The Effects of CRM Over Salespersons’ Selling Intention and Sales Performance: A Research in Turkish Non-Life Insurance Market

Abstract

In the finance sector; in terms of managing customer relations, customer acquisition, and customer retention, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) approach is widely accepted both strategically and operationally. In the sector, unlike banking and investment consultancy, where direct relationships with customers have become the main business model, working through intermediaries is dominant in both pre-sales and after-sales processes. Intermediaries such as bancassurance, agents, and brokers have dominated nearly 80% of the sector. For this reason, insurance companies have started to invest in factors such as the satisfaction of intermediaries, the establishment of reward and target systems for intermediaries, and hence improving their performance. In the literature; there are many studies covering CRM on issues such as increasing efficiency and effectiveness in customer processes, improving corporate performance, and the success of sales teams. However, considering that intermediaries can simultaneously represent different insurance companies, their attitude towards the insurer is as important as their sales performance. Therefore, the subject of this study is to examine the effects of CRM practices on selling intention and sales performance of sales representatives working in the non-life insurance industry. For this purpose, CRM applications were evaluated with four sub-dimensions: focus on key customers, CRM organizational structure, information management, and technology-based CRM implementation. Data were collected from intermediaries in the Turkish non-life insurance market and a total of 299 surveys were obtained. The results of the study suggest that effectively managed CRM practices have positive effects on both sales performance and selling intention of sales representatives.