Sagar and my first Sale!

I often reflect on my formative working years and more so when I receive my salary at the end of a month ... I cant help thinking about the times when I was making a mere fraction of the amount I earn today ... I was a teenager then!

St. Joseph's High School, R.C.Church had an inclusive learning policy; so children of all strata studied alongside us. In the 9th and 10th grades I tutored slum dweller' kids studying in the junior school. This service was facilitated by the Principal of our school Fr. Joaquim Dcosta and for this task I received a small stipend of Rs.10 per month. I took great pleasure in receiving this amount of money, which was spent in buying chocolates -- my students and I enjoyed this once a month treat ... and I felt happy that my earning was giving so much simple joy - this was my first earning :)

After passing out of St. Josephs I studied at Cathedral & John Connon for my 11th and 12th grades. Although the experience of studying at the school was not such a great experience I learnt a lot in these two years and my earnings were awesome -- as I had graduated to teaching middle school rich kids and got paid Rs.100 an hour and often taught about 2-3 hours a day... which used to earn me a solid Rs.7000 to 8000 per month!!! For a teenager brought up in the frugal subsistence of the armed forces life, this was a booty and I reveled in my earnings - buying new clothes, reading books and comics to my hearts content at the neighbourhood library run by good ol'Amar and eating loads of 5 Stars and kachoris and guzzling bottles of Thums Up and Fanta from the Aarey booth in Navy Nagar... I also saved some of this money with my Mum which Mala and I later used in a trip to Singapore (that is another story).

Then came the college years which required me to travel by 123 to Regal, hopping off at the stop and then walking to Elphinstone College the oldest institution in Bombay ... on one hot morning a few meters short of the college a few youngsters were distributing attractive leaflets that spoke of part-time research assignments with Pathfinders - Lintas! This was one of the leading advertising agencies in those days and their research arm was quite well known amongst youngsters. I had heard of a few friends doing some research assignments with them and they could not stop talking of the fun they had and the places they traveled to. I soon enrolled with them and my first assignment was of door-to-door promotion of Nikky-Tasha' Kitchenettes. I was assigned the Worli area and following the left hand rule which meant ringing the bell of every alternate house starting with the house on my left I got a peek into a variety of Indian homes :) I also worked on Frooti' tetra-packs, Hawkins Cookers etc. Fun times and great confidence building for me ... but the money was not as much as I thought I would make! We were paid Rs.10 per form and however hard I tried I could never do more than 40 to 50 forms in a day and of course we could do this only on weekends or bunk lectures once a week and go off for the whole day. I don't know how many homes I must have visited in those days ... complete strangers that always seemed very cooperative and happy to provide their responses to my questionnaire ... it was very tiring work but very satisfying and thanks to those days till date I appreciate the effort that a salesman makes and can spot a good one instantly!

During my college days I also never missed on an opportunity to compere the bharat-natyam recitals done by a friend named, Kiranmayi Chinni; at the Tanjore, Taj. She would be give me Rs.100 for each show. I truly enjoyed these experiences because the audience was always filled with foreigners that were so appreciative after about Kiran' performance, her learning journey, her costume and my saris and my speech ... and above all being at the Taj felt simply fantastic!

On graduating in 1985, the next natural thing to do was to find myself a proper 9-5 job!!? My summer vacation ended tooooo soon and as soon as it ended I had enrolled for an evening course at Xaviers Institude of Communications for a diploma in Advertising & Marketing. I also went to meet a placement agency and the girl there said that there is a vacancy with a small company called Letraset India which marketed transferable fonts and screens for advertising agencies to use in their print ads - I was to meet a guy called Sagar Tejura at their office near crawford market. On the appointed date, I visited the tiny office which was on the 2nd floor in a dilapidated building near Metro theater (thankfully this was walking distance from my college) and there were precisely 3 people in the office - the promoter, an elderly man called Kaka who was the office man-friday and Sagar who assisted the promoter in all the business operations. Sagar took my interview while the promoter looked on. Sagar grilled me about the stars and the moon and India and all the possible current affairs ... sadly most of my answers were either 'Uuuhm I dont know' or wild guesses that were all wrong. A lump had developed in my throat and my eyes were itching with a hint of tears ready to rollover onto my cheeks ... I wasnt getting this job so I fought back my tears and looked straight into Sagar' eyes for the first time. He had beautiful honest eyes and I desperately searched for some support in them while I said, "Im sorry Sir, I know I am not going to get this job because I dont have an answer to any of your questions ... this is my first interview and maybe that is why I am very nervous". Sagar' eyes softened and he said smiling at me like a parent does when he is happy seeing a spark in his child, "I can understand your nervousness and dont worry you have got this job. We will start you on a salary of Rs.850 plus conveyance and will look at a revision once you have completed 6 months with us. I will see you at the office at 10AM tomorrow morning. Please be on time." I wanted to get up and hug him but restrained myself as Sagar got busy with putting together my appointment letter.

I arrived at work the next morning at 9.45AM ... the peon was cleaning up while the promoter was saying his prayers. The office had a mixed fragrance of rose incense and phenyle and a silence that was broken at 10AM sharp as Sagar strode into the office.

'Arrey wah, you have come in early like the sunshine. Very good! Keep up the punctuality -- yeh nahin ki pehle din par time par ayee ho to baki din aaram sey aarahi ho .. Huh?'
'No Sir, I will be on time'
'Good! And you can call me Sagar and I will call you SUNSHINE :)'

I started work immediately with Sagar giving me an introduction to the brand, that we were the sole importers of Letraset and Rotering products in India, that we did direct sales and also sold to retailers i.e. stationers, he then explained the entire product line i.e. Letraset transfers and Rotering pens and the type of customers that we sold to, the pricing and discounts etc. In the afternoon he took me along for 2 meetings with the Creative Directors of medium sized ad agencies in the Fort area -- these guys looked so beyond me in terms of age, maturity and intellect ... this was going to be a tough ball-game for me who was used to encountering simple and humble home-makers during my door-to-door visits while at Pathfinders... the agency jargon was yet another challenge. I eagerly listened on as Sagar talked his way thru meetings and looked from his face to the customers and was fascinatied each time an order was sealed. Sagar was very encouraging from the word go and after a few days he would let me start the talking at meetings so that I could overcome my fears. However, somehow even after two weeks into the job I wasn't confident of doing a call on my own and kept fumbling thru my responses or would just get into a brain freeze if I walked into an intimidating office ... achieving a sale on my own seemed an impossible task at hand.

On one wet September afternoon when Kaka and I were the only ones in the office - Sagar was unwell at home and the promoter had stepped out for some work; I received a call from a prospective client. He spoke in a heavy voice and said that he wanted to drop by at our office the next morning to see the product line and was considering a purchase -- he would be there at 10.30AM. I panicked... as I knew Sagar wasnt expected to be in for a few more days and that the promoter never sold as he spoke in a very heavy gujju accent. I tried calling Sagar' home but there was no response... I guessed he was resting!? Meanwhile, my boss came back and I apprised him of the worrisome situation at hand. He assured me that I would manage just fine and that I did not need Sagar to be around during the customer' visit. I called Sagar again later that evening and although he sounded really sick I nevertheless told him about the meeting the next morning -- as always he reassured me that all would be well and that he would try and make it to the office at the earliest possible.

Sagar did not arrive at the usual 10AM and my stomach knotted with fear ... as I furtively paced the tiny office going thru my notes and scanning the office reception to see if all was in order the customer arrived - he was a large intimidating dark man wearing spectacles... thankfully he smiled at me the moment I said I was Priya Sharma the girl who spoke to him. As he settled down in our tiny reception area while my boss prompted me to ask him if he would like a cup of tea.
"I'd love a cup of chai please, thank you"

I asked Kaka to help with the tea and then I set about showing him our brochure and the various products fumbling initially but soon picking up speed with my presentation. He asked me several questions and I surprisingly knew all the answer. He then wanted to know what best pricing we could offer him if he ordered a reasonably good quantity. I had responded to all his queries but fumbled at the pricing as he insisted on getting a discount. At this point I said, "Sir, we have offered you our best price but since you are asking for a larger quantity and that you have come all the way to our office let me talk with my boss and see what best we can do to better this price". I then asked my boss if we could give him a discount to which he said, "Since the quantity is big you can give him an additional 2% discount". I communicated the revised offer to the customer as he was finishing his tea; he paused and thought for a while and finally smiled saying, "Okay thank you ... Please pack the goods as per this list". I had just achieved my FIRST SALE!!!!! As the transaction was being completed and Kaka helped with the packing the customer made small talk with my boss, I thought of Sagar and what his reaction would be... I really was dying to call him and share the details of my success with him. Just then, Sagar strode into the office wearing a sweater and carrying a kerchief in his hand -- he looked really very unwell. He shook hands with the customer as I introduced them and then I added with a smile that he had just bought some material from us. As Sagar shook my hand and I realised what a high temperature he had, and he said in his gruff voice, "Oh thats very good!" ... and then whispered close to me, "Congratulations on your first sale Sunshine ... and wish you many many more to come!" I beamed at him admirably and was really touched by his gesture of keeping his word and landing up even though he was so unwell. Sagar left for home shortly after the customer left. Since Sagar continued to remain away from the office due to his illness I made appointments on my own and completed 3 transactions independently.

10 days later, on one of the mornings that I got to the office early I was sorting some papers and amidst them saw the invoice of my first sale. I showed it to my boss and told him that I was arranging to send it to the customer. He said that will not be required and when I asked why he avoided my question. I asked him again after a while and it was then that he told me that my so-called first sale was staged... by none other than Sagar! The customer was his best friend and was not from an ad agency at all and that the goods and the invoice were later returned! My heart sank ... But why!?? "Well, you were not gaining confidence and had so many fears of managing alone... his objective was to give you the confidence in your self and that is what he has achieved ... see how many appointments you have gone to by your self and how many sales you have done ever since that day!"

When Sagar walked in at 10AM that morning, I looked at him with renewed respect and thanked him for all that he had done for me ... he laughed in his typical loud manner and said, "Oh come now ... I'd do anything to see a smile on your face Sunshine". He had taught me two simple values that I apply to date in my work life - there is a way to overcome all your fears and to achieve business objectives empowerment of people is essential -- this makes them do the quality of work they are capable of thus creating a success oriented team.

At the end of the month when I got my first salary cheque I felt I had really earned it and Sagar took me for a small treat to a restaurant to celebrate my first salary. When I thanked him once again for tiding me over into becoming a sales executive who could now achieve targets even though I started with a naqli sale, he said jokingly, "Chalo at least you will remember me all your life ... Tumhari salary or yeh treat ekdum asli hai ... so enjoy!" :)

I moved on before completing six months with Letraset as I got a placement at Trikaya Advertising and over time lost touch with Sagar! When I look at a bunch of young sales people I am always forthcoming in my guidance and assistance in their learning process and smile warmly as I reflect on those days ... and silently pray that Sagar is happy and well ... where ever he is...