The Relationship Between Psychological Climate And Salesperson-Sales Manager Trust in Sales Organizations

Abstract

It is imperative that salespeople gain and maintain the trust of prospects and clients. Similarly, the ability of management to develop and preserve trusting relationships with their salesforces exerts a critical influence on the success of sales organizations. The extent to which psychological climate of sales organizations influences the level of trust that salespersons place in their sales managers is investigated in this study. “Low-trust” and “high-trust” salespersons were distinguished by their significantly different perceptions of the levels of autonomy, cohesiveness, fairness, innovativeness, recognition and ethicality present which compose the psychological climate of their sales units. Recommendations regarding how sales managers can foster a trust-facilitating psychological climate are offered.