Developing Loyal Customers with a Value-adding Sales Force: Examining Customer Satisfaction and the Perceived Credibility of Consultative Salespeople

Abstract

The consultative services of business-to-business salespeople are becoming increasingly important to customers when evaluating a supplier's overall value. Thus, a customer evaluation may depend on the salesperson's expertise and trustworthiness; without trust or expertise, customers hesitate to adopt the solutions presented by a salesperson. This study investigates the perceived expertise and trust of a salesperson in a business-to-business context. Findings suggest that both are important to overall customer satisfaction. Furthermore, customer perceptions of a salesperson's power in the supply-firm and perceptions of the quality of interactions with a salesperson were found to be important when developing perceptions of expertise among business customers.