Ravi Pratap Singh

Know When To Let Go

Perseverance. This is the key attribute required of a salesperson. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, perseverance is "the continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure or opposition".

That's the reason a salesperson is taught never to get tired of knocking doors irrespective of the number of times the doors get slammed on his/her face. The salesperson is also taught never to take a "NO" from a prospect at face value. Just because a prospect has not bought from you on your first sales call doesn't necessarily mean that s/he cannot be converted to a consumer the next time around.

This "perseverence" mantra is drilled so hard into a salesperson's head that it becomes part of his/her DNA. Though meant to be a boon, perseverence can also become a salesperson's bane. This happens when the salesperson refuses to let go of any of his/her prospects in the hope that the prospect will eventually buy at some point of time. Here, the never-say-die spirit actually makes the salesperson lose his/her ability to "qualify" a prospect as a potential buyer.

Therefore, along with perseverance, a good salesperson should also know when to let go. S/he should be able to judge precisely when a prospect needs to be qualified as "dead" and move on without expending any more time.

Loyalty Is Not Forever

How does one feel when a 13-year relationship comes to an end? Especially when one has remained fiercely loyal despite persistent temptations from relentless suitors?

Anger and Betrayal! These are the two emotions I strongly felt…

For Nokia!

This was the only brand of phone I had used since I went “mobile” 13 years ago. And not for a fleeting moment in all those faithful years did the Blackberrys and iPhones of the world manage to lure me away from my beloved Nokia.

A few weeks ago I decided to become “smart” like the rest of the world and bought myself a Nokia N-97 Mini. Well, suffice to say that it turned out to be a “dumb” decision! I spent a couple of stressful months with Mini. But thankfully, before the problems could become major, I saw my saviour arrive amidst unprecedented media blitzkrieg. Nokia unleashed its long overdue answer to the iPhone… the N8! I promptly bit the bait. And then cursed my fate.

My “power struggle” with the phone started the moment I switched it on. 11 harrowing days later, it was DEAD!!!

The retailer was kind enough (by Indian standards) to replace the departed instrument with a new piece… 8 days later this was DEAD too!!!

8 days!!! Was the phone living up to it’s name??? I wonder… 

Now the retailer started interrogating me like a murder suspect. After all, I had slaughtered two innocent N8s in a matter of 19 days. What was my modus operandi, he wanted to know. And my sinister agenda. He just wouldn’t believe that the phone would get switched off automatically atleast a dozen times a day and then take about 20 minutes before it could be switched on again. Apparently he had sold large numbers of N8s within days of its mega launch and the only two phones that had met their untimely deaths were under my evil custody. The judgment was loud and clear… I was guilty!!!

Before I decided to turn myself in to the cops, I did what the rest of the world does when all else is lost. I turned to the one who knows all… Almighty “G”.

Google, that is!

My prayers were answered in precisely 3 minutes. People of the world, here’s an article and a video that prove my innocence. Nokia N8, indeed has power problems! And I am not talking about it’s power to dominate competition!

From being a die-hard brand advocate to blogging about my disappointment with Nokia, this story once again confirms that consumer patronage cannot be taken for granted. Unlike diamonds, customer loyalty is not forever!

Direct Sales Person Wiped Out?

This morning i woke up to the news about TCS planning to recruit 50,000 employees in 2011. The announcement comes close on the heels of similar such predictions by other Indian IT-BPO majors in the past few weeks. Great!!! Things are certainly beginning to look up again for the industry!!!

The IT-BPO sector has brought glory, greenbacks and growth in abundance to the country and its people. Yet, it has also been singularly responsible for bringing one particular species close to extinction... the direct sales person!

Due to their humongous manpower requirements, year after year the IT-BPO companies fight a virtual "recruitment war" on college/universiy campuses to hire freshers. As a result, almost all final semester students in the metros and surrounding tier-2 cities of India have more than one job offer on hand even before graduating!

Unless someone wants to pursue further studies, every student - the brilliant, the above average, the average, the below average - has a job to go to the day after finishing college. On the face of it, the newbie couldn't have asked for anything better - iconic employer, fancy salary, swanky office, gen-y colleagues. It's an extension of college life... only it's more "hip n happening". And one gets paid handsomely as well.

With this kind of a lifestyle being offered on a platter, who would ever want to go out there in the hot sun or pouring rain and knock doors to sell products and services? It is no surprise then that the direct sales person is almost on the verge of extinction... atleast in the IT-BPO hubs of India.

Will the species survive? Only time will tell.

Freebie - A Double-Edged Sword!

The freebie has always been an important weapon in the arsenal of marketers to entice new customers as well as to retain existing patrons. It is also one of the most potent tools used in building brands. However, it is important to recognize that a freebie can be a double-edged sword.

Recently we received a car-shaped pencil box as a freebie along with a jar of Horlicks bought at the local super market. Needless to say, my “car freak” six-year old son was over the moon! But I was shocked!!! No doubt, the concept of the freebie was brilliant… but the quality of the pencil box was so pathetic, it was actually unbelievable that an iconic brand like Horlicks would want to associate itself with anything so appalling. It looked “cheap”, the plastic edges of the box were really sharp and dangerous for a child to handle… and the wheels came off the second my son nudged it!

While on one hand a well-researched freebie can help enhance brand value and create/cement brand loyalty, on the other hand a poorly selected freebie has the power to dent brand credibility assiduously built over several decades.

Corporate Taglines - Targetting Hearts!

I used to take the public transport bus to school from Classes 3 to 5. As I stood waiting for my bus number 11D every morning, my eyes would frequently be drawn to the slogan/tagline of the quaint little shop beside the bus stop. It was a dyeing and darning shop and the tagline was “We dye for you!”

More than three decades later, it still remains my favourite corporate tagline. Well, you could accuse me of having a soft corner for it because it was the first tagline that I fell in love with (what’s that they say about first love?) and was therefore an integral part of my growing up years. Though valid, these are not the only reasons for these four innocuous words to have stayed closest to my heart. “We dye for you” has all the elements that make for an effective corporate tagline:

a. It is short, catchy and easy to remember.
b. It gives an insight into the company’s values, attitude and service offerings.
c. It reflects the brand position and brand personality.
d. It is specific, not generic.
e. It connects.

Though every successful tagline may not necessarily satisfy the first four criteria listed above, one can safely say that all iconic taglines certainly manage to “connect” with their audiences… big time!

How many times has the “Think Different” phrase on our Apple computers inspired us to think out-of-the-box when faced with a unique problem? How many times have we pumped our fists and recited Nike’s “Just Do It” mantra in our minds before venturing into uncharted territory? Well, that’s the kind of “connect” good taglines have with our hearts and psyches. Over time, they attain legendary status and become part of the society lexicon.

Here are some of my other all time favourites:

De Beers – A Diamond Is Forever
Nokia – Connecting People
GE – Imagination at Work
Adidas – Impossible is Nothing
Budweiser – This Bud’s For You
AOL – Where The World Meets Online

Now go ahead and recall the taglines that tug at your heart. Believe me, it’s fun!