Birth of a new Salesman

Dubai, the dream destination for many travelers became a home to me, not before I chose to pursue my higher studies here. But right from the day I stepped in on this miracle land, where anything could rise out of the sand and touching the sky, money was concurrently out flowing from me. Ten months already flew with no opportunity to find a way of sourcing cash inflow. Too many pleas, requests and false guarantee of the close circle went useless, all through these months.

Finally came in an opportunity via a man whom I had always trusted (so far he hasn’t broken it). It was a four day assignment with Videocon mobile on a festival promotion activity. The company had come up with new range of mobiles and they were looking out for promoters for the same. I grabbed the opportunity and was offered a store in the farthest of the location, Al Quoz. Though it is considered to be a close proximity to the main business center of the New Dubai, yet it was far from IMT. A solid two hour travel will take me to this highly populated labor camp, mostly filled with Indians and Pakistanis.

There was no hesitation from my end, as I considered this as an opportunity to explore the beautiful city. Actually speaking, these locality project the other set of Dubai population, the working and labor class, who equally contribute to the economic fluctuations of the nation and less exposed on the media.

Occupied with mile long warehouses and labor camps on either side of the road, the way to my destination was entirely different than what I had witnessed with the other half of Dubai. The hypermarket was positioned in a prime location and with heavy footfall, throughout the day. To assist me at the store was a wonderful person, who could not be matched with anyone I had met at Dubai, so far. He was so supportive and encouraging, though knowing that this was my first attempt with sales. His encouragement and strong belief raised my spirit and together made us achieve a huge target sale of 71 mobiles, over the four day period. It was even the highest number achieved across locations, where similar promotion was happening.

Till that day I never realized that I could convince someone so well to take up a product, amidst heavy competition from competitor brands. And adding to my credit was the use of language. I had to keep switching my language between Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and English spontaneously, as people of different region visited the stall one at a time. Speaking fluently without stammering and conveying the information in a short span of time, it was such a daunting task, which was eventually done with ease.

In total, I would have spent close to 28 hours at the store, but the number of people who became my friends were innumerable. The store staffs were too friendly and the best part of this whole new experience was sharing the Iftar dinner with them. Never in my life had I ever witnessed such a mass dinner. Though the food was light, it was delicious and enjoyable when sharing it with everyone around you. I realized the real sense of togetherness and the motive of Ramadan, then. Over and all, I would say these four days to be highly productive days of my life.

Though on one side I feel happy about my new capability, on the other side I feel sad for making 71 people purchase a product, which I myself am pretty sure will not last longer. A kind of guilt crept within me as every single time when a mobile gets sold, since these people are not those few who purchase it for a passion. But, these are people who hesitate and think hundred times before investing their hard earned money on a product, which will not reap value, as it is conversely claimed to be.

God save them!

And thank you almighty for bringing out the “Salesman” out of me.

The biggest question of my life: Why MBA?

Seriously!

Yes, it was, until the moment I started my journey towards pursuing an MBA degree.

As your eyes linger over the bold text above, I believe the same question would have hit your brain too when you decided of taking up a management degree. If so, then consider you are lucky, since you are not blindly stepping into an unknown track, rather trying to form a track for yourself to race upon it, until the checkered flag of your destiny is waved.

So, how did it all began and most importantly, why did it begin with me?

As any other young and energetic teenager, I was also into engineering. Once graduated, the glitz and glamor of the Software Industry fascinated me towards it and so I kick-started my career as a software engineer. 3 years down the line, every ins and outs of the industry were very evident before me. The work that I was doing was easy enough to position me at the mid-managerial position and then on stagnant my growth once forever. Therefore, considering my long-term goal, I decided it was the time for the next big breakthrough. I decided to pursue my master’s degree in management.

Now as the decision was made, the next in line in the roadmap was to get constructive feedback and suggestions on my decision. As one of my cousins was an alumnus of the prestigious Indian Institute of Management – Ahmedabad (IIMA), I had no trouble in seeking his feedback. After listening to my conversation about the decision to take an MBA, he, in a very subtle way, put forward a question to me.

Why MBA?

Believe me or not, this was the greatest life changing question that I had faced till date. Though I started listing him with few reasons then, I steadily started feeling that maybe I haven’t done my homework well. Gradually I also understood the seriousness behind those two words and started self-assessing over the question, “why should I do an MBA?”

Answering to it are few points listed below that I considered were some of the benefits or the fruit that one would reap out of the MBA course.

Expanding your knowledge horizon

One of the primary benefits of doing a management degree is that it opens the scope of your knowledge by bringing in the concepts of the business world and thereby implanting the roots of the essential business skills within you. In the future, one might pursue to become an entrepreneur or find a role as a middle manager, but with no right business knowledge and skill, it might turn out to be a highly turbulent journey.

Streamlining your Career

You might be an expertise in your field of work and feel happy that you are doing good in your career and progressing well too. However, it is virtually impossible to achieve the highest role with just your expertise in one area. As you climb up the ladder of responsibility, you need to have a broader picture of the rough sea ahead, else you might end up on a sinking ship. And this is where the business degree comes in rescue. The course is designed and formulated in a manner to give you a broad and encompassing 360-degree view of the business, thereby helping you to focus on the areas that will help you sail smoothly.

Skill Development

Highly ambitious and self-focused candidates not just exist with one or two skills, but are always on the lookout for enhancing their skills. Because, they understand the importance of skill building and the effect it will have on their career, especially in this fast-paced competitive environment. Possessing diverse skill-set can help one choose his/her career accordingly since the market will be wide open to them and not constrained as of those with limited skill-set. Thus,

• ·         Business degree program augments the candidate’s critical thinking and problem-solving skills in tougher and short-deadline situations
• ·         Fine tune in-depth analysis of the market scenario, since business is not just about the exchange of goods, but it involves knowing the right economic formulas, the demand-supply pattern, production of goods, making financial decisions, etc.
• ·         People skills, negotiating skill, soft skills and effective communication are an essential part of running a smooth business

Broadening your network

Your knowledge should not be confined within a box. As you open up to the world, it cultivates new thoughts, when you come in contact with like-minded people. A business degree thus helps in broadening your network with like-minded people across oceans. It aids you in connecting with the right people, thereby increasing your profile’s credibility, and who can also be a greater asset to you and your organization’s growth. When these right group of people joins hands together, it unlocks the door to millions of ideas and opportunities.

Roadmap to become an effective Leader

People still confuse a lot between a leader and a manager. A leader is someone who sticks by his team, guide them in the right direction and offers timely support, whereas a manager just sticks to his orders and expects his team to get the job done. Everyone wishes to be the former and not the later. So, what makes you a good leader and not a manager. Well, every business degree curriculum is framed in a manner that right from day one, you are being molded accordingly to the art of leadership. Bright candidates figure it out soon and display their skills over their stay at the B-school. Might you well think that don’t organizations develop great leaders? Yes, they do. But, what is unique about a business degree is that it makes an individual in understanding his role of acting as an organization’s Anchorage every single day. It also makes you an aristocrat of integrity, which is something that is expected out of a good leader.