The Strategic Role of the Salesforce in Developing Customer Satisfaction Across the Relationship Lifecycle

Abstract

The use of salesreps to build trusting relationships and customer satisfaction is a strategic choice in many organizations. Underlying this is an assumption that a trustworthy salesrep can play a critical role in driving the ultimate success of the firm's strategy to enhance an organizational customer's economic and noneconomic satisfaction. In this research, I contend that the customer relationship lifecycle is a critical moderator of the impact of a trustworthy salesrep on customer satisfaction. Survey results of approximately 1400 channel customers indicate that the consequential value of interpersonal trust in a salesrep is both time- and context-dependent. The salesrep plays a minimal role in influencing satisfaction outcomes in the exploration phase of a customer relationship. However, as the relationship progresses through the buildup and mature phases, the interpersonal trust developed with a salesrep can add tremendous value to a customer's satisfaction with the relationship and the firm's produc...