Confessions of a Salesperson!

After an enriching and enjoyable career at Wipro, which lasted for 18 years, 3 months, and 9 Days (a grand total of 6,675 days), I signed off on 11th October 2019. What started as a goodbye email is now taking the shape of this blog – my very first! Throughout my sales career, I have experienced success and plenty of failure in my pursuit of deals (failure is a stepping stone to success!). Here is an account of my learning from my corporate journey so far...

Was there a worst time to start a career? Wipro hired me straight out of B-School in October 2000. It was the peak of the dotcom revolution, and I joined the India Business on the 2nd July 2001. By then, the dotcom bubble had burst, and, only a few months later, the Twin Towers were to go down. The IT business, as we knew it, was never going to be the same again. The boom had ended and the reality of its impact on the IT world was slowly sinking into a doom period. All the terms of business – from Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), lucrative Quarterly performance-linked bonuses (QPLC), and incentive plans – were to change, as a worldwide recession was settling in.

In the wake of the dotcom crash, Wipro gave me a role in Bangalore. After a week of induction, I was told to pack my bags and move to Wipro Net (#WiproNet) in Mumbai (shock number one). Up until this point, my parents had funded me – I had no idea what monthly living expenses looked like. I approached my good colleague, @MrWhite, for some advice, especially as I was getting married. Based on this, and my confidence that the salary in my offer letter would match the amount paid to my bank account, I rented an apartment with the initial set-up loan that Wipro provided. Their job offer was extremely good, but tailored to the dotcom boom era SOP and incentive plans.

Is that my payslip? My first month’s salary, however, was INR 8,500 (AUD 177) – a third of what I had expected to receive. I read my payslip a few times – to check if I was missing any pages, or if it was someone else’s altogether (shock number two: would my fiancé still marry me?). After basic expenses ate up a major chunk of my salary, I was left with a mere INR 1,500 (AUD 31) to spend for the rest of the month on transportation, eating out, and other costs. As a result, I decided to find ways to get the most bang for the buck, so I invited myself to all of the office parties and official travel events (everything free!). Despite my initial trials, I am thankful that my career started this way; it is the best thing that could have happened to my wife and I, keeping us grounded!

Picking up speed - After 8 months at Wipro Net, Mumbai, I moved to the Wipro Infotech #Wiproinfotech Bangalore regional office, initially starting at Mission Road #MissionRddays, then #88MGRoad and #Madivala3, before transferring to Melbourne in 2013 #TheDorcasKings. Throughout this time, I was entrusted with multiple roles, all based out of Bangalore, from Sales Executive, Business Development, Account Manager, Team Leader for Sun Presales, and Key Account Management. Finally, I completed a stint in Service Delivery and progressed from being a sales-only person to an individual with a wide range of experience across sales and delivery.

During my twelve years at Wipro InfoTech, I shared my journey with plenty of people, including customers, partners, and colleagues. Our careers grew together. This is when I was professionally mentored, and matured as a professional. The leader that influenced me the most was @MoveManMove. Those were also the days when owning a laptop meant that you were looked up to in life. After all, every time a senior colleague quit, we would bid them farewell whilst having one eye on their laptop!

Looking around and Down Under - After my successful time in Service Delivery, my Business Head advised me that I should gain global experience. With this focus, I decided to complete a two- to three-year stint abroad, and begun scouting roles in Europe and the USA. Five months passed, but nothing materialised. However, in February 2013, I finally received a call from Down Under – I vividly recall looking down! My only experience with utilities, until that point, had been paying my electricity and water bills. With that experience in mind, and plenty of hope, my family and I packed our bags and headed to Melbourne, Australia, in June 2013, to lead the Business development for Wipro Utilities in Asia Pacific and Japan.

The first three years were about gathering rocks (aka losing deal after deal), and the quarry produced them in abundance. September 2016 is when we finally saw light at the end of the tunnel and started to turn the corner. Now, in 2019, this portfolio has grown by 3,000%. For the moon-shot to happen, it took the grace of God and the contribution of an entire village: many people and their families helped, and I am truly blessed to have been part of that team. What had started as a mere two-year stint was now nearing its seventh year…

Time to fall or soar? In business, we all speak of automation. But few of us are able to do it, and I had to disrupt myself in order to transform. In that sense, I skydived from a plane from 20,000 feet. Time will tell if I put on the correct parachute bag – or my laptop bag! I thought that I may as well enjoy the fall, and this is what I am currently doing. During the next few months, I will spend time with my family and reflect on the past, then arrive at what I want to do in the future, before I start again around February/March 2020. 

I must say, the source of my strength is my wonderful wife and two kids. On another level, my spiritual connection is with my creator, my family, and my friends. Further, my overall perspective on matters of business – and life – has been influenced by Stephen R. Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People?. As Covey says, “Being proactive in relationships is like investing in the stock market. You forecast where you should be investing, how you should be investing, and then you invest. Relationships are no different. Think about what the other person wants, and proactively take steps to fulfil those wants.” I am working on this front and trying to become a better parent, father, son, brother, and friend. My 6,675 days at Wipro also taught me a lot, so I will now recount some memorable incidents and lessons:

Always be respectful – At Wipro Net, my relationship with my Country Head started in the worst possible way, but we ended up respecting one another and became good friends. He showed me the importance of treating everyone with respect, even the junior freshers in the team. #respectforindividual

Be smart – For funnel generation, I ran a marketing campaign and sent faxes to 2,500 offices in Mumbai. Although I didn’t get a single call or lead back, I received a few faxes threatening me that, if they received any more, they would report me to the police (one poor chap received so many faxes that his fax machine ran out of paper). During this time, my colleagues’ desk phones kept ringing – but not mine. What I learnt from this episode: invest a little time in befriending the Receptionist, since they decide where to transfer the calls! #workSmart

Be genuine – In April 2002, I moved to Bangalore, where I was handed the role of Account Manager for three large strategic clients. One of the accounts I managed was a sister company and the top three accounts of the region. This contributed to 95% of my portfolio. The margins were agreed at the very top, and I soon realised that, in order to meet the current margin objectives (for me to get my incentive), I only needed to increase the top line by five times over the previous year. As such, the second-year incentives went down the drain (#mumbaidays sequel two, and deadlier than before). I had nothing to lose, so I was under no pressure to succeed and hence had a wonderful time working hard and partying harder with my customers and colleagues. By this time, I was married and my wife was the family breadwinner (#thankyouinfosys). I was like an entrepreneur: still experimenting and learning at Wipro.

The sister company procurement team had a mandate to buy from us, so they were extremely discontent that they lacked a range of options. Initially, this manifested as hostility and bullying. They were growing at breakneck speed, which meant a ton of transactions for me to process! Yet, by that time, I had learnt not to complain! This was also when I learnt that being genuine is appreciated, and how even the toughest of customers and partners will be around to motivate and support you once you have gained their trust. 

The period between 2002-2007 was when every global company was setting up offshore development centres (ODC) in Bangalore, and building construction was developing at a frenzied rate. During these times, we would befriend the security guards at every new construction site, as they would be sharing information about whom the building was being fitted out for. Armed with this intel, we would stock those companies wherever they were on the globe, and try to be part of their ODC setup by selling IT products and services to them.

On one fine day, I received a call from a property developer that one of their customers was meeting with a few IT System Integrators (SI). Serendipitously, I landed my first Fortune 50 Investment Banking (IB) customer. It started with losing every bid; like @jiaJiang once famously said, rejection is a numbers game – every rejection has a number. Eventually, a number can result in turning into a client-winning achievement. We started winning every other contract and growing alongside the IB in India. For this IB, what started out as a BRIC experiment went on to become their second largest site outside of the USA.

 #stewardship #accountrelationship During this engagement, I learnt that, as the Account Manager, I was the steward of the relationship for both Wipro and the Customer, not God or the Gatekeeper. Freely sharing all of the relationship and intelligence within the teams would always reward me in many unexpected ways, compared to just being a gate keeper to an account.

Customers, big or small, always prefer doing business with people, and it is important to win their hearts and minds. I front-ended multiple deals, irrespective of whether it accounted to my quota/credit. In the process, I gained the trust of my colleagues and customers. This paid off: in the long run, I was rewarded with business leaps and bounds. Like the law of agriculture says, there is a time to sow and a time to harvest. When you sow a seed, you will reap a tree.

This relationship lasted for eight years. In this time, the engagement went from cradle to grave (and I probably had one foot in the latter!), but I learnt a lot throughout. When you have a winning streak, it is important to invest in building cross-border relationships across the organisation. After all, sometimes there is a danger of corporate trampling that is likely to crush an honest, hard-working person. My main sponsor and I were casualties of this. The new person at the helm of affairs wanted to ‘Make IB Great Again’. Naturally, then, all of the work that his predecessor had completed was considered bad, and this assessment extended to all who worked with him. So, always be prepared for rainy days, then you can avoid having one foot in the grave, like I had done.

#poeticjustice #knowyourcontract In 2003, I won my first big deal with #Vbank. In this mega-deal, my part in a call centre setup was miniscule, but I became part of the winning team. I was there in all of the photographs and attended the awards ceremonies (like an extra in a winning sports team who partakes in lifting the trophy). While my component was not mission-critical, and it was very small in the scheme of things, I was having fun. However, my colleagues were having a tough time delivering this critical transformational project, which also had pressure from Staff Unions. There was even an instance when one of my friends was threatened with a gun by a customer, due to a delay in the delivery of a site! 

Like life would have it, true justice prevailed: in 2005, the baby became mine. I was heading the Sun Micro System business for the region; the Sun Servers were going awry and firing out of the park, and I had many sleepless nights. #Vbank was in no way similar to the polite man in its logo. I was made to refer the contract with them multiple times, to the point that I would often go to bed with it by my side. This taught me the importance of knowing your contract to the T, then using it to fight back when needed. Like the saying goes, “Don’t be happy with someone else’s misfortune, or it will be yours soon”. I lived with this contract until the end of its seven-year term. This time, it didn’t go to the grave; we successfully renewed the contract, and, after ten years, it was still with us in 2013. I made some wonderful friends with our customers during this time, and helped some with their career growth. I further experienced the consequences of my actions during the bidding stage, such as how cutting corners would come back to haunt me, or my colleagues, later on. This time, someone else’s call definitely bit me!

Throughout this period, I had thirteen banks and a similar number of IT Services companies as customers, and I benefited from investing in the people. Some of my contacts, who were then Junior Managers, went on to become General Managers (GMs) of the division. One has since become a Chairman, whilst IT Managers have become CIOs.

In 2007, my boss, @MoveManMove, entrusted me with the role of heading the key account management for the region. I had a brilliant team during the years 2007-2011. For example, I remember one instance when a colleague of mine sat for weeks in the reception, in order to secure a meeting with the India CIO of a fortune 500. The CIO finally relented and offered to entertain him. Eventually, my colleague succeeded in winning that logo. In business development, tenacity and persistence will always pay off, and my anecdote is a wonderful example of this. #WeeksInReception

#integrityisgoodbusiness In another instance, after many months of pursuit, one of my colleagues in Kerala was expecting a significantly large order for Desktops from a bank. He had fought competition, internally within the bank and externally. A couple of days before the purchase order was due to be released, he became aware that the configuration was not sufficient for the software to function. He had the option to receive the order and then ask for an increased amendment, but he chose to inform the customer before the release of the PO. In doing so, he showed that integrity pays off: he earnt the customer’s lifelong trust.

#CarpeDiem Another one of my colleagues took over a large public sector bank as an account from the earlier account manager. In a few weeks, their data centre failed, bringing the bank’s operations to a halt. My colleague spent the next few days and nights working with the bank IT staff and attending to customer compliant phone calls - as one of them. His efforts paid off: the bank adopted him as their go-to person as a direct result of this incident. My colleague, then, showed us all that it is often in the trenches that solid relationships can be forged, and how every incident and problem is an opportunity to put the famous saying carpe diem (“seize the day”) into practice.

#SalespersonNetworth In 2009/10, one of my colleagues was entrusted with a Regional Rural Bank (RRB) based in a small town eight hours from Bangalore, whose volume of business was not significant. However, despite its size, my colleague invested, and she made the effort to travel there and cultivate relationships. In 2010-11, the Ministry of Finance decided to attach these RRBs to a nationalised bank, generating much transformation opportunity. This relationship that my colleague built, then, stood us in good stead, helping us to win the RRB Core Banking transformation program in 2011 at Bangalore. The moral of the story is as follows: in sales, your net worth is your network.

Every win is due to the astute acumen of the Sales team, whilst the inability to make a sale is down to a botched-up delivery. This paradigm was to change when I was told to “stop cribbing about delivery” and “here is the baby, so fix it.” When I served as Service Delivery Head between 2011-13, the experience was similar to heading an emergency room (ER/ICU). After all, I would only get called when a patient was in a critical situation – never because they were healthy and happy. 

Working in the trenches with the delivery team showed me that they are the real flag bearers of an organisation. Time and time again, I was blown away by their dedication and willingness to walk an extra mile to make their customer win. The customers were buying from us because of them, not the charismatic sales people.

One thing I never understood was why Oracle had coded their database (DB) to invariably fail on weekends, as these failures would keep us working 24/7 over the weekend. Every phone call on a Thursday or Friday, from any of the thirteen banks, would be about the oracle code (DB failing) coming into play. My learning: when a patient enters the ER/ICU, it is the Doctor’s job to be emphatic, transparent, and genuine. It doesn’t matter if the operation fails; the customer still values the genuineness of the Doctor. So, when faced with a critical situation, it is important to be transparent and tell the patient (aka customer here) the risks and chances of survival. At first, they will be disturbed, but they will eventually work with you to get out of the woods. 

#DownUnder The last six and a half years of business development, including working in a new culture, have been exhilarating. I have met some wonderful customers and colleagues, and forged relationships of mutual respect. The power of tenacity and keeping to a plan has helped us in our pursuits. It has also proved that the reward is in the journey, not the destination. 

To wrap up, here are some professional life lessons, which taught me stewardship, doing business with purpose, and, most importantly, integrity. Firstly, any given situation will not last! A wonderful team and a wonderful boss are a blessing. After all, there is much to learn from all situations, good and bad, including what you can emulate and things you should avoid doing. Secondly, remember the importance of celebrating every win or loss (after all, loss means learning). Thirdly, work hard and party harder. Finally, tenure management will always yield good results. You, as a leader, should be open to work with anyone, and you will be pleasantly surprised by what they bring to the table. Accept team members as individuals and respect their diversity of thought. In a team, diversity will always yield amazing results.           

For now, I leave you with some inspirational quotes that I especially enjoy and relate to:

1. “Disruption is transformational. There is no changing the future without disturbing the present” – Danielle Strickland (@djstrickland)
2. “When you complain, you make yourself a victim. Leave the situation, change the situation, or accept it. All else is madness.” – Eckhart Tolle
3. “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change or control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own rewards.” – Amelia Earhart
4. “Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.” – Dalai Lama XIV.
5. “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” –Viktor E. Frankl

Some of the books that inspire me include:

1. The Holy Bible
2. My Geeta by Devdutt Pattanaik
3. The Art of War by Sun Tzu
4. Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor E. Frankl
5. The Warren Buffet Way: 3rd Edition by Robert G. Hagstrom
6. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
7. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
8. Never Confuse a Memo With Reality by Richard A. Moran

So, as it was paraphrased by Steve Jobs, stay hungry, stay foolish.

Godspeed, mate!

Rgds-

David C Mathew (DCM)

Melbourne, Australia

in/davidcmathew/

@davidcmathew