How the Industrial Salesperson's Use of Power Can Affect Distributor Satisfaction

Abstract

Rapidly escalating selling costs, more astute and aggressive competition, changing desires of channel intermediaries and customers, and more advanced way s of conducting business will require that companies perform their selling functions more productivly, efficiently, and effectively than before. The purpose of this research is to assist the salesperson in the industrial channel by developing a strategy to ensure distributor satisfaction. The authors combine two areas of marketing-sales and channels of distribution-to the benefit of both. The sales representative has the ability to use five influence techniques, or bases of power, in order to effectively satisfy his customer. These powere bases are reward, referent, legitimate, expert, and coercive. Depending on the power bases applied, channel power supplied by the salesperson can result in a higher level of distributor satisfaction. It was found that the use of expert, reward, and referent power have a positive effect on distributor satisfaction while ...