Different sales models, functional and relational customer orientation, and retail salesperson performance

This study tests the effect of different sales models on a conceptual model based on creativity theory, linking retail salespersons’ functional and relational customer orientation to their performance. Salespersons’ creativity and retailers’ different sales models are considered to be mediating and moderating variables. We collected dyadic data from retail managers and salespeople across 177 retail companies in Brazil and used PLS-SEM to test the study’s hypotheses. The results show that the moderation exerted by distinct sales models offered by a company contributes to the heightened prominence of creative salespersons operating in the retail sector, as they can adapt their sales strategies effectively. Furthermore, the results indicate that functional customer orientation negatively moderates the effect of relational customer orientation on creativity, which suggests that attempting to simultaneously implement both customer orientations is suboptimal in retail selling contexts.