Relationship selling and customer loyalty: an empirical investigation

Examines how customers’ loyalty is influenced by their relationship with the firm at two distinct levels: the specific relationship customers have with their salesperson; and the overall relationship customers have with the firm. The findings highlight the importance of strong customer‐salesperson relationships in the development of customers’ overall evaluations of the supplier firm. Furthermore, both types of relationship were found to impact positively on the probability of customers exhibiting behavioral loyalty.