Topic:

Personality characteristics of Pharma salesperson that enhance sales

performance: A comparison of multi-national and national pharmaceuticals
in Pakistan.

Introduction:
Today the pharmaceutical industry has been recognized as one of the highly
competitive growing industry all around the globe. The pharmaceutical industry due to
many changes in environment faces several changes. Businesses have had to adapt to
these changes in order to compete with the demands of their customers/buyers while still
striving to meet financial targets. Pakistan has a very vibrant and forward looking Pharma
Industry. At the time of independence in 1947, there was not a single pharma company in
Pakistan. Today the country has about 400 pharmaceutical manufacturing units including
those operated by 25 multinationals present in the country. The domestic pharma market,
in term of share market is almost evenly divided between the Nationals and the
Multinationals.
Glaxo Smith Kline, Abbot+Knoll, Pfizer, Aventis, Novartis, Merck Marker, Searle,
Wyeth, Roche and Bristol Myers Squibb etc are top ten pharma companies that are
operating in Pakistan. Both National and multi-nationals pharma companies are working
very well in Pakistan. They have very dynamic and skillful work force that is selling their
products quite effectively. But still the national companies are some what behind the
multi-nationals. Even there is a big difference between their sales reps.

Problem Statement:
It has been proven in the past that there is a relationship between personality and
performance of a sales person. The Big-Five Personality model is the base of this theory.
This model affirms that there is a link between sales persons personality and
performance. It is also noteworthy here that all previously conducted research has been
done only in particular fields as retail industry, banking, insurance and hotel industry etc.
No considerable amount of research data is available related to pharma industry to prove
this point. And also the level of productivity of MNCs is found to be higher than local
pharma companies in Pakistan. Can personality of sales reps be one of the reasons?
Because The Big Five personality model suggests that out of 5 there are some
dimensions that depend on other factors as training etc. These two points are un-proven
yet and presents a gap to conduct a research.

Objective of Study:
The purpose to conduct the following study is to explore what role personality can
play to enhance the performance of a salesperson particularly related to pharma
companies. In the required research firstly, it is tried to find out in detail that what are the
most prevailing factors or characteristics that have an impact to increase the productivity
of a sales person. In the second part, Pakistans pharma sales reps will be studied to fulfill
this purpose, as it is one of the most growing and lucrative industry in Pakistan. And a
comparison has been tried to be done of both MNC & National firms in order to pinpoint
the differences that exist between the sales reps in the form of personality so that the
results of the study can be used by sales representatives of national firms in order to
improve their level of productivity by benchmarking traits of sales representatives of
multi-national companies.

Significance of Study:
The required study is quite important in a sense that with the start of new millennium
the importance of individual performance becomes very high. It is the sales
representative who with the help of his personal efforts and traits establishes healthy
relationships with the customers which ultimately helps the company to earn high profits
with the help of increased productivity from the side of sales reps. The study is quite
important for the national firms sales reps in Pakistan; because it is a fact that the
national companies are also offering good products/medicines but still they are lagging
behind the MNCs. The main reason lies in the way by which the sales reps of both
companies deals & facilitate their customers/doctors. So, the following study provides a
guide for national sales reps to improve.

The Literature Review:

The use of personality measures to predict job performance has a long and storied
history (Penney & Witt, 2010). The research conducted related to this field is divided into
two phases; in first phase it is concluded that personality has no relationship with
performance, but latterly in second phase it is concluded by many researchers that
personality definitely have an impact to enhance the performance of a sales person.
Personality is defined as enduring dispositions that cause characteristic patterns
of interaction with ones environment (Goldberg, 1993; Olver & Mooradian, 2003). In
other words we can say that a personality is made up of the characteristic patterns of
thoughts, feelings and behaviors that make a person unique.
Many researchers at different times have given different types of
personality characteristics which includes Gordon Allport's list of 4,000
personality traits, Raymond Cattell's 16 personality factors and Hans Eysenck's threefactor theory. But all these have certain complexities and limitations in them. As a result
finally the five-factor theory emerged to describe the basic traits that serve as the building
blocks of personality. Kendra Cherry describes five basic dimensions of personality as;
Extraversion: This trait includes characteristics such as excitability, sociability,
talkativeness, assertiveness and high amounts of emotional expressiveness.
Agreeableness: This personality dimension includes attributes such as trust, altruism,
kindness, affection, and other prosocial behaviors.
Conscientiousness: Common features of this dimension include high levels of
thoughtfulness, with good impulse control and goal-directed behaviors. Those high in
conscientiousness tend to be organized and mindful of details.
Neuroticism: Individuals high in this trait tend to experience emotional instability,
anxiety, moodiness, irritability, and sadness.
Openness: This trait features characteristics such as imagination and insight, and those
high in this trait also tend to have a broad range of interests.
Sales is an activity involving selling of products and services in return of money
or other compensation, which is initiated and completed by the seller, the owner of the
goods. The first step is of the agreement to an acquisition followed by the passing of title
and settlement of prices, the sales completes prior to payment and makes the payment
obligatory (Pendharkar & Pandey, 2011)
A sale basically is an interaction between customer and salesperson. Sales
department contributes majorly in any organizations growth. The goal is to increase the
number of interactions between potential customers and company using promotional
techniques such as advertising techniques, sales promotion, publicity and public relations,
3

creating new sales channels, or creating new products, among other things. For an
organization to improve its productivity, its important that its work force is well trained
and equipped with resources, which largely depends upon the ability of sales persons
interactive communication with the customers. Beside communication skills there are
other crucial personality factors which influence sales performance (Pendharkar &
Pandey, 2011).
Sales performance is used to determine the ability of a sales person to close the deal
with the company and meet set performance goals as outlined by the company or
business. A sales performance can enhance the future of a sales associate's career. It can
also be the cause of the end of a career of a salesperson (Link, 2011).
Sales performance uses raw data concerning the number of customers a sales
associate speaks to compared with the number of actual sales. By reviewing the sales
performance of an employee, a sales performance manager can determine his strengths
and weaknesses. Sales performance can indicate the rate of customer loyalty to the
business or a specific employee. Customer loyalty refers to customers who regularly
purchase products from the business and refer other customers to the store. Enhancing
sales performance can automatically enhance the number of loyal customers. Meeting monthly
sales quotas is another aspect of sales performance. Setting monthly goals for each employee
based on her past selling records can help determine if she is sharpening her sales techniques or
falling behind (McLelland, 2010).

According to Sharpe (2008), individuals with high Conscientiousness and

Extraversion, as well as low Neuroticism, perform better in sales occupations. It stands to
reason that being organized, outgoing and confident would be obvious assets to the
selling profession.
According to Warr and Martin (2005), conscientiousness, agreeableness and openness
to experience has significant impact on sales performance. Whereas extraversion has
found to have no impact on sales performance.
According to WISKER (2011), the effect of personality trait variables on sales
performance varies. Whilst conscientiousness, openness to experience, and emotional
stability were found to affect sales performance, no direct effect was found for
extraversion and agreeableness. Interestingly, only conscientiousness and openness to
experience have an indirect effect on sales performance through the mediating variables:
market intelligence use, improvisation and adaptive selling behaviour.
From different researches, it has to be found that these traits found to have different
impact in different situations. So, definitely for pharma sales reps out of five factors only
some are important. What are those factors and how they can enhance sales performance
can be researched out. So, following research will make those five factors as independent
variables and seeks their impact on dependent variable; sales performance.

The Research Questions:

What personality characteristics affect sales performance of pharma sales

reps?
Is there any difference between MNC and local sales reps personalities in
Pakistan?

Variables:
Dependent Variable:
In this research Sales performance is dependent variable.

Independent Variable:
List of independent variables is as follows:
Extraversion.
Agreeableness.
Conscientiousness.
Neuroticism.
Openness to experience.

The Hypothesis:
Ho: Personality characteristics have a negative relationship with sales performance of
pharma sales reps.
Ha: Personality characteristics have a positive relationship with sales performance of
pharma sales reps.
Ho: Extraversion has negative affect on sales performance of pharma sales rep.
Ha1: Extraversion has positive affect on sales performance of pharma sales rep.
Ho: Neuroticism has negative affect on sales performance of pharma sales reps.
Ha2: Neuroticism has positive affect on sales performance of pharma sales reps.
Ho: Agreeableness has negative affect on sales performance of pharma sales reps.
Ha3: Agreeableness has positive affect on sales performance of pharma sales reps.
Ho: Conscientiousness has negative affect on sales performance of pharma sales reps.
Ha4: Conscientiousness has positive affect on sales performance of pharma sales reps.
Ho: Openness to experience has negative affects on sales performance of pharma sales
reps.
5

Ha5: Openness to experience has positive affects on sales performance of pharma sales
reps.
Ho: Personality has no affect on sales performance of multinational pharma sales reps in
Pakistan.
Hb1: Personality has an affect on sales performance of multinational pharma sales reps in
Pakistan.
Ho: Personality has no affect on sales performance of national pharma sales reps in
Pakistan.
Hb2: Personality has an affect on sales performance of national pharma sales reps in
Pakistan.

Limitations of Research:

The following research will only be applicable for pharmaceutical industry

and cannot be fruitful for other industries.
The sample taken is of Pakistan, it may happens that for other countries
factors might got change, so it cant be generalized.
Selection of sample size could be difficult as we know that individuals have
different personalities. In order to get appropriate results size of sample
should be selected carefully.
It might happens that during questionnaire survey, mostly local firms sales
reps are not in a good state to answer as they might not be able to understand
as what is going to be asked.
On the other hand, MNCs sales reps feel reluctant to share in order to
sensitize their personal information due to immense competition.
The time could be a biggest challenge as questionnaire method has been
used.

Research Design:
Nature of Study:
The study which I am going to conduct is exploratory in nature.

Data Collection:
In my research, I will collect the data through questionnaires from pharma sales
representatives, which is the part of survey method.

Sample Design:
I will use simple stratified random sampling technique which is the part of probability
sampling.

Target Population:
I have two types of target population;

Sales reps of multi-national pharma companies.

Sales reps of national pharma companies.
Sample Size:
I will take 400 sales reps of 30 multi-national and national pharma companies in
Pakistan.

Data Analysis:
After collecting the data, I will use Ms. Excel and SPSS for quantitative data. And Ms.
Word for qualitative data.

References
Cherry, K. (2010). What Are the Big Five Dimensions of Personality? Retrieved in 2010,
from http://psychology.about.com/bio/Kendra-Cherry-17268.htm
Link, M. (2011). Define Sales Performance. Retrieved in 2011, from
http://www.ehow.com/about_6618449_define-sales-performance.html#ixzz1QZ9IQ2FB
Sharpe, R. (2008). Personality and Sales Performance. Retrieved in March 27, 2008, from
http://assess-systems.com.au/blog/2008/personality-sales-performance/
McLelland, J. (2010). Sales Performance Definition. Retrieved in September 03, 2010,
from http://www.ehow.com/facts_6945389_sales-performance-definition.html
Pendharkar, A and Pandey, V. (2011). Personality and Sales Performance: An Empirical
Investigation. Central Test SAS, Paris.
Warr, P., Bartram, D and Martin, T. (2005). Personality and Sales Performance:
Situational Variation and Interactions between Traits. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
OF SELECTION AND ASSESSMENT.
WISKER, Z. (2011). THE EFFECT OF PERSONALITY, EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
AND SOCIAL NETWORK CHARACTERISTICS ON SALES PERFORMANCE: THE
MEDIATING ROLES OF MARKET INTELLIGENCE USE, ADAPTIVE SELLING
BEHAVIOUR AND IMPROVISATION. The University of Waikato.
Asif, M and Awan, M. PAKISTANI PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY IN WTO REGIMEISSUES AND PROSPECTS.
Pakistan Pharma Manufactures Association. Pakistan Pharmaceutical Industry.
Retrieved in 2008, from http://www.ppma.org.pk/PPMAIndustry.aspx
L.M. Penney et al. (2010). A review of personality and performance: Identifying
boundaries, contingencies, and future research directions. Human Resource Management
Review.
Judge, T et al. (2001). Personality and Performance at the Beginning of the New
Millennium: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go Next? INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL OF SELECTION AND ASSESSMENT.