I had never heard of Eicher Polaris Private Limited until then. But Eicher Motors Limited of India and Polaris Industries of the US were legendary brands in the automobile sector. While sitting through the pre-placement talks and learning about their visionary multi-utility personal vehicle Multix, my trepidations began to disappear. I started to realise my opportunity of working on a radically new concept in an industry where even any meaningful incremental innovations are pretty few and far between. By the end of that day, the results had come and I knew I had 2 whole months in the coming summer to explore more about the awesome Multix.
As the month of April drew nearer, I was intimated about my project, key deliverables, mentors, project location etc. Everything looked great except for the fact that I was expected to perform market research (talk to both dealers and potential target segments) in and around Madurai. In case I inadvertently say (more likely convey) something insensitive or inappropriate, I wouldn’t even know how to apologise in Tamil! Thankfully, a few days before the internship was supposed to begin, my place of posting was revised to central West Bengal.
Day 0: After 2 hours of a long flight and several other delays, the sight of the cozy accommodation and warm food waiting was gladdening. Later that evening, I met a bunch of nice guys from IIM Udaipur and watched an EPL match before dozing off.
Day 1: Business formals-Checked. Preliminary research about project deliverables- Checked. Connecting with my two mentors and other senior leaders from EPPL on LinkedIn- Checked. A little preparation is expected before meeting the very top leadership of the company. The interaction with the CEO, the VP (Marketing) and VP (Sales) was a thoroughly enriching experience for me. A wide array of topics ranging from sales techniques to the Multix brand logo to red and blue ocean strategies came up during the course of these interactions. The powerful idea behind the brand, the goals and objectives became clear.
Day 2: A one-day visit to the manufacturing facilities of Multix near Jaipur. It was an impressive sight as innovative products (like tubular frame chassis, Flexituff body panels etc.) and processes churned out India’s first Multi-Utility Personal vehicle by the dozens. We even took test rides in Multix and other competitor vehicles to get a first-hand experience of the difference in quality. The main idea of this plant visit was to make sure that we look at the vehicle from a potential customer’s point of view. You simply can’t sell a product, if you don’t know about the product.
Day 3: One-on-one Interaction with mentors
Day 4- Day before the final presentation: Murshidabad, the erstwhile capital of the last nawabs of Bengal, is a place steeped in history. Today, most of the people of this region are engaged in agriculture or agriculture-based businesses or other small businesses- a perfect place for selling Mutix.
I started off with the secondary data sources from various government departments and started to identify which small businesses are clustered in particular geographies. Using this data I planned my field research.
Scorching heat, remote villages and small towns, talking to people whose needs and perception are far removed from your own- field research is not everyone’s cup of tea. I love interacting with people and listening to their stories. So, the heat and the dust could not deter me. I used both qualitative and quantitative techniques in these market surveys and ran statistical analysis on the survey data to come up with a set of a recommendation on the type of customer segments to target, the effective communication pitch for these segments and a set of best practices that should be followed in every dealership in order to improve their efficiencies. But, certain unexpected customer insights were generated (which I can’t share due to an NDA with the company) while analysing the vast quantities of data collected. These insights would be the focal point of my report.
The
day of the presentation came and it felt great to be back at the corporate office in Gurugram. The eventful past two months meant there was no dearth of stories when the all the interns were re-united. The final presentation in front of the entire board of EPPL was a candid interaction session on how to build upon the lessons learnt over the past two months.
When I reflect on my internship days, the thing I like the most is how I worked for a JV of two stalwarts of the automobile sector and yet always felt like working in a start-up with all the freedom I was given. Being a new company, EPPL did not have any PPO or PPI policy, but the experience was invaluable.