The Effect of Core Self-Evaluation of Female Salesperson on Sales Performance

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to empirically demonstrate how self-esteem, self-efficacy, locus of control, and neuroticism, which is core self-evaluation factors of door-to-door salespersons within food and cosmetic retail industry, affected the sales performance of female salespersons via job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Research design, data and methodology: Using a 23-item questionnaire constructed based on previous studies, this study selected six domestic door-to-door sales companies and conducted a 1:1 face-to-face survey with female door-to-door salespersons belonging to branches and agencies in Seoul and the capital region. The data of 208 respondents were analyzed. The results of path analysis based on structural equation modeling and mediation analysis through the Sobel test were presented. Results: Self-efficacy and locus of control had the largest effect on job satisfaction and organizational commitment, respectively. Neuroticism, however, did not significantly influence job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Overall, core self-evaluation factors positively affected sales performance via job satisfaction but not via organizational commitment. Conclusions: This study found that factors which were oriented to female salespersons' ability and sales goals, such as self-efficacy and job satisfaction, were considered important in managing them in the door-to-door sales-distribution channels. In the future, policies should be developed for managing female door-to-door salespersons to help them achieve job satisfaction.

1. Introduction

According to the results of the 2017 global retail sales survey (World Federation for Direct Sales Association, 2017) in the door-to-door sales sector, the global door-to-door sales market is worth about KRW 209 trillion and is constantly growing at an average annual rate of 3.7%. Additionally, in terms of the number of salespersons, around 117 million people were found to be involved in door-to-door sales. Of course, the door-to-door sales sector has been largely developed in the US, but recently, the Asia-Pacific region has become worth about $85.3 billion, which accounts for 46% of the total, and is rapidly growing at a high average annual rate of 4.8%. In particular, of the products sold through door-to-door sales, wellness products take 33.9%, which is the largest portion, while cosmetics and personal care products record 31.7%. Korea Direct Selling Industry Association (2017) also has announced the sales of the domestic door-to-door sales market reached about KRW 14 trillion and showed a growth rate of 3.8% each year. In contrast to the growth rate, the number of companies is decreasing by 6.7% each year. In other words, although the number of companies continues to decrease, the size of the door-to-door sales market is constantly maintained. This implies that sales growth eventually continues through the improvement of qualitative capabilities of salespersons in the companies.

In this environment, new approaches to the management of salespeople have been introduced. Particularly, new ways are being explored to maximize sales competence by improving individuals’ emotional and psychological effectiveness beyond the past system or the strategy of inculcating sales targets (Rutherford et al. 2011). Specifically, core self-evaluation is a criterion for forming self-image and consistency that function at the time of deciding one’s thoughts and actions and perceiving surrounding information. When individuals maintain such self-image and consistency, they prioritize positive information and have stronger perceptions of organizational support (Zachary & Lee, 2019). Churchill (1992) argued that to elicit innovative performance, organization members should be supported to maximize their positive competence through core self-evaluation and internal motivation. As a result, organizations need to seriously consider core selfevaluation factors that can have positive effects on organizational effectiveness and performance by helping their members show goal-orientation, with which they set goals by themselves with self-confidence and belief, and positive emotions such as interest and contentment, and obtain various information to actively cope with environmental changes, thereby performing their job more creatively.

In particular, women have succeeded in carving a niche for themselves in the sales industry as proven in which data from 30,469 sales calls was analyzed to conclude that women, on an average, manage to close 11% more deals then men. Furthermore, women have better leadership qualities as they strive to achieve more in order to prove themselves worthy of the managerial positions. Although it has been established that the corporate world is a male dominated society, women are routinely making a mark and establishing footholds that will only lead to better prospects and greater achievements (Athey & Orth, 1999).

However, most prior studies on the improvement of organizational behavior and individual competence of female door-to-door salespersons are very limited. Particularly, the case of door-to-door sales of wellness products is an important field of job creation through which housewives, especially middle-aged women, can resume their social activities and career (Cron et al., 2005). Therefore, to facilitate door-to-door sales activities of middle-aged women who overcome lack of social experience and career breaks and newly restart social activities, it will be necessary to discuss the development of companies and society based on that of individuals by enhancing intrinsic factors that influence individuals’ job performance, such as core self-evaluation factors. Thus, this study empirically analyzed the relationships of core selfevaluation factors, which included self-esteem, self-efficacy, locus of control, and neuroticism, with sales performance through job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The research results finally will suggest differentiated strategies and concrete ways for managing female salespersons, which is the core to the management of wellness door-to-door sales organizations.

2. Theoretical Background

2.1. Core Self-Evaluation and Job Satisfaction

Core self-evaluation is a concept that comprehensively introduces the principles for understanding an individual’s fundamental characteristics (Weitz, 1987; Yang et al., 2015). An individual’s core self-evaluation has positive effects on organizational effectiveness and performance as it entails having self-confidence and belief, setting goals by oneself, showing goal-orientation, having interest in and values about the job, and accepting and actively responding to environmental changes (Judge et al., 2008). As shown Table 1, Judge et al. (1997), as a representative prior study of core self-evaluation, explained it in four aspects. First, they suggested self-esteem as the most fundamental among personality attributes (Best, 2005). It can be an individual’s fundamental attribute that evaluates her or his own values for being competent and successful in the work environment. Second, self-efficacy was defined as a factor of core selfevaluation in the sense that the evaluation of an individual’s ability in a specific situation is determined from various life experiences (Athey & Orth, 1999). Third, locus of control is an attribute with which an individual always evaluates her or his surroundings associated with herself or himself in terms of the relations between the environment and herself or himself (Erez & Judge, 2001). Fourth, neuroticism, which indicates emotional stability, connects equity, recognition of the surrounding real world, and evaluation structure concerning their position and existence in that world, since her or his subconscious structure is linked to self-evaluation (Kim et al., 2019; MacKenzie et al., 2001).

Table 1: Previous researches of core self-evaluations

Further, the core self-evaluation factors of salespersons are emerging as important job reinforcement factors, in terms of sales jobs for which salespersons’ competence, knowhow, and skills are important (Cron, 2017). In the case of sales activities, along with goal setting and motivation, the individual or potential characteristics of salespeople influence sales performance. Spiro and Weitz (1990) said core self-evaluation factors can have a strong correlation with sales competence. In particular Brown and Peterson (1993) represented door-to-door salespersons have characteristics differentiated from those of salespersons in general organizations. And the salespersons directly do the door-to-door sales but simultaneously manage the sales of low ranks, like business people. Therefore, such door-todoor salespersons need a different approach to the management system compared to general salesperson management. In these reasons the core self-evaluation of individuals who can concentrate on their sales tasks even without direct control of the company is more important for those door-to-door salespersons than for other general ones (Erin, 1985).

Job satisfaction refers to an emotional state of satisfaction that an individual obtains from the results of the job and job environment according to her or his attitude, values, beliefs, and so on (Kim et al. 2019). It indicates a general positive emotional state generated from the appraisal of all the dimensions of a job (Fletcher, 1992). In other words, job satisfaction is a positive sentiment that makes an organizational member have work motivation and voluntarily participate in her or his job to achieve the organizational goals. It has a broad sense of measuring individuals’ preference for their job (Judge et al., 1998; Tian and Kwak, 2016), and is understood as a measure to evaluate multidimensional psychological responses to their job (Karatepe and Sokmen, 2006; Lauver and Kristof-Brwon, 2001). Thus, members who are satisfied with their job increase their productivity, reduce their turnover intention, and are committed to the organization itself or the organizational goals.

In particular, as Govindarajan and Fisher (1990) argued, because a job has both positive and negative aspects and individuals have different perspectives on the jobs that they are interested in, factors such as self-esteem and locus of control can affect job satisfaction or outcomes. Numerous studies have shown that core self-evaluation influenced job satisfaction (Bono and Judge, 2003; Judge and Bono, 2001; Judge et al., 2008; Maamari and Saheb, 2018). Judge et al. (1998) verified that the four core self-evaluation factors; self-esteem, self-efficacy, locus of control, and neuroticism, had a direct effect on job satisfaction. Later, Judge and Bono (2001) reported that core self-evaluation had a correlation with job satisfaction and performance. In addition, Sedikides and Strube (1997) corroborated that employees with high core self-evaluation showed high levels of job satisfaction. Piccolo et al. (2005) also empirically demonstrated that core self-evaluation factors exerted a significant influence on both job and life satisfaction.

As a result, looking at these prior studies, it can be seen that core self-evaluation factors function as variables to influence job satisfaction of organization members, which can be inferred to be the same for the salespersons who do door-to-door sales. Thus, based on the core self-evaluation theories by Judge and Bono (2001) this study suggested the following hypotheses about the relationships of the four core self-evaluation factors with job satisfaction of female door-to-door salespersons, and tested the hypotheses.

H1: Among core self-evaluation factors for female door-todoor salespersons, self-esteem will have a positive effect on job satisfaction.

H2: Among core self-evaluation factors for female door-todoor salespersons, self-efficacy will have a positive effect on job satisfaction.

H3: Among core self-evaluation factors for female door-todoor salespersons, locus of control will have a positive effect on job satisfaction.

H4: Among core self-evaluation factors for female door-todoor salespersons, neuroticism will have a positive effect on job satisfaction.

2.2. Core Self-Evaluation and Organizational Commitment

Organizational commitment refers to an individual’s emotional response to the organization to which she or he belongs rather than her or his job. In other words, it means an individual’s general and consistent response to the whole organization where she or he belongs. Therefore, it indicates the degree to which a member is attached to the organization and devotes herself or himself to the organization (Behrman & Perreault, 1982). Allen and Meyer (1990) classified organizational commitment into affective, continuous, and normative commitment. First, affective commitment refers to a member’s emotional attachment to, identification with, and participation in the organization. Second, continuous commitment is defined as the degree to which a member perceives herself or himself to stay in the organization because of accumulated or incidental investments that may be lost by leaving the organization. Third, normative commitment is formed by the sense of obligation to continuously stay in the organization, and in terms of this commitment, employees remain in the organization due to the sense of obligation.

Numerous prior studies have examined organizational commitment as a variable associated with organizational effectiveness or performance (Armistead & Machin, 1998). However, recent studies have connected organizational commitment to organization members’ job burnout or psychological states (Burgoyne, 1989). They have attempted to suggest new directions for the human resource management of companies by examining how much individuals identify themselves with and commit themselves to the organization, how the identification and commitment influence their trust in the organization’s goals and values, and how their emotional and psychological states affect their attitudes.

Reflecting such a research trend, scholars have examined the relationships that core self-evaluation factors, eliciting organization members’ motivation, goal setting, or proactive response to changes in the organizational environment, have with organizational commitment in diverse directions, and empirical studies have reported that core self-evaluation had a positive influence on organizational commitment (Scott, et al. 2001; Erez & Judge, 2001). Because organization members with high levels of core self-evaluation are positive, adapt well to the environment, are self-confident, and work in the organization with a sense of challenge and belief in their behavior, they are able to be proactive in having a strong bond with the organization (Boyatzis, 1982; Judge et al., 1997; Pierce et al, 2001).

Wanberg and Banas (2000) also found that organization members with positive core self-evaluation proactively accepted changes and voluntarily reacted to organizational behavior. Di Fabio (2012) explained that organization members performed challenging behavior for their ability and growth by improving their core self-evaluation, and in the process, their organizational commitment was enhanced. In contrast, Schweiger and Denisi (1991) indicated that organization members who had low core self-evaluation and so a negative attitude had high levels of stress but low levels of both job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

Based on these previous studies, the present study established the hypothesis that female door-to-door salespersons with high levels of core self-evaluation would also have a high degree of organizational commitment which was defined by Armistead and Machin (1998). As shown immediately below, it presented the hypotheses that self-esteem, self-efficacy, locus of control, and neuroticism, the four core self-evaluation factors here, would exert a positive influence on organizational commitment.

H5: Among the core self-evaluation factors for female doorto-door salespersons, self-esteem will have a positive effect on organizational commitment.

H6: Among the core self-evaluation factors for female doorto-door salespersons, self-efficacy will have a positive effect on organizational commitment.

H7: Among the core self-evaluation factors for female doorto-door salespersons, locus of control will have a positive effect on organizational commitment.

H8: Among the core self-evaluation factors for female doorto-door salespersons, neuroticism will have a positive effect on organizational commitment.

2.3. Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, and Sales Performance

Numerous prior studies on the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment have reported that job satisfaction had a significant effect on organizational commitment (Meyer et al., 2002). Because organization members transfer their emotional response toward their job to their response toward the organization, eventually, those who are satisfied with their job tend to be committed to the organization. Moreover, organization members need attachment and dedication to the organization to proactively respond to and accept the organization’s changes; the attachment and dedication to the organization result from their job satisfaction and mental fullness (Judge et al., 1997; Cron et al, 2005). In this regard, Rapp et al, (2015), as a representative study, demonstrated that job satisfaction was an antecedent variable to determine organizational commitment.

These results are directly applied to salespersons. In the marketing field, factors of job satisfaction and organizational commitment of salespersons were found to have a direct effect on the improvement of sales performance, efficiency, and effectiveness of companies (Cravens et al., 1993; Babakus et al., 1996; Williams and Anderson, 1991; Cron et al., 2005). In particular, job satisfaction and organizational commitment are considered important factors for managing salespeople in companies (George and Bettenhausen, 1990; MacKenzie, 1998; Kiker, 1999; Podsakoff et al., 2000).

Thus, numerous prior studies have demonstrated that salespersons’ job satisfaction exerted a positive effect on organizational commitment and further produced high sales performance. In particular based on the previous study by Cron et al. (2005), this present study suggested the following hypothesis:

H9: Job satisfaction of female door-to-door salespersons will have a positive effect on their organizational commitment.

Salespersons’ organizational behavior factors, such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment, can affect sales performance. Sales performance refers to the financial result of sales that a salesperson obtains through sales activities over a period of time. The performance measurement of salespersons can be largely divided into two aspects: output-focused performance based on sales amount or revenue, and behavior-focused performance based on behavior as sales efforts (Churchill, 1992; Brown & Peterson, 1993; Jung, et al, 2017). As salespersons represent the company at the point of contact with customers, and identify and respond to customers’ needs, their emotional satisfaction and organizational loyalty can more sensitively function in deriving sales performance than those of members in other organizations (Nikolaou and Tsaousis, 2002; Fred and Evans, 2007).

Jung (2011) also presented an empirical result that salespersons’ job satisfaction positively influenced sales performance. Numerous other studies (Hughes, 2013) have explained that organizational commitment positively affected sales performance. Based on these previous studies, the present study hypothesized that in the case of female door-todoor salespersons, job satisfaction and organizational commitment would also influence sales performance.

H10: Job satisfaction of female door-to-door salespersons will have a positive effect on their sales performance.

H11: Organizational commitment of female door-to-door salespersons will have a positive effect on their sales performance.

3. Research Method

3.1. Research Model

Focusing on female door-to-door salespersons in the health food and cosmetics industries, this study aimed to empirically analyze the relationships of core self-evaluation factors with job satisfaction and organizational commitment, which in turn positively influence sales performance. For this reason, stronger degrees of their core self-evaluation factors, such as self-esteem, self-efficacy, locus of control, and neuroticism, will have a positive effect on attitudinal variables, such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and consequently produce higher levels of sales performance. Therefore, the present study established a model that included the hypothesized relationships based on prior studies, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Research model

3.2. Operational Definition and Measurement Variable

To collect the data for analyzing this model, a survey was conducted. To construct the questionnaire, the items shown in Table 2 were organized based on prior studies, and the variables were operationalized. The items for these variables used a 5-point Likert scale. The items for “self-esteem,” “self-efficacy,” “locus of control,” and “neuroticism” of core self-evaluation were based on Judge et al. (2008). Self-esteem was constructed with four items: “satisfaction with myself,” “my strengths,” “differentiated value,” and “positive attitude.” For self-efficacy, four items; “goal achievement,” “challenge overcome,” “effective work solution,” and “cooperation competence” were included. Locus of control was constructed with three items of “self-determination,” “whether to proceed with work,” and “achievement level,” and neuroticism with three items of “emotional fluctuation,” “unhappiness,” and “worry level.” In relation to the two mediating variables, this study included three items; “overall job satisfaction,” “satisfaction with compensations,” and “satisfaction with company policies” for job satisfaction, which were based on Brown and Peterson (1993), and three variables; “sense of belonging,” “personal meaning,” and “empathy with problems” for organizational commitment, which were based on Basir et al. (2010). Regarding sales performance, which was the dependent variable, the following four items were included based on Nikolaou and Tsaousis (2002); “sales goal achievement,” “sales record,” “new product sales,” and “customer discovery and sales.” Eventually, according to the exploratory factor analysis results, this study conducted analyses by finalizing the variables after removing one from the items for locus of control, neuroticism, and job satisfaction.

Table 2: Variable definitions

4. Results

4.1. Demographic Information of the Data

This study conducted a survey with female door-to-door salespersons mainly for cosmetics and heath foods. A 1:1 survey was conducted with the door-to-door sales groups in six companies with domestic door-to-door sales-distribution channels. The survey was conducted for 60 days, starting from May 1, 2019. A total of 237 questionnaires were collected, and 208 questionnaires were included in the final analysis, excluding 29 with insincere responses. All participants were women because this study was conducted with door-to-door female salespersons. The demographic information presents in Table 3.

Table 3: Demographic information of survey participants

4.2. Analysis Results of Reliability and Validity

The analysis results presented in Table 4 showed that both the reliability and convergent validity of the measurement model were satisfactory. Regarding the reliability of the SEM measurement model, when the composite reliability index is 0.7 or greater, the measurement model is considered to have an adequate level of internal consistency reliability (Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994). In addition, convergent validity is assessed with factor loading and Cronbach’s α; when factor loadings are 0.4 or greater and statistically significant and Cronbach’s α is 0.6 or higher, the convergent validity of the measurement model is judged as satisfactory (Gefen, et al, 2000). According to these criteria, all factor loadings were adequate, ranging from 0.704 to 0.902, and internal consistency reliability was also analyzed as satisfactory, with composite reliability indices ranging from 0.785 to 0.922. As each t value was greater than 6.0, statistical significance was achieved. The convergent validity was analyzed as adequate, because the values of average variance extracted (AVE) and Cronbach’s α ranged from 0.647 to 0.809 and from 0.751 to 0.889, respectively.

Table 4: Results of reliability and convergent validity test

In the correlation analysis, when the square root of AVE of each latent variable is greater than the correlation coefficients of the latent variable with the others, the discriminant validity is considered supported (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). This criterion was met in this study, as shown in the analysis results of the AVEs and correlation coefficients in Table 5. Specifically, each latent variable had a square root of AVE, which was greater than 0.8 and simultaneously its correlation coefficients with any other latent variable. Therefore, this study determined that the discriminant validity was verified.

Table 5: Correlation matrix and AVE​​​​​​​

Note: The square root of AVE is shown in bold letters.​​​​​​​

4.3. Analysis Results of Structural Model

Table 6 presents the results of analyzing the fit of the structural model. χ2(p) was 286.446 (p = 0.000), and χ2 /df was 1.897. GFI (Goodness-of-Fit-Index) was 0.885, which was slightly lower than 0.9, but AGFI (Adjusted Goodnessof-Fit-Index), NFI (Normal Fit Index), and RMSEA (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation) were 0.840, 0.878, and 0.066, respectively. Because most fit indices were adequate, the model fit was found to be good. In addition, CFI (Comparative fit index), which is not influenced by the sample but indicates the explanatory power of the model, was 0.937, and TLI (Tucker-Lewis index), which evaluates the explanatory power of the model, was 0.921. Therefore, the original model was analyzed to have a very good fit.

Table 6: Model fit indices for the structural models​​​​​​​

According to the results of testing the hypotheses through path analysis of the SEM, 3 out of the 11 hypotheses were rejected, as shown Table 7. Among the core self-evaluation factors, self-efficacy was found to have a positive effect on job satisfaction (t = 0.3814, p < 0.001). However, self-esteem (t = 0.548) and locus of control (t = - 1.180) did not influence job satisfaction. Neuroticism affected job satisfaction but the direction was negative (t = – 3,699, p < 0.001). On the other hand, among the core self-evaluation factors, self-esteem (t = 4.171, p < 0.001), locus of control (t = 4.217, p < 0.001), and neuroticism (t = 2.778, p < 0.01) exerted a positive influence on organizational commitment. Only self-efficacy negatively affected organizational commitment (t = –2.489, p < 0.05). In addition, job satisfaction had a positive effect on organizational commitment (t = 2.602, p < 0.01). Next, while job satisfaction exerted a positive influence on sales performance (t = 5.390, p < 0.001), organizational commitment did not (t = –0.856).

Table 7: Results of hypothesis test

Note: * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001​​​​​​​

[Figure 2]  comprehensively presents the path analysis results of the model in which self-esteem, self-efficacy, locus of control, and neuroticism, which are the four core self-evaluation factors of female door-to-door salespersons, influence sales performance via job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

Figure 2: Research result model​​​​​​​

5. Conclusions

The present study is academically significant in that it focused on women among the salespersons of door-to-door sales companies in the food and cosmetic industry. Looking at the academic implications of this study in more detail, first, prior studies have demonstrated that all core self-evaluation factors had a positive influence on job satisfaction and organizational commitment (Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994; Lee et al, 2016) however, in this study with female door-to-door salespersons, except for self-efficacy, the three core self-evaluation factors did not show a positive effect on job satisfaction. In addition, the core self-evaluation factors exerted a positive influence on organizational commitment, but the factor which directly affected sales performance was not organizational commitment but job satisfaction. This suggests that it would be more effective to improve job satisfaction, in order to increase sales performance by enhancing core self-evaluation factors.

Furthermore, the results showed that neuroticism exerted a negative influence on job satisfaction, and had a lower effect on organizational commitment than the other core self-evaluation factors. This is opposed to the arguments that policies for emotional stability or emotional management may be required for female salespersons (Lucette et al., 1995). Rather, these results suggest that in the case of female door-to-door salespersons, it would be more important to improve self-esteem and self-efficacy in their job roles, instead of emphasizing femininity or reflecting feminine traits.

Based on the analysis results, the practical implications for door-to-door sales companies that should manage female salespersons are as follows. First, historically females have been found low in self-confidence in achievement settings, and evidence of low self-confidence was found among saleswomen in early studies (Gibson et al 1981). Sales recruits and trainees who are relatively low in self-confidence may admire and try to emulate the sales styles or behavior of charismatic recruiters or sales trainers who pack a visceral wallop because of their magnetic personality, enthusiasm, energy, and personal attractiveness.

Second, Male sales force members were most responsive to leaders who displayed individualized consideration and used a transactional style. Saleswomen preferred charismatic leadership and those who were capable of intellectually stimulating methods. Further our research result shows that the core self-evaluation factors positively affected organizational commitment, but the factor directly influencing sales performance was job satisfaction. Therefore, when training and supporting female salespersons to improve their sales performance, it would be more effective to enhance self-pride in the sales job and internal and external satisfaction with the job rather than increasing sales knowledge and skills.

Third, neuroticism was analyzed to have a negative influence on job satisfaction, and a lower influence on organizational commitment than the other core self-evaluation factors. This reflects the characteristics of female door-to-door salespersons, compared with other salespersons. In other words, this suggests that, because intrinsic sensibility as a woman is not a significant factor for forming relationships with customers and improving sales performance, motivation and professionalism education for sales jobs would be more important.

Although this study has significance in that it suggests specific implications for sales management focusing on female door-to-door salespersons, it nevertheless has the following limitations. First, this study is limited in that responsiveness to core self evaluations of the male salespersons was not examined. If future studies include salespeople of both genders, the analysis of differential responses by sales subordinates to core-self evaluations would be somewhat more convincing. The results have a limitation of generalization. In this regard, it will be necessary to conduct more extensive studies, the subjects of which should be female salespersons of door-to-door sales companies in various industries, which would lead to more generalizable results. Third, the research analyzed the hypothesis is that ‘job satisfaction of female door-to-door salespersons will have a positive effect on their organizational commitment’ However, it can need the analysis of the opposite hypothesis as organizational commitment will have the positive effect on job satisfaction of female door-to door salespersons in the future research. Additionally, this study has the primary limitation of the cross-sectional study design is that because the sale related variables and performance are simultaneously assessed. Therefore, further studies can develop core self-evaluation factors differentiated for salespersons in door-to-door sales activities and empirically demonstrate their relationships with sales performance.