A Study of Salesperson’s Competencies for Developing Competency Development Plan Affecting Purchasing Decision of Traditional Trade Customers

This qualitative research aims to explore the desirable competencies of salespeople in traditional retail settings, as well as to design a plan for developing salesperson competencies. To do this, we collected data from three groups of people, consisting of 1) four salespersons’experts, twenty owners of traditional retail businesses, and another twenty experienced salespeople in traditional retail.As a result, we found that the desirable competencies of salespeople consist of three dimensions. First, task-related competencies include product and industry knowledge, regular customer contact, error-free completion of customer orders, and mastery of sales techniques. Second, growth-related competencies include problem-solving skills, active listening, and improvisational skills. Finally, the meta-related competencies refer to a good attitude towards the sales profession, sincere and respectful personalities, self-development skills, and a self-motivating attitude. Consequently, these competencies were integrated into a salesperson competency development plan by using the 70:20:10 approach that focuses on learning by doing, group discussions, and classroom training.