ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the case that enlightened firms and services-marketing researchers have been working with and studying customers for years in ways quite different than the perspective of traditional marketing. It examines the themes that underlie the reasoning for mandating a revolutionary change in marketing, including their own personal experiences. The chapter shares the six service-dominant practices that have observed and contributed to through our work with member companies of the Center for Services Leadership (CSL) at Arizona State University. A corporate strategy of getting close to customers requires a long-term, service-centered view that cuts across and involves all functions in new ways of thinking. The service-centered dominant logic proposed by Stephen L. Vargo and Robert F. Lusch might seem quite provocative to many marketing thought leaders, and enterprises aspiring to be great, have been thinking, planning, and executing for years. External marketing could be thought of as traditional marketing.
