I had the opportunity to interview a bright, young sales manager candidate just before Christmas who had worked for three distinctly different broadcasting cultures.
One of his employers was programming-driven, one was sales-driven and the other was customer-driven. The only cultures he had not worked in were a bottom-line or share-holder focused organization.
I asked which of the three cultures he would cultivate if we hired him for our sales management position. Without hesitating he said “the customer-focused culture.”
Right answer!
Organizations with a customer-focused culture are by far the most productive and profitable.
In the course of consulting broadcasters, I have the privilege of being exposed to the confidential figures generated by all cultures; programming-focused, sales-focused, profit-focused, shareholder-focused and customer-focused.
I can state unequivocally that the top and bottom lines of the customer- driven broadcasters are always superior to the results generated by the other cultures.
Remember, of course, that when I say “customer-focused”, that we serve three distinct customer groups; audiences, advertisers and internal customers….our staffs.
The companies I have seen that focus on super-serving the three customer groups ALWAYS outperform competitors who focus on programming, profits or sales.