ABCs of Relationship Selling Through Service

About the Author
Dr. Raj Agnihotri is the dean’s fellow in marketing and the director of sales initiative at Ivy College of Business, Iowa State University. Previously, Raj held the first John Merrill Endowed Professorship in Consultative Sales at the University of Texas at Arlington and Robert H. Freeman Professor of Sales Leadership and Marketing chair at Ohio University. Before entering academia, Raj held a number of sales and marketing positions with start-up ventures for major global corporations. He currently serves on the advisory boards of several technology startups based in the US and Europe. Raj is also involved in executive education and has given sales seminars to industry professionals from North America, Brazil, Europe, and India. He served on the faculty of Samson Global Leadership Program at Cleveland Clinic from 2014 to 2017 and taught health administrators from across the world.
Raj has published over 35 articles in leading scholarly journals and has presented papers at over 50 national and international conferences. He serves on the editorial review board of Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Research, and Marketing Management Journal. A recipient of the prestigious 2011 James M. Comer Award for the best contribution to selling and sales management theory, Raj’s dissertation on salesperson competitive intelligence won the 2010 Best Dissertation Award from American Marketing Association. Raj has also received the 2017 Citation of Excellence Award from Emerald, the 2012 Bright Idea Award from NJPRO Foundation, the 2012 Stanley Hollander Award from Academy of the 2017 Doctoral Students’ Mentor of the Year award from College of Business at UT Arlington, the 2012 Advisor of the Year Award from William Paterson University, and the 2008 Marketing Science, the 2010 McGraw Hill/Steven J. Shaw Award from Society for Marketing Advances, and the 2008 Next Gen Award from AMA Sales SIG and University of Houston.
Raj is a passionate teacher and he was awarded the 2014 Hormel Excellence in Teaching Award for his innovative teaching practices. He has also received Golden M Teaching Award in marketing at Kent State University. A firm believer in experiential learning, Raj launched Maverick Sales Club at UT-Arlington, Consumer Research Center at Ohio University, Professional Sales Club at William Paterson University of New Jersey, among other initiatives.
Charles M. Futrell is the federated professor of marketingat Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Hehas a B.B.A., M.B.A., and Ph.D. in marketing. Dr. Futrell is a former salesperson turned professor. Before beginning his academic career, he worked in sales and marketing capacities for eight years with the Colgate Company, the Upjohn Company, and Ayerst Laboratories.Dr. Futrell serves as a frequent reviewer for several academic journals. He is on the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice. His research in personal selling, sales management, research methodology, and marketing management has appeared in numerous national and international journals, such as the Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Marketing Research. An article in the summer 1991 issue of the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management ranked Charles as one of the top three sales researchers in America. He was also recognized in Marketing Education, Summer 1997, as one of the top 100 best researchersin the marketing discipline.Professor Futrell served as the American Marketing Association as Chair of the Sales and Sales Management Special Interest Group (SIG) for the 1996–97 academic year. He was the first person elected to this position. Charles was elected Finance Chair for the Sales SIG's 1998–99 term. In 2005, this AMA group presented Charles with its Lifetime Achievement Award for commitment to excellence and service in the area of sales. Mu Kappa Tau, the National Marketing Honor Society, recognized Charles for exceptional scholarly co