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The ways in which gender affects negotiations and business interactions has been studied extensively and remains a topic of interest across various fields. Research has not, however, applied these ideas to the real estate industry, where the majority of agents are female. Our research aims to address this gap and answer how agent gender and interactions with agents of the same or different gender affect bargaining power in real estate transactions.

A firm's onboarding process acts as a foundation in new hires’ perception of the company and sets the stage for their future at the organization. Companies devote hours of time and millions of dollars each year to onboarding new employees and in trying to find the best way to induct new employees into the organization.  Our research examines different types of onboarding programs and determines which type best impacts the success of the salesperson.

Year after year, companies allocate extensive resources toward developing and tracking incentive programs to effectively motivate sales employees. But, do these extrinsic motivators lead to increased sales? In this study, we examine how different types of motivation affect salesperson performance.

Most people think of extrinsic motivators like salary, time off, and healthcare benefits when thinking about workplace motivation. We find, though, that contributing to something greater than themselves—or feeling a sense of purpose—is a huge motivator for employees, which can drastically impact the value individuals bring to a firm and to clients.

Workplace stress can impact prenatal and postpartum health, which in turn, affects return to the workplace and subsequent productivity. This research reports on two factors that can mitigate stress pregnant women encounter at work: coworker support and supervisor support received during pregnancy—both of which can alleviate stress during pregnancy, leading to lower incidence of postpartum depression, faster physical recovery, and greater ease of transition back into the workplace for the mother.

Organizational communication managers are tasked more and more with prioritizing employee communication due to an increase in remote work. Listening, one of the primary components of communication, which also influences employee turnover, has not received much attention in research or in practice. We conducted our study to learn more about the state of listening in U.S. companies and organizations.

In today's socially conscious environment, social responsibility is an increasingly important strategy for business. Our study answers the question of how corporate social responsibility (applied in many businesses today) can lead to financial profitability.

Does your firm have a greater responsibility outside of your legal obligations and goals? As corporations grow a sense of social responsibility, our research investigates the impact of philanthropy, environmental sustainability, customer respect, and worker respect on customer loyalty.

Entrepreneurs typically enjoy higher levels of job and life satisfaction. However, in contrast to the benefits, entrepreneurs may also experience high stress and longer working hours, while also fearing lower income. In this study, we examine how autonomy mediates the relationship between entrepreneurship and personal well-being.

Humility is necessary to reach the heights of success. Recognizing there are gaps in your knowledge, being open to that realization, and working humbly to learn more is a hallmark of intellectual humility and a starting point for greatness for you and your team.

Gratitude has immense value to firms and is linked to increases in share of wallet, sales revenue, sales growth, and customer commitment. Our research shows how sales professionals can improve their relational outcomes with customers by fostering more grateful customers through their own expressions of gratitude.

Bedtime worry, including worrying about incomplete future tasks, is a significant contributor to difficulty falling asleep. This article examines how bedtime to-do list writing can serve as a beneficial behavioral sleep aid for busy real estate professionals.

The need for fantastic sales professionals is greater today than ever before. Increasingly, clients demand sales professionals provide exceptional customer service that coincides with meeting those desired results. To this, motivation is key.

The goals in professional selling are to build relationships and to sell value resulting in win-win outcomes. To do so, certain critical skills are required, including: relationship management, effective communication, and value-adding capabilities.

Have you ever imagined yourself in an exotic vacation location, experiencing all the benefits of a luxury resort? Real estate agents use strategies while persuading buyers to invest in a house. The implicit belief behind these sales strategies is that consumption-related self-imagery is a powerful persuasion tactic.

Acknowledgments and thank yous are given every day in nearly all professions, from real estate to acting to retail shopping.  Though such thank yous are common, people rarely put much thought into how various forms of such acknowledgements might be received differently. 

The effectiveness of salespeople depends on how they interact with customers. Sales organizations recruit and train salespeople so that they can identify and satisfy customer needs in the long-run...

Even the best relationships can be marred by misunderstandings and hurt feelings. Although forgiveness is often considered in the context of ...

Delivering high-quality services first requires an effective service design process. Intentional service design ensures ...

Consumers are faced with choices each day. Marketers try desperately to influence our decision-making process, capturing our attention and appealing to...

Does expending more effort make consumers smarter? We question the intuitive assumption that consumers will make better decisions based on the...

In November 2009, The New Zealand Government introduced the Real Estate Agents Act 2008. This new act replaced the Real Estate Agents Act 1976. The main purpose of...

In the first decade of the 21st century, a profound shift has occurred in the way people shop for real estate. Unlike past generations, this new generation of consumers...

Whether in retail sales, business-to-business sales, or home sales, conventional wisdom suggests "the customer is always right." Identifying and meeting customer needs is also ...

Long-term customer relationships are the building blocks of a firm's success. Practitioners and researchers have long recognized the positive effects of close customer ...

Service is a critical factor to business success now more than ever (Bettencourt forthcoming). Research shows that improved service drives customer loyalty and ...

The sales environment is rapidly changing. The real estate sales environment is also becoming more complex and competitive, and is being driven by a rising number of...

As the sales process has gradually evolved from a transaction-driven model to a relationship-driven and collaborative approach, the underlying methods driving ...

With banks applying stricter guidelines to conventional real estate mortgages, many buyers have found it difficult to qualify for home loans. It is estimated that forty percent ...

In many service provider-customer or seller-buyer contexts, it has been assumed that the service provider or seller must exhibit a positive attitude towards customers, and may...

Buying a house is a complex and involving process. The process is much more significant than just deciding on a location, a space, and a set of features. The home purchase ...

When it comes to utilizing professional services, consumers have a choice: perform the service for themselves or outsource the job to a service professional. The purpose of ...

Given the highly competitive market in which real estate agents work, striving to attract and retain valued customers is important. Understanding what makes a client want to ...

What is the right approach method for the professional salesperson to lead a buyer-seller interaction and achieve effective, efficient and consistent sales results? The pragmatist ...

With a constantly changing market and a new generation of home buyers on the rise, value-based service quality will play an important role in customer satisfaction. Service ...

There is a longstanding belief in the service industry that in order to gain loyalty from customers, companies must "delight" them with customer service that goes above and ...

A two-sided study of emotional intelligence with agents and clients reveals that only 26% of the pairs operate on the same "emotional wavelength" and 46% of agent-client ...

What is self-awareness and why is it important? Self-awareness is critical for buyers and sellers because self-focused attention makes people more conscious of their attitudes ...

Individual agents with whom clients interface are often the most critical vehicle for developing and maintaining high-performing buyer-seller relationships (Palmatier 2008) ...

Is franchising in the residential real estate brokerage market efficient? What are the impacts on firms by franchising? What are the benefits for firms when franchising?

Today's consumers are demanding and more sophisticated than ever. They have a world of information at their fingertips - and in a crowded real estate market they know they...