From a struggling challenger to a top performer

Grameenphone’s first female Circle Business Head, Samrine Bokhari, traded a comfortable management role for an operational role at the front line. With her people first approach and winning mindset, she has turned her cluster into a top performer within two years.  

“For as long as I can remember, I have always been a fighter. Since I was a young girl, I had to fight for what I wanted. I like it when things are hard. Difficult situations give me an opportunity to try new things, and it feels great when I succeed,” says Samrine.  

Samrine first’s job at Grameenphone was in Product R&D, where she designed the first-ever data reporting system for business teams. She then took on roles in Business Intelligence and Customer Experience, where she interacted frequently with sales teams, but seldom directly with customers.  

“When the opportunity came to lead the sales team in Chattogram, I wanted the challenge. The learnings I would get from working in this fierce and highly competitive market was a big push factor and I could really test my mettle,” Samrine explains. 

Building a turnaround plan  

Grameenphone’s business is organised into six sales regions. The Chattogram circle is centred around Bangladesh’s second largest city and stretches from Cumilla in the north to Cox Bazaar in the south. This region is experiencing rapid development and has become nearly as significant as Dhaka in terms of economic importance. It is a buzzling industrial, business and tourism hub, attracting substantial investments that are fuelling growth and modernization. Additionally, the area boasts a lucrative market, with residents who are avid data users with high spending power. 

 “When I arrived in Chattogram two years ago, team morale was quite low. Grameenphone is the market leader across Bangladesh, but in Chattogram, we were the challenger. We had a low market share and were struggling to meet our monthly targets. One of the first things I did was to get my team together for an open discussion, where we questioned everything that we had done in the past and challenged ourselves to do things differently going forward. That discussion was the foundation of my first plan, so our success really comes from the ideas of my people on the ground,” Samrine adds.  

In 12 months, Samrine and the Chattogram team have surpassed targets and significantly increased Grameenphone’s market share.  

She elaborates: “We focused on quick wins that boosted confidence and gave us encouragement to press on. When we proved that it was possible to turn around performance, I started setting tougher targets. This shocked the team at first, but when we sat down and discussed how it could be achieved, we started believing we could do it.” 

These early wins also gave management the confidence to invest in network upgrades, branding campaigns and service offerings. As the market challenger, we needed to grow our customer base. We focused on delivering a strengthened network and valuable services with a strong distribution network.” 

When asked what is next for the team, Samrine is hopeful that the Chattogram team can maintain momentum and enthusiasm to onboard the next million customers. 

Earning trust by fighting for and together with her team 

Sales leaders generally grow their careers by starting from the frontlines and working their way up.  The Chattogram sale team for example, had grown up together, building market insights, product knowledge, and relationships over many years.   

For Samrine to fit in as a newcomer, she needed to earn her team’s trust by showing that she could bring results and secure the support that was needed.  

“I did not only burden them with high sales expectations. I also fought for them and together with them. For me that is what leadership is all about. Respect and trust need to be earned,” Samrine says, when asked about her challenges.  

Supported by family and colleagues 

In Bangladesh, being a woman and working away from her family brings additional challenges.  

Samrine credits her success to her family. “It is not something society understands well. I remember one time I was asked how I could abandon my family for this job in front of my son. I was shocked and felt very bad. It was my son who got me together by telling me that he was so proud of me.    

My family is my strength. My husband and children have always been my biggest supporters. They are my team. Both my husband and I are equal partners in providing for the family and raising our children. When people saw how my husband and children supported me, there was not much they could say.” 

Even at work, there were mixed reactions at first. Samrine not only showed that a woman could do a challenging sales role, but she also demonstrated that it was possible to shift career tracks and be successful. 

Being a role model and inspiration for others 

Samrine hopes that she can inspire other female professionals to take on roles that can stretch them or be outside their comfort zones.  

She recounts an encounter with a customer. “I learn and get inspired by customers every day. Once, a customer observed my activities in the field and during our conversation he told me he was surprised to learn that I was a sales leader in Grameenphone. It was a big compliment when he said that meeting me inspired him to tell his daughter that sales was a good career path.” 

When asked to give advice to other women, her top tip was to build a strong support system around them. Having a career is hard work and it is a choice that requires sacrifices. Having a support system that allows you to realise your ambition is crucial and women need to utilize this as an advantage.  

“My most important advice is that women need to prioritize their careers. Do not wait. If you really want something, this is the time. Do not defer your priority, if you do, it’s not your priority.”