My second brush with sales was when I decided to be an entrepreneur in Hyderabad. I along with my brother opened a Greetings card shop (way back in 1991/92) and also started to do corporate gifting. I found myself completely at ease while talking to walk-ins at the greeting cards shop but struggled meeting large corporate brands. Both were about selling a product but still experienced two different aspects. Looking back at those moments and deep diving into my experiences helped me understand the reasons for such contrasting behavior and the lessons learnt that helped me as I moved forward in my career.

The Learnings and experiences of two contrasting roles even though both entails sales:

• Unlike corporate gifting business, in the retailing of greeting cards & gifts, there were walk-ins. I do not have go out and fetch customers or do cold calls.
• In the shop 90% walk-ins were much younger than me so it was easy to deal with. For me conversation was never a challenge.
• I was scared to go and do cold calls or meet customers in a corporate setup. I was not sure if I can add value to them or meet their expectations. I was not sure if a nobody like me they will even meet. I had no great brand or name on my visiting card.

 What did I do to overcome challenges of corporate sales: 

• Reach out to known people to start with: I reached out to few friends and asked them to refer me few clients and put in a word for me. This helped me in my head as I felt that I am not meeting a complete stranger.
• Practice calls: First few such meetings helped me iron out my delivery and conversation and my confidence grew. More than the getting sales the focus was to build confidence and learn.
• Don’t have to answer it all: I never had all the answers as gifting was a vast space and I had no capital to invest in building a large sample kit. I started to ask for time to revert to them. My habit of noting things helped me revert back to them with specifics and more importantly on time.
• Say Yes and then find solutions: In few large orders, I said yes without having the solution in hand or any clue about it. However, I always added a disclaimer and asked for time to give my best shot and revert. For example, one of the companies was into manufacturing of laminates. They wanted to gift the carpenters across the country a cutter in the shape and size of mini pencil that was easy to carry with their branding. I had no clue but the potential was huge. It was in 1991/92 and the order was more than 10 lakhs and I said yes. I ran around the market, found a firm who understood what I am looking at, made a sample and executed the order successfully. It was a big victory.

 Why did I fail as an entrepreneur despite generating sales?

• The pressure to earn regular income for basic needs of life on a daily basis got on to me.
• Did not have the necessary capital as most of the suppliers wanted spot payment and clients expected a credit of 45 to 60 days.
• I did not have the necessary perseverance and patience for myself.

 Next post on 25th March 2024.

 Chapter 4: My entry into the Big Corporate World & The Real cut throat Sales world

Write to me on lokesh@lokeshnathany.com and visit www.lokeshnathany.com