ADAPTS — Adaptive Selling Scale

What it measures

Measures the degree to which salespeople alter their selling approach across customers and situations. Captures five adaptive selling behaviours: recognising that different situations require different approaches, having a repertoire of approaches, varying approach based on the customer interaction, being confident adjusting approaches, and feeling knowledgeable enough to adapt effectively. Adaptive selling is a core competency in relationship-oriented and solution-based selling — salespeople who adapt their approach to each customer's unique communication style, decision process, and needs generate higher satisfaction, stronger relationships, and better performance. Widely used in personal selling research, sales management, CRM, and B2B marketing.

Response format

Likert (1–7, strongly disagree to strongly agree)

Scale items

• I vary my sales approach from situation to situation.
• I feel that most buyers can be approached with the same sales approach. (R)
• When I feel that my sales approach is not working, I can easily change it to another approach.
• I like to experiment with different sales approaches.
• I am very flexible in the way I approach sales.
• I feel confident that I can effectively change my planned sales presentation when necessary.
• I feel that it is important to tailor one's sales approach to the individual customer.
• I treat all buyers pretty much alike. (R)
• I am very sensitive to the needs of my customers.
• After trying a sales approach that is not working well, I have trouble changing to another approach. (R)
• I pay close attention to the reactions of my customers when I am giving a sales pitch.
• I try to understand how one customer differs from another.
• I can change gears, shifting my sales approach when the situation calls for it.
• I use a set, planned sales approach from one customer to the next. (R)
• I try to let the customer tell me what kind of sales approach they prefer.
• Different customers require different sales approaches.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Score = mean. Higher = greater adaptive selling. Particularly important in complex B2B sales, financial services, and healthcare selling contexts. Typically used alongside SOCO as complementary sales behaviour measures.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Spiro, R.L., & Weitz, B.A. (1990). Adaptive selling: Conceptualization, measurement, and nomological validity. Journal of Marketing Research, 27(1), 61–69.

Keywords