The RESER survey of service literature, 1996–2001: new information and communication technologies and services. A synthesis from eight national reports

Salespeople, although the emissaries of the firm's marketing message, find themselves caught amidst new developments in the market place without the necessary guidelines for facing the new challenges presented to them. The separate development of the fields of Sales Management and Relationship Marketing has left unexplored the transition of salespeople from the 'close the sale' imperative to 'build long-term customer relationships'. Our study explores the selling job in the relational sales context of the services sector and highlights a number of key issues for the development of the theory and practice of relationship orientated sales management.