Fiction is much more appealing than sordid facts...
According to the Indian Statistical Institute’s survey of the country’s 575 districts, urban poverty was bleakest in Mumbai, the city that was being advertised as the future Shanghai. The number of people living below the poverty line had risen — repeat, risen — by 20% in the last five years. Murshidabad, once capital of Nawab Siraj ud Daulah, described by an astonished Clive as richer than London when he saw it for the first time, is now the poorest district in the country, with 1.47% of people below the poverty line.
In a separate report, the United Nations World Food Programme says that the largest concentration of hunger in the world is in India: 230 million, or 27% of the world total. Fifty percent of child deaths are due to hunger. Nearly 43% of children under five are underweight, as compared to only 28% for sub-Saharan Africa. And, 70% of children under five are anaemic, a figure that has risen by six per cent in the last six years.
Television, that lightning rod of middle-class values, which screamed itself into a stupor over the Slum dog millionaire movie Winning Oscars, ignored these reports completely. They were not even awarded the courtesy of a crawler, the line of letters that trots by on news channels below the aggressive self-importance of the screen.
No anchor had a question as to how numbers below the poverty line have risen by 20% in the last five years when every minister of the Union of India has proclaimed that the era of dross has given way to the age of gold.
Indifference is the respectable fact of contempt. The rich don’t quite understand why there is so much fuss about calling a child a ‘slumdog’, possibly because they treat their dogs better than they treat slum children.
The English-speaking Mumbaikar finds it so much more pleasant to see Dharavi through Hollywood than stop at the great slum on the way to the airport.
Fiction is so much more palatable than fact...The hype had only one explanation : we love the idea of winning even if it is through surrogates.
Maybe Real life is a Bitch and the poor Slum Dog Paupers are facing the Heat !
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Salesman is a dying breed in India ...
"Sir, I don't want to be in sales " :- This is a common statement made by most of the MBA students.
Sales Jobs are counted as the last desperate option by most of the management students. Recession or not, Sales Jobs were never in vogue.
Sales Function is now passing through one of the worst phase since its evolution.
Marketers are responsible for this downfall of one of the most critical functions of a company. Sales is the point where the company meets its customers. It is the ultimate moment of truth for any firm. But it is sad that this function has stooped down to a point of no return.
Complaints are galore about the high pressure selling tactics unprofessionally implemented by firms.
Call center executives calling up prospects and just blurting out their sales talks without even seeking permission. Insurance Executives trying to sell products that consumer doesn't need. All these have created so much irritation among consumers that it is now difficult for a sales person to get even an appointment.
Consumers have become more offensive than defensive . Historically consumers hate being sold .
It is time to go back to the basics.....
Have you ever met a sales guy who have asked relevant questions before making his sales presentation ?
Have you ever met a sales person who refused to sell a product because he thinks it will not match your requirement ?
Have you ever met a sales person who suggest competitor's product because it suits you better ?Have you ever sat through a sales talk and actually liked the talk?
These situations have become rare. ..Understanding consumers is the last thing in the mind of the salespeople.
Just by changing the designation to Relationship Manager will not create relationships. It needs to be ingrained in the sales person's attitude and approach.
It all boils down to developing a sales culture in organizations.
It takes lot of courage to resist selling wrong products to wrong consumers.
It takes lot of pain to think long term and suffer short term loss of sales.
It takes lot of investment to create a customer and retain him compared to selling and forgetting .
The era of foot-in-the- door sales approach is over. Consumers have more information than the sales professionals. They are acutely aware of the positives and negatives of offers.
Hence it is time we move to the real spirit of sales:
Let the sales persons be given the courage of losing a sale and gaining a consumer.
Let us first take permission and then sell.
Let the organizations have the courage to think beyong quarterly sales figures.
The ultimate success of sales function is where consumers call up the company to fix appoinment with the sales professionals.
Can you ever dream of such a situation ?
Sales Jobs are counted as the last desperate option by most of the management students. Recession or not, Sales Jobs were never in vogue.
Sales Function is now passing through one of the worst phase since its evolution.
Marketers are responsible for this downfall of one of the most critical functions of a company. Sales is the point where the company meets its customers. It is the ultimate moment of truth for any firm. But it is sad that this function has stooped down to a point of no return.
Complaints are galore about the high pressure selling tactics unprofessionally implemented by firms.
Call center executives calling up prospects and just blurting out their sales talks without even seeking permission. Insurance Executives trying to sell products that consumer doesn't need. All these have created so much irritation among consumers that it is now difficult for a sales person to get even an appointment.
Consumers have become more offensive than defensive . Historically consumers hate being sold .
It is time to go back to the basics.....
Have you ever met a sales guy who have asked relevant questions before making his sales presentation ?
Have you ever met a sales person who refused to sell a product because he thinks it will not match your requirement ?
Have you ever met a sales person who suggest competitor's product because it suits you better ?Have you ever sat through a sales talk and actually liked the talk?
These situations have become rare. ..Understanding consumers is the last thing in the mind of the salespeople.
Just by changing the designation to Relationship Manager will not create relationships. It needs to be ingrained in the sales person's attitude and approach.
It all boils down to developing a sales culture in organizations.
It takes lot of courage to resist selling wrong products to wrong consumers.
It takes lot of pain to think long term and suffer short term loss of sales.
It takes lot of investment to create a customer and retain him compared to selling and forgetting .
The era of foot-in-the- door sales approach is over. Consumers have more information than the sales professionals. They are acutely aware of the positives and negatives of offers.
Hence it is time we move to the real spirit of sales:
Let the sales persons be given the courage of losing a sale and gaining a consumer.
Let us first take permission and then sell.
Let the organizations have the courage to think beyong quarterly sales figures.
The ultimate success of sales function is where consumers call up the company to fix appoinment with the sales professionals.
Can you ever dream of such a situation ?
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