Misleading ? The title? Oh come on.. you can ping me individually whether it was misleading or not.
The title of my blog can be misleading, specially in todays environment 😀😁😀 but… but a Salesperson or Salesman cannot be.
This is what I am going to write about. . My experiences with Rocket Singh, the salesman of the year…
Does the name ring a bell in your mind… Its the 2009 Bollywood film starring Ranbir Kapoor, the hardworking,the honest, the inspiring, the dedicated, the smart Sardarji…
Yes I am looking for a Rocket Singh in my entreprenuel extravaganza…
My experiences with them are not worth mentioning(in Amdavad), at least in my industry, barring a minisucle population. The adjectives mentioned above in bold are some of the prerequisites needed for a good salesman… but alas… they seem to be extinct in the city of my dreams… Na na not Mumbai… Amdavad…
Started my professional career in Ahmedabad under an intoxicating entrepreneur, Raju kaka… ie Nitai Pandya…
Same person but different persona.
Nitai bhai as known in the advertising world… made my foundation rock solid. An extraordinary salesman who is never afraid of taking risks in life, taught me the first lesson of Sales. “A sales is never complete till the time your account is credited”.
This I find nowhere in current generation of sales reps. There the motto is just sale, sale and sale. Ownership and Accountability is missing. I feel so sad and sorry for these young guns as they misfire frequently.
When the time comes for payments for the sales that they have recorded these so called Rocket Singhs turns into Ghajini…
“Bhayia, Unki cheque book katam ho gayi hai”
“Bhaiya, woh travelling kar raha hai”,
“Bhaiya, unke pen kee refill katam ho gayi hai“. 😀😀😀
These are some lame excuses which even my ear drums are tired of hearing every time.
When I shifted to Mumbai in late 2002 or so, I got a wake up call.
That was my second lesson of sales, “Start your day early”.
I started my day as early as 7 am and used to travel 1.5 hrs one way. Nothing unusual or extra ordinary for a typical Mumbaikar but I really had to adjust to it and I did pretty well.
Scheduled my meetings in conjunction with topography of the city.
“Planning” is the key to success. You need to plan your route, your target audience. Understand who are your potential customers are and simply follow the Pareto principle.
Here a typical day starts at 11 AM. I know a sales guy who does not even wake up till 10 in the morning… When I call him, he is somniloquyize.
One call in the morning and straight to distributor point for lunch. So that’s interval even before the movie starts…
We had a time where at lunch about 6 to 7 sales guys would be at our office… slowly we removed that error.
As in any, Bollywood movie the second half is boring, same goes for these guys here… probably one more sales call and that’s it. End of the day.
Their meetings dont happen with clients but amongst their competitors rep at tea stalls.
I usually keep sharing my experiences but they care a damm about it. These guys are about 25 / 26 in age with lot of steam in them but they just dont want to launch themselves.
I feel Modi Ji should make it compulsory for young sales guys of Amdavad to work in Mumbai for atleast 3 years before giving them PR to live in this city. :-). Like in Singapore it is compulsory to serve in army for x years before taking any profession.
I firmly feel that Mumbai grooms you as a professional.
The third and the most important lesson that I learnt early in my career was “Build relationships, sales will happen”.
Relationships not only with your customers but also with your team. They are an integral part of your success. Be empathetic to them.
Clients are important, u need to earn their respect… at the same time you need to respect your team and vice versa. My ex boss Ms Lakshmi Iyer was a master at this. She kept her team happy, ultimately we doubled our sales every year.
I am no Joe Giard, but still I have done my basics right. There’s a lot that can be improved in the current generation of reps… The most important is their Attitude. The Onus. Etc…
As Zig Zagler has said
“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”
A parting thought to all the young dazzling Rockets…
Make mistakes… no issues.. but dont repeat the same mistake twice or thrice. Make new mistakes and learn from them…
More importantly take onus of the mistakes made.
As Daniel Webster has said
“There is always room on the top.”
Special mention of Jigar… the young CA, my CA-:). He happens to be most talented and workaholic person I have ever met in Ahmedabad… must be 25 and already a CA. Works with a mutlinational company. He has finished his CFA also from USA.
He is an exception to this city. Keep going Jigar, Mars is the limit..
As said earlier, I need an appointment with more of him aka Rocket Singhs.
Happy Selling…