Rapport Management during the Exploration Phase of the Salesperson–Customer Relationship

Abstract

Trust in the salesperson is one of the primary antecedents of customer satisfaction. However, trust is a function of time and is virtually nonexistent during the exploration phase of the buyer–seller relationship. The link between trust and conflict within the sales context has a long history. During the exploration phase of the relationship, buying objections are obvious sources of conflict between sales representatives and prospective customers. Success in managing rapport during such conflict means the sales representative moves the relationship forward. Failure undermines the future relationship. Our goal in this paper is to focus specifically on the critical role of sociolinguistic behaviors described by the theory of rapport management for allowing sales representatives to move beyond the exploration phase in relationships while overcoming customer objections. The result is a simple yet powerful basis for sales training and a theoretically motivated basis for future personal selling research.