perspective of the industrial seller, how-

ever, the influence of the sellers culture on the buyerwould be a natural area of investigation. This would be

particularly fruitful in long-term business relationship

where buyer/seller integration is essential to successfullyachieve the exchange objectives.

CONCLUSIONS

The impact on performance of the seller entering the

buyers corporate culture raises several important ques-tions. This article offers a unique perspective into cul-tural contexts that can influence buyer/seller interac-

tions in the industrial sales environment. Throughout the

sales cycle competitors will offer lower prices, new andimproved products will be offered, the economy will vac-

illate, and various other events will challenge the buyer

seller relationship. Buyers and sellers who achieved a

successful relationship, in part based upon mutual respect

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and understanding of intra- and interorganizational cul-

tural nuances, are more likely to weather these hail-storms.

This article therefore, attempts to highlight the impor-

tance of corporate culture as a performance moderator inthe sales context. As a result, this approach assists sellers

in understanding the impact of corporate culture on de-

veloping sustainable strategic advantage within the buyer

seller relationship [65].

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