As Krishna reviewed the sales figures for the second quarter, Kripa, the head of sales and marketing scanned the faces in his team. They had their eyes studiously averted from both Krishna and Kripa. It had not been a good year. Kaliya was busy scribbling on his notepad. Nala appeared to be scanning the traffic on the highway visible from the large bay windows. Light mist from the morning still hung in curiously stratified layers over the city. And Vajra, recently married and back from his honeymoon, appeared to be counting the number of electrical fixtures in the room.
"Mmm...".
Kripa's attention jerked back to Krishna. For some reason, Krishna always appeared pissed off at every quarterly sales review meeting. Even if they were holding in a declining market, it was never good enough. And for the past two quarters, they were not even holding the fort. The writing was on the wall. No matter how much he tried to divert Krishna's attention to the substantial pipeline and forecasts, Krishna just ignored it and jumped to the P&L.
"So... where do I start", said Krishna, looking up for the first time. The mood in the room was sombre. "Kripa, hold your presentation for now. The pipeline looked great even at the end of the last quarter. So let's get a quick brief of what went wrong from our chaps here. Who wants to go first? Vajra?"
Not that Krishna was seeking an opinion. Vajra startled, froze momentarily like a deer caught in the headlamps, then heaved himself off the chair and headed to the firing line.
The grilling lasted all of forty minutes. And all during that session, Kripa kept scanning the thermostat to his left and the vents above to check whether someone had switched off the air-conditioning. The streamers fluttering below the vents did not indicate any problems with the system. Still, Kripa felt as if the heat in the room had risen a few hundred degrees since they had started the session.
Of course it helps to know your clients.
But what exactly did that mean?
To Krishna, it meant that you had to get under the skin of every executive associated with the decision. And that meant knowing, among innumerable other things, the accessories they flaunted, clothes they wore, brands they favoured, the locality in which they lived, the cars they owned, the number of children they had, the schools they went to, the holidays they took, the state of their health, the health of their parents, the breed of dog they preferred to the type of drinks they consumed, the restaurants they frequented, the movies they saw, to whom they socialized with.
"You have to figure out what made them tick." Momentarily, Nala had this vision of an ancient clock with the elongated pendulum in his grandparents living room, back in his native village. But that was only momentarily.
You had to figure what time they came into the office each morning, and what time they left and where they went for lunch! And the decision flow from the point of contact to the decision maker, who the influencers were, who did they consult, who did the evaluations. And especially if the "influence lines" crossed "task-authority" lines.
It also meant assessing their market, sizing their competition, and systematically probing the organization to uncover points of weakness.
There was a pattern to it of course. Given Krishna's experience, this was pretty old school. What had changed over the years was the nature of the tools. And researchers had an easier task given the number of information sources from company websites to social media networks. "The trick, Mr Kripa, is to get information that would facilitate intimate contact with those who can influence the sale."
Of course, Kripa knew well that the days when a company's senior executives were accessible on land lines was history, as was getting five minutes of their time in their offices to make a sales pitch. The contact had to be established elsewhere, and even then the opportunity for a discussion usually came after a completely unrelated favour was dispensed.
"These favours will cost you nothing. The trick, Mr Kripa, is being at the right place at the right time."
"Mmm...".
Kripa's attention jerked back to Krishna. For some reason, Krishna always appeared pissed off at every quarterly sales review meeting. Even if they were holding in a declining market, it was never good enough. And for the past two quarters, they were not even holding the fort. The writing was on the wall. No matter how much he tried to divert Krishna's attention to the substantial pipeline and forecasts, Krishna just ignored it and jumped to the P&L.
"So... where do I start", said Krishna, looking up for the first time. The mood in the room was sombre. "Kripa, hold your presentation for now. The pipeline looked great even at the end of the last quarter. So let's get a quick brief of what went wrong from our chaps here. Who wants to go first? Vajra?"
Not that Krishna was seeking an opinion. Vajra startled, froze momentarily like a deer caught in the headlamps, then heaved himself off the chair and headed to the firing line.
The grilling lasted all of forty minutes. And all during that session, Kripa kept scanning the thermostat to his left and the vents above to check whether someone had switched off the air-conditioning. The streamers fluttering below the vents did not indicate any problems with the system. Still, Kripa felt as if the heat in the room had risen a few hundred degrees since they had started the session.
Of course it helps to know your clients.
But what exactly did that mean?
To Krishna, it meant that you had to get under the skin of every executive associated with the decision. And that meant knowing, among innumerable other things, the accessories they flaunted, clothes they wore, brands they favoured, the locality in which they lived, the cars they owned, the number of children they had, the schools they went to, the holidays they took, the state of their health, the health of their parents, the breed of dog they preferred to the type of drinks they consumed, the restaurants they frequented, the movies they saw, to whom they socialized with.
"You have to figure out what made them tick." Momentarily, Nala had this vision of an ancient clock with the elongated pendulum in his grandparents living room, back in his native village. But that was only momentarily.
You had to figure what time they came into the office each morning, and what time they left and where they went for lunch! And the decision flow from the point of contact to the decision maker, who the influencers were, who did they consult, who did the evaluations. And especially if the "influence lines" crossed "task-authority" lines.
It also meant assessing their market, sizing their competition, and systematically probing the organization to uncover points of weakness.
There was a pattern to it of course. Given Krishna's experience, this was pretty old school. What had changed over the years was the nature of the tools. And researchers had an easier task given the number of information sources from company websites to social media networks. "The trick, Mr Kripa, is to get information that would facilitate intimate contact with those who can influence the sale."
Of course, Kripa knew well that the days when a company's senior executives were accessible on land lines was history, as was getting five minutes of their time in their offices to make a sales pitch. The contact had to be established elsewhere, and even then the opportunity for a discussion usually came after a completely unrelated favour was dispensed.
"These favours will cost you nothing. The trick, Mr Kripa, is being at the right place at the right time."
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