Straight Bat

So here’s another one about one of my favourite topics. Sachin Tendulkar. A few months ago, Sachin ditched his trademark curls to go for a straight one.

A big decision this could have been, after nearly 40 years of sporting the Curls and having managed the celebrity status. I wonder what prompted him to do that. But the moment he did it, we could see many news papers and journals talking a lot about the Salon or the Personal Care Industry. The market valuation of the Industry ranged from Rs. 6000 Crores to Rs.12000 Crores in different journals. Perhaps this difference was due to the fact that there was no concrete data available on the so called Personal Care Industry. Tendulkar’s this one act opened up many avenues, much more than the regular advertisements of “Bald prevention” which are generally targeted towards the needier ones.

The Personal Care Industry blokes were quick to ride on the free publicity they got out of this magnanimous act of Tendulkar of sporting for a photograph with his straights.

Mr. Tendulkar – you brought more recognition and visibility to this new industry. Look forward to see many  more such new industries getting opened up!

The Mobile Revolution

It is a very well known fact that the mobile phones have revolutionised the way of communication in India. India has the second largest mobile penetration in the world.

One of the major factors that triggered this growth, apart from the techno savvy youth and urban users, the real penetration was due to the usage of mobile phones in the subsistence market places. This has been validated by lot of research papers on the impact of technology and consumer behaviour in the Subsistence Market places. This means that people at the lower base of the pyramid found a good use of the mobile phones favourable to them. Despite the cost attached to it, people found it to actually increase their productivity or help in maximising their revenues. This actually led to the huge increase in the customer base ranging from Auto-rickshaw drivers, peons, servant maids, to priests and teachers. 

In this process, the most interesting concept that got invented was the concept of missed call. “Give me a missed call” became as popular as saying, “Hello, How are you”! A unique concept prevalent only in India, and this actually helped people in increasing their productivity and their revenues. Perhaps this was one crucial factor in driving the mobile penetration growth in India.

As they say, Necessity is the Mother of Invention!

NATIONAL SPORTS ICON

Sachin Tendulkar had been nominated into the Rajya Sabha some time back.  And there were mixed reactions throughout India to this.

I wouldn’t know the real motive behind Tendulkar’s joining nor what the Government had in mind while doing this. The public at large, I guess weren’t really happy with this idea of Tendulkar entering politics!

Well, that’s certainly his personal choice.

But I think this could probably the best thing that would have happened to the field of Sports in India. There is no doubt that Tendulkar is one of the best Sports Icons India has produced with global excellence. The second one that I can think of, perhaps Vishwanathan Anand. May be there are a few others like Dhyan Chand et al. But none of them have the “Godlike” status that Tendulkar has, the reason being Cricket is the most watched/followed sport in India and generating maximum funds. And so the TRP ratings are high!

This makes Tendulkar what he is today. I do not want to undermine the enormous talent that he has and to translate the talent to achievement is no mean joke. Now he is donning a new cap. I am sure he has thought about it quite well, the smart guy that he is.

Whether Tendulkar, gets his Bharat Ratna or not, I am sure he can play a great role in successfully representing all the different variety of sports in the Indian Government. I would be glad to see the vintage Tendulkar’s classy knocks in this new role as well.

I am already seeing a new PR friendly Tendulkar making the right apolitical statements in Social Media whether it is about appreciating Sania Mirza or applauding the Olympic medallists.

Good times ahead – Sports Fans of India!

Celebrity Endorsements

We have a plethora of Brands available in any category of products. And there are the brand ambassadors. Many of these ambassadors are very successful celebrities who have reached their pinnacle of success. And so they have a good bunch of loyal fan following.

Why do these celebrities endorse products? Or do they actually endorse products? Is it just another revenue stream for them? If that is so, we shouldn’t call it endorsement.

So, where does this start? An owner of a brand wants more publicity for a brand and he approaches a celebrity to promote the product. The idea being –there should be more visibility for the product. And increase sales of the product. For the Celebrity – Make hay while the Sun shines!

In which case, is there any accountability with the Celebrity on the performance or the quality of the product that he “endorses”?

My take on this is that – there should definitely be some bit of moral accountability if not a responsibility of the product or service. The goodwill resting with the audience would be more valuable than the Endorsement fee the Celebrity may be charging.

And most certainly it is also the responsibility of the Marketeer to understand and match with the importance of this moral accountability of the Celebrity Vis a Vis the Product.

Yes, there should be “responsible” Marketing, irrespective of whether you are marketeer or a Celebrity Endorser.

Right to Education

The Indian Parliament recently passed a landmark Bill, Right to Education! Yes, now every individual has the Right to Education.

What does this mean for the general public – especially those who are at the bottom of the pyramid? Is this good news for them? Will there be easy access to Education for them? I would like believe so, as long as the intention is to provide education to the masses.

But if this Law is to coerce, the fancier private schools to “accommodate” the masses on the basis of this law, I wonder will the objective ever be achieved? And it should not create more insecurities or bullies inside the classrooms.

I firmly believe that only Education can help us in getting to the Super Power that we yearn for. The basic education and more importantly Civic Sense should be imparted to one and all. It WILL NOT work if the private institutions are forced to include everybody in the same class. The idea is not create disparity here, but to bring in a sense of balance within the society yet raise the bar with Education.

I hope the Government will think of innovative means to reach out to the masses in order to engage them and provide Education. Or we can leave it to the good bunch of NGOs or even for that matter the CSR initiatives of the Capitalist friends to make the best of this wonderful Law.

My appeal - Please start with Civic Sense. No school today talks about basic civic sense, barring a few and some individual teacher initiatives. Especially in a place like India – Civic Sense, Hygiene, Environment care etc needs to be imparted to Children with care and compassion.

I am sure it will be a great place to live in. Looking forward!

The Ornaments of this House are the Friends who frequent it

You ask any teenager as to what is the most important thing in his life is – invariably the answer would be Friendship. The crucial age in one’s life is predominantly moulded and driven by the so called Friends. One would do anything for the Friend at that age.

I was conducting an interview of a fresher sometime back. During the interview process, the candidate politely asked me if I would like to consider the candidature of a friend of his as well. Such was the power and passion of friendship at that age. I wonder will he do the same thing, say after 5 years?

What changes? Is there a change in the Friendship or is it the feeling towards the friend that changes? Or is it the priority that changes? Or is the situation different? Or is it the Marriage?

Whatever be the situation, the Friend was the most important person in the life once upon a time? Why the change? Invariably this is a true phenomenon across different cultures and geographies. Yes, Things do change when a person approaches the thirties and it does take a different turn. But It is quite interesting to note as the person approaches his forties, while grappling with the midlife crises, he looks to connect with the old buddies. You would suddenly see some bursts of action and school reunions happening. It is a challenge to get people together. But it does happen to a reasonable amount of success. And you would find people with all types of emotions – nostalgia, indifference, Joy, Forward looking etc. Mixed reactions.

Once the guy is beyond the midlife crises, some friends do find a place again in their lives. That’s why probably they say Life begins at Forty!

That reminds me, as far as I could remember I was bought up at home with my dad proudly flaunting a nice little placard which said – “The Ornaments of this House are the Friends who frequent it”.

Indeed!

Perhaps – my dad was in his Forties then!

PERSONAL INSECURITIES

This has been a very sensitive topic very close to my chest.

I had been brought up in an environment to value the opinion of others in anything and everything I do. Yes, a noble thought and perhaps good from the point of view that it stemmed from a Joint Family System.

But little did I realise that this would have some kind of a deep impact in my personality and in many of my activities and eventually leading to the bizarre concept of Insecurity. Ok let me get this straight -  the idea is not to blame the ecosystem for anything. This is just a root cause analysis of the 3 decades plus psyche.

So what all did I want to do?

I wanted to be a good singer. But I have never sung a single song so far!

I wanted to be an orator. I had given my names to Elocution Competitions in Schools when I was a kid. When my chance came on stage, I would tremble with fright and not utter a word in front of the audience. Ok – blamed it on stage fear!

I wanted to act in Stage Plays. I love theatre. Do I need to mention, I ended up being a Crew member – Stage Manager as they would call it!

As I grew up, I felt I could write decently if not go for stage talks. So I felt like writing articles. But what prevented me from carrying it on?

Now, in this technologically connected world it is easy to make virtual friends – Thanks to Facebook, 

LinkedIn, Twitter et al. I am reasonably active in the Social Networking sites. Nobody can see you anyway. But when it comes to making a comment - Do I think twice? Is it for being politically correct? Is it because I shouldn’t hurt the feelings of others? Is it because of “what will they think” syndrome? Is it because I do not want to leave digital footprints?

Aren’t these something called Insecurities?

I am still learning to cope with it.

The fact that I have written this note is in itself a giant leap. Don’t you think so?

Yes, Certainly I am improving!

Technology is the way Forward

It is very easy to pick up a conversation with known people around in India. The common topic being corruption! I was having this casual chat with an uncle of mine who had some serious thoughts about what the Government or the Reserve Bank should be doing. Here it goes – first, the value of the rupee should be brought to One- Tenth. Which means that today if you hold a hundred rupee note, its value will be Rs.10. And so will be the price of any product/commodity/service. Or if you are earning Rs. One Lakh a month, it should be treated as Rs. Ten thousand a month.

In other words, what he meant was to reduce the number of currency notes and the actual value of a rupee goes up. So his idea was to change the denomination, print new notes with the new valuation. The old notes would be null and void. People who hold the old currency should go to the Bank and exchange them with the new ones. And there should some cap on the maximum amount of currency one can exchange in a particular month. So there will be good Regulations. This could help curb black money, people generally won’t get this false pride that they are getting paid too much (especially the younger generation and the rising salary levels and so leading to price increase in everything including real estate). Yep, great ideas for fiscal correction. Sounded interesting!

Another thought was – which is the main driver for Black Money – It is the income Tax. Why doesn’t the Government abolish Income Tax totally? Let the Government find other avenues to generate revenue.

Bold thoughts! All these are for the Government and the biggies to decide…

And then there could be other ways as well.

A few years back as a guy with a sweet tooth, I spotted an interesting kiosk at the corner of my office building. It was a chocolate wending machine. You need to send an SMS to a particular Telephone no. with a code and the chocolate gets dispensed automatically instantaneously. You don’t have to pay cash. The cost of the chocolate gets added to your telephone bill. Brilliant isn’t it? I didn’t have the change for buying the chocolate, but my craving got fulfilled.

Like how we have now nearly paperless offices, can we get in to a Currencyless world? Now quite a lot of bill payment processes have become easy Online. You don’t need to stand in queues to pay bills. You don’t need to stand in queues to get tickets in Black! We have come a long way indeed!

Mobile communication, Internet etc have brought gadgets together and made communication easy. You can have a good free chat with your Sister sitting in your drawing room watching her on your 46” screen.
People at the lower levels of the Social pyramid have seen the value and the power of the Mobile phone. It adds value to their business. Saves them time.

Can we take it a step further? Automate all the transactions electronically.

Let the Smart cards & Biometric gadgets do the job. You authorise transactions through a combination of technologies. And mind you, You need not remember multiple passwords – your finger prints and eye ball can take care of authentication.
Whether it is payment to your nearby grocer or the payment to your domestic help, the payment can be done electronically. You don’t need to carry Boarding passes or tickets – it can be taken care Biometrically! The UID/Aadhar is perhaps attempting some of these.

The masses have learnt to use the Mobile Phone. They will learn to use the computers as well if there is some value in it for them. I am sure our Software Wizards will make extra User Friendly applications to suit the different classes.
The nearby Kutchi grocer will soon engage a Computer operator to keep a check on the transactions.

And all transactions could be done online and electronically. Whether it is for routine purchases, payment to any Service Provider or towards Buying property or Registration, the transactions are to be done electronically only.
New opportunities could emerge for manufacturing different types of gadgets, card readers etc. New Apps would get created. More new employment opportunities in the Ecosystem instead of the traditional stuff! And the bar gets raised at every level in the Social Pyramid.

Wishful thinking!

Reduce the dependency on Currency notes in every transaction. Black money may fade away one day.

And hopefully Technology & Education will prevail.

The Life of a Sales Man

When I started my career as a Salesman 17-18 years ago, there were many views from my well wishers about the profession. Some people felt that it was a stupid job. The perception that Salesmen were generally seen wearing ties, carry a bag, roam around conning people. But some of them felt that it could be progressive for my career and they felt that I could fit in well there as they thought I was good at networking and communicating.

Quite frankly I didn’t have a serious vision then about making a big career out of Salesmanship as I probably didn’t know what it was all about. Since some people motivated me that I would be smart enough for that profession (Am I?!) and also there were not many going for such roles from my Alma Mater as most of them went abroad, I plunged into it. My first job was with one of the most aggressive sales driven organisations of India. Not that I was enjoying the role that I played. There was only one Motto – get orders! But I had my own rules of playing the game. It was quite a learning! Meeting customers, convince them on the products that we had, or we never had etc etc… and within the purview of my rules. It was a challenge! And slowly I started to believe that yes, it indeed is a fantastic role to play.
Life was quite different when I started with the profession. One had to meet the customers to educate them about the products, talk about the market, provide competitive analysis etc. The idea was to sell the product that you have. The sales trainers would say that you need to understand the customers and provide value to them, nevertheless you actually ended up “selling” what your company wanted you to sell.

But over the years, the selling phenomenon had gone through series of changes. The customers are well versed than yourself regarding the product, Thanks to Internet.

The Customers are far clearer as to what they want. And they are more aware of Competition and competitiveness of any product. You don’t need to offer value nor do you need to give them competitive quotations. The customers know it all. The way they negotiate is much different from how it used to be earlier. They have target pricing and you need to match the target pricing. Now the role of the Sales person is reversed. He no longer sells what the company makes, his role is to convince his company to make what the customer wants!

So what makes a successful salesman today – Is it the glib talk? Is it the personality? Is it knowledge? Is it the capability to “manage” things & people? Or is it…

I can list many things here. But my final take on the role of a Salesman today – He is the partner to the customer. It doesn’t matter what your designation is, whether you are a Sales Executive or a General Manager or Managing Director.

The Customer is still the King, and what matters is the trust worthiness. Everything else gets taken care!

BRANDING

I have been curiously watching many Companies started within this decade or two and what makes these Companies tick?

There have been many successful Brands/Companies created globally. For example – Microsoft, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway to name a few… And a plethora of Indian Companies like Tata, Reliance, Infosys, Wipro, Airtel, Kingfisher etc have done themselves extremely well in the last many years.

What makes them Leaders in their categories? No doubt they are now Great Brands/Organisations and are all internationally recognised. In my opinion, the most important factor that makes the Company/Brand – is the passion and the vision of the Founders.

The Founders are the Brand themselves first and their good will get transferred to the Organisation/Brand that they create.

This factor is often seen in other areas as well, apart from Businesses. For example – Bollywood celebrities like say Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan or for that matter Sports Icons like Sachin Tendulkar. They have all become leading Brands thanks to their Hardwork and passion. Infact, Bollywood celebrity Shah Rukh Khan is known to have said “I am an employee to the brand called SRK “.
Most of the leading Companies/Brands are known by the Leaders, their personality traits & charisma and the message that they personally wanted to convey.

And then the Brand is born!

Twaangg…. It’s the Timing!

The other day I was having a serious business discussion with my boss, as usual. In the midst of the discussion, my boss very nicely sandwiched to tell me that I have a habit of procrastinating a lot. Boy, did I want to refute that allegation? I had always thought that I did impeccable planning in my mind and I stuck to my plans. Agreed I am not the best in maintaining the diary and check the “To-do” list! Anyways it’s the boss saying, and I dare not say anything! But I do know my strengths, don’t I? Reached home with a heavy mind.

The next day was a Sunday and the day I go for my Piano classes. I had practiced well before the classes so that I could get it right bang on. But, the tricky software in the Piano class wouldn’t let me pass that song. I didn’t get it 100%. A couple of notes were early and a couple of them late. I just couldn’t get it perfect that day. Surrendered to the fact that it was probably one of those off days! Went home, took rest for a while and later in the evening thought of refreshing myself with a couple of rounds of TT(Table Tennis). I had not played TT in a very long time. But I had the confidence that I could play well. And I did. I did beat my opponents that day! But it was close. I was about to thrash the ball and I was very sure that the ball would land on the opponent’s table. But dear, I missed it by a whisker. How could it miss? And it was not once! Anyways, I could blame once on my shoes, once on my racquet, once on the breeze and I got away. In any case I won the game and that was enough pride for me(never mind the doubt in the mind).

When I got back home, my enthusiastic son was waiting for me to connect the Play Station(PSP as he would call it) to the television so that he could play it on the big screen. I did a sporting father and he was at it, while I was reading a book sitting in a corner of the drawing room. But I was curious to see how he was performing in those Video games. I was never good at it. How good is he? I am sure these days’ kids are Geeks early. And He was doing alright. But something struck me, he was getting stuck at one point consistently. Though I pushed him to play again so that he could improve on his points every time he played, which he was doing so, still he would get stuck at that one point. Either he hits the boulder if clicked early or he is eaten by the frog if delayed slightly. Why getting stuck at that point? May be, he is not getting his timing right. Yes. It is the timing!
That made me think. Has this issue of timing got to do with my wrong note at the piano class? Was that the reason for the ping pong not falling on the table? You don’t need to be a Schwarzenegger to thrash that ball. Just with a little bit of timing, the ball would pierce through the opponent’s table. Simple isn’t it? I have got my answer.

Yes Timing is the answer for many a thing that we do on a daily basis. What makes Sachin Tendulkar the Best Batsmen in the world? A puny little man doing wonders. How? It is the timing. He doesn’t need to use his muscles to push the ball across the fence. It’s just a touch of timing and ball goes past the fence just using same pace of the bowler! How is that Michael Schumacher the best F1 driver. Why because he can handle fast cars? There are so many who can do that. Why is he the best – his timing is just perfect to get past the others which gives him the edge.
How do you say that that you get excellent tea at that shop better than the other one. He makes excellent tea. The formula is simple. You add water, add some tea leaves, add some ginger & cardom for the flavour and some sugar. Add Milk and Boil. Tea done. But his tea is better than the other. Why? May be the timing of the first guy of adding tea leaves, or even adding sugar is better than the other, which makes him better. The same would hold true for cooking as well. You may have the best of the ingredients, a successful recipe, measuring cups etc. Everything is just about the same. But what make one person a better cook than the other one. Is it the timing? The timing of salt & spices could be a big differentiator(apart from of course the touch of magic).

If you want to join two pieces of plastic using an adhesive, for best results you need to maintain that optimum timing. Sticking too early or sticking a little late could give you different results.

We all know about Arjuna who was the best archer. When he was given the task of hitting the eye of the moving fish target without directly looking at it, how did he do it?

Whether you are a surgeon or whether you are teeing off, the perfect shot comes with the timing. As a theatre enthusiast, I used to wonder how they perform. Agreed they practice for long hours. Apart from the histrionics, it is mainly the timing that makes that comedy act tick. If you are working out in a Gym, for optimum results you need to maintain the timing. Cant over do it. Under doing, doesn’t help.
Whether you are giving a presentation or a speech, you know what will click and how! The best of the business decisions are driven by the timing. When to invest! And more importantly When to call it off!

A Pilot should have a sense as to when should he touch the ground for the best & smooth landing.

The list can go on and on….

I am now pretty certain that whichever profession or field, given that all the attributes being common, it is this factor of TIMING irrespective of the fields, which differentiates between the most successful and the lesser one.

You master the art of Timing it, And You are the Master!

Do I have the guts to go back to my boss and say that I don’t procrastinate? Perhaps she is right.

Get your timings right, Dude!

Happy New Year

Every Year we wish our friends and beloved ones “ A Very Happy New Year”. I have always wondered why do we call it a NEW Year?

After all isn’t it just another year that comes by after the previous year. Just like months go by or for that matter every day. Why do we wish people Happy New Year? Do we want the Newness or remain throughout the year or what is it? Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to say just Happy 2012?! Doesn’t it sound more practical along with the wish for Longevity?

I am not questioning the tradition here, but just curious. We have so much technology evolving emerging on a daily basis, new terminologies emerging. But whichever is the communicating medium whether it is Print, Radio, Internet, Greeting cards or word of mouth and wherever you go, this wishful statement is Constant.

Whoever coined this for the first time, I must admit he has done an excellent job of Branding.

Wishing all my Friends a Great Year!

While I am writing this piece, I came across this quote –

The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul. ~ G. K. Chesterton