The Best Entertainer on this Planet

MIHY - May I Help you

It was party time for me and two of my close under-grad college mates and it was Ashwin’s idea of going to his beautiful farmhouse located in a remote village kind of an area and the moment we reached there, it took very little time for us to realize that we were actually in a place that easily personifies the phrase ‘heaven on earth’. We obviously had a good time walking through the farm on a Tuesday evening, enjoying the greenery around and also discussing certain supply chain concepts (the irresistible characteristic that the fascinating subject of marketing entails of not being negated even on a holiday). All this we did by not realising how wise it would have been on our part if we had done something about the glowing break lights of Ashwin’s car. We tried switching it off, but in vain; and at one time we could hear Pavan (our other buddy) who in his mumbling voice said something about dismantling the battery wire, which I bluntly ignored and which Ashwin did not even hear. We let it be in a very lethargic manner.

It did turn out to be quite a silly thing to have ignored that problem as the car did not start the next morning. The reason I have written all this is to explain not the horrendous aftermath of this mistake we had in getting the car started again but ironically the pleasant time in doing so. How on earth it that possible? Well, as soon as we tried pushing the car to get it started without the battery’s role we had a bunch of people belonging to that village helping us and in no time we weren’t even pushing the car and it was them who did it. The car however, did not oblige and before we could curse ourselves again there was a person, who without our request used his own cell to call a nearby mechanic (who was on a holiday by the way) came by to diagnose the problem and suggested something to the other guy. That too did not work. Now, there was another person who was driving his Qualis offered to help and did so by charging the car battery with his. And then, successfully we had our car started.

In the meanwhile, during the time that all these stranger people offered to help us by saying – May I help you, the three of us tried to use our intellectual brains to call the car company service centre for help who in his professional politeness said he is quite far from the actual breakdown place and did not show an inclination to help us. His tone on the phone got even depressed when we said we are four kilometres away from the City highway. He said he would call back and never did.

The point I am trying to make here is how several companies boast enormously about their after sales services and fail to deliver even at the basic level. If promised a service delivery at door step, make sure you deliver it. Contrast this with the most down to earth - ‘May I help you’ attitude of the people at this village for absolutely no monetary desire at all, is truly fascinating and this increased our respect for them and their hospitality.

If only this nature was incorporated in the corporate world.

A Sales Job – Not frowned upon anymore.

A job in sales was not something that an individual looking to make it big in the corporate world would even consider at the time of starting off his career. Well, that dreadful picture has kind of taken a curve into being, though not the biggest break one could have, but something that individuals consider as one that promises good returns, growth opportunities, learning, rewards and even recognition not only internally within the organisation but also externally – amongst social peers, family associates, etc. These kinds of amenities were alien about ten years ago.

One who gets into sales was treated as any layman worker who works for a normal living and is perceived as not looking for growth, one who knows only regional languages and cannot ever become a leader. Overtime, this notion of a job in sales has truly changed in that there has been constant revision incertain Human Resource Policies (in the form of provision of better work amenities as mentioned above). Previously people working in the sales department had Job designations and descriptions that sounded meagre; for instance the designations were mostly salesman, sales officer, sales manager that not only sounded pitiable but also had poor job descriptions with minimum exposure to growth and learning. With this change, sales jobs have become attractive with better packages, profiles requiring domestic and foreign trips, challenging tasks, etc.

With times changing we hear better designations in sales – Sales Executive, Manager-Sales Operations, Regional Manager in Sales, etc. most importantly I remember my Professor in Alliance Business School telling me that “if you aspire to grow in an organisation and earn a post that handles all domains like that of a General Manager then Sales is the job that will do it for you”. He also used a metaphor and exclaimed that “if Marketing is the entire arm, then Sales is your hand, without the hand your arm would be of no use”.

Well, all those who feel sales jobs are looked down upon. Think Again!