Explaining the Mediating Role of Sales Force Customer Knowledge Development in the Indirect Effect of Customer Attraction and Retention Orientation on Innovation Performance

Many companies invest to gain a competitive advantage in the field of increasing innovation performance through customer acquisition and retention. Therefore, the performance of innovation requires a strong set of employees' knowledge, especially the sales force, to ensure that the company's activities are aimed at customer acquisition and retention. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of the customer acquisition and retention orientations on the innovation with mediating role of sales force development of customer knowledge. This study is in terms of practical purpose, in terms of descriptive-survey method and in terms of data collection, library-field. The statistical population includes private insurance companies of East Azerbaijan Province, whose total number of sales force is 245 people. The data collection tool is an electronic questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to evaluate the reliability of the questionnaires and structural validity, diagnostic validity, convergent validity, divergent validity and HTMT index (single-dual validity) were used to assess validity. The research model test was performed based on structural equation modeling method and Smart PLS software. The results showed that customer acquisition and retention orientations have a positive effect on the development of customer knowledge of the sales force. The development of customer knowledge of the sales force has a positive effect on the radical and incremental innovation performance of the company. Also, customer acquisition and retention orientation are influenced by the mediating role of sales force's customer knowledge development on radical and incremental innovation performance of the company.