The effects of influence tactics, manifest influence, and interpersonal trust on working relationships between marketing managers and sales managers

Effective cross-functional working relationships between Marketing Managersand Sales Managers are critical to firms in almost every industry sector. Manyfactors are known to affect these relationships, and here we examine the role ofvarious influence tactics, interpersonal trust, and the manifest influence of theSales Manager on the perceived effectiveness of the Marketing/Sales relationship.We provide evidence on the nature of this relationship, and quantify the effects ofthe influence tactics, interpersonal trust, and manifest influence. To test ourmodel, we used a sample of 100 Marketing Managers from Australian firms. Ourfindings reveal relatively high levels of trust and effectiveness, and thatinterpersonal trust is a strong predictor of the effectiveness of relationshipsbetween Marketing Managers and Sales Managers. In addition, the influencetactics we tested varied in their efficacy, with only rational persuasion andcollaboration found to be associated with greater interpersonal trust. Further, onlyrational persuasion and consultation were found to increase a Sales Manager'smanifest influence, while the use of ingratiation decreased manifest influence.Last, our results suggest that manifest influence does not directly increase theeffectiveness of Marketing/Sales relationships.