DJFM 89

The last night of Srinagar positively created chaos in the minds of the sales guys. It was postive chaos!! The incentive scheme that was quite different in nature had created the excitement. For every sale there were points to be earned and there werr variations depending upon models and quantities. Based on the points there were attractive prizes on offer and I remember the bumper was a Red Maruti 800 or atleast that's what the brochure depicted.


While "Networker" was a new word that was coined depicting all and sundry belonging to Network, in the conference almost everything that we did had this underlining mindset of us being a Networker. Actually the concept started a few months back with some other regional conferences but then Network with its innovative ways even capitalised the concept to woo in people through India Today Pull Outs (Recruitment Ads).



The incentive scheme ran from December 88 to Mar 89 and that's the reason for coining the term DJFM 89. The incentive schemes of Network were heavily bent on sales rather than completion of the sale. Many, in fact most salespeople did take advantage of this and I am sure in many ways I was also party to the this whole concept of somehow making that money.

We reached Howrah statiion in the morning and as usual the team that was extremely cohesive just dispersed in different directions. Some had their family members with vehicles awaiting them while others had to wait in the queue for a cab. I had this simple solution of taking a Mini Bus direct from Howrah to Salt Lake at my door step. I did't really give a damn about people thinking that the manager was travelling a bus. Who cared! The 3 day journey on the floor of a slow train in 3rd class sleeper was humbling enough. Networkers after all!



A few of the office members looked at us with jealous eyes and I reckon the eyes popped even more when the looked at the incentive schemes. The sales guys were the stars of the show after all while the support and administration could only fiddle their thumbs.



The typcial target meetings were done with and everybody was more or less charged up. There were these habitual liars in my sales team and surprisingly the incentive call even motivated them enough to make genuine sales calls. Prospective list of prospects were made and called on and orders started trickling in. The canpaigns in the newspapers helped our cause and enquiries, in an otherwise dull Kolkata market, did start to flow in. In all this the never ending debate of Govt vs LAM (the glorified national team created for covering Govt and Public Sector Corps) started for enquiries received. That was some fun. Hoodwinking the LAM team that is in their own game. Recently I watched the movie Rocket Singh, and beyond doubt it brought back a lot of memories!!


Coming from Hyderabad and Mumbai office to Kolkata was of course a sea chnage in terms of office culture. The offc was divided into three. The Air Force guys, The SKJ people and independents like me who became another group by default. False Conveyance bills, chemist bills showing anti biotics against toothpaste and so on and so forth was the order of the day. It was you could say a kingdom of sorts and you needed to be the King's own in order to do well. But we survived and all this came to an end when WKH joined. But then we could not fathom whether the new era was for better or worse. On hind sight looks like it was the seond situation!!



Now we had these Monday meetings explained in my blog earlier and we also learnt that Chicken Curry and Chapati was the best lunch in the world. Take it or leave it. We left it at that.



DJFM89 was on. Sales were good. Not much of sales convincing was required. Prices were good. But something was missing. Excuse me asked the customer, "Where the F...K is my machine? You Delhi companies. Taken in money in advance. 3 months passed. No machine. Who is your RM". Saar, he is never available. He is always what we say in Bong - URU URU. Flying Flying!!



It was the same situation all over the country. Money collected in advance from o2C clients. And LOIs collected from Government!! But since we indegenised so much, I guess the supply chain had choked. Also there started a dip in sales. Murmurs started that reached Delhi i no time. Network think tank were not idle. The situation was sensitive and could mean dangerous and as usual competition were already reacting to these news and managed to even convert some orders.



So what was the prescription of Network think tank. Call all the Managers all over the country to Delhi for a picnic at the Factory!! We all landed up in Delhi and were put in the Govt sponsored Lodi Hotel in Qutub Institutional Area very near the Head Office. We were hoarded into couple of buses and taken to the factory where we were shown some new auto soldering machines for PCBs and then taken to the assembly where we finally SAW that machines were REALLY getting assembled. Nobody told us that they wer still having some software bugs. At the end of fixing line there was a big presentation ceremony of a Typewriter carton being presented to one of the King's XI from Delhi!! We were all very thrilled. We were conquered. We were convinced. Now we would all go back to our respective offfices with photographs to prove that machines would now come in no time. They did eventually. But let me tell you that the typewriter box that was made ready at NOIDA had only thermocol in it!!! We were serious Sales CONsultants!

The PICNIC AT NOIDA -

(I am the first guy standing on the right, while Ashim Dasgupta is at the other end)

(In this one from Left -DP Chaudhuri(LAM), Inderjit Singh(Chandigarh), Prithwish Bose, Myself)

The Cover UP captured for posterity.

The Sales Picked up. People started seriously calculating incentives. March was a pressure cooker. Orders, Follow Ups, Tension, WKH, Competition, HO Calls, etc etc etc. We were nearing the end. The end of DJFM89 I mean. In the meantime a Guwahati sales person started making unknown trips to Kolkata to meet a Kolkata Senorita(thankfully not in my team).

I did have a girl in my team. But she was hardly a girl. She was always in this shirts and trousers with tie, riding a bike on Kolkata streets and used to speak like a tomboy and was in backslapping terms with most of the other guys. Not me though. I was the Manager you see!!

But then we had gone to Sikkim on tour and Sharmishtha(that was her name) casually asked the recepotion for one double room. I was so thankful that she did not ask for a queen bed!! I had to clarify...No err...we need two rooms . That was a serious surprise for her. That was she. I wonder where is the girl now, would love to renew contacts!!