The Tiger called SALES. Who will get the larger pie?

Life moves in a sea-saw pattern and especially in business, life never stays in a stand still position, there are crest and troughs of different forms. The difference being that in some cases the gap is wide and in some its very marginal, but yes the gap do exist. And the most important factor creating all those waves of crest and trough is SALES.

Sales is a nightmare, the dè-facto for existence of all companies, it is the Tiger of all business which needs to be tamed before setting up the stage for the show.

For all start-ups as well as the established business the major chunk of the budget pie is allocated for generating SALES. Some go via the marketing route, some via branding and some entrepreneurs of small organisations do it by person-to-person contact but the most important result expected from all those tactics is to generate good sales.

Ever wondered why the e-commerce companies give you gift vouchers, some 'x' amount of money if you sign up with them and make the first purchase? Ever wondered why you are given a loyalty card at different stores and you are instructed that spending 'x' amount of money will earn you 'y' amount of credits and you can then use it to buy new products of your choice? Ever wondered why organisations/ models have such beautiful home (landing) pages ? Ever wondered why while speaking out to a new enterprise/ new shop owner he always sounds so cool and enthusiastic about you - before the terms get a little harder? All these are done to get the attention of a potential new buyer and to convert a potential lead i.e you to a sales opportunity. 

Steps of moving into the funnel of generating sales:-

1) Creating a strong brand image

A women who walks with attitude looks more attractive than the ones who have carry themselves sluggishly. The same is applicable to business - to create that aroma, that attitude of Business means styling it. It may be in the form of creating a stand out logo, pinning down a statement of what does your business do, getting the public involved in the stuffs what business do. Major soft drink companies like Pepsi co does it by spending millions and millions to just get the right fonts for making it specially unique - wonder how many of us actually know this fact. 

The general exercise which large firms do is that they write the objectives of the companies in about 300 words, then they try summing it up in a paragraph, then in a sentence and then a single keyword. Mahindra does it with the word "RISE", the sports channel Star sports does it with the word "BELIEVE". It's getting the objective tied down to a single word. 

All this have a direct and very powerful impact on generating Sales. It's just like making the Tiger wake up from a deep tight sleep and making it ready to stare at you.

2) Spend time/money for acquiring the customer

Companies always have a COA - cost of Acquisition budget where in they actually spend some 'x' amount of money to mature their first sales from a potential customers. It's been a common strategy that most of the companies seldom make any profit, rather they shelve out money from their pocket to acquire that first customer just in expectation that the person will become their loyal customer and step in times and again for buying new products, it will be then that the company will make profit from them. THIS IS THE POINT OF MAKING TRUST SALES WITH THE BUYERS. As the objective is to make the buyers believe - yes this is the correct thing/ company for me.

Large organisation's invest millions and millions of dollars for acquiring new customers. Recently in India where we have seen the burst of e-commerce ruling the roads of Indian sales and there has been a war for customer acquisition - Flipkart came in with a budget of $ 1billion to be invested in this sector and then amazon jumped in with the announcement of pumping in $2 billion to the rapidly expanding network. 

Normally a large organisation pumps in 80% of its funds in acquiring the first sales from the customer. 20% of its funds are used in retaining the customer and hence the loyalty programs etc. If you do the right step at the first time there is 80% chance of retaining the customer hence companies should focus on creating the right image at the very first interactive point with the customer.

It's just like showing the Tiger it's favourite food items and getting it ready to bite it's first piece. So dress up the meat with more fat than thorns so that it is ready to be bitten at the very first attempt.

3) Providing full and efficient after sales service

This is specially for hardware/ software companies who have to deal with after sales services. This is the point which has direct implication to generating WORD OF MOUTH (WOM) sales. IS THIS IMPORTANT? I mean companies can do it by outsourcing the services to any XYZ companies and leaving all the service prospective to them? Doesn't it sound good? Doesn't it save money/time/ energy?

No doubt it saves a lot but if the services are not given at the proper time and in the proper manner it breaks the cycle of sales exponentially. The WOM has a very very deep inclination to the sales process. The better the integrated service level better will be the customer feedback and better will be the sales which grows positively based on the feedback of the clients. There is one basic rule of mankind which rules in generating this sales - EMOTION. 

It is a common perception that people will believe their friend(s) and family members more than what the companies have to say. A common example is a food discussion website "ZOMATO" where people just write reviews based on their experience on how the food tastes like in a particular restaurant. Their friends and family members read those reviews and generate sales for the restaurants. Many more companies including "Trip advisors" etc generate sales on this principle of WOM. 

If there is a strong knitting between the sales and the service post sales the graph of sales shoots up more drastically. 

And it is like giving ample rest and taming the tiger and preparing it for the next kill.

4) Making recurring sales 

Now since we have done enough investment in acquiring the customers and providing them adequate service it becomes essential to make regular sales to the same customer. And this can be done in 2 ways 

i) Selling the same product in bulk quantities. 

ii) Selling different product of higher margin to the same customers. 

Business is all about making suitable profits of every transaction. But that profit must justify the sales/ service you have provided to the customer. Hitting the sales regularly to your already existing customer requires lesser efforts than pitching in for newer sales but it requires a guided approach - strategies like loyalty programmes which allures customers for repeated buying so that they can accumulate sufficient points and redeem it for making necessary purchases in their subsequent visits also prove efficient. Retail apparel stores all across the nation follow this simple strategy. They also send in gift vouchers time and again just to remind the customers that yes they do exist. Large organisation also have the strategies of inviting the clients to a gala meet up to discuss the things they expect from the organisations in mutual development of both of them.

This is called training the TIGER for superior performance and adequate responses. 

All these are little rid bits in helping you demystify sales and approach it with an easy mode. Remember that a bird sitting on the branch may not trust the branch but it trusts it's own wings.

Stay confident stay merry there will always be a suitable time to fly. Keep the TIGER tamed and easy.

STORY OF GREED, FAILURE AND A MYTH CALLED OVERNIGHT SUCCESS

I am Pawan Naulakha and I run my own business in the Textile arena. This interview happened during my business expansion phase when I was in process of increasing my suppliers base and I in turn met with a high profile industrialist in Ludhiana.!

I had heard lot of good things about this man and had drawn a picture that he lives a grandeur life. He basically manufactures just shawls and stoles and his production is 5 times compared to production of any other firm in Ludhiana. To give you a figure in numbers he manufactures about 15k to 25k shawls in a single day or in a broader sense 5Lakh units monthly.!

I got his phone no, his address and set on my way. The perception I had in my mind of his industry working to the tune of that scale was like a mammoth gigantic building, class office, suited-booted officer sitting and relaxing in his puffy cushion chair ordering all the work to his employees.!

As I reached the address provided I could not see some gigantic building anywhere. My driver had to enquire several times that is this the exact location where we were to reach? I got off the car and asked the nearby crowd of people!
" Natti paji ( Big bro ) ki factory yeah hai ( is this his factory)? ".!

"YES" claimed all the standing people in unison.!

Two bamboo sticks dug firmly horizontal approx 8 feet from the ground on either side of the small main entrance and shawls hung over them. I wondered in amusement. I instructed my driver to park the car outside and wait while I walked inside the small unguarded entrance. On walking a few steps I found 2-3 small well type dug structures with coloured water inside it and steel pipes for what looked like were meant for the suction of the water. Few steps further on the left I found a mammoth room which was of a size of an large auditorium laden with shawls -piles one on top of the other. Thousands of pieces lay stacked in elegant manner. The employes there were constantly wrapping the shawls in a bundle and aligning them one on top of the other.!
I enquired "Natti bauji kaha hai ( Where is Mr.Nati) ?"!

Employee quoted "Bauji woh seed hi seedhi se upar chad ke ( right above that stair case ).", while he was pointing towards a narrow stair case leading to an aluminium door with a small glass.!

I climbed up, knocked the door and entered the room of Natti Bauji (Mr. Nati).!

A 10*15 sq feet room with shawls stacked on the opposite end, a long table with glass top placed across the room with a tidy man seemingly in his early 50's sitting in one side of the table and 3

plastic chairs placed on the other side for the clients/ visitors. There was just sufficient space to move between the chair and the table, the leg space between them was the one we get in the no-frills flights i.e negligible, no offences please. The outside temperature was around 45-46 degrees and with AC in the room I expected the room to be cool, but it was no better than just a fan running in that condition.!

He offered me the seat, we smiled and I sat down pulling , oops just holding the side-arms of the chair. We exchanged cards, greeted each other and I explained my business. He showed me the samples which were seriously magnificent and at prices which I just could not believe, 5-7% less than the normal market rate. We ended up doing a good business deal. The whole process took about 35-40 mins and I was comfortable now talking to him.!

I am very emotional by nature and generally get attached to people very quickly. It was then that I decided to break the ice and then the real thing happened.!

I just asked out of curiosity "Paaji bura mat manna but ek cheez puchu apse ( please do not get angry, can I ask you one simple thing)?".!

Nattiji " Are, are puchiye ( Yes,yes sure go on)". He said.!
Me : "I have heard a lot of things about you, your caliber, your production strength, your sales etc. You are probably the largest manufacturer of shawls, by volume, in Ludhiana. But still looking at your office, your factory, your living style I am amused."!

I kept mumbling while his smile grew wider and wider.!

"I expected a royal man sitting on a crowned seat ordering everything to his staff for follow hp's. But you are here a self dependent person doing all the work on your own sitting in this small cubicle and in this hot weather sitting beneath this slow motion AC ".!

NT : He first gave a loud loud smile and then said : " The man you have heard about is the one who was born a decade back and had died almost instantly, the person you see on the chair is the one who existed earlier and exist in present "!

I was amused and thought to myself "What the heck is he talking - born, dead, exist?". I said to myself.!
"Pardon me I did not get you" I asked.!

NT : "I am 55 right now and I had started working when I was 17 years old. I bought a small shop, did trading of shawls. My pricing, my energy, my courage made me stand out of my competitors and made me the no.1 undisputed seller in the market. The manufacturers used to come to my shop and request me to sell their products. I sold in thousands keeping the price tight but rotating the volumes to a large scale. I signed up monopoly with several manufacturers to just supply me the goods so that I could sell more volumes and earn slightly more profits. The business was wonderful and the operating margins were tight but the volumes was the thing I played on.!

I brought few shops, few land and felt that Yes I was on top of the world and I could do anything and everything. I overnight decided that Trading was not a long term game but manufacturing would provide me more profit and a longer span to work. Overnight I decided that I will open a manufacturing unit. I had the land and 1/3rd of the cash needed to operate a large manufacturing unit. I spend all that cash in building a luxurious office and brought the 2/3rd loan to buy machinery etc required to operate the unit.!

I knew that this is a long term investment game and profits will take time to pour in. I kept on investing most of amount on look and feel of the office instead of focusing on the main parameter to improve the manufacturing quality. The unit started asking for more and more cash and I was running short of it, the banks also did not allot more than the sanctioned amount. I sold my properties one after the other. 1...2...3..4...7... till finally I had just my house left and even after 5 years of operation the business did not reap profit, I lost my cash, my properties everything I had, but the only thing I had was courage left with me and a loan to repay.!

People lost faith in me and no one helped me in the hour of need by providing any cash.!

After a lot of struggle and 6 months of nothing to do I found someone who gave me a small order to procure something. I was desperate and wanted to grab that opportunity with both my hands. I took that order. I came back happy thinking that yes I could finally do it. I called my few near ones and instead of procuring I thought I would manufacture it myself with all my efforts and charge very little profit for it. I called the dyeing master who used to be one of my most reliant man dye the product to colour the piece. He took the piece. I was relaxed and happy that Yes finally I can have something to do.!

But destiny had some more trouble written for me, the dyeing master lost his mother the same day evening and he was to depart for his hometown - Seharsha in Bihar - which meant he would take minimum 15 days to go and come back.!

Pressure started mounting, I enquired about the process to dye from several people, dig well behind my home and dyed the cloth myself.!

The shipment was delivered just on time. But my heart beat was still running fast - I knew what was wrong."!
All this while his emotions and the wrinkles on his face were self adjusting to his emotions. One could easily sense the disappointment in his tone and look.!

"Just when the shipment was opened by my client he rung up immediately, and tell you what I was trembling while the phone was ringing, I knew I would be loosing the trust of one more person.!

I picked up the phone and trembled heeee--ll---oooo. But surprisingly a laughing voice greeted me on the other side : Waah Natti kya rang kiya hai, maza aa gaya, maal dekh ke to dil khush ho gaya ( Wonderful, this is the best dyed cloth I have ever seen, I am amazed and very happy with your work )".!

He ordered the next shipment - 20 times the first order."!

Though I was not related to him in any sense and I had met him for the first time my emotions swayed with his story from deep sadness to deep excitement. I took a glass of water and felt like jumping with excitement.!
NT : " I left the high profile look and feel office but I became much more satisfied and content with my life. But after few years of doing that I again felt - what was I doing. A smart trader to a manufacturer, though a failure and then the work of a DHOBI (washerman- deyer)..!!! I decided to quit again"!

I was left gasping for air then...!!!!

NT : " I quit despite several opposition from my wife, she said we have two beautiful children, your business is doing great and you are earning just about great for a wonderful life, but I resisted and stuck to my gut feel. I stood firm and quit again - but unlike the other time of failure this time I quit from a successful business ".!

Me : " I am sure it takes balls to make your wife understand your decision, especially when you are voluntarily kicking all that you have earned".!

NT : "I opened this very manufacturing unit, stuck to my strength. I knew I dye very well and I work on minimum profit maximum volumes. I reduced the cost on architecture of building but conserved every inch for increasing my production capacity. The 3 wells you see down stairs is where we start with our dyeing process, we stock up our inventory in one large room located down stairs and dispatch it daily overnight whatever is stocked up. The horizontal bamboo's dented firmly inside the walls of my entrance symbolises firmness to my naysayers that I am strong and standing on my ground and Shawls strung over them are my strength.!

Within 7 years of starting business I have brought 5 new properties, started 2 more factories at minimum building cost but maximum volume theory. I focused on my strengths, I have worked night and day for last 20 years still people tell that it is an overnight success. Amazing right.!!!!




You might have heard of the NT in the alishan building ( wonderful building) who lived for a few years and died instantaneously, but this is the real NT who lived earlier in his shop and now in his cubicle office. "!

I stood up with moist eyes, shook hand and saluted the great man.!