A Sales Rep from AdVance Spends Several Months with the Buyer

question 42

Multiple Choice

A sales rep from AdVance spends several months with the buyer for a company that owns a dozen farms understanding the buyer's needs,and puts together a proposal for several fertilizers produced for the company's specific needs. When the sale is about to close,the buyer decides to purchase a cheaper,pre-made,standardized formula from another supplier. What is the most likely explanation of the outcome of the interaction?

• A)The salesperson saw the sale as a partnering relationship while the buyer saw it as a transactional sale.
• B)The salesperson saw the sale as a transactional relationship while the buyer saw it as a partnering sale.
• C)The salesperson and buyer did not get along personally,so the buyer did not buy from the salesperson on principle.
• D)The salesperson did not understand the buyer's needs and proposed fertilizer formulas that weren't exactly right for the buyer.
• E)The buyer never intended to purchase from AdVance.

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Definitions:

Ultimate Attribution Error

A perceptual bias occurring in intergroup relations. Negative behaviors by out-group members are attributed to stable, internal factors such as undesirable personal traits or dispositions, but positive behaviors by out-group members are attributed to unstable, external factors such as situational pressures or luck. As a result, in-group observers will blame the out-group for negative outcomes but will not give it credit for positive outcomes.

Out-group Homogeneity

The perception that members of a group different from ours are more similar to each other than they actually are, often leading to stereotyping.

Goal Isomorphism

In groups, a state in which group goals and individual goals held by a member are similar in the sense that actions leading to the attainment of group goals also lead simultaneously to the attainment of individual goals.

Primary Groups

Social groups characterized by close, personal, and enduring relationships, often playing a critical role in socialization.