The more you sweat in sales, the less you bleed in marketing
"Whether one likes it or not or whether one admits it or not, there is a bit of selling involved in every stage of every successful professional's career" opined Mr. Ramesh Venkatraman CEO of Astreos Healthsol. Delivering the 20th edition of the CXO PowerTalk@MYRA, Mr. Venkatraman spoke about 'Selling for a Living'. Steering clear of management jargon Mr. Venkatraman, who has held senior management positions in Cadila, Micro Vision, British Biologicals and Indegene Lifesystems in India, US and Europe regaled the audience comprising of PGDM and PGPX students of MYRA with anecdotes from his career spanning more than two decades.
Mr. Venkatraman impressed upon the students that it is sales that separates the men from the boys and that a stint in sales rewards professionals in more ways than one. Time spent in sales gives rich insights about consumer behaviour that would be priceless when one moves into a strategic role later in one’s career; field experience is invaluable when one has to make sense of market intelligence that flows from research agencies; the scars of sales is something that a manager can wear with pride as it is those that command respect across the organization. Interestingly but not surprisingly, 17 of India’s 30 Chiefs of Army Staff have been from the Infantry, 7 have been from Armoured Corps and 5 have been from the Regiment of Artillery. A career in sales is surely not for the faint-hearted and Mr. Venkatraman has had his share of failures. But while sales gave him his punches, it has also taught him how to bounce back stronger he opined. Sales has helped him grow personally, professionally as well as spiritually, Mr. Venkatraman shared.
Speaking on the sidelines, Mr. Vasudeva Rao Yellapu, Director- Corporate Relations & Placements at MYRA said that the topic chosen by Mr. Venkatraman was extremely relevant in today's context because across management institutes, students seem to display an inexplicable and unfounded aversion towards a career in sales.
