Lenses and mirrors: the customer perspective on part‐time marketers

This paper discusses the relevance of the “part‐time marketer” concept to customer perspectives on relationship marketing. It reports key findings on this topic produced by primary research involving customers from ten UK high‐street names. Foremost amongst these findings are; customer expectations prior to interaction with part‐time marketers, customer perspectives on the role and management of part‐time marketers, and the impact of personal experience on service encounters. It assesses what customers want from the members of staff that deal with them and concludes by considering the implications of these ideas for theory builders and planners of retailing strategy.