The value of long‐term relationships has become a widely studied variable in marketing. This article investigates two important characteristics of salespeople (consideration of future sales consequences and customer‐oriented selling) and their effects on the usage of long‐term relationships. In turn, associations between a long‐term relationship orientation, and a preference for long‐term compensation are explored. The findings suggest managerial and research implications for structuring of reward systems and potential tools for recruiting, selection and assignment of salespeople based on these characteristics.

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Purpose -A great deal has been written recently in the practitioner press about the strategic importance and usage of social media. However, as practitioners only release limited information about the internal advantages such a tool provides, research in this emerging field remains extremely limited about its usage in the sales area. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to propose and empirically assess a model of social media usage among business-to-business (B2B) salespeople. Design/methodology/approach -A survey of 273 B2B salespeople was conducted and then analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings -Results support the hypothesized model suggesting that age negatively affects social media usage, while social media norms positively affect it. Social media usage positively affects sales performance. Customer-oriented selling was not found to be positively related to social media usage, but does have a positive effect on sales performance. Research limitations/implications -This study was conducted by e-mail, and as a result, there might be an existing bias towards respondents who already embrace some usage of an online communication method, indicating overall usage, acceptance, and application of social media may be lower than reported. A potential research agenda offers opportunities for both theoretical development and empirical assessment in social media research. Practical implications -The findings provide an important foundation to advance academic sales research and demonstrate a needed understanding of how to operationally utilize social media to improve outcome performance. Originality/value -This is one of the few studies empirically examining social media usage among B2B salespeople.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how customer‐oriented selling is linked to two important antecedents – unethical intention and the trust of salespeople in their manager.Design/methodology/approachHypotheses are developed suggesting that “unethical intention” is inversely related to “trust in manager” and “customer‐oriented selling.” Data were collected from 345 business‐to‐business sales professionals. Structural equation modeling was used to test a model of the hypothesized relationships.FindingsSupport was shown for a negative relationship between unethical intention and both trust in manager and customer‐oriented selling. Interestingly, the proposed negative relationship between trust in manager and customer‐oriented selling was not supported in this sample.Research limitations/implicationsThis study's findings will advance the academic sales research as the literature suggests the importance of building salespeople's trust in their manager, reducing unethical behavior and using customer‐oriented selling. In addition, contributions are offered for advancing the understanding of ethical decision making theory.Practical implicationsUnderstanding the importance of manager trust building and reducing unethical behaviors can be incorporated into training.Originality/valueThe study confirms a negative relationship between unethical intention and both trust in managers and customer‐oriented selling. Implications are provided as to how practitioners can operationalize these findings to develop trust in managers and reduce the unethical intention of their salespeople.

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