Let’s hear it from Suketu Satish Kohli
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness”- Charles Dickens.
Liberalization had swept across India; Information Technology was seen as the engine that would power the Indian economy. Software education institutes had sprouted like mushrooms and followed a franchisee model enabling the McDonaldization of software learning.
As a young salesperson, I had been appointed to lead the sales of a growing Software Institute. The sales play constituted a presentation that showcased the vast business potential, the investments required along with ROI numbers. City a Night was the sales plan. The big boss often proclaimed, Veni, Vidi, Vici- I came, I saw, I conquered, and he expected the template to be rolled out in every city across South Asia.
Winter was at its peak, and I was in a tier-3 town around the northern hills of India. An early knock at my door surprised me. Tara, with a bright smile, stood there wearing a worn-out brown leather overcoat. Her face had turned a rose pink with exposure to the morning winter air. She thrust her hand out and apologized for being early, “I wanted to be the first one to meet you as I am keen to take up your franchise”. My happiness knew no bounds, this town would be quick, and I could spend the day enjoying the beautiful hill spots. I postponed my other meetings and proceeded with the ceremonious presentation. I impressed on Tara that we would have to look at the business location before we could accept her money.
We jumped on her little scooter and arrived at the town market. She walked me up a flight of stairs and showed me the premises she intended to rent for the Institute. She told me about her enthusiastic plans to take a loan for the business. As we walked down, Tara took us into a quaint ice cream shop and introduced me to her husband who had recently moved out of the armed forces to set up the shop. As we walked towards the taxi stand, she looked me in the eye and pleadingly said “I need this franchise as I want to support my husband”.
I knew that this was going to be the most difficult day of my short sales career. The business projections that we shared with our franchisees were based on a best-case scenario and did not take the geographical nuances into consideration.
By the evening, I had done a hard sell to a family with significant political clout in the region. With a heavy heart, I called Tara to break the bad news.
Did I let my biases or my emotions cloud my judgement? Had I been ethical? These questions have stayed with me to date. I am sure, you as business professionals would have encountered similar dilemmas in your life. Please share and comment on your experiences and foolishness so that we all can become wiser about life
