Write extraordinary relationships between sales and customers is essential to corporate success.

SALESPERSON-CUSTOMER DYADS IN THE CASINO GAMING INDUSTRY: HOW SALES COMPETENCIES IMPACT CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND ACCOUNT PROFITABILITY

Write extraordinary relationships between sales and customers is essential to corporate success.

To meet the increasing demands of customers within the hospitality industry, corporations must ensure they pair customers with salespeople who are highly competent possessing refined and adaptable skill sets that directly increase customer satisfaction and account profitability.

Corporations spend billions of dollars annually on hiring and training salespeople, yet salespeople often quit or miss their quota targets.

Considering this problem, the purpose of this dissertation study is to determine which sales competencies have the greatest impact on customer satisfaction and account profitability as well as determine the appropriate length of the customer-salesperson relationship to assuage the law of diminishing returns.

This study is the first to empirically measure the views of casino operators as they evaluate their satisfaction with their salespeople through a detailed survey.

By use of a mixed-methods approach first, via a survey to be sent to 900 casino-gaming operators and later following up with in-depth interviews, results are expected to indicate salespeople who possess the most competencies will yield the greatest profitability and customer satisfaction.

The moderating variable of the length of the salesperson-customer relationship is expected to show the longer the length of the relationship the higher the customer satisfaction and the more profitable that account would be.