I have not spoken about primary sales... which is the most important part about sales. Primary is when distributor is billed stocks from the company. This organization had a system of weekly closing. Basis a decided date, targets have to be met on a weekly basis which adds up to the month's sales number. The month's number should be met even if a particular week's number is missed out. In a well managed territory, sales will be spread out throughout the month. In a badly managed area, most of the sales happen in the month end. Ideally, not more than 30% of the business should be done in the last week.
In Bala's territory, there was one area vacant... he had to find a distributor. That does not mean his target was lower. He had to make up for the shortfall through the current distributors. This was a challenge. For example, if each distributor was doing a business of 5 lakh... he now had to make up a shortfall of 5 lakh from 2 distributors. A person buying stock worth 5 lakh will never agree to buy 7.5 lakh now. Thankfully, primary was completely taken care of by Bala and I was not privy to most of these discussions.
I was so happy when Sunday rolled around. It had been a hectic week and I needed a break. I think my best friend RT was also around. She was looking for a hotel in the same budget and stayed in the same one. After hanging out I was back in the room.. All I wanted to do was relax in the room watching TV. My parents called and forced to check my mail (no mails on the phone then) in the cyber cafe. They had sent me profiles of guys for matrimonial and I had to check them out. Not that my opinion really mattered but it was a formality. My parents became very efficient at this. They managed to line up guys in every city I travelled to- Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Noida, Delhi, Rajkot etc. Along with travelling for work... I also ended up meeting potential husbands. Ugh!!!
Hash asked me to accompany him to a small town near Chennai where he was going to appoint a new distributor. A DSE finds a distributor and the ASM approves him after meeting with him. For metros, even the Branch Sales Manager or Branch Manager has to meet the distributor and give their go ahead. We took a train from Chennai and reached this town. We reached the distributor's house... he was a young guy and keen on getting into FMCG distribution. Hash explained to him about rotation of money, investment, margins etc. Most distributors joined the company so that they could get a brand. Also, their money did not get stuck... claims were cleared within 15 days. It was better than putting money in a bank where the return would be lower. It was a good learning because I had to explain the same things to new distributors many times in my career.
The 2 weeks passed by and I called the office to check on my next stint. I was bored too and needed a change of scene. I was asked to report to Trichy on Monday morning. KC was also asked to report to Bangalore office since his project had come to an end. I requested him to purchase my ticket as well, which he kindly did. On our last Sunday in Chennai I asked him if he wanted to watch a movie. I was surprised that he had not yet asked me. I was actually pissed that he had not asked me... I mean, I was not interested or anything but thats just polite, right? We watched a movie at Satyam and then had lunch at the rooftop in Hotel Ranjeet on Nugambakkam road. At night, we went our separate ways.
Next post- Trichy Times
In Bala's territory, there was one area vacant... he had to find a distributor. That does not mean his target was lower. He had to make up for the shortfall through the current distributors. This was a challenge. For example, if each distributor was doing a business of 5 lakh... he now had to make up a shortfall of 5 lakh from 2 distributors. A person buying stock worth 5 lakh will never agree to buy 7.5 lakh now. Thankfully, primary was completely taken care of by Bala and I was not privy to most of these discussions.
I was so happy when Sunday rolled around. It had been a hectic week and I needed a break. I think my best friend RT was also around. She was looking for a hotel in the same budget and stayed in the same one. After hanging out I was back in the room.. All I wanted to do was relax in the room watching TV. My parents called and forced to check my mail (no mails on the phone then) in the cyber cafe. They had sent me profiles of guys for matrimonial and I had to check them out. Not that my opinion really mattered but it was a formality. My parents became very efficient at this. They managed to line up guys in every city I travelled to- Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Noida, Delhi, Rajkot etc. Along with travelling for work... I also ended up meeting potential husbands. Ugh!!!
Hash asked me to accompany him to a small town near Chennai where he was going to appoint a new distributor. A DSE finds a distributor and the ASM approves him after meeting with him. For metros, even the Branch Sales Manager or Branch Manager has to meet the distributor and give their go ahead. We took a train from Chennai and reached this town. We reached the distributor's house... he was a young guy and keen on getting into FMCG distribution. Hash explained to him about rotation of money, investment, margins etc. Most distributors joined the company so that they could get a brand. Also, their money did not get stuck... claims were cleared within 15 days. It was better than putting money in a bank where the return would be lower. It was a good learning because I had to explain the same things to new distributors many times in my career.
The 2 weeks passed by and I called the office to check on my next stint. I was bored too and needed a change of scene. I was asked to report to Trichy on Monday morning. KC was also asked to report to Bangalore office since his project had come to an end. I requested him to purchase my ticket as well, which he kindly did. On our last Sunday in Chennai I asked him if he wanted to watch a movie. I was surprised that he had not yet asked me. I was actually pissed that he had not asked me... I mean, I was not interested or anything but thats just polite, right? We watched a movie at Satyam and then had lunch at the rooftop in Hotel Ranjeet on Nugambakkam road. At night, we went our separate ways.
Next post- Trichy Times
