Bright eyed and confident we walked out of the gates of SIMS exited at the prospect of making money! “It will be fine, worse-come worse, we shall sell mangoes on the streets and get paid in mangoes. Namrata agreed atleast food would not be an issue. But soon we realized that Deccan was more than 8 kms away and not one car was waiting to give two smart and sophisticated looking (future) CEOs a lift.
We were almost cursing our batch-mates when an gentleman in an Innova stopped, “ Kahan Jaana hai”. We told him the pre-determined story, he pitied our empty pockets gave us a ride until E-Square and also paid for the autorickshow to Deccan. And we thought Punekars were stingy and rude. Lesson numero uno : Stereotyping is often an incorrect practice.
The Deccan market was just starting to open up with the hustle and bustle of the daily shopkeepers, vehicle bringing the area alive and filling our hearts with hope for $$.
Our failed visit at the hospital and our meeting with the administrator there were two lessons learnt. The employees have no decision making in their hands and only owners have any clarity of what is beneficial to an organization. Clearly our endeavor at the hospital failed as the CEO did not have times to meet (un)important people like us.
We called an ad about part-time jobs, went to a bakery, namkeen store, apparel store, even approached and street vendor selling cheap clothes. To the last vendor we offered to be models and guaranteed and an increase in traffic to their tent. Sadly they failed to recognize that our selling ability and our sophisticated CEO looks and politely told us we should apply our trade elsewhere.
Disappointed I asked Namrata, “Is this how Pune treats (future) business leaders ? Yaar hamako toyeh paani bhi nahi pilayege…paying cash for our services looks like a far-fetched idea.” Almost with an enlightened look on her face asked me how about the Mahindra car dealership behind me. I thought, well a few more rejection would not affect my already damaged morale. To my surprise, we walked in and were greeted with a smiling General Manager and a Sr. Sales Consultant. After unleashing our story of disappointments onto him he decided to give us an assignment. “What do really want to learn out of this ?” We looked perplexed at each other and thought in our minds we just need the money please don’t enlighten us with management philosophies, we have had an overdose of that at the campus. Namrata had the presence of mind to tell him in a firm voice and soft hopeful eyes “Sir we just want to make a difference. We think we can bring a lot from our previous experience and our undergraduate studies.” That was it.
The convinced manager walked our to the imposing metallic red Xylo and made and few phone calls told us to wait and assured us he would do the best he could. He said we could help him with the events and road-shows which they regularly arranged at the corporate offices in Pune. I thought we waited for an eternity, when the Sr. Sales consultant arrived and told us that he had received feedback from Axis Bank and Nokia- Siemens. But…
The even cannot be arranged at such short notice and that he was sorry for us and that his contacts did not come through. Disappointed and disgusted I almost got up to show him that, that I had ample experience in (pillow) fighting and Namarata was almost to tears. While Namarata was pulling me back, the manager spoke in his usual deadpan voice “Are your aware of the small street in front of the Tech Mahindra office at Sharda Center on Karve Road”. “I was there for a month when I trained at Tech M” blurted Namrata. As if he were divulging the ingredients of Coca Cola, he said, almost whisperingly, “I think those techies in the company have just received promotions and bonuses, I have inside information. If you can bring me 15 prospective customers and if even one of them converts then you stand a chance to make something.
By now I did not know if I should sucker punch him or making him do all the wonderful assignment our seniors give us. Namrata muttered “ Do we have a choice ?”. Within the next 15 mins we had learnt the bhp of a 1.5 GLS Mahindra Logan and the mileage of a fully loaded Scorpio. He handed us ugly looking Xerox copied, black and white flyers written in Marathi and we were to go to a leading IT company in the nation and sell the top pros of TechM, a Mahindra motors product.
We introduced ourself to a group of young looking North Indians in the a sitting in a dilapidated eatery, who stared at us condescendingly and were blowing cigarette smoke on our face. We made our pitch about the roomy Logan, its penthouse like trunk size, and the Mahindra brand and its world-class sales and service but all that went up in the air with one statement he made. “Yaar, Logan looks soooooo ugly, I would never buy one and I am planning to buy a Linea next week, Now thats what a car should look like”.
Certainly his viewpoint did not match the two brainwashed (future) CEO’s he was talking to. We picked our brochures and paper and walked over to the next booth. “Hey I feel your pain guys, even we went through this at an MBA program” said a chubby looking, but empathetic Brand Manager at Tech M. She later confessed that she was looking to contact a M&M car dealership because she had received numerous enquiries about discounts and deals by her colleagues but had told them there were none.
We told her about the car’s pricing and the Mahindra loyalty discounts and she promised to forward a lot of her colleagues to the dealership. With some our CEO dignities back in our pockets we worked feverishly interrupting people drinking tea, feasting on aloo parathas, gobbling sambar-dosa and informed them about our best in the world deals, or at least that the way we them to be.
Within a span of 2 hours we had thirty prospective customers and a few of them wanted to go to the dealership today to check the car and maybe even buy it. We were famished by now when we were prompted by a typical South Indian who approached Namrata and asked her “How did you get here, I though you were in Banglore, are you still with Tech M ?” We poured our hearts out to Namrata old colleague and even made him buy us lunch. I waspondering over the old saying “Free lunches are always the tastiest” while enjoying the delicious Mysore Masala dosa and couldn’t make out if Namrata was listening to her old colleague or devouring the Cheese Masala Dosa. Her friend gave us a ride to the Dealership and thanked us for spending time with him. “Wow!! Its good to have a girl as a buddy”, I remarked honestly and Namrata could only give her silly smile as an answer. We handed over the list of the prospective clients with contact information and possibility of buying the next car. In return he gave us 300 bucks each and pats on our backs and even promised to give us a certificate of appreciation.
Exhausted, we got back to the Pune University canteen, admiring each other’s hustling skills and treated our self to bottle of mineral water. “CEO’s don’t drink tap water” Namrata remarked with an air of arrogance on her face, besides in our hearts we know we had earned the first expense of our day.
We were almost cursing our batch-mates when an gentleman in an Innova stopped, “ Kahan Jaana hai”. We told him the pre-determined story, he pitied our empty pockets gave us a ride until E-Square and also paid for the autorickshow to Deccan. And we thought Punekars were stingy and rude. Lesson numero uno : Stereotyping is often an incorrect practice.
The Deccan market was just starting to open up with the hustle and bustle of the daily shopkeepers, vehicle bringing the area alive and filling our hearts with hope for $$.
Our failed visit at the hospital and our meeting with the administrator there were two lessons learnt. The employees have no decision making in their hands and only owners have any clarity of what is beneficial to an organization. Clearly our endeavor at the hospital failed as the CEO did not have times to meet (un)important people like us.
We called an ad about part-time jobs, went to a bakery, namkeen store, apparel store, even approached and street vendor selling cheap clothes. To the last vendor we offered to be models and guaranteed and an increase in traffic to their tent. Sadly they failed to recognize that our selling ability and our sophisticated CEO looks and politely told us we should apply our trade elsewhere.
Disappointed I asked Namrata, “Is this how Pune treats (future) business leaders ? Yaar hamako toyeh paani bhi nahi pilayege…paying cash for our services looks like a far-fetched idea.” Almost with an enlightened look on her face asked me how about the Mahindra car dealership behind me. I thought, well a few more rejection would not affect my already damaged morale. To my surprise, we walked in and were greeted with a smiling General Manager and a Sr. Sales Consultant. After unleashing our story of disappointments onto him he decided to give us an assignment. “What do really want to learn out of this ?” We looked perplexed at each other and thought in our minds we just need the money please don’t enlighten us with management philosophies, we have had an overdose of that at the campus. Namrata had the presence of mind to tell him in a firm voice and soft hopeful eyes “Sir we just want to make a difference. We think we can bring a lot from our previous experience and our undergraduate studies.” That was it.
The convinced manager walked our to the imposing metallic red Xylo and made and few phone calls told us to wait and assured us he would do the best he could. He said we could help him with the events and road-shows which they regularly arranged at the corporate offices in Pune. I thought we waited for an eternity, when the Sr. Sales consultant arrived and told us that he had received feedback from Axis Bank and Nokia- Siemens. But…
The even cannot be arranged at such short notice and that he was sorry for us and that his contacts did not come through. Disappointed and disgusted I almost got up to show him that, that I had ample experience in (pillow) fighting and Namarata was almost to tears. While Namarata was pulling me back, the manager spoke in his usual deadpan voice “Are your aware of the small street in front of the Tech Mahindra office at Sharda Center on Karve Road”. “I was there for a month when I trained at Tech M” blurted Namrata. As if he were divulging the ingredients of Coca Cola, he said, almost whisperingly, “I think those techies in the company have just received promotions and bonuses, I have inside information. If you can bring me 15 prospective customers and if even one of them converts then you stand a chance to make something.
By now I did not know if I should sucker punch him or making him do all the wonderful assignment our seniors give us. Namrata muttered “ Do we have a choice ?”. Within the next 15 mins we had learnt the bhp of a 1.5 GLS Mahindra Logan and the mileage of a fully loaded Scorpio. He handed us ugly looking Xerox copied, black and white flyers written in Marathi and we were to go to a leading IT company in the nation and sell the top pros of TechM, a Mahindra motors product.
We introduced ourself to a group of young looking North Indians in the a sitting in a dilapidated eatery, who stared at us condescendingly and were blowing cigarette smoke on our face. We made our pitch about the roomy Logan, its penthouse like trunk size, and the Mahindra brand and its world-class sales and service but all that went up in the air with one statement he made. “Yaar, Logan looks soooooo ugly, I would never buy one and I am planning to buy a Linea next week, Now thats what a car should look like”.
Certainly his viewpoint did not match the two brainwashed (future) CEO’s he was talking to. We picked our brochures and paper and walked over to the next booth. “Hey I feel your pain guys, even we went through this at an MBA program” said a chubby looking, but empathetic Brand Manager at Tech M. She later confessed that she was looking to contact a M&M car dealership because she had received numerous enquiries about discounts and deals by her colleagues but had told them there were none.
We told her about the car’s pricing and the Mahindra loyalty discounts and she promised to forward a lot of her colleagues to the dealership. With some our CEO dignities back in our pockets we worked feverishly interrupting people drinking tea, feasting on aloo parathas, gobbling sambar-dosa and informed them about our best in the world deals, or at least that the way we them to be.
Within a span of 2 hours we had thirty prospective customers and a few of them wanted to go to the dealership today to check the car and maybe even buy it. We were famished by now when we were prompted by a typical South Indian who approached Namrata and asked her “How did you get here, I though you were in Banglore, are you still with Tech M ?” We poured our hearts out to Namrata old colleague and even made him buy us lunch. I waspondering over the old saying “Free lunches are always the tastiest” while enjoying the delicious Mysore Masala dosa and couldn’t make out if Namrata was listening to her old colleague or devouring the Cheese Masala Dosa. Her friend gave us a ride to the Dealership and thanked us for spending time with him. “Wow!! Its good to have a girl as a buddy”, I remarked honestly and Namrata could only give her silly smile as an answer. We handed over the list of the prospective clients with contact information and possibility of buying the next car. In return he gave us 300 bucks each and pats on our backs and even promised to give us a certificate of appreciation.
Exhausted, we got back to the Pune University canteen, admiring each other’s hustling skills and treated our self to bottle of mineral water. “CEO’s don’t drink tap water” Namrata remarked with an air of arrogance on her face, besides in our hearts we know we had earned the first expense of our day.
