Antecedents and consequences of a firm's selling orientation

This paper explores the meaning of relationship selling in the light of sales force developments during the “relational era”. Starting from a review of relationship marketing, personal selling and sales management literature, it defines a “firm's selling orientation” (FSO) and designs a framework for identifying the factors, inside and outside the selling firm, that potentially affect its sales managers’ preference for the relationship approach rather than the transactional approach. It discusses the results of an empirical study based on questionnaires mailed to 113 sales managers in Italian companies, aimed at exploring the relationships between external and internal factors and the FSO. The study also examines the relationships between the FSO and two broad categories of consequences: sales force control systems and salesmen activities.