Customer orientation and salesperson performance

• Published in: European journal of marketing Vol. 41; no. 7/8; pp. 821 - 835
• Main Authors: Cross, Mark E, Brashear, Thomas G, Rigdon, Edward E, Bellenger, Danny N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bradford Emerald Group Publishing Limited 31.07.2007
• Subjects: Behavior; Competitive advantage; Customer orientation; Customer relations; Customers; Market strategy; Marketing; Philosophy; Relationship marketing; Sales performance; Sales territories; Salespeople; Statistical analysis; Structural equation modeling; Studies; United States > US; Sales performance; Customer orientation
• ISSN: 0309-0566; 1758-7123
• DOI: 10.1108/03090560710752410

Purpose - This paper aims to examine the impact of customer orientation, at the levels of both the company and the salesperson, on salesperson performance.Design methodology approach - A survey of 283 salespeople provides the database that was analyzed using structural equation modeling.Findings - Prior studies suggest that both company and salesperson customer orientation has a positive effect on performance. The findings of this study suggest that a salesperson's customer orientation completely mediates the relationship between company customer orientation and salesperson performance. Thus, the influence of a company's customer orientation on salesperson performance acts through the customer orientation of the salespeople.Originality value - The study reinforces the importance of customer orientation and the role of salespeople in putting customer orientation into practice.