Exploring the roles of marketing and selling capabilities in delivering critical customer centric performance and brand performance outcomes for B2B firms

Superiority in both marketing and selling (or sales) is argued to be essential for achieving specific business outcomes. While the interface between marketing and selling has received attention, there has been little, if any, research focusing on the contribution of these two important functions (residing within the marketing and sales departments) in achieving superior customer attraction, retention, and satisfaction representing key customer centric performance indicators. Specifically, we theorize that both marketing and selling capability are critical drivers of customer centric performance, which in turn enhances the firms’ brand performance. Empirical findings support these theoretical propositions. We also take the view that a firms’ market orientation impacts the relationship between its marketing and selling capability and customer centric performance.