Interviews

You're just out of your last job? How does it feel?

Great! I'm currently taking a well deserved break from work. It's close to two decades since I started working. After doing all kinds of jobs I felt it was time to move away and find my true calling.

So are you planning to start something on your own?

My plans are fluid now. I have not really decided what I'm going to do in the future. I might choose to join another organisation or even start something on my own. Right now I'm enjoying this transitional period, as I'm trying to gain better perspective of my intrinsic goals.

What according to you is your core expertise and has it remained the same in the last 20 years?

Sales forms the very essence of my being. I've been selling some product or service all these years. And although this could sound pompous, it's a fact that I've reasonably excelled in selling. My journey to identify my capabilities has been very interesting in every sense of the word. A career growth path that included exciting stopovers, I've literally done it all in the last 20 years, but sales has remained the fundamental element. I started off fresh out of school, making a living providing guided tours for foreign nationals, and moved ahead to try different things at different points in time to reach my last job - heading the Sales division of one of the most prestigious HR firms in the country. Yes, there has never been dearth of opportunities or lessons learnt, but somehow from the day I started working I knew that Sales it is, and will remain the essential source of inspiration.

How was your first working experience?

I chose to work soon after school, since I wanted to learn from practical experiences. So my first job was tearing tickets at a movie theatre, a very short stint, I don't know what this taught me, but it sure gave me the chance to watch the same movie 300 times. After this I took up the job of a tour guide. I started going to college by then but worked all night through. This was one of the most wildest and eccentric choices I made, but it was well-worth the mind-numbing, energy-sapping aftermath of constantly entertaining people. It used to be a crazy life back then. Nine to five at work in the office, evening college, and then going to pick up tourists in the night and spending time with them till the wee hours in the morning and catching up on sleep whenever possible. The tourists where predominantly Russians, who came by a truckload, a minimum of 40 people every two days! I was one of the few people who had access till the runway and from the time I picked them up till I dropped them back on their way back, they where my responsibility and I had to do everything possible to keep them happy and engaged. It was a wild lifestyle I had way back then, but the good part is the learning that I carry with me even today.

Ticket-checker to tourist guide! Where was your next stop-over?

By the time I'd finished my graduation, I'd outgrown my tourist guide lifestyle. But I still pursued something that vaguely connected to it, when I took up the Timeshare concept introduced by Sterling Resorts. I was there for 5 years, and was instrumental in expanding their sales division. Recruiting close to 3000 sales people, I topped their sales records across the country.

So that's where your corporate sales career started?

Yes, you can say that. From Sterling I moved to Aptech, though that was a really short stint. It was the time when the computer and software services businesses were booming. I joined Kumaran Systems, where I was handling their sales in Europe and South America. This is when I shifted to the west. I worked out of Canada for 6 months and then in the United States for about 4 years. At Kumaran I was responsible of Consulting and body-shopping. I was heading a team of over 100 contractors during my tenure there. After I came back to India I had joined Arvind Swami's company Talent Maximus. This was a payroll and HR solutions firm and I headed the client acquisition team.

How did the shift to Summit HR happen?

RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) was just catching up in India. And Summit HR was becoming quite a big name globally, so when I got the offer to Head there Sales and Operations I took it up. Since my previous work also revolved around talent management and HR solutions, the transition was the next best logical step.

How was it working in Summit HR?

Great, obviously. A very healthy and organised setup, it offered good global exposure and was one great learning experience, especially since I was fortunate enough to work with the HR Superstar, Ranjan Sinha. Be it the metrics, the demographics, the inherent segmentations, and the complete science of recruitment, I learnt it all there. But it was not just about processes there, it was the right combination of science and people that has made Summit HR such a formidable global brand.

According to you what holds the key to successful selling.

Interactions, relationships, perseverance, networking and most importantly communication. Selling is predominantly people-centric. So how you communicate can change the course of the conversation. Moreover I like to meet people and do the sale in person. It is different to sell over the phone and email, though that happens more these days; but when you're face-to-face with someone, the end result is completely different, no matter what, because you are bound to form a connection. At the same time I would also stress on the need to believe in what you are selling. If you manage to do that, work hard and constantly stay in touch, selling, sure becomes easier. That's' how it worked for me; almost all my clients gave me repeat orders and also reference, which opens the door ever farther, since there already is someone's personal experience and referral to back you up.

So in which direction will you be heading now?

Well, anywhere. Being out and not really committed to anything opens up an ocean of possibilities, options and paths to tread. But right now I'm enjoying this phase when I am in search of something interesting to do...