If someone had advised me to make as many mistakes as possible, at the start of my career, so that I learn from them, I would have discarded that advice then.
But now, I think that’s the advice I will give to someone who is in the early stage of his/her career or business.
Unless you make mistakes you aren’t going to learn. The best way to learn something is by doing it.
So, let’s do it!
#careeradvice #businessadvice
Happy Learning!
TED talks are a major source of inspiration. Think of your subject matter and there will be many TED talks on it. These talks are approximately 18 minutes long and are easy to grasp & have some actionable tips or lessons in them.
If you are drawn to some of these talks, then of-course, you can drill deep into the subject matter or the speaker and learn more to your heart’s content.
You can choose from a variety of topics:
Here’s the link: https://www.ted.com/
Happy Learning!!
I understand the difficulties involved in creating good content.
Here are some tips for creating good content – be it a blog post / a podcast / a video:
Happy Selling!!
#b2b #b2c #sales #content #storytelling
The latest in this list is Bigbasket. They got bought over by Tata.
Last month, Urban Ladder was bought over by Reliance.
Slack was bought by Salesforce for $ 27.7 Bn.
Slideshare was bought long time ago by LinkedIn.
And, LinkedIn was then bought over by Microsoft.
“Taxi For Sure” was acquired long ago by OLA.
Maybe, I have an eye / taste for good products & services.
I am in the wrong trade, I guess.
Maybe, I should become an Investor / #Mergers & #Acquisitions Consultant.
A senior friend was working with an Indian CRM product company.
He quit that company & joined Siebel.
Then, Oracle bought Siebel.
He quit Siebel & joined Agile Software.
Oracle then bought Agile Software. What? Yes, they did!
I think Oracle was following him wherever he went. 🙂
He should have become the Head of Acquisitions at Oracle.
Because, he had an eye for excellence. And he was riding the wave.
What #apps are you using?
Your favourite apps like Instagram, Whatsapp were acquired by Facebook long ago.
There is talk of #SuperApp doing the rounds.
Choose your apps wisely.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Unless, your name is Tata.
#b2c #story #brands #marketshare
Another Indian company enters the Unicorn club. Cars24, the preowned marketplace for vehicles has raised $200 million in a Series E funding with a valuation of over $1 billion.
An Editor at a media company writes:
“One more member in India’s unicorns club. Entrepreneurship is alive and well.”
Vikram Chopra, Co-founder & CEO, Cars24 writes:
“Incredible, but we have faced 5 shocks in 5 years of existence. 1) Demonetization, 2) GST implementation, 3) NBFC crisis, 4) BS6 migration, 5) coronavirus”
That’s the difference between the person running the business on the field and the person writing about that business sitting in an AC office, sorry sitting in the bedroom of his home. #WFH
For all those who are hustling & trying to make their dreams come true, here’s wishing them all success.
#entrepreneurship #sales #business #challenges #SaaS #EOQ #EOY #Quota #ARR #ARPU #b2b #b2c
A delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, unusual, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessen originated in Germany during the 18th century & spread to the US in the mid-19th century. [Wikipedia]
17 year old Frederick Adrian DeLuca borrowed $1,000 from family friend Dr. Peter Buck during the year 1965 to start something on his own. Dr.Buck suggested the idea to help DeLuca make money for college to study medicine. DeLuca’s plan was to begin a “fast-food venture that provided a healthful, less fattening bill of fare”. He named it as “Pete’s Submarines,” which sounded like “Pizza Marines”, so they changed the name to “Pete’s Subway.” Eventually in 1968, it was shortened to simply “Subway” as it is known today. They reached 1000 stores in 1987 & 1100 in 1993 when McDonalds had 800 stores that year. In 2018, the company had 43,700 franchisees worldwide. [Wikipedia]
DeLuca decided to focus on one type of sandwich, “the submarine sandwich” when other delicatessens sold a hundred different things from soups & salads to chips, muffins, doughnuts, cookies, ice cream, beer, coffee, tea not to forget the newspapers, cigarettes & lottery tickets.
Today, Subway sells more than just the submarine sandwich. They carry salads, breakfast, sides & drinks to signature wraps. But they are still remembered for the subs. And they are present in a number of countries – from Antigua and Barbuda to Virgin Islands.
When you narrow the focus, you become a specialist in that domain and your customers remember you for that “one thing”.
#Happy Selling!!
b2c #b2b #marketing #sales #brandidentity
I remember my days selling Microsoft Office & Lotus Smart Suite, Lotus Notes [Domino] & MS Exchange, Oracle Work Group Edition & MS SQL Server, SCO UNIX Openserver & MS Windows NT. Depending on who I am selling to or who I am selling against, I used to propose one of these two competing products. And bet on it for the rest of the sales process in that account.
Tough call. I hear that.
When you work with a distributor carrying competing products, it’s always a tough call.
There was a cellphone operator called Skycell. I learnt from the market that they were on the look out for a groupware solution. I took my colleague from the consulting team [who was technically far superior to me] for the call. We decided to propose Lotus notes even before landing up there. Don’t ask me how we decided on that. During the call, the manager whom we met asked us what do we propose. We looked at each other and took a risk and said Lotus Notes. Rest is history. We not only sold but also implemented. We were with them & saw them reap benefits from it. That account became an anchor client for us.
I remember what Don Peppers, a Thought Leader in Customer Experience, Marketing & Sales said. He was looking at a sales person at a shoe store during Christmas sale. The sales person was recommending only American shoes to every customer. He was surprised. When the sales guy took a break, Don went up to him and asked him why was he referring only American Shoes whereas the store carried Nike, Reebok etc. He asked him if American shoes offered him more commission or his manager asked him to sell that brand. The sales guy said: “None of those are reasons. American shoes come pre-laced whereas the other shoes don’t. I will spend 4 mins lacing up each pair & that would affect sales. Customers will walk away.”
Who is the customer here? Think about it.
Lotus got acquired by IBM in 1995 and after 18 years, in 2013, they retired Lotus Smart Suite and contributed the code to Apache Open Office.
Takeaway:
#HappySelling!!
#b2b #b2c #sales #whoisyourcustomer
LinkedIn Top Voices 2020: India is out. In case you missed it, you can view it here:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/linkedin-top-voices-2020-india-abhigyan-chand/
In a world where people, ask you to double tap for a surprise or copy paste others’ stories or narrate stories about how they gave a job to the most deserving candidate or ask you to click on these icons – “like” or “celebrate” or “support”, if you like working from home or office or both, here is a list of people who genuinely drive engagement on their posts with their insights and tips in their domain.
If you are not following them, you should, depending on your interests.
LinkedIn has released Top Voices 2020 in various categories:
Also, LinkedIn has released lists region wise.
Here is the complete list: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/linkedin-top-voices-2020-meet-professionals-driving-todays-roth/?published=t
#HappyLearning
#HappySelling!!
Young couple. Jus’ married. That was their first movie together [b’cos it was an arranged marriage]. They went to the theater early, to beat the crowd. Stood in the queue & asked for corner seats when they reached the counter.
Not anymore. You can book seats of your liking online. Thanks to #technology.
You make your own pizza online & get it delivered in flat 30 minutes. You use their kitchen as if it is your own.
You assemble your own computer online. Dell revolutionized this concept long long ago. #directmarketing
In future, you will make your own coffee in your coffeemaker @ your home. You are already doing that. Aren’t you? What’s the difference, you ask. I hear that.
You will start brewing your coffee @ your home just before you leave from office. It will be ready when you get home. Just the way you like it.
And the AI in your car will look at the traffic & suggest you the best route to take to get home faster, easier, in style & with comfort.
#Sales has changed as well. We have bots answering our customers & taking care of them. Whether they like it or not, we don’t care. Jus’ kidding.
We now know when our #customers are opening our #proposals, how long they looked at it, whom did they forward it to, their email ids, what will be our revenue next Qtr, what our competitors are up to, who our customers are talking to, what’s the latest news about our customers, who in my target segment are ready to buy / looking for products that I sell, what our customers are talking about, what our customers are saying about us etc. We know much.
But as long as emotions & feelings are there with humans, sales cannot be on autopilot. Beyond a point, that is. You still need to sell. At every touch point.
I receive many automated emails. The senders don’t do any homework on me. Why should I then bother to reply?
Your customers have a need to feel special. And they are special, aren’t they?
We can / should use #tools & #tech [b’cos this is 2020] but it is our #humantouch that will make all the difference.
#standoutfromthecrowd
#HappySelling!!
#b2b #b2c #business #entrepreneurship #innovation
