The Tale of Sales and Marketing

A small poem to begin
The journey of sales and marketing

It is not about who is bigger and who is not,
But about understanding and recognizing the roles so clear

So here goes the tale of sales and the story of Marketing
To keep ignorance at bay and walk the right way

If Sales is crossing the stream on a boat so strong
Marketing is building a bridge so long

If Sales is pitching a tent to make quick shelter
Marketing is building a mansion to stay longer

If Sales is a sprint that gets you faster
Marketing is a marathon, the longer the better

If Sales is delivering a presentation to the team
Marketing tells a story that encourages you to dream

If Sales is speculation bringing along well timed gains
Marketing is investing, so arduous but not in vain

If Sales is a steroid for giving quick pleasure
Marketing is disciplined exercising that creates real treasure

If Sales brings out the spice of a one night fling
Marketing is the good marriage thing

So sales is sales and marketing is marketing
And will the twain ever meet

Whether it be Sales or it be Marketing
Success happens when together they ring

Taking Baby Steps and Casting Giant Footprints.

Success is not about destinations.  So often the experience of reaching the destination is not half as one had anticipated. Success is more about how we savor the journey. Unless one learns to enjoy the journey, the destination will not measure up to expectations. Clearly the remedy for this is in developing the right attitude of “enjoying the journey” as much as “enjoying the destination”. So how does one go about this? Journeys are best enjoyed if one sees them as a collection of  several milestones. This greatly helps because although the destination may seem long, the next milestone is just a small distance away. As long as we are moving in the right direction milestone after milestone the joy of the journey gradually starts to unlock and lo and behold the destination is almost effortlessly conquered. 

Thus taking baby steps tirelessly in a disciplined manner is the panacea to beat the destination.  

The following examples reveals the magic of “baby steps”.

Baby Steps and exercises :
A disciplined exercise regime best describes the virtues of "baby steps".

Be it swimming, running, or any other sports. None of these can be mastered instantaneously.

However people trying to learn these get more often than not very impatient for instant results and give up in between.

But those who have it in them to be patient and disciplined eventually hit the sweet spot of mastering the sport.

Clearly discipline and patience are the building blocks that makes champions.

Thus the thrill of reaching a destination is by enjoying the smaller interim goals.

Baby Steps and Cricket :

While one stands up to take notice of batting, bowling and fielding heroics, the biggest game changer in cricket are “partnerships” that are built slowly and steadily with “baby steps”. Partnerships may not have the flair of “centuries” and “5 wicket hauls” but they are more desirable for winning matches. Partnerships are built slowly and steadily run by run till they become ominous and take the game away.
The veterans advice on test match cricket is to play the game session by session with patience and perseverance. Even a star cricketer like Sachin Tendulkar ascribes his success to assiduous practice day in and day out. 

Making a molehill out of a mountain : 
Seemingly insurmountable mountains can be conquered by taking baby steps in the direction of the destination. First you climb a few feet and then a few meters. Each meter you conquer makes your destination closer. The lesson here is to have the discipline of covering a targeted distance every day. Success lies by following a disciplined effort. By covering a larger distance on a particular day followed by a day of unplanned rest is kind of conduct that does not get you to your destination.  Jim Collins the author of Good to Great in his new book Great by Choice has described the “Baby Steps” strategy as the 20 Mile March. According to him a disciplined effort bears fruits whether it is climbing a mountain or running a company. In this book he has spoken of John Brown, CEO of Stryker who in 1977 deliberately set a performance benchmark of achieving 20% net income growth every year. He ingrained this lay in the company’s culture. Stryker had a self imposed constraint as well: to never go too far, to never grow too much in a given year.  Following this discipline Stryker hit the goal more than 90% of the time between 1977 and 1998. Jim Collins has given other interesting examples as well such as Southwest Airlines’ 20 Mile March.  Between 1973 to 2002 Southwest Airlines hit profitability 30 out of 30 years. They too followed the discipline of holding back and not expanding too much in a given year. At one time when more than 100 cities were clamoring for its services, the airlines introduced operations in only 4 cities. Other noteworthy examples of 20 Mile March successes are Intel and Microsoft.  Microsoft embarked on this journey by way of continuous iterations of software products. Often what began as an imperfect product turned perfect after scores of iterations. However it never overextended itself financially despite its successes and hence never had to pause its march. Today Google seems to have embarked on this kind of a disciplined March improving its products and services continually. 

Malcom Gladwell and his Outlier theory :

In his bestselling book, “Outliers”, Malcolm Gladwell touches upon this subject of “persistence”. According to him the key to success for any professional is to rehearse and practice one’s skills for a minimum of 10000 hours.  According to him it takes a 10000 hours of disciplined practice to give birth to a champion. He has given very interesting examples to demonstrate his empirical theory. According to him the “Beatles” became the most celebrated rock band in history on the back of a tireless practice when they played for 7 to 8 hours a day at a night club in Hamburg, Germany before they became a phenomena in Britain.  This intense practice day after day, month after month and year after year brought them all the glory. Gladwell has also given the example of Bill Gates who very early in his life got the opportunity to dabble with computers. This was at a time when most people had not even heard about computers. So while Bill Gates had a lot of passion in him for computers, it was this opportunity to put his passion into practice that made him a champion beyond par. Thus again tireless practice or baby steps whatever you may like to call it gives rise to Outliers.  

A lesson for leaders:
So what is it that “leaders” can derive from the theory of “baby steps”. A leader can go a lot further by taking disciplined baby steps. The leader sets the direction with his ability to see beyond the ordinary, alight his team to the vision, motivate them and embark on his 20 Mile March.  He needs to clearly communicate that there is no way to short circuit the course. The only formula is "tireless" and "steady" progress in the right direction for the foundation of success is made of perspiration, persistence, conviction, effort, practice and practice and practice. 

Baby Steps helps turn the odds in your favor for three reasons:-

1)      It helps you perform well in adverse circumstances

2)      It prepares you for unexpected disruption

3)      It helps you be in control in a chaotic environment. 

In the pursuit of “success” impatience causes one to slip or change directions both of which takes one away from the goal. Thus an eye in the right direction and loads of baby steps would not only get you there but would also make you discover the joy of the journey. As they say, success is a function of 1% inspiration but 99 % perspiration and “Discipline” is the vital link that makes baby steps cast gigantic footprints.

From Land of Opportunities to Land of Opportunities

As a child I grew up with the notion that the west was the land of opportunities. And it was the same for thousands of teenagers growing in the “just liberalized” India. The dream of many Indian students was to set foot on the land where opportunities mushroomed at a rate faster than we had ever imagined. This led the best of the students to take a crack at the GREs and GMATs to crack open the doors to the West. Talent started moving westwards in droves and a new term; “Brain Drain” took birth. A few like me who decided to stay back were left feeling deprived.

Contrast this picture with what we are seeing today.  Many of those who formed part of the “Brain Drain” family have taken a U turn and have headed straight back to home sweet home. All this has happened in a period of less than 20 years. The tables seem to have turned by 180 degrees.

I am amazed at this once unthinkable “metamorphosis”. Why do people want to leave a land replete with great infrastructure and order and head towards a land of chaos and grime? What is this journey from Brain Drain to Reverse Brain Drain all about?

To answer this question, let’s go back in time when young bright minds got attracted to the west like the children of Hamelin to the Pied Piper.  Even as the brain drain was flowing unstoppably, it was the industrious parents who were digging into their savings for funding the long journey that their children had decided to take. Clearly there were no institutions falling head over heels to lend the money. It was hard earned savings and not easy debt which became the fuel for the long journey to the land of opportunity. Had it not been for the savings of their parents, many of my friends would have missed the bus (sorry, aircraft).

Indians have always been serious savers. Mr R Vaidyanathan, professor of finance, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, in his article “Why the decline of West is best for us – And them” in http://www.firstpost.com/world/why-the-decline-of-the-west-is-best-for-us-and-them-104882.html#en says that “At no point in the last 20 years has foreign investment both direct and indirect (portfolio investment popularly known as FII flows) been more than 10% of our domestic investment.”

It is interesting to trace out the source of investment of our economy. In India investments have been funded by millions of housewives who manage their homes brilliantly. The savings that households channel into banks has built the foundation of our economy. The prudent saver is having the last laugh today when he sees people globally get sucked into the whirlpool of debt. His simple living and discipline has held him in good stead.

While the “west” has suffered because of its deep love for “consumerism” and “credit” culture that has pervaded the society at large, in India even we want to pay off our credit card outstanding as fast as we can. In the western world people bought everything their hearts desired. People bought more than they could afford.  It was the cult of credit that shaped lives. There was no notion whatsoever of “saving for a rainy day”. They were not worried about the rains for they knew that the government had a shelter not just for rain but for every other catastrophe one could think of. Old Age, Health, Single Motherhood whatever, the government had an answer for everything. They knew state was responsible for their lives and even for their death. The “dole” was their birthright. The dole had given legitimacy to begging.

Back home there was no dole. If at all, there was the fear of the hole in their pockets if they did not plan for the future. One had to learn to swim to stay afloat. It brought discipline and built stamina. And Indians took to this swimming with gusto. Thus learning to swim brought with it long lasting benefits that have held our economy in good stead.

So what was it that made Indians strive hard under trying conditions? What was it that made Indians embrace the challenges that were thrown upon them?

It was our strong social infrastructure which is popularly known as the “family”.  The well knit family structure played and till this day continues to play a defining role in our lives. Our decisions, our priorities, our needs, our desires are all shaped by our family’s needs. For us tending to the needs of our family is central to our identity. We are what we are because of our family.  We have never lived under any false notion that our government or an institution or a trust would come to the rescue of our family in dire straits. This vulnerability made us “austere” by choice. We chose to sacrifice “consumerism” and instead saved for the family.  So what did this lead to? What was the consequence of our “savings”.

When millions of families save, real money (as against printing notes) got into the banks and from the banks as investments into industry. Some of the savings found its way directly into stock markets as equity capital. All in all our country’s investments got funded by real capital formed in millions of homes through savings generated by some astute management of the home budget by millions of housewives.

By contrast in the west the need to save was certainly not a priority.  It was always felt that one could fall back on the government in case of an emergency. To add to this family ties were either tenuous or non-existent. Hence the motivation to save for someone was imperceptible.

In fact the situation was quite contrary to what was playing out in emerging nations. The millions of families in the west were over-spending beyond their means. The credit culture seeped deep into their DNA and encouraged them to take a dive deep into “consumerism”. People spent as if there was no tomorrow. Hence families had no real money left to pump into their economies.

However for the rest of the world, the “perception” of the west was extremely positive. It was seen as rich, advanced, and stable. There was demand for their currency.  There was a strong belief among people that both the “Dollar” and the “Euro” were among the best options for store of “value”.  The unprecedented penchant for the dollar and euro allowed the central banks in the US and Europe to go on printing money without the currencies losing any value.  Thus the savings of the world created this deluge of dollars that fuelled consumerism. However slowly and gradually US debt started piling up.

People bought consumer goods on loans, food on loans and homes on loans. Home values went sky rocketing which resulted in more borrowing, more lending and more printing of money by the government. People were exuberant in the belief that money will drive the value of assets perpetually upwards. The mood of exuberance finally hit a road block when the realization dawned that a very large number of borrowers were insolvent and there was no hope in hell that they could repay their loans. At the same time inflated home prices began to tone down the demand. Together these two factors played havoc causing unprecedented selling pressure. Before even one realized the mood changed from exuberance to that of “extreme pessimism”. This resulted in fall in confidence, credit squeeze and consequently a crash in the stock market. Thus what appeared to be a virtuous cycle proved to be a vicious cycle in the end.

In the US half the households are invested in the stock markets and hence the personal damage to people was all encompassing. In contrast in India barely 5% of our household savings goes into the stock market.

Excessive dependence of the state and changing demographics are two key factors devastating the West. According to a Wall Street journal article nearly half of US households avail of social security of one kind or the other. This worked fine when the number of people working was substantially higher than the number of people being supported by the government. Longevity has bloated the old age dependant population and burdened a shrinking younger population with the responsibility to tend to the needs of the old. The ratio clearly is not sustainable. This leaves the government in a tight spot. If they default on their promises of social security they stand to lose popularity and get ousted from power. So governments continue to borrow to feed their electorate which in turn raises their debt.

 Such acts of profligacy have raised debt levels to nearly 400% of the GDP.  So unless GDP grows at a breakneck speed it will be impossible for the West to pay off its accumulated debts. The “old” comprise a large proportion of the population and this situation is only threatening to get even worse as we move into the future. Hence the probability of rapid GDP growth is bleak to say the least.

In India there is hardly anything like social security. From the beginning we have been compelled to build our own nest egg.  “Austerity” which is being prescribed a panacea for the west was being practiced by us since time immemorial because that is the only way we know to live. Therefore despite the fiscal deficits that show up in the government’s finances year after year, our debt position is nowhere close to that of the west.

Some time back a friend who had migrated to the US some twenty years ago suddenly decided to head back home because in India he still had his mother and his home to fall back upon.

Understanding DISSENT

THIS PICTURE OF VIRAT KOHLI SHOWING ANGER/DISSENT/FURY/ PASSION / EXCITEMENT / WHATEVER looks cool if the cause was a BIG VICTORY FOR THE INDIAN CRICKET TEAM.

But we are standing light years away from such a dream.

In fact we have gone much below DOWN UNDER.

The manner in which the Indian team has been hammered, this show of RAGE JUST DOES NOT FIT THE BILL.

Cricket is a team sport. The teams performance shapes the character and personalities of individual players.

Showing RAGE when the team is on a winning spree (like the Australians) is indeed a good sight to behold. It actually transfers PASSION to other SOULS.

BUT certainly this SHOW does not augur well when the team is in the dumps.

What is HE TRYING TO SAY?

Big deal if he scored a century. Good for him.

Even a FIFTY for a winning cause would have been APPROPRIATE and ALIGNED

In a team sport, nothing but team performance matters.

INDIVIDUAL FEAT howsoever great looks a lot better if accepted with ALL HUMILITY in a losing cause.

Virat Kohli's expressions look as though INDIA HAS WON THE MATCH.

In a team sport, if  PASSION is expressed in this manner for a TEAM ACHIEVEMENt, the picture looks PERFECT. NOT OTHERWISE.

Did You Know 2.0

Real Customer Service

Genuine customer service is indeed very sticky.

Whatever be the stature of the brand, unless it is supported by genuine service, perceptions painstakingly built over years seldom take much time to crumble from its foundation.

Outsourcing customer service is a risky proposition. Employees understand the soul of the brand. They understand that their interaction is one more step to take the reputation to great heights. An outside party is more often than not detached from the soul of the brand.

Think about your last holiday. Think of the service- the extra attention during dinner. A little extra concern towards your sightseeing. That upgrade that came at no extra cost. Now was it this amazing service or the big brand stature that lingered on in your mind several days after your holidays.

A brand has to be built to create an expectation, a perception.

However a brand can only walk the talk through genuine service delivery.

Brand and Service are the two legs of a proposition.

One is incomplete without the other.

Thus the article in Forbes clearly states, Customer Service is the new marketing.

GUARDING A BRAND

Many years back this happened.

As I was drooling over this brand called DAMANIA, the news that made an appearance CHANGED ALL THAT

DAMANIA was in a financial mess.

The man who wore a KING's GOWN was BANKRUPT.

Now KINGFISHER is BANKRUPT.

OR is it KINGFISHER AIRLINE which is BANKRUPT?

When KINGFISHER stepped into AIRLINES business, the BRAND grew in AWARENESS and STATURE.

From a BEER GUZZLERS' BRAND it overnight transformed into a FAMILY BRAND.

The style, charisma that AIRLINES lend to those who embrace them helped took BRAND KINGFISHER a couple of notches HIGHER in stature and class.

This certainly would have rubbed off on the spirits business as well.

However the BRAND TEAM that includes the Promoter had one task which they needed to do at all costs.

They had to ensure KINGFISHER BRAND was managed in a manner which kept it financially safe at all times.

Everything else including GROWTH could have been sacrificed for this noble job.

They should have taken investment decisions with greater care.

Instead of growing WEALTH and VALUE what they landed up doing brought about a tumour-like GROWTH within the brand.

AND HISTORYjust  repeated itself.

The story of DAMANIA got replayed.

KINGFISHER went fishing to the BANKS for survival.

The brand overnight lost STATURE which it had painstakingly EARNED.

This certainly would have rubbed off on the spirits business as well.

Which beer drinker today feels like a KING with  KINGFISHER LIGHT?

Ask the men in the bar. "DO YOU FEEL LIKE A KING" with this bottle in your hand?

Does he really feel like kissing a beer called KINGFISHER and take a swig?

A brand that was built on STYLE and PANACHE appears wrecked at its foundation.

Should KINGFISHER have allowed the situation to come to pass in this way?

Shouldn't the reputation have been saved by getting the spirit business to support the airline business, if not for anything, just to save the BRAND KINGFISHER

When will and how long will it take for the BRAND to regain its lost lustre? Its EQUITY?

Wouldn't a healthy BRAND been better poised to RECOVER?

I fail to understand how a marketing maverick like Vijay Mallaya allowed things to come to pass in this manner

BRAND BUILDING - THE VERDICT BETWEEN CHANGE AND CONSISTENCY

Think of the Navy - I see WHITE

Think of the pirate - I see the EYE PATCH

Think of RIN - I see a comparison of whites

In a sense these are BRANDS.

They have an IDENTITY

They guard this IDENTITY

The IDENTITY evolves into a BRAND PROPERTY

A BRAND PROPERTY is a BRAND ASSET

It becomes the reason for creating MORE AWARENESS than the competition

It becomes the reason for creating a POSITIVE ASSOCIATION to the BRAND

But should the IDENTITY remain CONSTANT till ETERNITY

OR should it CHANGE

This is a KEY decision which has to be managed by the BRAND TEAM

Too many changes DOES NOT BUILD an IDENTITY

AND keeping it CONSTANT for a very long period can make the IDENTITY lose RELEVANCE

So what the brand team needs to do?

The answer lies in understanding the ENVIRONMENT and FINE TUNING the IDENTITY in keeping with the ENVIRONMENT.

The ENVIRONMENT CHANGES gradually over a period of time.

Some of the notable changes that we have seen are:-

1) Change from wired phones to mobiles
2) Change from talking on phone generation to SMS generation
3) Change from "reading from book" generation to the DIGITAL people
4) Change from going to CINEMA to see a movie to going to CINEMA for gain an experience.

Thus change is the only constant and the brand needs to FINE TUNE according to long term change.

While the BRAND EVOLVES, the brand team also needs to decide the BOUNDARIES that DO NOT CHANGE

Thus BRAND LIFEBUOY evolved into different packaging formats and variants. From being a pure carbolic anti germ square soap it evolved its shape and introduced variants with added value propositions such as soap + moisturizer, soap + herbal, etc.

Hand Sanitizers and liquid soaps were variants that ffitted within the framework.

Thus the boundaries were DRAWN.

ANTI GERM, CARBOLIC BASE, NAME, RED was the CONSISTENT

The variants represented the EVOLUTION

Thus the BRAND REMAINED CONSTANT but RELEVANT by way of gradual evolution.

Personal BRANDS too are prone to such challenges and have to manage their IDENTITY.

The CASE OF ANGELINE JOLIE is amazingly interesting in this context.

The image of predatory sexuality gave her the start that she needed at one point in time. But that kind of IDENTITY would not have sustained her career over a long period of time. She had to re-invent herself with losing her CORE VALUES.

Thus the point of EQUILIBRIUM between CHANGE and CONSISTENCY is a CHALLENGE that will ensure that BRAND TEAMS will always find EMPLOYMENT.

WHAT AILS ORGANIZATIONS

Are organizations created to make a profit???????

OR

CREATED to bring VALUE ?

"Value" certainly means "success" and  "profit" but it is "DIFFERENT FROM PROFIT ".

However when a leader chases "only profits", he loses grip on this value creating machine which begins to falter.

The ORGANIZATION instead of gathering speed starts slowing down.

If remedial action is not taken, the organization eventually comes to a stand still.

An organization is a social set up of "PEOPLE".

PEOPLE are not RATIONAL like MACHINES

SALARIES AND PERKS are like PETROL that is essential to run a car.

But unless the DRIVER is feeling GOOD, the CAR would go no where.

PEOPLE emotional creatures.

When led up the wrong path they REACT ADVERSELY

1) PEOPLE stop enjoying going to work.
2) PEOPLE lose trust
3) PEOPLE feel in secured
4) PEOPLE do not celebrate each other's success
5) PEOPLE start clocking hours instead of of VALUE

UNLESS the leader learns the ART OF LEADING PEOPLE, he'll fail miserably in the ART OF  LEADING AN ORGANIZATION

What ADVERTISERS Must Learn

The genesis of a good piece of communication is a good brief.

Just like a good brief supports VITAL PARTS, so does a good brief ANCHORS GREAT COMMUNICATION

A good brief always drives great creative.

Clients so often communicate their intent and leave it at that,

Clients love to say some of the following statements

1) Give me something great
2) I want something creative
3) Do something
4) Give me options

Which of the above sentences gives a direction (LEAVE ALONE INSPIRATION)

Writing a brief is taking PAIN, thinking HARD, searching for INSIGHTS, setting a DIRECTION and ALL THAT.

It requires EFFORTS, INTELLIGENCE, CREATIVITY

Imagine telling your carpenter TO DO SOMETHING GREAT

Imagine telling your cook TO DO SOMETHING

Imagine what would you do if your boss told you so.

Client's get away time and again with shoddy briefs just because in most cases their leaders are equally clueless.

SO WHAT ELSE DO CLIENT"S DO?

Clients love to "FOLLOW UP"

Clients love to " ACT LIKE GOD"

Ordering people to do work may be an easy option.

But when has easy option been the best option.

CLIENTS MUST REMEMBER that if they really want to swim their way into greatness, they'll need to venture into the deep end of the pool.

Measurement and KRA

A leader obsessed with measuring performance will always be in the hunt

For success and glory

Measurement works only so much

And we all want much more

That what is measured is often not important

And the most important things are those that cannot be measured

Inspiration is not measured but perspiration is

Attendance can be measured but not attention.

A sales visit can be measured but not the sales pitch.

Love cannot be measured but can change lives

Too much of measurement of the petty makes no job pretty.

KRAs can be the biggest sucker of performance if used as a measurement tape.

We measure because we want to be sure

Howsoever hard we may try, "certainty" will remain elusive.

Only if Leaders cared to connect instead of chasing "certainty"

Only if Leaders cared to love

KRAs would get achieved without the need to measure

Thank God For Elections

It is an irony that during the "code of conduct" period, the election commission  succeeds to do the job of the BMC. to keep the streets free from unauthorised political hoardings.

It has been for the last couple of days our streets look clean bereft of every political hoarding.

Once elections are over, these hoardings will start coming back and good old BMC will watch, as always,  like a mute spectator.

Wish there were elections all the time so that the city looks clean and tidy bereft of every political hoarding.

Who is customer

It is important to understand what is strategic.

That what will work in the long term in a sustainable manner is strategic.

In 1999 when Mahindra Auto realized that basic jeeps were not strategic to their product mix they started investing in future cars-Bolero/Scorpio etc.

They used basic jeeps as cash cows leading to ultimate phase out

At that time the basic jeep guys were skeptical but eventually had to accept strategic reality that the consumer was being offered value added products by the market and hence his bargaining power was on the rise. There was no hope in hell to satisfy the consumer by providing basic products. Hence Mahindra Auto decided to invest large moneys in their business to first stay relevant and then to compete.

The question is, what is strategic for us?

1)5000 distributors who themselves are not upbeat about their business/whose wings are getting clipped by the regulator

2)Large middle class comprising of 5 million households having reasonably large disposable income.

3)Healthy gross domestic savings

4)Reasonable penetration and acceptance of IT

5)Huge penetration of mobile phones

6)Mushrooming of small towns and better distribution of wealth across the country


Hence the biggest need for us is to define who is our customer is. For us there can be no bigger question to answer as we stand on the cross-roads of “change”.

Once we have answered this question we will then need to invest in the right means to meet the right end.

So should we continue to look at all our sales people as relationship people for the intermediaries or is there a case to re deploy some for last mile sales and service delivery.

Hence is there a need for large scale re-training for a significant portion of our sales force?


Let us understand the world we are entering.

The long term returns since inception will get weaker as we swim deeper into the current bear phase.

The 3 to 5 years returns will start to look abysmal and less inviting.

When we were at the peak of the bull run we sold a glorious past to customers.

And they invested all they had only to step into a bottomless pit subsequently.

Did we not know that in capital markets a bear is always in waiting to catch up with the bull.

So was our sales pitch right? Isn’t the strategy of selling the past instead of the future coming to haunt all of us now.

Now that the past will start looking murkier and less inviting, we perhaps would sooner or later reach a point a glorious climb. After all equity markets eventually move up in the long run.

Then do we sell a glorious future based on a murky past?

Have we been trained “ever” to sell the future in a manner which is correct and right for the investor?

Can we think together of opening up the retail segment for debt product?

There is a need to plug the wide gap between bank fixed deposits / FMPs and Equity products.

The space for products like Income funds that provide returns in between equity funds and fixed deposits with "in between" kind of risk has never been plugged.

One thing we must remember that always the source of business is always the end consumer and his long term interest needs to be guarded at all cost for he is the source of our daily bread. This was true yesterday and will be true even tomorrow.

Then shouldn’t we ask ourselves as to why have we only sold him "yesterday" as if there was no tomorrow?

Why do we want him to invest his capital for the long term when we ourselves are not wanting to see beyond the short term?

If the essence of investments is patience do we possess enough of that?

Have we given him genuine service or is service yet another mask that we wear just to conform and comply.

Why are we creating more and more products for the same customer instead of making just a few good products for more and more customers.

Why are we not diversifying our risks by selling to more and more customers?

Certainly in India there is no dearth of people who are willing to buy a reasonably good value proposition.

But all this takes time and patience and we need to evolve a meaningful strategy where targets are conquerable.

It is crucial to understand, invest and deploy the “means” to achieve the rightful “ends”. Simply dreaming of the “ends” will never get us near enough and we have seen it happen so many times.

Unless we change our attitude towards our most important stake holder-“the investor”, we will not be able to rid ourselves of the “stunted” growth that we are witnessing.
It takes 9 months for the joy of a baby to be delivered and takes the next 25 years for the baby to enter the doors of adulthood. In the same manner investment in the right strategy and patience are both required for any business to deliver. Now the question again is what is the right strategy? Are we investing in the right strategy?

Strategy is vital as investments made on a strategy today only delivers value over the long term. Hence investing in the right strategy is paramount for our success.

Let's reflect on the above before we project our business into the unknown future for no business can grow on a foundation of falsehood.

The only road to success is one based on basics of doing the right things in all earnest for the man who delivers our daily bread.

IPL unleashes a consumption wave

Last year IPL was held in South Africa and despite all the hype of taking IPL international, somehow the magic was missing. It was not the same feeling. The excitement was not the same. Some how the efforts just did not add up. Come 2010 and it all seems restored. Why is cricket not the same offshore? The stadiums there seems a lot more comfortable and spacious. While people struggle to find a patch to rest their tired buttocks at the Eden, there is so much room to wander at the Wanderers and while you get yourself roasted at Nagpur you could lord over the heat at Lords. And still the magic unfolds only in India. There is perhaps more than a single factor responsible. One is the crazy passionate cricket loving nation that India is and secondly the large army of consumers who expend goods and services at a faster rate than ever before. If one were to see the word "consumerism" come alive, one does not need to see beyond the magic of the IPL.

IPL has been responsible for the creation of new jobs and the expansion of old jobs. There is so much happening in and around the IPL to drive up consumption and spending that as an economy it would not hurt to acknowledge this contribution. Lets look at the businesses that have been reinvigorated by the IPL

1)Hotel Industry: Across the country in all major cities the five stars are busy playing host to various IPL franchisees and their teeming entourage. Besides the direct guests their a scores of indirect guests from sponsor companies and their agencies who need to be catered to. Then there are the fans who have travelled to be a part of the bonanza. There are several such groups that owe their existence to creative marketing minds who have designed alluring travel packages.

2)Airlines: The teeming IPL entourage have to be constantly on move and Kingfisher would not mind the extra business that flows in during March and April just before the summer holidays kick in.

3)New jobs: IPL brings with it several different kinds of unusual jobs. Ever thought there would be a demand surge for cheer leaders? Suddenly we have scores of beautiful maidens swinging their hips as the wickets tumble and the ball gets belted around the park. Other jobs that have emerged include blog writers, pod casters, team photographers and many more.

4) Entertainment jobs: As entertainment seamlessly merges with cricket on the IPL platform, creative professionals such as musicians, singers, choreographers and others from the creative ilk are in full action at the venues and IPL associated off ground programs and events.

5)Advertising and Marketing jobs: IPL is the biggest event for Indian television and marketers wait with bated breath to leverage this for communicating their goodies. The trp stuffed IPL platform becomes the perfect media vehicle for them to connect with their consumers. Brands like Maxx mobiles, Maxi max,Karbon mobile,Gojiyo have all come together on time for the IPL to engage with potential customers. What is unseen here is the work involved to make this happen. This would have been brought to fruition by the coordinate effort of several brand teams comprising of direct employees and vendors constituting the supply chain.

A canvas as large as IPL could only be stitched together by the harmonious coming together of its several constituents. Big money has chased IPL and its dividends flow all the way down either directly or indirectly to each and every stakeholder of this mega event. Big money in the hands is that which can be disposed off for the sake of other goodies and services kicking off what is popularly known as the "virtuous consumption cycle". Thus IPL has placed money in the hands of millions of people either directly or indirectly and thus proding them to spend and indulge in goodies and thereby giving a fresh lease of life to the people who create such goods and services. Wow! that's setting several production gears into sustained motion.
Psychological impact: When consumers feel good they tend to spend more. In the world of finance this feeling is termed as sentiments. IPL has given a boost to our collective sentiments. IPL sends several signals and the market catches and latches on to these signals. A successful IPL season portends several positives about the country. It makes one believe that the nation is reasonably secured and safe. The IPL has also helped shape the esteem of most Indians. From being perceived as a third world country, we now see ourselves as equals or perhaps more than equals. The best of the international cricketers such Kallis, Perterson, Symonds, Shane Warne, Gilchrist, Hayden and the list almost seems endless hired by Indians to play for city franchises. Doesn't this do something to sentiments of all Indians who have grown up studying about our not so envious past under that under colonial rule. To see these stars playing for us, dancing to our tunes, speaking our language in advertisements does cause one's heart to swell in pride and being Indian suddenly starts to feel nice. That's what IPL has done for us and our sentiments. Thus the IPL has created a perfect setting for consumerism and consumption to bloom, create a demand surge, enhance manufacturing and service capacities, create an exciting environment to take money out of our banks and invest in future expectations and last but not the least create several exciting jobs and putting more money into the hands of consumers for inducing more demand and thereby sustaining a virtuous cycle of consumption led growth of the economy and the nation.

Learn from children

Straight from the heart: leadership skills - Entrepreneurship

The best way to learn is to try.

Why do children learn so easily.

Because they are not afraid to try.

And more importantly not afraid to fail.

leadership skills - Entrepreneurship

leadership skills - Bing Video#

An entrepreneur gets a "calling" which is only and ONLY heard by him.

Its a calling that needs to be heeded.

Its a calling which gives him direction and ideas.

It is calling which he can chose or leave.

Its a calling which has been designed only for him.

Its a calling which only he can decipher.

Its a calling for him to decide.

Its a calling for the brave hearted.

Its a calling for the independ minded.

Its a calling that cannot be proposed to a committee.

Its a calling which cannot be approved by friends.

For they do not see what you can.

They are not equipped to tread the path pavcd for your footsteps.

They have no inkling of the calling.

And if we still decide to go to them for approval and directions we would be doing it at our own peril.

The lecture explains all this and more andn it comes from none other than a person who chose to answer the calling.

And chose to live life the way and kind she wanted to.

And chose a life that became more meaningful.

After all as John Maynard Keynes the renowned economist said," in the long run we are all dead"

Hence if you get a "calling" remember you have only one life to answer.

Some Resistance At Last

Every time the saffron brigade spewed venom the "aam junta" hid for cover.
One hoped things would settle down after the "General Elections" but that was not to be.
The Assembly elections too came and went. But the still a minority group of lumpen elements who had been trounced in both formats of the elections continued to hold the country to ransom hoisting flags all over the city as if there was a siege.
Who won the elections was hard tell by the look the city wore.
By not being in the government, if one could wield so much power then why contest elections at all?
Nobody was being spared - Sachin Tendulkar, Mukesh Ambani, Shahrukh Khan and man on the streets - all were mercilessly targeted and humiliated.
Daily the "Saamna" the mouthpiece of the Sena spewed venom.
It was getting clearer as time went by that these were the urban maoists.
They were getting troublesome beyond tolerance levels.
Strategically maintained silence by the government helped some cause. But what is the point winning elections when you cannot behave like a king. The people elect the government because they seek justice and security. The government in power seems to have everything else but power. Perhaps that is the only item they chose to trade off with the saffron party.
The urban elite did not even know where to seek cover and protection. The lumpen thugs seemed to have a greater control over the police than the king's men. The poor and lonely were being incited and brainwashed. The cancer of the Urban Taliban was spreading.
Finally it took a young and important man in Delhi to show that one has to stand up and be counted. It was pointless raising a hue and cry against racism Down Under when one's own home is infested by the racism bug. Some cleaning up had to be done and what better than doing one's own cleaning. Ignoring the numerous routine warnings being unleashed, he stepped into the city under full protection but broke the protective cover that was designed for his safety and instead went about mingling with the teeming denizens in a city local. Hen went where the tiger resided. But there was no roar. The tiger perhaps was old and feeling weak. The cub was silent - But they had their pen's ready to write select abuses for the next day's headlines.

Till the next bomb goes off

Had it not been for countries like Pakistan, India would have disintegrated by now. For some reasons Indians do not like to live in harmony together. Either we have political outfits like the MNS or now the TRS who are hell bent to spread hatred among people until a bomb blast or a terrorist attack interrupts their hate campaign. So if not for foreign bred terrorist our "deshi netas" are good enough to bring the cycle of life to an end.
So perhaps it is a blessing in disguise that we have Pakistan, Bangla Desh etc whom we should thank profusely for keeping us united even after 50 years of Independence. Otherwise we would have fought among ourselves and disintegrated long back.
Just notice how around the 26/11 remembrance all political parties rally around the "I am Indian first" idea. All it takes a few days for the memories to blur and out come the hate brigade spreading animosity and venom amongst brothers and neighbours till they turn against one another. And this continues endlessly until our benevolent neighbour realizes that our guard is down and decides to pull the trigger once again and thus creating an endless cycle of external and internal attacks.

Small States

Some reasons why small states should not be formed

1. It will give rise to more bureaucracy, more ministers and more corruption. First we had a Lalu in Bihar but now Madhu Koda has made Lalu look small
2. It will give rise to unwanted one upmanship syndrome and will create rift between erstwhile brothers
3. Government expenditure will increase giving rise to higher fiscal deficit
4. This will be a U turn to the "I am Indian First" dream.
5. Without forming states too decentralization and autonomy could be inculcated by altering our style of governing. Hence new states will not make a difference unless there is a change in the way we do things
6. There is no end to such demands. The only people who will stand to gain will be the politicians. The common man will continue to run helter and skelter under the influence of political rhetoric.

We need to look at growing together and build a single and strong identity so that the world comes to recognize our stature. If China, Pakistan are to be kept at bay we must have to build the idea of One India and breaking of states into smaller states does not help this cause.

The show must go on

Let's not get too caught up about the No.1 spot for too long. Playing good cricket is a lot better than records. Let's celebrate and move on"