Unpacking the Account Executive Performance, its Antecedents, and Relational Outcomes: An Abstract

Abstract

Performance has been investigated according to the view of the salesperson (Sharma 2006; Sengupta et al. 2000; Boles et al. 2000), the sales manager (Tzempelikos and Gounaris 2015; Workman Jr. et al. 2003; Piercy et al. 1998), the direct supervisor (Patterson et al. 2014), the customer-seller dyad (Palmatier et al. 2008), and the sales manager-salesperson dyad (Ogilvie et al. 2017; Paparoidamis and Guenzi 2009). Notwithstanding the multiple views, the performance from the key account executive (AE from now) in industrial relationship has been receiving less attention, thus exposing problems of self-reported investigations (Sengupta et al. 2000). There is a need to better understand how the performance of AE influences the success of business relationships, as well as the role of salespersons in creating value in buyer-seller relationships (Choi et al. 2015). In this paper, we assumed that the salesperson’s knowledge, perceived commitment, trust and role in sales improve AE performance, which in turn influences a relationship between a buyer and a firm. In proposing a theoretical model of the antecedents and consequences of AE performance, we suggest that it plays a mediating role in the relation between variables linked to buyer-seller dyad and variables linked to buyer firm dyad. Specifically, this study searches for an answer to the following research questions: RQ1—How does AE performance influence firm-level/relational outcomes? RQ2—What is the mediating role of AE performance in explaining AE characteristics and firm relationship quality? Our objective is to test a framework to understand AE performance, its antecedents, and firm-level/relational outcomes (relationship quality, satisfaction, and commitment). We tested the model in the context of B2B relationship involving 192 key account buyers of a major communication firm in the USA, which evaluated their account executive. The results indicate that AE-perceived commitment and trust are the main drivers of AE performance. Second, we showed that AE performance influences satisfaction, supporting the pivotal role of an AE for improving satisfaction and building relationships. This result is congruent with the role of account executive in maintaining industrial long-term relationships. Third, we supported the mediating role of AE performance in establishing industrial relationship. The mediating effect suggests that account executive characteristics influence indirectly commitment and relationship quality.