Product and After-sales Service

After-sales service is a major category of SHB and is usually viewed by customers as a determinant of the buyer-seller relationship. As mentioned earlier, salespeople do not only sell and promote products to their customers; they also have to provide assistance to them concerning product-related issues (e.g., assist customer to debug product problems).

Therefore, there are plenty of opportunities for salespeople to go out of their ways to help customers. Many participants (customers) in the interviews mentioned that whether salespeople can help solve product-related problems is their main concern. Two buyers speak of how their salespeople perform SHB as follows:

When there was cost review, the salesperson helped me to reduce the cost of the materials. Additionally, when the product can’t function, or when there were problems, the

salesperson helped me to solve it right away on site. Salespeople who gave me presents during my birthday are very sweet; however, if there is a product or price problem the salesperson can’t solve, no amount of presents can compensate for this. I don’t want any presents, I just want salespeople who can help me to complete my job smoothly....that’s a good salesperson, in my opinion.(C02:1)

As a buyer you always consider the product price, prompt delivery, and a quick response time for urgent request. For example, if my needs become greater than the original order, the salesperson will find a way to satisfy my need, no matter how difficult it is. That kind of help which is beyond my expectation would satisfy me much more. (C04:2)

From the perspective of customers, the most important area of SHB in the B2B sector involves dealing with product-related issues, such as product cost, delivery, free samples and malfunction. There is no doubt that salespeople’s help can make customers’ job easier. In such case, the work efficiency of customers can be enhanced significantly. Therefore, continued and developed interaction based on mutual dependence and trust is very likely to be present in a successful relationship of this kind.

In an economy where profit margins are small, customers are primarily concerned with reducing product cost. Conversely, in a competitive commercial climate, salespeople need to provide more product value for their customers. Since product cost can also be affected by product design and development. SHB may involve salespeople providing customers with valuable suggestions to improve products if other means for reducing the unit cost of a product can not be found. One example of this kind of help is in the following summary:

We (the sales team) seek ways to accommodate cost reduction needs for our customers.

For example, we assist our customers to simplify product design and manufacture in order to reduce manpower and, thereby, to save them money.(S08:3)

4.3.2 Disclosure

Self disclosure in the area of SHB can be divided into two groups: task-specific disclosure and social disclosure. According to Jacobs, Evans et al. (2001), task-specific disclosure indicates specific business information exchanged during a sales encounter, while social disclosure is used to denotes personal information swapped during sales encounters.

This study supports the proposition presented by Jacobs, Evans et al (2001): when a salesperson discloses task-specific details to his or her customers, it is viewed by the customers as relationship building and the quality of their interactions is ,thus, enhanced.

Many Salespeople interviewed in this study mentioned that their buyers may rely on them to provide new information about the market. In other words, salespeople who provide useful information to their customers, increase the latter’s appreciation of them and this enhances their relationship. For example, customers might not always be aware of all market trends and demands, which can significantly affect their business. However, because of the nature of their job, salespeople are in a better position to learn about all the information and provide such information to their customers. In order to earn the customer’s trust, salespeople should know product related information which customers may have questions about when promoting products.

Customers are usually very interested in market information provided by us, …, new technical skills, or their competitors’ new products. (S06:4)

The reduction of product price, the improvement of product design and the provision of urgent materials are the minimum expectations of customers from salespeople. However, salespeople who are able to sense and voluntarily satisfy my information needs are much more appreciated. (C12:5)

In addition, salespeople are responsible to bring their customers’ messages back to salespeople’s company, so that they can consult with their team members as to how to fulfill customer’s request. Moreover, sometimes when the customer’s company is large, they may also need to integrate all the messages acquired from different sources in the customer’s company as there might not be systematic or coordinated method of internal communication in the organization of clients. For example, they can promptly convey messages about the production line from the engineers in the customer’s company to the buyers. Thus, salespeople who volunteer to act as messengers are considered by their customers to be more successful. Two examples are provided in the following:

Salespeople should know all the key people in my company and their requirements, and to collect and pass messages between them in order to make them more aware of the whole situation. This is because sometimes buyers don’t know about the free sample their engineer asked the salesperson to provide and for which module of their new product it is intendeds.

The message can facilitate buyer’s work by searching for information about the sample and checking the price in advance. …Therefore, I think a helpful salesperson is one who helps collect and pass message for me.(C06:6)

No matter good or bad news, I make sure to tell my customers promptly, for example, if the production line is stopped because of defective materials… I would tell my buyer, so that they can know how to respond to the situation. In this way, when their colleagues ask them

about the problem, the buyer can perform very well by implementing his already prepared strategy to solve the shut down in production line. (S09:7)

It should be noted that customers are not merely information takers. It was found that customers in this study reciprocated by providing information about their company to their salespeople. In other words, salespeople may get hint or warning from their buyers in return for performing SHB.

Salespeople provided me with product information, and then I shared work experience and knowledge with them …for example, I told them how to deal with their problem with my company. (C05:8)

When salespeople support me even if it is a trivial help, I show my appreciation by passing information to them. For example, if I have an urgent request, they may provide me with the products another customer ordered. I would reciprocate by letting them know they should adjust their quotation if they want to win the bid.(C14:9)

Although a task-specific disclosure is critical to business relationship building, salespeople may need some pep talk topics to warm up the atmosphere during the meeting. It is interesting to note that during most meetings with their customers, salespeople admit that much of the time is not spent talking about business; rather, it is used to develop their relationship. Most importantly, through social disclosure salespeople know more about their customers’ likes and dislikes. Their customers will then be impressed when these encounters are followed by personalized assistance or presents.

... I have many interests such as: playing guitar, fishing…,but I’m not very good at

them…When customers and I have the same interests, they are more inclined to spend time chatting with me.. in such cases, they let down any self-defense and see you as a friend.

(S09:11)

It is impossible for us to persuade customers to buy our product every time we meet.

For almost 80% of the time we talked about other stuff and the rest on the specifications of our product. (S07:10)

On the other hand, social-disclosure can be said to be a way for customers to vent their emotions. Customers are more comfortable with disclosing personal details after mutual trust has been established.

One of my customers is a buyer. She had a big fight with her husband and then decided to divorce him. She needed someone to discuss this with…because we have known each other for a long time and met frequently, she talked about her personal worries to me…however, she felt that it was not appropriate for her to talk about her situation with her closer colleagues…I believe that my support is worth more than anything.(S01:12)

Moreover, in this study, salespeople were found to have acted as informed sources who have gone the extra mile to collect all kind of information in order to please their customers.

One salesperson describes his role as being that of a radar station:

For example, a customer who wanted to buy a new car, came and asked me if I was acquainted with any person who sells cars…he thought that it could be cheaper to buy a car through me...I tried my best to collect as much information as he needed or any free samples (e.g., battery) for him. The point is salesperson is a radar station for customer.

(S15:13)

4.3.3 Relationship Enhancing Activities

Many activities are engaged to enhance the level of intimacy in the buyer and seller relationship. As salespeople and customers have frequent contacts, some of them may form friendships and some may not. According to Swan, Goodwin et al. (2001), a customer’s relationship with his salesperson is on one of the following three levels: friend, co-worker or acquaintance. Swan and his colleagues (2001) have further elaborated that friends in business also engage at a high level of intimacy, share casual conversations and share leisure activities. Geiger & Turley (2005) have also reported that successful salespeople from the B2B industry who spend extra time with their customers by providing them with more personalized social events (e.g., golfing, eating outside) can detect previously undetected sales directions or develop long-term sales strategies to meet future customer needs based of informal disclosures during such times. The findings of this study support this observation:

salespeople in this study formed friendships by engaging in social events, gift-giving, and concerns- expressing. Salespeople deem that their customers as their friends and engage in all kind of social activities together with their customers:

…In my opinion, the starting point to making friends with customers is not to push them to buy my product…even though I don’t have any business with customers, still I need to keep in touch …I think that we may have a chance to support each other one day, if I am still in this area . (S10:14)

My supervisor plays golf with my customers…and I send presents on special days… I buy customers cups of coffee during meetings, go out to eat with them to wherever they want

to eat… climb mountains and go to ,hot springs together… in this way , the relationship can be enhanced…(S07:15)

From this study, it can be seen that many salespeople spend extra time with their customers engaging in non-business activities. As Geiger & Turley (2005) have elaborated outside activities are an ideal way for salespeople to discover what their customers really like (by increasing intimate self-disclosure); to get messages that may be lost in customer’s busy office environment (by increasing the opportunities to meet with the customers outside the work place). Two salespeople describe below the extra time they have spent with their customers:

I try to have dinner with my customers. While customers and I have dinner, I have a better chance to get alone with them and that allows me to enhance our relationship more easily. If the relationships between salespeople and customers are good enough that customers are willing to eat out with salespeople. That means those customers treat salespeople as their friends. (S07:16)

Why do we (salespeople) have to go to night pubs with customers? Generally speaking, only when we are in public places can we chat about everything, especially while we are drinking or eating….when customers complain to me, at that time, I can ask anything I would like to know. (S06:17)

By performing these extra-roles behaviors in the business relationship, salespeople underpin their relationships with their customers and make them stronger. In this study, sending gifts has been found to be the most common relationship enhancing activity. While engaging social disclosure, they take the opportunity to detect customer’s need. They are

often able to determine the unstated needs of their customers and to send the proper gifts as a way to express their care for customers or to impress them. In short, salespeople may spend much time and give much thought to find the most appropriate gifts for their customers.

Some of the salespeople in this study mentioned that they provide customers with extra care or presents:

Salesperson who is more determined to improve his sales performance in my company would suggest taking specific vitamins to his pregnant customer. Moreover, he would go through the trouble of purchasing the suggested vitamins and deliver them to his customer’s office… this is a kind of gift-giving as well as a way of showing car. (S11:18)

…my salespeople gave me different presents such as a baby’s bottle and books while I was pregnant…in addition, while I was ill, they expressed their concerns. (C05:19)

When I was on an overseas business trip with all of my suppliers, one of them gave me a present on my birthday. I was so pleasantly surprised. She was the only salesperson who gave me a present. (C03:20)

4.3.4 Running Errands

In this part, many kinds of errands and assistance were engaged by the salespeople who performing SHB. When mentioning relationship with customers salespeople reported that that’s attitude of making friends with customers. Therefore, in this category, what friends do with each other is also what salespeople do to interact with customers. Compared to relationship enhancing activities, the behaviors in this category are more like the behaviors

between old friends. When salespeople know their customers well enough, they would run errands for the convenience or favor of their customers.

I used to help customers move….I remember that I helped one customer because we had been good friends. At that time, we treated each other as friends rather than as a seller and a buyer. (S02: 21)

…when a salesperson who is also one of my friends, returned from abroad, I asked him to help me to buy something I needed. (C04:22)

4.4 Cognitive Gap between Salespeople and Customers

In today’s IT industry, some customers’ companies prohibit them from accepting supplier favors such as: dining outside, golf outings. Therefore, due to constraint from company policy, organizational buyers had to limit their personal relationships with their salespeople. However, despite these restrictions, salespeople reported that they can still provide professional information without disobeying company rules. Salespeople can still manage to meet customers’ needs by engaging in different types of SHB (e.g., providing professional information)

…for example, some buyers don’t like social activities, so I have to give them professional information to receive information from them. (S09:24)

…Most customer companies don’t have a rule against making friends with suppliers. In the business community, some customers are serious and conservative, and some are open minded…making friends with them is not so difficult. (S08:23)

Moreover, from customer’s perspectives, some types of SHB were deemed essential parts of SHB. As Figure 4.1 illustrates, product and after sales service: 29% is the main element of SHB typology. When it comes to the characteristics of top salespeople, it is not the sophisticated selling skills and eloquence of salespeople; rather it is salespeople provide assistance they need. Therefore, so called good salespeople sell product to their customers should provide quick respondence and timely service. As to the second largest part:

gift-giving which is 26%. People in Taiwan think that one can never be too courteous.

Bringing gifts for customers in a suitable time and place, makes salespeople closer to their customers. Therefore, the value of gift-giving can not be neglected.

Figure 4.1 SHB Typology percentage from Customers’ Perspectives

Socializing 12%

Affection expressing 5%

Running Errands2%

Task-specific disclosure

13%

Social disclosure 13%

Product and after-sales service

29%

Gift-giving 26%

From salespeople’s perspective, to enhance their relationship with customers is a key element in SHB. Figure 4.2 illustrates the biggest part of SHB is socializing which is 24%, and the second one is gift-giving, 22%. In the section of Relationship Enhancing Activities, I have explained the importance of socializing activities for salespeople. The different viewpoint of the main characteristics of SHB between salespeople and customers is that salespeople tend to make friend with customers for future benefits. However, customers initially focus whether salespeople can facilitate their work. Therefore, salespeople succeed by means of socializing in order to establish friendship. It is also very interesting to know that not only salespeople but also customers that their minor largest part of SHB is the same:

gift-giving. That is, good salespeople buy gifts to their customers is also thought by their customers that this is good salespeople will behave.

Figure 4.2 SHB Typology percentage from Salespeople’s’ Perspectives

Affection

Chapter 5 DISCUSSIONS and CONCLUSIONS

5.1 Discussions

Our analysis has produced several important findings concerning salespeople performing helping behavior toward their customers. First, the results suggest that different SHB exist in the B2B context. Dealing with product-related problems conscientiously is seen by customers as very helpful in reducing their workloads. Therefore, it can be seen as the initial base upon which customers trust and relationships are built. Additionally, it facilitates the performance of future SHB. Furthermore, this study is consistent with the proposition presented by Price and Arnould(1999) which states that commercial friendships are similar to other friendships involving disclosure, reciprocal gift giving, affection and social support.

This study also elaborates upon what helpful salespeople do for their customers so that commercial relationship becomes friendships (by gift-giving, care expressing etc.).

Salespeople in the study collect market information and provide product knowledge for their customers in order to establish trust and to acquire important information from their customers. They act as a market maven (Feick and Price 1987) to provide not only product information (e.g., delivery schedule, specification) but also lifestyle information such as:

restaurants and travel suggestions. In addition, although friendship forming may be against a customers’ company policy, according to the participants, courtesy or gift-giving are sometimes very critical for salespeople to consolidate their relationships with customers.

Additionally, paying attention to customers when talking to them, and arranging social

activities for them are considered the characteristics of the most helpful salespeople.

Consistent with proposition of George (1998), customer-service behavior was positively associated with sales performance. Salespeople who are very helpful toward customers are found to receive different kinds of positive feedback from customers (e.g., winning bidding higher than other vendors). Finally, this study has revealed that, from a customer’s perspective, salespeople performing SHB will increase their satisfaction and mutual

Consistent with proposition of George (1998), customer-service behavior was positively associated with sales performance. Salespeople who are very helpful toward customers are found to receive different kinds of positive feedback from customers (e.g., winning bidding higher than other vendors). Finally, this study has revealed that, from a customer’s perspective, salespeople performing SHB will increase their satisfaction and mutual