er and that was common with our own Secunderabad office address. It was Sardar Patel Road, and mind you the commonality though did not make any difference to our now tired but excited, anxious but circumspect state of mind.We were two in a room and LB was my partner. The first thing I did to create a bit of hullabaloo was to drop the keys through that gap of the elevator compartment and the floor. Though cursed by my partner not outwardly though I maintained my calm!! The security had to arrive, new keys issued and so on and so forth. We had to get ready quickly and this was not what we wanted as a start!!
The huge lobby and the expanse had perhaps mesmerized me, but once we reached the room I was quick to try out the different switches and knobs to ensure that they produced as intended. Whether there was want or not, the Indian Five Star Customer had to ensure his money’s worth though in this case it was not hurting his wallet.
It was Cleopatra on TV. Despite the weariness of the travel, I became glued to Elizabeth Taylor and dispatched LB to the washroom through some clever manipulative guile. The time finally arrived post breakfast and we took our seats in Durbar the largest Hall in the hotel.
They were all unknown faces in there and we chickens nimble footedly went over to our designated seats and occupied them. The podium was laid out with typical grandeur and the honchos finally arrived. Both sides of the podium had a few tables covered with something that we did not care about and all our eyes were glued onto the stage. Rajiv Khanna with his impressive and inspiring voice was the MC and the proceedings started. I don’t really remember too much about the speeches that were all about past glory but I remember Sunita’s contribution from Hyderabad being singled out by AKD (Anil Dang, MD).
After the speeches of glory, there was a brief coffee break and we the shy Hyderabadis huddled together. After the break, it was about some talk on new products by the ultra suave Arvind Wable and a flash of lightning and the new products were unveiled. It was the launch of the Network 332, 316, 102 and 100. These machines had changed the face of governments and corporates on paper!!!
PS. There was one lady with the old fashioned name of Madeliene who started the revolution in terms of being the favourite daisy wheel that was part of the free kit!!
This was still not the ending; and then we had lunch. I was looking for a few blokes and a girl, since we had joined together, in the melee and did find them. The discussion amongst people was mostly about past exploits, in terms of sales and achievements. For me, I could only listen since I was not preceded with any reputed events. We were still coming to terms with the grandeur, the occasion, the launch and the future to follow. More than we going around, it was other seniors that were coming and eliciting some response.
The afternoon was devoted to learning about the typewriters and that followed into the evening with Rajiv Khanna taking the role of an Indian Military Academy Subedar Major keeping us cadets always on the toes and on guard!! The bosses were perhaps having their own sessions on Targets where the figures fluctuated like stock exchanges. Finally we had to accept, that Delhi calculations prevailed.
In the evening, GP also let me know that there was going to be a Demo competition and I had to represent Hyderabad. I was a miserable failure in that but that made me treble my efforts when I was in Hyderabad. Myself and LB, I remember had learnt every possible nuance of the machines and hoped that an opportunity came later to take on the so called stalwarts of other regions. I could prove that when in Mumbai much later.
The Calcutta Office was led by the grey haired Sushil Joshi with always a mischievous and dismissive smile. His humour mixed with sarcasm and wit was humbling!! Then there were the girls from Kolkata and in spite of my natural Bong affinity and best efforts I could not make any headway. Though, we did hear about side infatuation affairs from other office groups about people.
One of the days we were also given a big handout of who were our target customers and which features would be useful for the different segments. We had to stuff these in our memory along with everything else. Our pricing was unique. There used to be a base price and there used to a Technical Service Charges that was almost 40% of the total price!! Later on I came to know of the logic and perhaps its better that I do not elaborate on the philosophy of the same or I might start up a separate debate thread on Indian Corporate Behavior.
On a particular evening it was announced that the full gang had to land up in Studio One a discotheque in the sister Taj Mahal Hotel on Ashoka Road. That was the first time for me in a Disco and what was amazing in there was the sound and effects. The damper was of course the Guy to Gal ratio at a pathetic 95:5. The novelty therefore wore me down very fast and I was keen to go back and perhaps relax with the Summer Olympic Highlights!!
The week was hectic, fun and did manage to get to know a few people but our small team could not match up with the raunchy and loud Delhi or Mumbai Teams. What we could match up was in knowledge, brimming confidence and a wish to go and get those customers on our side.
So that was Delhi or hardly it. From a station, to a hotel and then back to a station was the best exposure we had of life. The station this time was different. So were the train and the class!! It was the Dakshin Express starting on the night of Day 1 and reaching Hyderabad in the morning of Day 3. So we had two nights in first class compartments and were one of the most relaxing, lazy journeys I have ever made. Sleeping, Reading, Cards and of course the Old Monk was there for company. GP was not a part of the entourage and we were like this group of let loose prisoners making merry.
In Delhi I met up with Balbir from Mumbai, Kapil Chawla from the Govt Team of Delhi, and a few others. I remember Sunil Gupta, Sumathi, Vimla, and many more from other offices. I was in touch with some but perhaps I have to renew the lines of communication with them and so many more. Each of them would surely have something to talk about that would make up the rich history.
The conference was a confidence booster and I personally knew that one had to quickly now take advantage of the momentum created. I had to learn to make better sales calls and of course demo and negotiate.
My third order was from Nagarjuna Finance and between you and me that was a breeze. The buyer in question was a senior at college and it was just a question of a demo, a quote and the order with a 100% advance. The tough periods came later.
Evening after evening, me and LB worked on the machines. Every feature, every aspect of the typewriter was ripped open by us. This would include lessons from the engineers on solenoids and pulley technology. Hammer alignments, carriage alignments, fuse changes I promise you we knew it all. Dayanidhi and KVS taught me how to clean machines.(This served me good later). LB used to donate style, Ravikumar used to come up with challenges and Rajkumar would come up with out of the box thoughts. We were thriving as a team and though chaotic we were delving in Buyer Behavior, Customer Relationships, Prospect Building, Training Methodology, Territory Planning, Enquiry Handling – Voice and Face to Face, To me anything we do today, perhaps we would find some analogy that we could draw upon from those Network Days.
My first call ever was at Hyderabad Lamps. I was calmly shown the door by the Admin Manager. Now back from Delhi and prepped, revenge was the order of the day. The office was in proximity and Seshagiri our office boy (man) was friendly with the Security Guard there. I found out through him the name of the secretary to the MD. Next day I called up Hyderabad Lamps and asked for Rose!! The confidence in my voice quality made the operator direct my call straight to her. I started with a negative statement about me not being a salesperson but this researcher on typing practices and through in some YWCA and other appealing words. I was granted a session and I took the 316 along. The machine was left in the Auto in the safe custody of Narasimha and off I went. Rose was about 50 (that was a baffling revelation) but I went into all the problems she had with manuals. I also found about some quirks about the MD. I offered her a no obligation demo and was quick to display of all our tricks in the arsenal. Then I offered her that the next two letters for the day be typed on the 316 and sent in for signatures. The letters did not come out but it was Rose who was called in.
The 316 was taken in and I just had to show a formatted automatic table for a board presentation. Needless to mention, the verdict was positive and I was in awe when the price was not questioned. I went back happily, The order was of course signed by the Administrative Officer!!
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