7 steps to cultural heaven

7th April 2016 |   Zahed Subhan and Roger Brooksbank

Roger Brooksbank and Zahed Subhan explore how salespeople can help to grow a customer-led organisational culture.

7 Steps to Cultural Heaven

Abstract

Since salespeople are at the cutting edge of a company’s overall marketing effort it means their knowledge of marketplace dynamics is second to none. High-performing companies understand the value of this knowledge and harness it by involving them in growing a truly customer-led organisational culture.

At the heart of any company’s overall marketing effort is the need to ensure that the whole workforce is fully committed to satisfying customers. To this end, a key task of senior management is the creation of a customer-centric organisational culture, so that decision-making across all departments is undertaken from a customer perspective.

This is not something that can be achieved in a short, sharp “overnight revolution”. Rather, it is an evolving process that managers need to plan and manage over time. It requires the notoriously difficult task of disrupting ingrained working habits, behaviours, prejudices, beliefs and attitudes, and ultimately capturing the hearts and minds of all staff.

Zahed Subhan

Clinical Professor at Drexel University | + posts

Zahed Subhan is Clinical Professor at Drexel University’s Close School of Entrepreneurship, Philadelphia, USA: zs86@drexel.edu.

Roger Brooksbank

Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Waikato | + posts

Roger Brooksbank BA, MBA, Dip M, PhD is currently Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Waikato, New Zealand, with previous experience as a sales executive, sales manager, sales and marketing manager, marketing director and business owner. His research interests lie in all aspects of strategic marketing and business competitiveness and he is the author or co-author of over 200 publications in these areas, including six books. He has also acted as an independent marketing consultant, seminar leader, conference speaker or sales trainer to more than 90 clients throughout Europe and Australasia in both the private and public sectors. In his role as a professional educator, Roger has taught a variety of marketing courses at all levels and he is a recipient of his School’s Outstanding Teaching Award.