My Thought-“Concluding my series of ‘My Daily Thoughts’-blog”.

Today I have almost reached my 200^th blog written on daily basis. I had the yearning desire to make a very compact book of these blogs which are the reflection of my factual collections based on my thoughts of the past experience. All this non-fiction stuff has been deliberately written with the sole aim of getting my remembrances into a continued chain of thoughts. All these depictions reveal to a greater extent my biographic-story which is also the experience of 38 long years of my selling-career in the pharma industry.

Pic Taken Today-[27th Dec'20] At My Residence.

Following was the written aim of my daily publishing blogs: -

“Here I would like to express my various thoughts pertaining to my daily happenings around and the inferences from my vast 38 years of selling experience. This would deal mainly with an introspective approach. So that the viewer picks certain tips of Sales & Marketing from my blog. Leaving an educative and positive impact on the reader. Happy Daily-Reading!!!!!”—https://ravitiku.blogspot.com

Very clearly, I aimed to ensure that all such blogs render a lot of education and knowledge to the related field personnel of Marketing and Sales management-especially the people from the pharma industry. The topics touched here are mainly the ones that have happened in the field and there is no imaginary depiction in the whole lot. So, this piece of literature is purely a factual or non-fictional part. It also contains various topics related to my non-pharma section as well. Thereby giving a mix of the professional as well as the personal taste to the reader.

There are many valid questions put forth for the new generation of professionals in the field of ‘Sales’-which are quite intriguing and introspective. One has got to be creative and even innovative in dwelling into them and getting the suitable solutions to such queries raised from the professional-experience. Almost all the aspects related to pharma sales-may it is related to the sales-people or even the organizational people have been discussed. Even the various situational cases have been discussed at length and their case studies dealt with deep with the exact solutions coming as the result of the action plans implemented practically. This becomes very educative for the upcoming ‘Sales Managers’ and even the sales-people at different levels of hierarchy.

Thanks to ‘Himalaya’-where I started my career and did not leave the company till I got retired from the same organization. All the topics touched and even discussed-sometimes critically with certain characters in a ‘not so good taste’ were purely dealt with based on the facts and realities attached without any biased approach towards any particular person. The freedom of expression has given the liberty to discuss certain issues threadbare. My good wishes to all the people who were with me on this journey of selling and especially those who have been my seniors and gave me the situations out of which I learned a lot.

Action By Readers To Participate Solicited.

Now within a few days the published book with the title- “My Daily Thoughts”-would be coming out and I suggest to all -to go for it and read it thoroughly. This newly published book would be the total and properly edited compilation of all the above 200 blogs. The further details would be surely shared with all my readers regarding the same. Meanwhile, you can reach my professional site and see if I could be of any good help to any one of you in your professional issues especially related to my expertise-www.rtswebsite.com.

With a little pause- I shall be participating again as a daily blogger with something more exciting and thrilling to share with all of you on the net.

Till then-my good wishes to all of you.

Keep reading and keep yourself safe!!

God Bless!!

Your-blogger,

Ravi Tiku.

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My Thought- “Is The Dress Code Necessary For The Pharma Field Force?”

Generally speaking, the usage of Dress Code making mandatory for the field force has not been prevalent in India with most of the big and good pharma companies. However, of late there has been a real sprout of the various dress codes being followed by some of the multinational companies-which frankly speaking have not been posing a positive impact on some of their employees. I have seen people from big houses talking negatively about the dress code being imposed on them. They have been thinking it to be a forced rule imposed upon them against their wishes. Another very common thing which even the Indian houses have started doing in the dress codes is the special dress being made mandatory especially for the launch of a particular new molecule or a brand of their house. In such a dress the name of the launch product is very pronouncedly made visible on the chest or the prime part portion of the body simply for the company’s brand promotion or the advertisement-which is in a way free advertisement happening with their moving field force.

Ideally Dressed In A Formal way.

Ideally Dressed In A Formal way.

Nowadays the bigger houses after the mergers having attained the bigger market share and even the market dominance-have started imposing the dress codes for their field forces. It may be a single brand dress code-promotion or even the company’s insignias being promoted on the dress of their field force. Companies that come to mind after working in the field are-namely-Abbott, Torrent, Aurobindo, and even GSK, etc. Just to name a few.

Topic:- Should There Be The Uniform Dress Code?

We in Himalaya have been stressing for the good formal dress to be worn generally for the fieldwork and even in the meetings, it has been the practice for all the people to wear at least the suit with a tie is the essential formal dress requirement. Here again, no Uniform Code is being employed for the Dress to be mandatory. I remember throughout my career two very important things being borne by one and all in Himalaya have been the attending of all the meetings very necessary and even dressing up formally with the required suit and tie also being maintained by one and all without fail.

Ideally Dressed For The Professional meetings.

Ideally Dressed For The Professional meetings.

I remember in one of the Cycle meets held at a five-star hotel in Delhi-there were three meetings being held at the same time in the three adjacent halls on the third floor. Here the two other companies’ people who had come to attend the meeting were not particularly following the formal-dress of a good looking professional with at least a tie and the blazer and during the breaks of refreshment-whenever we saw them in the outside corridor, we were realising one thing that those guys had no dress sense and some of them were wearing even the jeans with no one wearing a tie and a blazer. The picture was very clear there that one company wearing the formal dress was very conspicuous in its appearance and was distinguishing themselves from the other two companies that way.

Ideally Dressed For The Professional meetings.

Ideally Dressed For The Professional meetings.

Uniforms, be it in schools or at workplaces, are used to distinguish employees of various designations. In the case of Dress code if employed- having every employee dressed to the standards of the dress code will create visual uniformity which helps customers identify employees and subtly promotes the impression of 'being a team' among the whole workplace. A uniform is a walking advertisement for the company. When stepping out in the world, or are working people usually take notice of your uniforms and through company logos and emblems people get to know what the company name is. This creates a sense of brand awareness within the locality and within the working society. They act as an effective marketing tool and give a good first impression on the customers. It can help you to promote your business more efficiently and competently. Uniforms can give your company more exposure and publicity. Hence, increases brand retention in people’s minds.

Even The HaverSacks Carry The Brand Name.

Adopting a particular Dress code for the particular company-gives a professional image to the employee. Also, give customers a great sense of confidence and trust. Above all provides safety and security and works as an effective marketing tool.

Ideally Dressed For The Professional meetings.

Now there are reasons why the dress codes are not being employed by most of the companies. The main factor that haunts uniforms is that there is usually a large number of employees who hate the uniform being imposed on them since they feel that wearing a uniform makes them more restricted and removes their own identity that sets them apart from the crowd. Moreover, the employers have to spend from their pay package and pay for expensive work clothes or uniforms once in a while. This can cause discord among the employees and they’ll rebel against the organization.

Furthermore, if the uniforms are poorly designed or have vibrant colors, it may also look bad to potential customers. Employees wish to wear something smart to work, wearing clothes of their own choice and not by the set of clothes prescribed by the company. Most of the uniforms do not fit people of all body shapes and sizes. This may look weird on such individuals and they might feel awkward and aware of their surroundings hence, hindering their work.

India does not have a specific law at present that regulates the promotion and marketing of drugs and medical devices by companies before health care practitioners. More so imposing any dress code by a particular company would ideally be its own decision rather than the mandatory condition for all the companies.

Ideally Dressed For The Professional meetings.

We too had the special T-shirts provided by the company on the occasions of the particular product launches in ‘Himalaya’. I have a collection of such T-shirts with me as well-which were used by us at the time of the particular product launches. But generally speaking, we never had any special general-Uniform Dress code as is seen with others like the ‘particular-colored shirts and pants’ to be worn daily as the uniform. Such uniforms as discussed above have their advantages and disadvantages too. The main advantages are: - It provides the Identity to the employee. Reflection of Equality and Protection is depicted with a uniform. It helps in enhancing the professional image and even to a certain extent the productivity and the advertisement of the company. Whereas the disadvantages can be the hampered performance of the employees who negate this concept. It prevents uniqueness and also shows poor efficiency. And once the employee is not interested to have the uniform-he would propagate the negative reception to the same. Looking to all these main pros and cons of the Uniform-Dress-Code- it percolates down to only one thing and that is the feasibility part of the organizations –“either implement it or do it the other way round”.

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My Thought-“When I Took The Bold Step Of Studies While Being In Service”.

In 1987 after I had already completed five years in service at Ludhiana-I had suddenly found myself in a situation where I had become very disturbed and frustrated because of the circumstances brewing around me in the official capacity at that time. I had concluded leaving the job and search for something else. Suddenly I came in contact with a very affectionate family which had come from Delhi and I became very close to them. The concerned person was serving in ‘Hero Cycle-Group’ in their casting unit as their head. His name was ‘Mr. Pran Sadhu’. He was an expert engineer in the casting section and their unit was making the carburettors for the two-wheelers which ‘Hero-Group’ was manufacturing themselves. That time ‘Hero Majestics’ and ‘Hero Puch’ were the two main ‘makes’ which were selling very hot those days. He was a post-middle-aged person but full of affection and his special affinity with me drew me to him and his family so fast that I became almost an integral member of his family. He had two children who were small in the school and he started introducing me to his friends and others as his elder son. His influence and his wife’s influence on me were so intense that they even started pressurizing me to come into their stream of service -which was mechanical. I had the biggest problem of not having any knowledge of the mechanical line. He impressed upon me to pick up the admission in the ‘PAU-Management-College’ for the Post-graduation in Marketing. Since I had a science background and that too of the pure sciences-I would have been a failure in the technical side. So, I very flatly refused him to change my line or even take a drastic step of leaving my selling line then. I must admit it was his influence and the influence of his family as a whole that I decided after a gap of almost five years to re-start my studies and started going to the PAU-Library and even became the regular student for the evening college of management for my Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing and Sales Management.

Quotation Worth A Read.

'Gold Medal' Presented By The Vice Chancellor-G N D University-Punjab(1988).

Most of you would think as to how was it possible that I could get regular admission in the management college when I was serving in the Himalaya Drugs as their on-roll Representative in Ludhiana. It was very easily possible since the working in Punjab was till only 3.00 PM daily and after that timing, nobody was allowed to work there in Punjab. I started putting in all possible efforts for the studies and when I had to appear in the annual exams, I went in for a week’s leave from the company. I got the highest ranking in the exams and the record 70.50% marks in my cumulative all subjects’ performance. I was even given the ‘Gold Medal’ by the then Vice-Chancellor of the Guru Nanak Dev University of Punjab-Dr. G.S.Randhawa. I still remember having shared this news in black and white with my company head in the field and to his magnanimity- I was encouraged more to perform better with that achievement. Yes, in the later stage this education helped me a great deal in rendering my services for the betterment of the organization-since even the chairman and others came to know about my achievement later.

Quotation Worth A Read.

Quotation Worth A Read.

Things took a big turn after that in my career. The people who were responsible for creating a certain degree of problems in my way of progress were either removed or even transferred slowly and steadily. Thereby easing my situation of performing better in the set arena and the chances whatsoever were there for my taking the step of leaving the organization was wiped off with the passage of time.

Quotation Worth A Read.

Quotation Worth A Read.

There I realized one thing that God comes in the form of someone in your life and that someone directs you to pick up the right path and you start moving ahead in that direction -which leads you to the brighter and satisfying side of your life. The early-stage aberrations-'what they call such obstacles'-are nothing but the ‘eddy-currents’ in the official language and one has got to taste them. Only then he becomes a seasoned player to play on such rough terrains-if such terrain had to come again in his life span.

Quotation Worth A Read.

Quotation Worth A Read.

In the heart of hearts, I thank that great man-Mr. Sadhu-who came into my life and forced me to take up this path of studies after such a gap-which helped me a great deal later in the journey. Although later I realized that he wanted to strengthen his relationship more and get me into his line of the technical side so that I work with him but as luck would have it-I deliberately wanted to keep that friendship to the true-level of friendship only. I did not want to work with him and leave my sales line-where I had attained a little bit in the form of experience and know-how. Further, I never wanted to work under him-where I might not have justified our real extent of friendship more precisely.

Quotation Worth A Read.

Today when I am a retired person trying to evaluate the step taken off yet again studying after a gap in 1987-exactly 33 years back-I feel whatever happened with me was just perfect and timely too. People around me those days used to say that I would be leaving the profession and the company might not continue with me anymore. But nothing like that happened to me. I might have taken a bold step then but the fact remains that it was the circumstantial happening in which I was put at that time and it was the remedial measure which God made me take to counter that 'happening' and finally I came out to be a winner without any sort of regrets.

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My Thought-“Have Worked & Experienced Five Regimes Of Management In 38 Years With Himalaya”.

I was just recapitulating the whole era of my service in the Himalayas over 38 long years. I could realize one thing which was very commonly happening at the right intervals of time and that is ‘CHANGE’. Change surely was the commonest factor showing consistency with the growth of the whole organization- ‘Himalaya’. Tolstoy used to write often- ‘True life is lived when the tiny changes occur’. Truly applies here in Himalaya but the changes here have not been tiny but at times trying to change the basic DNA as well. They say- ‘If we don’t change, we don’t grow. And if we don’t grow, we aren’t truly living’. With the advent of every new regime-the organization felt a certain change happening for the good from time to time. Likewise, the people like me who had been associated with the company for a long journey would also feel the impact of the changes happening on their careers as well as their overall earnings and prospects too.

The Corporate Office Of Himalaya-Bangalore.

I remember for sure that the first basic salary which I was drawing from Himalaya in 1982 was just Rs.575/- p.m. and the allowances which were at that time also considered higher in the pharma industry were Rs.20/-Rs.25/- & Rs.45/-as HQ, Ex-HQ, and OS respectively. On the first day of my field working with my manager I had gone to open my saving Bank Account in ‘Union Bank of India’-Kesar Ganj Branch-Ludhiana and had paid just Rs.20/- as the opening account money. All such things look very surprising today but the fact is that we have undergone a drastic inflationary as well as economic thrust which has increased the money value manifold-in certain cases more than twenty times even. Look at the first salary which a medical rep earns today in Himalaya inclusive of all the perks-it is not less than Rs.25000/- including one’s expenses as well and that too without having any outstation working. The year I joined in 1982 my target for Ludhiana for three reps together was Rs.8.33 lakhs p.a. and today including all the SBU’s it is more than 6.00 crores approx. A big leap towards the higher esteems-which includes the major portion from the Consumer and Pure Herbs section of the company as well.

Mr. Meraj Manal-Chairman.

Mr. Shailendra Malhotra-Global CEO.

Their drastic changes have been occurring with the time and also with the induction of a new set of managers coming at the changeover of one earlier regime with the new regime. When I started my journey with Himalaya I was selected by the then Lady In-Charge-Dr. R M Captain-who was all in all as far as the major operations of the company were concerned. She was simply a very strong character to be influenced and she had a very strong conviction about various aspects while dealing with the daily affairs of the company matters. She was responsible for making a very strong base of Research-oriented works-where almost all the products of pharma were subject to extensive clinical trials and those trials getting published in the journals of repute during those days. The company’s policy of stressing the ethical selling of products by way of emphasizing their research backing-really authenticated their efficacy levels as well as the confidence of our customers/doctors those days. She was in full power till the early nineties and slowly and steadily she started losing the grip on organizational functioning due to her various age-related issues. 

Dr. R.M.Captain

During this course the other regime which had gathered momentum and was calling the shots for the various company-decisions and directions-was headed by the then Business Head-Mr. Rasu Vir Chhaya. He too was a very impactful personality and had gained the strong foot by getting into his fold all the Sales Managers of the time and segregating the then General Manager Sales-Mr. B .R. Vyas-who was Madam Captain’s trusted man. Mr. Chhaya too did some very good works during his regime. The thrust to the various gifts to be given in a row to the doctors had picked up during his regime. The stress on the effective ‘in-clinic’ activities was more emphatically handled with the start of the ‘All India Detailing Contests’ being organized during his regime. The Annual Meets of the various teams of the north under one SM used to be called across to other parts of the country and thus the field force getting to see various far-off attractive places in the bargain-was initiated during Mr. Chhaya’s time. But he was a highly opinionated person and had a bad habit of wholly and solely depending on his trusted people rather than keeping an open mind for various decisions and facts. Somewhere in 1995 after a few years, only he came onto the radar of the owner of the company, and for the reasons best known to him and the owner of the company he had to leave the organization in haste. Before that, he was even trying his son to get into the top managerial capacities of the company. His son had attended one-two all India meetings too but since his father could not carry on -he was forced to leave the company immediately during that time only. Mr. Chhaya had started speaking very firmly and repeatedly the sentences in the field meetings which reflected a sense of high headedness and pride. This was good only to some extent in the top capacity as a Head but beyond a certain point, it started maligning his image too. He often used to say-“I am The judge, the jury, and the Executioner”. Which was just a reflection of his extent of realizing his powers bestowed upon him by the real Owner of the company- “the Chairman-Mr. Manal”.

Change Instrumental For Progress.

Immediately during 1995-96, there was the advent of an outsider coming to head the show of the company. His name was Mr. S.Prabhakar. He had come from ‘Biological Evans’ and was there in their product division. During his tenure, he tried to bring about many changes in the field force as well. Firstly, he tried to change the concept of recruiting the employees on a pure relation basis. He transferred many people from their home towns to far-off areas since they were either reporting to their blood relations or even to the far-off relations. He wanted to wipe off the concept of relations being taken into the company. Here he got very big success and, in the bargain, certain people jointly trying to bully others because of their relations could not do that anymore. I remember one SM of UP who had two of his younger brothers as the RMs in UP working under him. Mr. Prabhakar transferred both his RM-brothers to Delhi-where they had to work in the new atmosphere and at the same time under a new SM. They could not carry on for longer periods because of the various troubles like the ‘new place-adjustment-syndrome’ and above all not reaching the required competency levels in dealing with the different field force at the new place. He brought in another level of management called the Business Managers-for the exclusive promotion of one or two brands. He also tried to stress the POB concept more than the ethical way of propagation for the brands-which initially paid off well but did not suffice any longer for the want of the required demand and consumption theory. One thing which he did well was the launch of ‘Diabecon-tabs’ for Diabetic cases. This launch was the real good thing which I remembered and it worked well. He was also suffering from an Inferiority complex and that was due to his being dwarf in size. His height was hardly touching 5 feet and people with good height had to be very cautious during his meetings. Within four to five years-as the luck would have it-he too had to be removed because of certain corrupt charges levied and proved on him.

Ex-Executive Chairman-Mr. Ravi Prasad.

Here the Executive Chairman-Mr. Ravi Prasad was looking after the expansion of the Himalaya in the different countries and at the same time, the Indian Operations too were being done under his supervision only. He remained till 2015 approx. as the Executive Chairman and had to leave in between while Mr. Haydon was the CEO of Indian Operations. Since he was overlooking the global operations as well as Indian functioning as well- I have not included his tenure as the separate regime for the Indian operations. Mr. P.S Naidu and Mr. Haydon were reporting to him during his tenure for the Indian side.

Ex-CEO-Mr. Philipe Haydon

Change Raises Progress.

For a very short time after Mr. Prabhakar’s exit-Mr. P.S.Naidu came to take the charge of the company affairs. He was a very senior and highly experienced Himalayan and knew Himalaya well. He too could not carry on any longer and immediately after a year or so, he was replaced by the then SM of UP and Gujarat -Mr. Philipe Haydon. This was the fifth regime change over. With him again the Himalayan culture started to prevail and the softer approach to the field force was noticed. I feel that wherever he had worked he picked up those people only for the pivotal posts. I realized one thing that from UP he picked up almost all the managers and gave them the pivotal higher posts and at times I was thinking that had I been in UP I too would have been in his list of priorities. I did get the chance but I can say I got it purely against the odds on my merit and the company too had no other alternative but to pick me up for the various higher rankings. This I used to tell him openly and he agreed also and admitted and appreciated my service to the company in his final parting letter written to me. His tenure was the highest one which lasted for almost 18 years. During these 18 years, the company saw major expansion policies on all fronts. The field force expanded enormously and above all he became a more populous leader rather than precisely a shrewd professional. The company grew to more than 3000 crores till the last year when I retired but one very important point to be noted was the field force getting swollen many times and the profitability shrinking proportionately for the organization. The bottom and top-line could not keep pace with the plans he had implemented. Never the less Himalaya got a very big exposure in a better way during his tenure. Since he too has left now and the company as on date is without the CEO for the time being directly being under the supervision of the Global CEO and of course the ever agile and brilliant-blessed-man- ‘the Chairman-Mr. Meraj Manal’.

 

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My Thought-“ One Pharma Zonal Manager Had To Pay Heavily For Being Foul-Mouthed & Cheap”.

They say-perfecting one’s self is the fundamental base of all progress and moral development. More so when a person rises in stature and holds the responsible position-he needs to grow following the same in the required proportion. Then only he befits the elevated post given to him-otherwise if he still behaves like an unusual character-it is natural that he would tend to commit more blunders and mess up things around him. Normally an ambitious person works hard to attain success in his life and also develops accordingly to the required parameters of the higher rankings he attains. Courage to such meticulously planned personalities naturally comes manifold for lack of which they too were afraid in their earlier phases. Yes, for such people feeling confident or pretending to be confident is a necessity for them to reach for the opportunities. It is a cliché-opportunities for that matter are rarely offered-they are normally seized with personality & competence levels.

Important Quote To Ponder On

But what I am going to talk about is the incidence which is opposite to what I have mentioned above as the basic requisition for a responsible executive to behave in a so-called matured manner. I am referring to the year 2001 when I was the Regional Manager in Delhi looking after the south and eastern Delhi. I had seven people’s team with five reps and two Business Managers.

Important Quote To Ponder On

I am going to relate to one particular day when I was working jointly with my Business Manager and Zonal Manager in the South at ‘Holy Family Hospital’. After we finished most of the day’s work it was around 3.30 PM and we went to the canteen of Holy Family Hospital for taking some refreshment. My ‘BM’ simply out of courtesy asked my ‘ZM’ as to what would he like to take-Tea or Coffee? The reply which he gave to my ‘BM’ was simply very shocking. His reply was so obnoxious and vulgar along with his pointing fingers and passing remarks to one lady nearby that we thanked our stars that the lady who heard the whole stuff vomited by him still did not attack us back. My ‘ZM’ reflected his pretty vulgar side to us at that time and both I and my ‘BM’ heaved a sigh of relief immediately after the incident was over and we all were spared.

Important Quote To Ponder On

I did point out to my ‘ZM’ for all the non-sense he spoke to the lady but surprisingly he brushed it aside with a mere mischievous laugh. We both took a very serious note of the same and discussed it later in the day with our other managerial colleagues in the afternoon where we met for the weekly meet. Each one after listening to the whole story became very annoyed and sad about the behavior of our ‘ZM’. He used to call bad names earlier also to some of his subordinates and used to impose a sort of authoritative approach to his colleagues but such an incident where we all were about to be attacked-had never happened earlier. After the meeting was over -he did not seem to be affected at all by the remarks of his other colleagues too. The matter did not end there its repercussions were realized later after a month when the cycle meeting of the whole zone was held at a hotel in Delhi and in that meeting for the first time all the big guns like the ‘Executive Chairman’, ‘Business Head’ and even the ‘GM-sales’ had come to attend the same.

Important Quote To Ponder On

The cycle meet started at 9.00 AM sharp and all the seniors were present in the meeting where the whole Delhi team had come and attended the day’s meeting. It was at lunch time-when we managers four in number, were called upstairs in the room where all the seniors were sitting and my SM and ZM too were sitting on one side of the room. Suddenly my ‘Executive-Chairman’ asked me as to what had happened on that day when I was working jointly with my ‘BM’ and ‘ZM’ and ‘ZM’ had behaved very badly in front of we people. I was surprised to know that he even had the full knowledge of such an incident. I told him the whole story along with the vulgar language used by him-to which he had objected to my saying so amid my talk. But I was told to continue the talk and he was advised to listen to the whole thing. My other managers also said that such a situation somehow was handled by myself and my BM very bravely. Had there been an attack on the other two people for no fault of theirs-what would have been the plight of these people and in the bargain, the company’s reputation too would have been affected badly. After all of us-4-RMs finished our discussions-we were told by the ‘Exe-Chairman’ to go downstairs in the hall and attend to the meeting. We came down and silently joined the meeting which had already started after the lunch break. After around ten-fifteen minutes more my ‘ZM’ too entered the meeting hall and sat very silently on his seat looking towards the floor continuously.

Important Quote To Ponder On

Later at around the evening ‘Tea break,’ the seniors joined us again for the last time in the day and by around 5.30 PM the meeting came to an end. Everyone left the meeting hall and we four RMs came out together from the meeting hall. In the last couple of hours, our ZM did not even utter a single word and while we went past him, we all wished him to which he did not give any importance or response even.

Important Quote To Ponder On

The normal working started after the meeting the next day and we did not get the morning call which normally every day in the early hours of the morning we used to get as RMs from our ZM. From our side whenever we used to call him on phone he used to talk very precisely and to the point and we could smell something wrong had happened to him. It was after another fortnight or so we came to know that our ZM was no more with the company and the post of ZM was kept vacant for some time. Later after a couple of months or so my senior RM who had very big seniority been appointed as the new ZM and things went on normally later.

Important Quote To Ponder On

One lesson which all ZM’s colleagues must have indirectly conveyed to him-was-

‘Don’t Act Weird-Try To Behave & Be-Better In Etiquettes Always’.

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My Thought-“ Why 'Sales' Is Superior But A Hard Career?”.

Most people think that salesperson selling means talking. But they don’t know that listening is the most important part of their job now. When Reps take the role of a curious student rather than the role of an informed expert then they are much more inclined to engage their buyers. As a salesman, it is our job to ensure that our customers always remember us and never forget us. At the same time, it is not the customer’s job to remember you. Sales are superior also because it is not about selling alone but it is much more especially in building trust and educating our customers.

Superior But Hard Career.

Let me first elaborate on the fact as to how a salesman is superior to any other profession. Not all-can be successful as a salesperson. It has been observed that out of every four just one may be the suitable one for the sales profession. Here in India-normally, it has been observed that those who normally don’t get settled in any other profession finally land up in sales. But if those people don’t have the required basic qualities, they may not be successful here in this very admired and elegantly placed profession of sales. What are those basic qualities?

Sales-A Rising Career.

Like the idea of being your boss, since you would be independently responsible for your job. That way you have to be willing to take control of your life without anybody’s intervention whatsoever. You have got to accept the fact that you will be enjoying the financial-freedom. You should be having the self-discipline to work on your own to achieve your goals. If you’re good with people, you’ve probably got what it takes to succeed in sales. Think about the activities you enjoy and the jobs you’ve to succeed at in the past. If you’ve ever done teaching, coaching, or training, you’ve used skills that will help you succeed in sales. 

Other skills you’ll need to succeed include:

• Creativity
• Confidence
• Persistence
• Strong work ethic
• Good listening skills

And above all, you need to believe in the product you sell. And you need to be passionate enough-the solution it offers, that you’re excited about sharing it with other people while convincing them.

Quote To Ponder On.

Once you have all the above basic requirements in you-with the passage of time you would feel yourself a real experienced sales professional-who has become a master of tackling all the issues related to a customer in getting him converted into your permanent-customer list & start realizing that yours is a far superior profession than all other professions around you. Then you would start believing in a very strong saying- “people don’t buy what you sell-they buy what you believe”.

Sales is a rewarding, challenging career. The sale is a performance-based career. The more you sell, the more bonus you earn. For anyone with a competitive streak or the desire to be rewarded for their hard work, this is a key motivator and something that will drive a successful career for years. As a sales professional, you'll enjoy personal satisfaction, growth, unmatched income potential, and financial stability.

Why Sales Are Hard: -

The hardest part of sales is not rejection or being said no to over and over again. After a short time making sales, you get past those fears and just see them as part of the job. The hardest thing and the thing most salespeople fail to do properly is consistently and effectively following up. Salespeople are under a lot of pressure to meet the quota, convert quickly, and keep approval rankings high. The salespeople are paid a large commission because they bring in the business and the big money. The commission is their main incentive. You don't make the sale, you don't get paid commission, and you may lose your base/your job. Hence the drive/stress and higher risk.

Quote To Ponder On.

“Sales-Burnout” is a state of the emotional, mental, and sometimes physical state of distress that is caused by prolonged or repeated exposure to stressors. With the role of a sales rep often being a high-stress, high-pressure position, burnout is a common occurrence for those who work in the field. The major factor being their target fixations and not fulfilling the same at times or even raising their bars for the goals to be achieved. The other causative factors for the burnout can be the hackneyed ways of their emotional and mental sensitivities to be involved in an excitatory state for their hitting the goals.

Patience and the cap of ‘Mr. Cool’ to be worn always- would ease off their hard ways to follow & achieve their sale-goals.

Quote To Ponder On.

Having said that sale is not for everyone. Again, according to the studies in “How to Hire & Develop Your Next Top Performer”, not everyone can sell, and some should even give up trying! 

• 55% of people earning a living in sales should be doing something else
• 20 – 25% have what it takes, but should be selling something else
• 20% have what it takes AND are selling products best suited to their personality

So how do you know if you are the one? 

A sales aptitude survey will tell you if you have the right personality and skills to be successful. Some can even suggest what type of selling would suit you best. 

Once you discover that you have the aptitude, then it’s just a matter of the right sales training and the right sales position and you’re on your way. Successful salespeople are not born with the skills they need to succeed. Successful salespeople are trained for their trade, just like every other profession. The point is, even if you don’t have any sales experience, you can still have a very rewarding career in sales. 

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