Drawing on Leader-Member Exchange Theory, our study explores how salesperson perceptions of their leaders influence leader-salesperson relationship quality and ultimately salesperson outcomes, including customer orientation and performance. Extending prior research on sales leadership, our model proposes that an important personality trait of a leader — honesty-humility — influences leadership style (i.e., servant leadership). Servant leadership has a positive effect on salesperson outcomes because it enhances leader-subordinate relationship quality. Data from 317 professional salespeople representing a variety of industries lend support for the proposed serial mediation model: honesty-humility → servant leadership → relationship quality → customer orientation. We conclude that the personality trait of honesty-humility affects leadership style, which in turn impacts salesperson customer orientation and performance via a positive effect on relationship quality. Additionally, we show that salesperson perceptions of difficulty in attaining quota moderate the relationship between relationship quality and customer orientation.

基于领导者－成员交换理论，我们的研究探索了销售员对其领导者的看法如何影响领导者与销售员之间的关系质量，并最终影响了销售员的业绩，包括客户导向和绩效。扩展先前关于销售领导力的研究，我们的模型提出，领导者的重要人格特质-诚实谦逊-影响领导风格（即，仆人领导）。仆人式领导对销售人员的业绩有积极影响，因为它提高了领导者与下属之间的关系质量。来自代表各个行业的317名专业销售人员的数据为拟议的串行调解模型提供了支持：诚实谦虚→仆人领导→关系质量→以客户为导向。我们得出结论，诚实谦逊的人格特质会影响领导风格，进而通过对关系质量的积极影响而影响销售人员的客户导向和绩效。此外，我们证明了销售人员对获得配额的困难的理解可以缓和关系质量和客户导向之间的关系。