This paper uses transaction-level data from a firm in the High Technology sector to compare the revenue garnered from customers who purchase via sales representatives to that garnered from customers who purchase online. The interaction mode may be correlated with the customer’s unobserved valuation for the service, and this potential endogeneity is addressed using an instrumental variable. Specifically, the data indicate whether the customer’s details were recorded in the company’s information systems following an initial contact, such as the download of a free version from the company’s website. The availability of such leads facilitated representatives’ ability to contact customers, generating exogenous variation in the probability of interacting with a representative. Instrumental variable estimates indicate that such interaction lowers the total revenue garnered from a paying customer during the sample period. The primary driver of this result is a churn effect: customers who purchased online displayed a longer overall relationship with the firm, and were more likely to renew an expiring subscription. An alternative explanation, according to which representatives lowered revenues by reassuring customers regarding the adequacy of cheaper versions of the product, is not supported by the data.

中文翻译：

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估计与销售代表互动对特定于客户的收入和客户流失行为的影响

本文使用高科技领域一家公司的交易级数据来比较通过销售代表购买的客户和通过在线购买的客户获得的收入。交互模式可以与客户对服务的未观察到的估值相关联，并且可以使用工具变量来解决这种潜在的内生性。具体而言，数据表明在初次联系（例如从公司网站下载免费版本）后，客户的详细信息是否记录在公司的信息系统中。这种潜在客户的可用性促进了代表与客户联系的能力，从而在与代表互动的可能性上产生了外源性差异。工具性变量估计值表明，这种交互作用会降低样本期内从付费客户那里获得的总收入。此结果的主要驱动因素是流失效应：在线购买的客户与公司的总体关系更长，并且更有可能续订到期的订阅。数据不支持另一种解释，根据该解释，代表通过让客户放心产品的廉价版本来降低收入，从而降低了收入。