Q. Being from an engineering background, what made you shift your interest towards marketing and sales?

A. To be honest, I had never thought of opting for a sales job when I was completing my graduation. My first job was at Pertech Computers Ltd. Even though I had a scarce knowledge about computers, the company hired me, probably because I had the right attitude and optimum skills to fulfil their requirements. A year later, I joined Maruti & Suzuki. I had applied for the Research and Development role but I was offered a Marketing and Sales job because the people who had to be given the sales job didn’t turn up that day and fortunately, they needed a trainee engineer. That being said, I feel that being a part of this domain was clearly unplanned but I took whatever came in my way and so far, the entire journey has been great for me.

Q. How was your experience of studying at Harvard and what were some of the methodologies that you think should be implemented in Indian universities too?

A. I had a really good experience at Harvard, their teaching methodologies were exceptionally well. Since I had enrolled myself for the Senior Executive Leadership program, the whole curriculum was based on case studies. All of it was taught in quite a structured and lucrative manner. Talking about Indian schools and universities, I would highly recommend using real life scenarios and examples while teaching and to encourage more active participation.

Q. How according to you has the automobile industry changed from the time you were in college?

A. In the last 25 years, I have observed the rising demand and utilisation of automation technology. If you go to a manufacturing unit of any automobile company these days, you will observe a subsequent number of robots and high-end machinery instead of basic man power. Earlier the ‘Brick and Mortar’ system in marketing sector was common. Now, 80% of the people have already done their research on a car’s specs and features over the internet. So that is the big difference between the old ‘Brick and mortar’ system and the new ‘phyigital’ system (physical & digital).

Q. How necessary is it to have a physical fitness regime along with your professional life?

A. It is widely acknowledged that a healthy body is equal to a healthy mind. When you reach your middle age, usually the muscles tend to weaken, metabolic rate lowers and of course the stamina also decreases. So, in order to have a better professional life and to work for longer duration, one should focus on his/her physical fitness regularly.

Q. What is that one thing that interests you the most and the least about your job?

A. The thing that I like the most about my job is new challenges every day. You need to update yourself daily as per your consumer’s interests and behaviour. The thing that I dislike the most is that sometimes when the work gets a bit tedious, not only does it take a toll on you mentally but also on your personal life. There are times when I have to put in extra hours to work due to which I miss out on my workouts and don’t get to spend much time with my family. Somehow in a large part of my career, I have been able to manage my time efficiently so no regrets so far.

Q. Can you walk us through your most successful sale till date?

A. As rightly mentioned by Philip Kotler, “For any business to run well one must keep the 4P’s of marketing in mind- Promotion, Product, Place and Price”. When I was working for Maruti Suzuki, the company had almost 300 dealerships across the country but the competition in the market was catching up. We decided to expand our company to tier 1, tier 2 and tier 3 markets. In a span of four years, the company’s numbers grew from 300 to around 1000, which gave an edge to the company’s network. When I look back at those days, I feel quite elated and proud of myself.