Sales Experiences - Part 1

Lead Generation

The best part about a sales or a business development role is that you are constantly thinking about how to increase business. Where can you get the next lead? Who will give you the money for your business? You start looking at people like they are wads of cash. ;)

This business centrist behaviour leads to a good pipeline for lead generation as you will scout for new leads all the time.
I am listing an example below of one such lead generation:

I had once read about some tender in a newspaper and had gone to met the client which turned out to be a fake one but then over there I found someone who was working in a different industry but knew about new projects. Since, I was in IT products sales I had to pitch to all companies which were setting up new businesses in India. So this friend of mine was a valuable asset and used to pass on leads to me about new projects which are coming up and I used to reciprocate him with the same.
A win-win situation for both :D

There are so many ways in which one can get leads. From vendors, friends, family, clients, etc.

You can get to know by sometimes just sitting in offices of vendors or competitors!!

The key is to keep an eye and ear ready for some info and once that info is in just pounce on it and make best utilization of it. The problems with leads is that the faster you action on them, the better result you'll get.

More experiences to follow!!

Restart Refresh Re - I don't have another word here

So I was just sitting in my room in Mumbai and was thinking about writing something.
Wait!!
It wasn't me thinking. It was a book by Mark Levy called "Accidental Genius" which made me think that I need to write a my blog and lo and behold the aaloochaat is back and fresher than before!!

Then I got reading my old articles and I thought that these were edited so much while writing. Hence I thought that  the next blogs will be free written and then edited and I will not look up at the screen while typing and will type fast. So fast that the keys catch fire.
OK, now that was an exaggeration. That happens only in cartoons.
Anyway, this post is just to restart the blogging experience.!!

Happy reading.!

Favour the new Flavour?

Mr Patel was sitting at the Dwarka Port in Western Gujarat with a copy of The Economic Times in his hand and was pondering over the headline “Pakistan Okays MFN status for India”. He was thinking what implications this would have on an exporter like him. Just then his good friend and economist with the local university Mr Shah came and started discussing with him the implications of this.
Pakistan just granted India the long due Most Favoured nation (MFN) status which India had already given to Pakistan way back in 1996. The MFN status, which means that Pakistan will give trade treatment to India at par with its other partners, is likely to boost the bilateral economic ties. India had granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in 1996. According to WTO the definition goes “Most-favoured-nation (MFN): treating other people equally      Under the WTO agreements, countries cannot normally discriminate between their trading partners. Grant someone a special favour (such as a lower customs duty rate for one of their products) and you have to do the same for all other WTO members.” This has a lot of implications on the trade between the two countries which are listed below:

1. Trade re-routing: Even without the MFN status there is a large amount of trade happening between India and Pakistan. This trade is routed through entrepot centres like Dubai. This MFN declaration would facilitate the direct trade between India and Pakistan thereby eliminating the need for trading via Dubai. Future trade data will show a reduction in India’s exports to the UAE and an increase in exports to Pakistan. 
2. Shipping boom: There will be a boom in the shipping, communication and trade serving directly to Pakistan. The Gujarati ports which don’t have much business will see a boom.
3. Middlemen: These above facts would appear to just be superficial and not affect the business in the economics sense but there will be removal of a lot of costs. For example, the shipping costs would reduce by at least 2x (even though this cost is small, it will have a huge impact). Another dimension is the cost of middlemen in Dubai. The reduction in the number of intermediaries would directly affect the business thus increasing margins.
4. Competition: Indian goods will compete with Pakistani goods which will lead to overall cost reductions.
5. Relationships: More Indian companies will look for opportunities to grow in Pakistan and the same will happen for Pakistani companies. This will lead to companies spread across the border. A large fraction of the global trade is intra firm trade so when big companies from either side establish centres on the other side of the border, this will lead to a growth in the bilateral trade.
6. Benefits for the states: States on the border which have been susceptible during times of conflicts will be the ones which are benefitted the most from this; especially Gujarat with its long coastline nearest to the Pakistani ports. 
7. Benefits for companies: Companies which have set up production centres in states which are bordering Pakistan would be affected in a positive manner as new markets will be approachable cheaply. For example, companies like Tata can look forward to ship their low cost car Nano to Pakistan via the ports in Gujarat. 
8. People: Looking at trade in isolation would be improper as this movement of goods and services will lead to movement of people. Thus, this will hopefully ease the visa restrictions imposed by the two countries on each other. 
9. Finance: It is said in history that finance follows trade. So where trade in goods and services leads, finance follows. MFN would lead to trade financing, cross border banking, payments, purchases of information, FDI, FII flow, INR /PKR currency risk management and investment flows, etc.

Listening to the above mentioned points had a jaw dropping reaction from Mr Patel who started working his Gujarati mind and looked for opportunities to make money from this announcement as it opened a whole new world for him to make more money!


Originally published on : Finertia - GIM's Finance portal

A small world is still a distant dream

As the saying goes “It’s a small world”. I beg to differ with that. With the rapid technological developments we are in fact shortening the world in the sense that a person in one place can interact with another in a different part of the world. But the real question here is that “How many people actually make use of these technologies?” The internet penetration in the world is just 28.7% of the overall population and most of this penetration takes place in the developed countries which represent just a fraction of the world’s population. The places where there is more number of people (eg Africa, India, China, etc.) the penetration of Internet is quite low. Though it is growing at a good rate but the fact remains that it will take many decades to achieve a good level of penetration. By good level I mean penetration worthwhile of saying “a small world”. Moreover, the phrase “small world” also implies people can easily interact and cooperate and work with people from other places constructively. This is being made possible by virtual offices and web/video conferencing but these methods can never replicate the level of understanding and the level of completion conventional methods can achieve. These conventional methods mean meeting and interacting personally which is not easily possible as the world itself is a HUGE place. Moreover, there are still parts which are unexplored by humans in the world. Places where it isn’t easy to survive, reach and where there are species we don’t know about even after being in existence for so long. This fact itself adds to my personal belief that a small world is still a distant dream.

Alternative Investments

In 2004 all the newspapers in India were going gaga over Mr Vijay Mallya for bringing back the sword of Tipu Sultan and thus restoring India’s glory. But the fact of the matter is that it was much more than bringing back the glory of India.
As the name suggests these are investments which are unconventional in nature. These investments are the ones apart from the traditional ones of stocks, cash and bonds.
The Tipu Sultan sword is one example. It was bought for Rs1.5 Crore but its current value could easily be triple of that amount. The primary reasons for this could be the rarity of the item which in this case is the sword which is the only one in the world.
Another example of alternative investments is league teams and these teams generate huge returns. An example of this is the Rajasthan Royals IPL team. It was purchased for $67 million by its promoters in 2008 and in 2009 its 11.7% stake was sold to businessman Raj Kundra for US $15.4 million thus valuing the team at $130 million and generating a 94.03% return!
There are other alternative investment products such as stud farms, real estate (islands, vineyards, etc.), hedge funds, art, wine, coins, stamps, private equity, etc.
The Merrill Lynch/Cap Gemini Ernst & Young World Wealth Report 2003, based on 2002 data, showed high net worth individuals, as defined in the report, to have 10% of their financial assets in alternative investments. For the purposes of the report, alternative investments included "structured products, luxury valuables and collectibles, hedge funds, managed futures, and precious metals". By 2007, this had reduced to 9%. Alternative investments are sometimes used as a tool to reduce overall investment risk through diversification
Positives
 Diversify an investor’s portfolio with the low correlation
 Reduce risks.
 Offer good profit generating opportunities.
 Give astronomical returns

Negatives
 The liquidity of these investments is lower than that of stocks, bonds and cash.
 The fee structures for these investments are generally higher than those for stocks and bonds.
 These investments require specific expertise, as a result of which the costs associated with due diligence are high.
 It is difficult to establish benchmarks for these investments. This hinders the performance appraisal of the investments. Moreover, the lack of performance data limits an investor’s ability to make an informed choice.

Thus venturing into alternative investments is an art in itself as there is not much data available regarding their valuations.

Published on :Finertia - GIM's Finance portal

Quizzing and its evolution

Staying in GIM amongst the beautiful Western Ghats sometimes brings out the writer in me, compelling me to write about one of my favourite past times – Quizzes.

As popular perception goes, quizzes aren’t just about trivia or knowing stuff but they have evolved to a much more mature form which relies less on knowledge but more on thinking. Of course, one cannot just sit in a quiz without knowing anything about it. I have been quizzing since I was in class 5 which started with an amazing marketing campaign by Maggi to promote its noodles by having quizzes in schools where the prize was the number of Maggi Noodles’ packs one could hold, I managed a decent 12 J. The first question thrown towards me was “Who is known as the nightingale of India?” and till this date I can never forget this missed opportunity which had a yellow Maggi cap as the prize. After that was the weekly dose of trivia in the form of BQC – Bournvita Quiz Contest – one of my favourite TV shows with the knowledgeable Derek O’Brien who is credited with instilling general knowledge in thousands of children (me included).

To the ignorant, BQC would appear as just a bunch of trivia questions but after dissecting it thoroughly I got to know that BQC was one of the first quizzes which had connect questions and questions which required not only knowledge but also application of mind and a keen eye in a time when quizzing was still immature with questions based on trivia. I guess it all changed with the advent of internet based quizzes and the mass use of Google in India.

This change coincided with me entering engineering. Now I was blessed to enter a college which had its own quizzing club which was around 3 years old full of quizzing gurus where I was a lowly mortal. As everyone else I also initially resisted to the change and tried to follow the old school method of quizzing based on trivia but later fell in line as there wasn’t much left for trivia based quizzing. With online quizzing came the most abused cheat of an online quizzer (me included) which was Google. With this almost all the quiz questions could be easily answered by the click of a button but everything was about to change. Online quizzes with pictorial questions and pictorial connects came into play. But with every long route comes a short-cut and we had the development of a reverse image search engine called tineye.com but wasn’t quite effective.

Around 2009 came the big revolution called Facebook and Twitter which changed the face of quizzing from a pure knowledge based to a knowledge + time based game where the fastest to answer was the winner. The pioneer in this is @kweezzz on twitter which has multiple quizzes daily which can be anything under / over / beyond the sun.

Fast forward to 2011 with Google launching the reverse image search which is more than 10 times powerful than tineye.com we are looking at the new era of the species called “Quizzes”. I don’t know what lies forward but quizzes are sure to evolve and being in BrainVista – the quizzing club of GIM, I am sure that I will be on a lookout for this evolution.

PS – Sarojini Naidu is the nightingale of India.

~ Servesh Jasra

www.facebook.com/BrainVista

The Tum-Tum experiences

Tum-Tum (or Tam-Tam but I like the former as I think it should be spelt as it is pronounced, similar to Tummy) is one of the most preferred modes of transport in Pune. I don’t know because of choice but I figured that it must be because of lack of options because I don’t think people would want to be stuffed in an iron box with 7/8/9 other sweaty people in the Pune heat. This metal box is seen moving around in Pune with their drivers thinking themselves as nothing short of Schumacher. It’s equivalent to a roller coaster ride (with the roads) at a cheap rate. These things guzzle gallons of diesel and make so much sound that one would need ear plugs if you stay in it for a longer duration of time.

These experiences are thoughts that came to my mind when I was sitting in one of these hot iron boxes while travelling in Pune. These thoughts are mostly about people who were sitting with me, in front on me, on me. What I think they do, what were their expressions, where do they belong, what language do they speak?

Coming soon: Korean Guy

Essence / Fragrance / Smell / Stink

Picture this:

You are sleeping in the second class compartment of a train. Something pricks your olfactory senses. Whatever you were dreaming changes to something in your past.

This is the memory power of smell.

there are always some memories associated with these fragrances. For example, whenever the first raindrops fall on dust, the amazing fragrance reminds me of the corridor in my house where i used to run as a kid and my mom would call out "get the clothes, they will be all wet". The other day when i was cleaning my room with a wet cloth, the same smell came when i started wiping the table which was covered with dust and all the memories came back. i stopped there for a couple of minutes trying to remember each one of them and smiled.

with fragrance you also associate people. thats how the blind people recognize others around them. It is not just associated with the blind but also with the normal people but it is just that this quality is suppressed by the sense of sight. But this comes up when one is not looking. It happens when someone puts his palms across your eyes and asks "Guess Who??"The Olfactory senses come to life.

Sense of smell can also be deceiving sometimes. You can have a superficial fragrance which masks the real truth. For example, you are walking towards the cafeteria and say out aloud "kya khushboo hai!!" and when you go inside you witness under cooked potatoes and raw vegetables smelling like they have been made in some 5 star hotel.

Finally, the uses of the nose: smelling, remembering, poking, crossing the finish line in a race, sneezing, running, finding the way out of a maze, etc. Keep Discovering!

The Birdwatcher

This was written by me in my 3rd year of engineering in VNIT Nagpur.

Our college website rightly says that our college is a treat for a birdwatcher

whose main reason is the presence of the Ambazari lake in its vicinity.

Birds are easy to define. They are the only feathered creatures in the world. At first sight it might seem that birds have most characters in common but on closer look we will find that bird life has many forms which are different from each other and bear little or no resemblance to each other.

Thanks to the BOOK OF INDIAN BIRDS by Salim Ali and the internet I was able to identify the various species of birds in our campus. Let me begin with the most beautiful of them all.

1. Asian paradise fly catcher:

If I were in charge of deciding the national bird of our country this bird would give the peacock a run for the money. This bird is actually quite small around 7-8 cms long but its long tail (around 20 cms) makes it look longer than it is. It is blue breasted and its back is of a golden colour. It has a dark blue crest. In most of the birds the male is better looking than the female but it is reverse in the Asian paradise flycatcher. The female is the more beautiful one. While the male loses its beauty as it ages. This bird can be seen in the summer season near the NBH or the Y-point.

2. Grey Hornbill:

This was the latest bird which I saw in our college campus. One of the most beautiful creatures and a very rare bird. This bird is now a regular visitor of our workshop and the staff quarters behind it.

3. Black Rumped Woodpecker:

A woodpecker working to procure its food is a great site to watch. I had an opportunity to see this beautiful creature in 2007 in the trees between block 8 and block 7. A flame-backed woodpecker gets its name from the colour of its back which looks like it is up in flames. This bird is difficult to spot nowadays in our campus because of the deforestation near the boy’s hostel and construction of new hostels.

4. Copper smith Barbet:

Unlike its name it has no relation to a copper smith except that its beak has a small spot which seems like a droplet of molten copper. This small but beautiful bird was first spotted by me in the toilet of block 8 in my first year. With the help of Gaurav we took some photos and let it out and saved it from some people who were planning to harass it. This bird can be easily spotted near the health centre and the NBH.

5. Spotted Owlet:

This was the first bird that I spotted in our college. It’s a really small owl unlike the ones we see in films. It could easily fit in one’s palm. This bird can be seen hooting at night near the MIG or can be seen sleeping in the storm water drains above the physics assembly hall. Next time you pass in front of the physics department do take a look at these birds as they are known to bring good luck.

6. Verditer Flycatcher:

I don’t know where this bird got its first name from but what I do know is that this is one beautiful bird in such shades of blue that you would be amazed at mother nature that she can make such beautiful creatures. The last time I spotted this bird was in my first year again in front of block 8 but now it won’t be that simple to spot these birds because of the construction.

7. Rufous Tree Pie:

The rufous tree pie is a long beautiful bird that makes annoying sounds but can be easily spotted flying around the axis room or the canteen.

8. Rain quail:

The rain quail is a small bird that does not fly great distances but mostly walks around thick bushes and abandoned houses. It can be spotted around the axis room and the adjoining staff quarters.

9. White Throated Kingfisher:

Now everyone must know how a kingfisher looks like thanks to Vijay Mallya and his UB group so this bird won’t be that difficult to spot. This bird can be easily seen near the fluid mechanics lab flying around to prey on small insects in the abandoned tanks of the fluid mechanics lab.

10. Oriole:

This is a bird that will baffle you with the question: Is that real gold on its skin? The answer is no. The beautiful colour of this bird makes you want to see this bird. It can be easily seen behind block 2 or axis room near the bushes.

11. House Swift:

As the name suggests this bird should be very common but to see them fly in large numbers such as 100s it’s an amazing site. This site is very common in front of the AD block at dusk.

12. Oriental White Eye:

Any small bird which we see is mostly dismissed as some relative of sparrow but this bird is a completely different bird. It gets its name from a white ring around its eyes which is not so easy to spot. This bird can be spotted in front of NBH and the canteen.

13. Green Bee eater:

This is a beautiful green coloured bird which gets its name from its diet i.e. bees. The thing to watch is the method in which this bird kills its prey. It first grabs it in its beak and then bangs it on the branch/wire on which it is perched till it dies. This bird is a very common bird and can be spotted almost everywhere.

14. Coucal or Crow Pheasant:

This is a common bird and is often mistaken for the bird of paradise (which is not found in India). This bird can be easily spotted where there are trees and thick bushes.

15. White headed wagtail:

This bird is not an uncommon bird which can be sometimes seen on the ground feeding on insects. This bird is a very afraid of people so even if u try to have a good look at it, it would fly away to safety.

16. Sunbird:

This is a small purple coloured bird and is easy to spot near flowers trying to extract nectar. It has a sweet shrill voice which can be distinctly heard. These birds are easily seen around the ground and the canteen.

17. Black Drongo:

It is a slim agile and glossy bird about as big as a bulbul, with a ling deeply forked tail. They capture moths, caterpillars and other small insects. They can be easily spotted in front of the meta department.

18. Jungle babbler:

This a common and very irritating bird which hops around. It is grey coloured and has a yellow coloured beak and appears fluffy. It is a really annoying bird with which everyone will agree.

These were some of the birds which were worth describing and spotting. There are totally 34 species that I have seen such as the sparrows, robins, warblers, pigeon, crow,etc. which are easy to recognise. So next time you walk around the campus in daytime keep your eyes open and try to spot these magnificent creatures.

PS - these pics have been downloaded from the internet and aren't clicked by me.

Book Review: Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell (Non- Fiction)

Outlier (n): A deviation from mean. This is the definition from managerial statistics class but in the book the population is the human population and these outliers are outperformers, “geniuses”, and successful people. This book looks at the factors that contribute to high levels of success. The author claims that the successful people or the so called geniuses are just normal people with talent but there are various factors that contribute to their successes. To support his thesis, he examines the causes of why the majority of Canadian ice hockey players are born in the first few months of the calendar year, how Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates achieved his extreme wealth, and how two people with exceptional intelligence, Christopher Langan and J. Robert Oppenheimer, end up with such vastly different fortunes. Throughout the publication, Gladwell repeatedly mentions the "10,000-Hour Rule", claiming that the key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours. For this 10,000 hour rule he gives examples of the Beatles, Beethoven, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and many other personalities and trust me this does make sense. I along with a friend even proved this theory on the cafeteria table by examining Sachin Tendulkar. He started seriously practicing for 12 hours daily at the age of 12 and at the age of 15 he made the legendary 664 runs partnership with Kambli. So calculating for 3 years and 12 hours daily we get a figure of 10,000+ hours. So he achieved great success only after giving in 10,000+ hours in practice. In short, this book could be termed as a book about how to achieve success as it can explain almost every success story by its theories.