We talked of hippies and flowers and rainbows and dope,
Of politics and art and the structure of hope.
Strange nights and days of colours in the air,
Waiting hopelessly for roses by the stair.
As the world showed its affection for those who were faking it,
We got kicked out of school for spreading love and kicked out of home for making it.
This isnt the start of a new era, there isnt even a new plan,
I just hope this one's a little better than the last one
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Yes! You are in Sales!
I was recently watching a small clip from Tom Peter's Blog titled 'Yes!You Are In Sales'.As Tom mesmerizes with his talk(we all know him for such talks!),he dwells on the overuse of the word 'Marketing' making sales look like a dirty job.As he goes on to say,"no matter what skills you have,which department or company you work for,no matter your job title,we all are salespeople".As rightly coined by Tom,we are all salespeople,either selling products,services,ideas,or ourselves.Somehow,sales has always been looked down upon by most people in India.I remember my days as a salesperson in Bombay when my sister introduced me as an engineer to one of her friends as she thought that my work was despicable and didn't want me to disclose it either!Salespeople & Organizations alike should be blamed for tarnishing the image of this job.We have seen an influx of unqualified salespeople loitering around the streets selling something or the other without even having any understanding of the product or an idea about their customers
In the United States Unlike India,sales had always occupied a special place in the society as a whole.In his seminal work Walter Friedman of Harvard Business School argues in his book 'Birth of the American Salesman' that America has been the pioneer of modern sales management-salesmanship in America had flourished due to multiple reasons.The emergence of salesmanship in the U.S. depended on a stable currency, the rule of law, the protection of private property, and the availability of credit. These were all aspects of the American economic system. But what made the U.S. unique was the scale of American firms that were founded in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These massive manufacturing concerns, which produced tremendous numbers of business machines, appliances, and cars, hired salesmen in the hundreds in some cases, and even thousands in others, to create demand for their products. These goods, all pushed by aggressive salesmanship, distinguished the American economy by their early appearance and widespread purchase'
India never had a culture of acceptance of salespeople as a respectable profession in their society(apart from a few big cities)though we all are selling in some way or the other.But having said this,we are moving toward a selling economy similar to how America did in the mid of 2oth century.And we do expect to see more acceptability in our society of salesmanship as a profession too!
In the United States Unlike India,sales had always occupied a special place in the society as a whole.In his seminal work Walter Friedman of Harvard Business School argues in his book 'Birth of the American Salesman' that America has been the pioneer of modern sales management-salesmanship in America had flourished due to multiple reasons.The emergence of salesmanship in the U.S. depended on a stable currency, the rule of law, the protection of private property, and the availability of credit. These were all aspects of the American economic system. But what made the U.S. unique was the scale of American firms that were founded in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These massive manufacturing concerns, which produced tremendous numbers of business machines, appliances, and cars, hired salesmen in the hundreds in some cases, and even thousands in others, to create demand for their products. These goods, all pushed by aggressive salesmanship, distinguished the American economy by their early appearance and widespread purchase'
India never had a culture of acceptance of salespeople as a respectable profession in their society(apart from a few big cities)though we all are selling in some way or the other.But having said this,we are moving toward a selling economy similar to how America did in the mid of 2oth century.And we do expect to see more acceptability in our society of salesmanship as a profession too!
Economic Downturn Indicator- Falling Handset Market
The economic downturn in Europe seems to be affecting at least one business that had seen unprecedented growth in the last few years.Though economists feel this phenomena is ephemeral in nature and growth would follow suit with introduction of newer handsets by the likes of Apple & Nokia this year
Economic data from France and Germany released Wednesday added to the recent depressing evidence that Europe is suffering from a deterioration in consumer sentiment and economic activity. French consumer confidence fell to its lowest level since 1987, in May, while in Germany, inflation rose and consumer sentiment also declined
Gartner latest data shows a marked slowdown in mobile phone handset sales in Western Europe; the research firm said Wednesday that total handset sales fell 16.0% in the region in the first quarter of 2008, from the first quarter of 2007, marking the first decline there since Gartner began tracking the mobile devices market in 2001. Strong sales in emerging markets meant global demand rose slightly
I think handset makers like Nokia or Apple is better placed to handle this downturn compared to Motorola which has failed to evoke any market sentiments due to its lack of innovation in recent times.Is this falling demand an indicator of worsening economic environment in Europe? Are we seeing a global recession with America leading the way?Only time would answer this.As Baary Asmus once said 'Economists are pessimists.They have predicted 8 of the last 3 depressions'
Economic data from France and Germany released Wednesday added to the recent depressing evidence that Europe is suffering from a deterioration in consumer sentiment and economic activity. French consumer confidence fell to its lowest level since 1987, in May, while in Germany, inflation rose and consumer sentiment also declined
Gartner latest data shows a marked slowdown in mobile phone handset sales in Western Europe; the research firm said Wednesday that total handset sales fell 16.0% in the region in the first quarter of 2008, from the first quarter of 2007, marking the first decline there since Gartner began tracking the mobile devices market in 2001. Strong sales in emerging markets meant global demand rose slightly
I think handset makers like Nokia or Apple is better placed to handle this downturn compared to Motorola which has failed to evoke any market sentiments due to its lack of innovation in recent times.Is this falling demand an indicator of worsening economic environment in Europe? Are we seeing a global recession with America leading the way?Only time would answer this.As Baary Asmus once said 'Economists are pessimists.They have predicted 8 of the last 3 depressions'
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