12 Meetings that made an impact on us

In the journey of life, one meets many people. Some meetings leave an impact that lasts as long as the meeting itself, while some meetings leave a more lasting impact. And even fewer were those that?impacted to a much higher degree

To write this article I had to go back in time and search for all those meetings that made an impact – most of them were pleasant and some not so – but all of them taught a valuable lesson

I am writing them in chronological order for your easy perusal

1. 2002 – An Exit Interview to remember – I had just put in my papers in GSK for starting a new innings in Ranbaxy. At the request of my seniors, I was serving my notice period and helping ensure that the preparations for the cycle meeting went without a hitch and a proper handover was done to the new person. It was late in the evening and I was at my desk when someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around to see the then MD of GSK standing there. I was stunned when the MD said that he wanted to have a small talk with me. We stepped into the nearby conference room. The MD asked me just one question – ‘What could we have done to retain you?”. I was surprised. Here was an MD of a company who himself walked to a Product Manager’s desk to talk. I explained to the MD that while GSK was my first love and family, I needed to go out of my comfort zone, and hence I was not only changing my company but also a city. We chatted more and then he stood up and said that Ranbaxy was a great company with passionate leadership. He said ‘Go and make us proud so that we can say Vikram is one of ours’. As I write this, I still get goosebumps from that moment. And just as I was about to leave, the MD said – ‘One more thing, henceforth you should always consider yourself as an industry resource with a loyalty towards your profession first and then your company”. As I reflected, I realized what a valuable lesson the MD had given me. And since then, I have tried to ensure I keep the profession’s interest to the utmost. Truly it was an exit interview to remember.
2. 2006 – A Valuable lesson in Budgeting – It was a late evening, Mumbai – Delhi flight. I was sitting on the window seat when an attractive lady took the middle seat next to me. I cannot recall what led to us talking, but as we spoke I learned that she too was a mid-level executive in a financial services company. So naturally, I asked her for some tips for investing and saving. She laughed and mentioned that she did not believe in giving tips as each tip had to be backed by research and customized to the person’s saving potential. But she did share something – She mentioned that for running her home, she along with her husband would make envelopes labeled for each head like – groceries, medicines, maid, entertainment, etc. And in each envelope, they would put the budgeted amount for that month. All spending would happen in cash from the respective envelopes and in case the cash of one envelope would finish then they would try to ensure that no other envelope was used for that head as far as possible. I was intrigued and implemented this system immediately at home. The real benefit of this system came when I left my corporate job. It taught me cash is king and the importance of fiscal discipline. I can't recall the name of the lady who taught me the envelope system but I do hope she is reading this. Thank you.
3. 2010 – Entrepreneurship comes close to becoming a reality at Café Coffee Day: Somewhere early in 2010, I met an entrepreneur (JVB), a fellow speaker at the IIT Delhi School of Management. We hit off at the 1st meeting and since we both were based in Gurgaon, we decided to keep in touch. We met again at a CCD. Here JVB spoke a little about his entrepreneurship journey in the world of digital communication where he had built a successful company. He talked about the freedom and the flexibility that entrepreneurship brings. This meeting was memorable because JVB spoke of the pros of being self-employed and he made it sound relatively easy. Entrepreneurship was uncharted waters for me, and there were already enough reasons in my mind to say no to it – but JVB gave me that one reason why I should take a shot at it. And I am glad I did.
4. 2010 – Costing of Consultancy Service – I had just left Ranbaxy and secured a consultancy contract for a year which was just about sufficient to meet my home running costs. With that contract, I was projected to earn about 1/3 of my CTC spending 40% of my time. My meeting with my ex Regional Director was due and we sat for lunch at my ex office Canteen in early July 2010. I could see the concern about my future reflected in his face when I asked him how I should go about pricing my consultancy charges, especially on a per diem basis. My RD gave me a framework that entitled first calculating my current CTC / day, Take home/ Day. Then based on my projected take-home/day (had I continued to work) and the estimated number of days I would be busy, he helped me work a per diem cost that I could put forward to prospects. It brought to sharp focus that consulting was basically about selling time and expertise. The greater the expertise, the lesser the time required to solve a problem, and hence greater the value of the expertise. It also ensured that for an upcoming pitch I pegged an amount per diem that was very close to the calculated per diem as per the RD’s framework. And yes – not only did we get that contract. But also successfully delivered the same.
5. 2010 – Lessons in Leadership – It was sometime in August that I was on a visit to Mumbai. I had taken an appointment to meet the MD of a premier pharma firm under whom I had worked earlier. I was pleasantly surprised at the ease the appointment had been given. As I walked into his enormous cabin, the MD got up and greeted me with a warm hug. Over the next 30 mins, he queried my decision and asked me my plans. Towards the end, he wished me the best of luck and said that in case things didn't work out I should approach him for a job. And then came the clincher when he said, “ Don’t think we will be doing you a favor by offering you a job, it will be the company’s privilege to have someone like you as part of the team.” You can imagine what those words meant to me and what they would have done to my self-confidence. I walked out of the office with my head held high and a confident stride. What a lesson in leadership, to treat people less powerful than oneself with humility and respect. I always remember this meeting to infuse fresh resolve and confidence during my other cold calling and walk-in meetings.
6. 2010 – Transformation takes time: I was sitting face to face for my 1st meeting with a prospect who was the owner of a small pharmaceutical company, accompanied by the ED finance and HR. Once the the initial ice-breaking was done, the MD said that he wanted the best of sales and marketing processes embedded in his company. And he asked me for my estimate of how long it would take. I mentioned that it would take approximately 3 months. At this, the MD smiled. I mistook the smile as a sign of overestimation of the time. To my surprise, the MD said ‘ Vikram, transformation and driving organizational behavioral change takes time and we expect to work together at least for a couple of years.” I was taken aback at this as I had gone to pitch as a vendor and here the prospect was looking at me as more of a business partner. We signed a 1-year contract and worked for almost 5 years achieving many milestones.
7. 2010 – An Educationist needing Education – While I had got my 1st consulting contract, I was looking at various options to earn money. Teaching was something that I enjoyed and I had almost closed the talks with a management college for a part-time lectureship. I had gone to collect my appointment letter, only to see a new Dean who had been recently appointed. This Dean refused my candidature saying that he preferred only full-time lecturers. I told him about all the background talks that I had already had with the professors and the founders of the college about the agreement on part-time lecturing being a win-win for the college and me. But the Dean remained adamant. I walked out of the room feeling disappointed and more than angry at how this Dean was losing the opportunity for experienced people from the industry to teach his students, set papers, and give assignments. Fortunately for the education industry, all Deans are not like this. Within a week I got the opportunity to teach students as a part-time lecturer for 3 months at another college thanks to a more far sighted HOD. A very fulfilling experience.
8. 2011 – Meeting my Guide - It was done. I had cleared the Ph.D. entrance exam and the Dean of PG studies had assigned me the Professor who was to be my Ph.D. Guide. It was with some trepidation that I went to meet my Guide. I had heard stories of the enormous power Guides had over their Ph.D. scholars. And it depended on them whether the Ph.D. journey would be heaven or hell. As I walked into my Guide’s cabin, his manner set me at ease and though it was too early then, I realized that my Guide was truly going to be a Guide irrespective of the journey being heaven or hell. And the 6-year journey from MPhil to Ph.D. proved exactly that. I will forever be grateful to him.
9. 2014 – A visit to a Police Station – I was in Budapest for a conference and I lost my passport. To apply for a temporary passport, I needed to go to the police station to file a complaint. My views of police stations were based on my limited experience with Indian police stations. As I entered the police station 3 thoughts ran into my mind – how clean it was, how fit the police staff were (both police men and police women), and how polite and courteous they were. I narrated my complaint to a middle-aged policeman, who listened sympathetically and apologized for the inconvenience caused (Excuse me, I had lost the passport due to my carelessness). What a contrast to the police stations in our country. This visit was a big lesson for me – that even if one has the power, listening with empathy and courtesy doesn’t rob one of one’s power but adds to it.
10. 2016 – Free or Not to Free? – I was excited – after almost a year of follow-up, I got an appointment with the CEO of a mid-sized fast-growing company. In 2016, as a consulting company, we already had case studies or evidence on how our interventions tangibly impacted business. So Yes, I had reasons to be reasonably confident for the coming meeting. The CEO arrived in the waiting room and was introduced to him. He was accompanied by another person (a BU head who had recently joined). Right from the introduction stage, the CEO started name-dropping and how he knew everyone. I listened politely and then proceeded to introduce my company along with how we had helped clients grow. The CEO was hardly listening and was talking to the newly appointed BU Head. The only comment the CEO would make is that he already knew what I was presenting. I ended my talk. Then the CEO threw a curve ball, saying he wanted me to work for a year on a couple of their brands but for free. Only if the brand resulted in incremental business would he pay. I was stunned – I tried to offer an option of a certain fixed and some variable but the CEO did not agree. He mentioned that till we proved ourselves we could not charge the client. I showed our case studies as evidence along with the phone numbers of people with whom we had worked for a reference check. But the CEO remained adamant. I realized that this was a lost cause and there was no point in carrying the discussion further. I asked the CEO's permission to make a point. Indicating to the new SBU Head, I asked whether he had been hired without any salary or would his annual salary be paid only on completion of a successful year. The CEO had no answer. With a polite nod, I gathered my things and left. This meeting was memorable. I was not offended by the offer of free service, the reason I backed out was that I realized that the CEO had a personality driven by a large ego. And this ego would have a barrier for me to deliver my work. So though I had invested a lot of time and effort in setting up this meeting, I decided not to invest more time in him but rather cut losses and run
11. 2017 – Carpe Diem in Dubai – In 2017, I visited Dubai for a workshop. My ex-colleague and a friend advised me to take advantage of my visit and stay back for a few days to meet some more prospects. I felt that was very sound advice and hence I tried to line up appointments accordingly. There was a particular prospect I wanted to meet and thanks to the effort of a mutual acquaintance, an appointment was arranged on the day I was supposed to leave for India. I arranged a car for the day to take me to the meeting and then onward to the airport. On the day of the meeting, just as I was about to board the car, I got to know that the person I was supposed to meet was stuck in Munich and he would arrive in Dubai a day late, and therefore he could be only available for the meeting the next day. This threw my entire plan in a tizzy. I was wearing my last fresh shirt, the hassle of rescheduling a flight, causing my friend more inconvenience by extending my stay, possibility of catching up on skype, and many more reasons for not changing my plan flashed through my mind but my instinct told me that I should not miss this opportunity. So, the flight was rescheduled, and all the other inconveniences were addressed. I met the gentleman the next day and it was a productive meeting. He thanked me for taking the trouble to stay back and meet him personally. That meeting set the foundation for quite a few interventions with his company in the next 18 months. I am reasonably sure that had I not rescheduled my flight and had the same meeting over a telecon or skype, the outcome would not be the same and I would remain one of the many consultants he would be meeting and slowly slip out of his mind. So as the saying goes – Carpe Diem.
12. 2018 – Learn from your client – This is technically not about a single meeting but an engagement with one of our clients. This was one of the few clients where we learned more than what we contributed. Be it business development, client interfacing, or running a business with high Capex, this client had done it all. The client was based in Gurgaon and most of its prospects were based out of the US. The hardships of setting up an appointment seven seas away, getting to the meeting venue through immense hardships, and then delivering the pitch in 10 minutes that might make or break were indeed inspiring. As I mentioned, I learned a lot from the client, so much so that a single article can be devoted to the learnings from there.

These in short were the 12 most memorable meetings that not only sharpened us but also helped us reflect on what kind of impression we would want to leave with a prospect/client.

?There have been many more meetings with very passionate and talented professionals which have added to our experiences and helped us grow.

?Thank you all for being a part of this 12-year journey.