Memoirs.....Musings of a sales guy at heart.....

Episode 12

Hyderabad days...

As mentioned in my earlier post, got promoted and transferred to Hyderabad as Area Sales Manager-Andhra Pradesh(the unified one) with Hyderabad as my HQ.

This was immediately after my wedding. We got married on 7th September 86 and around 20th September, Tomy called me and announced my promotion and also told me that I have to shift to Kerala. But I was not keen to go to Kerala as that market was also something similar to TN with government managing the WS and retail with private that time. He was so nice and managed to get me Hyderabad, instead. AP was in fact, more potential and highly profitable for HL and hence I felt very honored. And the added advantage was the fiat car I would get as an ASM...that made me to get very excited. Anyway my wife was not comfortable riding as pavilion with me on my Yezdi and more than her, my inlaws...so with a heavy heart I sold off my Yezdi for 9500 and gave that money back to my Father-in-law as the repayment of the loan I took from him to settle the loan i had taken from HL for the wedding....so the wedding expenses from my side, got squared with the Yezdi sale...this I had mentioned here just to share with you guys, that it was hand to mouth during my bachelor times and got married with nothing but guts!!!!

So, alien territory with no basic knowledge of the topography and languages...Hyderabad-one could manage with Hindi as most of the Hyderabad and surroundings spoke decent Hindi laced with some Urdu-(Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Warangal districts)....but in TN we got completely jacked by the political agenda and were deprived of Hindi in our school days and somehow managed with some English thanks to the newspapers those days and some Hollywood movies. So I land there with absolutely zero of the local languages and manageable English...but the silver lining was Jeyanthi's spoken and written Hindi as in Kerala Hindi was their 3rd language....thats one of the reason Malayalis are comfy whereever they go...The day the Tamils learn the importance of the 3rd language especially Hindi it would make world of difference for them as the moment you step out of TN borders, thats the only knowledge would come handy for us...not English....am saying this with my experience and it is not a political statement...

My predecisor was Nitin Pitale, young, handsome and from one of the business school. He joined HL as MT and within 6 months he was sent to AP to head as ASM....I think within a year, he was asked to move back...but he was the dawling of the distributors there as he was non controversial and non interfering. Our office was at the heart of Secunderabad and we had our own warehouse too. But we had some kind of legal issues going with the building ownder and that had to be managed too...didnt understand why HL was not in to settlements with the owner...the owners were very nice Gujarathi guys and I sturck a good chord with them and even managed to do renovation of our office by giving them some increase. I think Manu Hira of HR helped me to get this done. AP, geographically a very big market. From Sirpur Kagaznagar bordering Maharashtra to Srikakulam bordering Odisha and the otherside Royalaseema....huge market with complexities based on language and caste....The biggies in WS in Twin Cities were in the hands of Sindhis and Sardars.....and I was a novice....MSR group was our distributor and had 3 distribution points in Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Nellore each managed by their close family relatives. And they had a head in Madhusudhan Reddy who was based at Guntur...all these guys were very nice personally but they had their own way when it came to business and also some internal ego issues but managing them was my task which initially I didnt have a clue....But MSR had a great connect with the trade and commanded their respect especially in the Coastal and Royalaseema regions. But there was an undercurrent in Telangana as Shaw Wallace supplied directly to most of the WS which made them their favourites....and there was no hand holding for me as my induction was very short and was pushed in to business straight....Apart from liquor and Dipys added pain in AP was Finit....HL was the distributor for Finit in Telengana....another tough product to sell...Finit was an insecticide spray used for killing the insecticides like cockroaches...way back then we didnt have such easy to use to obliviate the insects....this was manufactured by Hindustan Petrolium and HL had the distribution in parts of the country....HL somehow didnt have their strategy right those days with their fingers in everything (remember silent movie!)...and we had Mehta as our distributor in Hyderabad...great guy but the product had issues in terms of consistent leaks...and smeely too....Bayer launched Baygon spray with a far better product with Zero leakage....

First time out of TN and the moment we reached Hyderabad, the search for house started and luckily we got one in a lovely location-Ameerpet-in Nabard society with great neighbors..ground floor two bedroom apartment. My uncle-Nagu- came down to help us to settle down and Jeyanthi also got her transfer to the Secunderabad branch....my driving was pathetic to start with....but picked up over time and my office assistant Shanthi Kumar was my man to go to...he was always there to help me. Jeyanthis bank was very close to HL office. Life in Hyderabad started well....And Hyderabad sizzles during summer. With no AC at home (air coolers) and non ac fiat....it was tough. We used to put some kind of sheet made of roots which had some cooling effect on top of the car during summer....can you believe it?

The first movie experience in Hyd-this place had some lovely theateres....one evening we decided to go for a movie and landed in a theater in Abids, without any reservations...some Hindi movie (Namm, if my memory serves right) but the theater was full...didnt want to upset J and hence straight went to the manager and requested him saying that we have just moved in to Hyderabad and my first outing with my wife...he obliged immediately and gave us the box to watch the movie....free.....That was Hyderabad's hospitality for you...

Personally had the fortune of Kumar, Kutty's brother also in Hyderabad with Sandoz....it was a great blessing and we jelled really well as a family. Kumar's wife Mini, became Mini Chechi to all of us....Kumar's house owner Suryaprakash was an artist and their home was a great place. Kumar was a teetotaller to start with but his brother in law, Captain Kumar, came down to Hyderabad on a holiday and I think he introduced Kumar to alcohol....Kumar now is a connossiur and can talk for hours on malts.....

Managing my distributors was the top priority and also managing supplies. McD had a distillery in Nacharam, Hyderabad. Krishna was the Big Boss there and one visit a month, was a must to build and sustain relationship. The officers mess there was a great place for food and I never missed eating out there. Krishna was a very fine gentleman and always supported and very hospitable too...thats where I learnt a lot on blending time, bottling lines and also the logistics. We also used to get some stocks from outside AP as Nacharam was not able to meet the demands. So as ASM it is not just sales but also to manage the entire operations. 

I had around 4 guys based at Hyderabad 1 at Warangal and 4 at Coastal and 1 at Nellore. 2 RSEs one at Hyderabad and one at Vijayawada. Also in the office around 6 people including the office boys....a big team indeed.

I have to manage the office, supplies and logistics and also deliver numbers. Used to travel 10 to 15 days a month....mostly by train. Also used my fiat to move around the neighbouring districts.

Three Depot incharges-they were not called managers-dont know why...BSN Reddy at Hyderabad, B Sundarrama Reddy (BSR) at Vijaywada and Suresh Reddy at Nellore....each were kings in their own right. BSN also had a very able deputy with him in Sudhakar Reddy....BSR was the sweetest of all...very market oriented and accompanied me in most of my trips in Coastal. Suresh also used to accompany me but to a lesser extent. I had some stalwarts in Rajaram Reddy, Gurumurthy, E Janardan Rao, Prasanna and Hari....Also in the office Raju, Murthy and Jacob....Shanthi Kumar, as I said earlier, the guy I run to incase of any kind of help locally, is now a politician....

Once I took Shanthi with me to Karimnagar on market visit along with Hari....We visited Mancherial from Karimnagar in our car and from there we wanted to go to Ramaguntam to meet some biggies in liquor and also crack a deal with NTPC canteen for Dipy's. Ramaguntam is the hottest place in AP. The distance from there to Ramaguntam by road would take a few hours those days but by train just a bridge on the river, one station and Ramaguntam We asked Hari to visit rest of the outlets in Mancherial and I took Shanthi to the railway station to catch a passnger train...but to our luck the train was running very late but suddenly we found one goods train halting at Mancherial towards our destination. I rushed to the engine and requested the driver to take us to Ramaguntam and guys, he obliged instantaneously....but he asked us to get down before the station at the signal. That trip was hardly some 15 minutes....that was one journey inside a diesel engine....we went to Ramaguntam and while coming back took the train....these are real experiences....we wanted to visit the market and we did in a very unthinkable way.....pat on the back.

My guys had regular market visits but they lacked that proverbial killer instinct as they were all scared of putting forth their points to the management and also to the distributors. While MSR group is the most dependable and loyal to UB group, their focus was on McD and not on HL. Also Mastan Reddy managed the entire operations for them. He was a super hero....very nice and market savvy. Somehow Phipsons managed to stay out of MSR group and hence they had a better RTM. The positive side of MSR group for HL was that money was safe, no hanky panky and good people to work with but the other side was they were not flexible in certain aspect of business. Ideally in the Telengana area, we could have got lot more business had we gone direct with the WS keeping the MSR group as super distributors. In Coastal barring Vijaywada they were good in other areas due to their own people managing the show especially in Vizag. In Royalaseema too they were okay but not very effective. In Telengana region SW was doing better than us due to their RTM. And my dear friend Rajashekar was their ASM.

MSR group has been complaining to me, from day one, on their thin margins but neither TOMY nor KCK were of any help. There were no cost cards which was available to me to understand where the money was and how much was left in the kitty. The HO team including Mario Miranda, head of marketing and Nitin Ghadiyar his deputy along with KCK visited Hyderabad for a review. I set up a meeting with the MSR group for an interaction and I told Madusudan Reddy to put forward his issue to them. Tomy was also there. When this was taken up, initially the HO refused to even listen and I was a silent spectator as I didnt know how to handle this and who would decide on the margin issues. The pitch for higher margins was not heading anywhere and I was forced to butt in and I sided with the distributors. This has created tension and Tomy during lunch, called me aside and gave a dressing down...but I told him that the distributors issue was genuine and we need to listen and give them a hike....After lunch I took charge and managed to convince KCK for a higher margin. MSR and Co felt immensely happy and this incident has really strengthened my relationship with them especially with MSR 1, MSR 2 and Madusudan. 

I need to also mention here about MSR 1. During my time MSR used to stay at Sarovar during his visits to Hyderabad and he would call me over a meal to discuss business. He was a lover of good food and a great host and a very humble person. Very easy going and never seen him getting irritated or angry....even in tough situations. Large hearted. He would always come down to see me off which was not required at all as he was the big boss and close to the chairman but he never threw his weight around.(literally and figuratively too!!) I also used to visit their office in Nellore during my visits there and interacted a lot with MSR 2 there. Another great guy...My interactions with MSR 3 during my Hyderabad days were not so much. In short, MSR 1 was running the show and he was always there to lend his ears and also solve issues instantaneously. 

It took few months for me to understand the market complexities. Dipys was okay and as tough as it used to be. Freedom and Viva tooth brushes were taken off and in its place Finit the tougher one....but managed to deliver the volumes by managing the key accounts well and ofcourse using our liquor clout. We had signed off deals with major hostels and institutions for Dipys bulk pack jams and ketchups....

Built some fabulous rapport with Sona wines, Secuderabad, Manjit Singh, Guptas, Madras Wines, Sagar Rao of Karim Nagar and Venkateswar Rao of Warangal. And Key retailers. But as mentioned earlier, the loyalties of these WS were with their direct suppliers and not with HL and McD as they were to buy from our distributor and not from us directly. The local didnt patronitse them much but had to take stocks because of the consumer demand but did lots of push of their own brands. But Coastal was different. MSR group had some great hold in some areas especially the Vizag region. Vivek Reddy of Pushkara was a key WS for us in Vizag. I had travelled with him extenseively in the Vizag, Vijayanagaram and Srikakulam belt....Young and very supportive. Struck a wonderful chord with him. Those market visits were very enjoyable too....eating at the highways dhaba and with a beer and discussing business. Vivek was also the preferred WS for McD and he really balance both McD and HL well. 

This episode is worth going thru. Once during my market visit in Vizag came to know from my inside sources that McD was planning a display contest. The moment i got a whiff of it, designed a display contest for the entire region and announced a day before I left Vizag.  Discussed it with Vivek and got his consent too. I briefed my team and they went on a war footing announcing the display contest.

I land in Hyderabad in the evening and on reaching home got a call from Vivek Reddy and he was desperate to reach me (no mobiles those days...only land line). He was at his charming best msking me to withdraw the display contest as McD's display contest have to be accomodated. Mind it, Vivek's source of bread is from McD and we were just jam and cheese. He was desperate as McD had exerted lots of pressure on him. He told me Krishnamurthy of McD would call me to discuss the same. Krishnamurthy the BM of McD-a very nice character-non controvercial- called me the moment Vivek put his phone down and the same story....he went one step ahead and told me that bosses were promised and we have to honor. My argument that HL and McD were different and always competing with each other very fierecely but somehow he was stuck to his point. Big Brother.... He put forward his points and left it there...Vivek called up again and same story...I realised that I cant fight a losing battle, so I have to gain something by surrendering, right? So struck a deal with Vivek with a volume commitment during the display period and also visibility of our brands as his team had to carry out the display contest. He was relieved and I called up Krishnamurthy and gracefully accepted his request to do away with our display contest. What HL gained? At no extra cost additional volumes and a major brownie point with my No 1 WS.....The key learning here-its okay to loose some battles to win the war....keep this in mind.

As mentioned earlier, the market was very competitive...every single case has to be earned...every single WS ego has to be satisfied. Wholesaler & Retailer management by the FF is primary. Also across the state the on trade played a major role....Eagle bar and Restaurent in Vijayawada was the most popular joint in that region (Sarathy the biggest WS in Vijayawada and distributor of Tilak Nagar and a sworn rival to MSR)...the food and the ambience there was just awesome...one has to ensure that the brands are pushed in such kind of outlets too....And manage the equations and egos....not easy in liquor trade especially in place like AP. Am talking about AP and not other markets as that time I was only managing AP and understanding the complexities was major. The TSE of HL have to manage the Depot managers and their staff very well and also manage the off and on trade. Tough task. With Governement take over of many markets, managing has become much easier now. 

So market visits means call on wholesalers, spending time with them and also visit key retailers and review business with the team. Start around 0930 and would go up to 2300hrs after visiting some key on trade and dinner....but quite enjoyable.

Vijayawada was different as it was fragmented unlike Vizag. Same in Kakinada. We had Madusudan Reddy's WS in Guntur ( Sri Kanaka Durga wines) as he was part of MSR and hence other WS didnt support our brands that much. You need to note here that every WS had their own RTM and ideally you need every single WS on your side for reaching out to all the outlets. But thats asking for too much. Ideally if the company is running its own WS its possible. The moment you have exclusivity with just one WS, you loose out on some part of the universe. But if your exclusive WS has fire in his belly, he would go all out and get the business....Nellore was again fragmented so as the rest of Royalaseema. In Thirupathy  Krishna Reddy was was very supportive and Mita....Mita used to run a bar which always had 100% occupancy. A very nice and shrewd businessman. His bar was very close to the railway station....floating population and hence easy to push brands. We literally owned the place. This episode with Mita....during my visit, he asked me whats my plan that day, for which I told him that my intended visit to Thirumala in the evening, finish the darshan, drive down and catch the late evening train to Hyderabad. His immediate response was " you can plan but seeing HIM is based on his times and not as you plan-so keep this in mind". And its very true. Many a times I felt it. There are time my darshan had taken just few minutes of waiting and at times hours.....even with previous bookings....This is one temple where how much ever planning you do, unless HE calls you, things wont materialise....

Once I visited Cuddappah in the month of May and it turned out to be unforgettable. The hotel I stayed, despite the AC, the room was just sizzling in the night. I have to splash water on the walls to bmake it slighly manageable. Next day I must have consumed few gallons of water and fresh lime sode....never ever experienced such kind of heat wave....But again we all enjoyed working the market and building relationships. My Telugu was very basic but could still strike a rapport with the trade.

During my tenure of 2 years, there is not a single market in AP, I gave a miss....Total control and I ensured our dear Sundarrama Reddy and Suresh Reddy mostly accompanied me to the market which helped us to resolve matters on the spot with the WS. In Telangana BSN Reddy would never step out of the office and hence managing the WS was our team responsibility. 

When we travel with BSR, it used to be fun with rummy session and a couple of drinks. Even at Vizag with Vivek Reddy a card session is a must whenever I visited with BSR...Another great thing about AP was the food...across coastal the food was never a problem. Dasapella in Vizag and  Eskimo restaurant in Vijayawada were superlative for Veg foods. Also wherever you go, the curd they serve is AP special. Well set and thick...awesome. During summer time in coastal Rasalu mangoes with rice-another local delicacy...Hyderabad had some fabulous restarurents in Palace Heights, blue fox, Minvera (veg) Taj (veg) and many local joints. Also during the train journey in every junction, you get hot bread omlette. Very yummy and filling...thats dinner most of the times after a couple of drinks. Godavari express from Hyderabad to Vizag and it used to reach Vizag a bit late in the morning but at Tuli staion you get some breakfast and coffee....Vijayawada and Vizag are well connected with trains. The problem was in Royalaseema...mostly by road only and in tough terrain...

Two important things happened during my tenure in AP.

1) HL sales guys were part of Mehtas union in Bombay. And they wanted to enroll entire staff including the sales guys in to the union and they started working surreptiously on that. Raju, our staff in Hyderabad was the coordinator for AP. We came to know about this and Mannu Hira the HR head called us for a meeting. I was asked my opinion and I thought, that time, unions would hamper the progression of the organisation ( my view on this has not changed). So without a second thought, I told Hira what I did to thwart their attempts....Hira was a great HR guy and he counselled all of us not to bother and if anyone wants to be part of the union let them be. Coming from a HR guy that time, was a surprise to all of us. And with in a couple of months, the efforts of the Bombay guys fizzled out....(I will touch upon this when I write about my Bomay days). So the learning is a) Unions and associations are no good for our country as it also spoils the otherwise smart and hard working guys b) if its part and parcel of the organisation, learn to live with it by being nice to all the employees and before the union takes it up, address their issues, proactively and c) never talk bad about their leaders.

The second episode was the best thing to happen to HL. Kissan and Dipys got merged and Kissan took over the manufactuing and distribution of Dipys....this has cleared the way for HL to become 100% liquor company paving way for the growth of all HL brands...and no distribution brands too except Finit in some markets due to contractual obligations. That was a great relief personally for me as I was the one who was always advocating to my bosses to exit Dipys business as it was taking lots of our time with meagre returns. 

Another incident where I got involved with my car in an accident on tank bund road. I was driving on the right side and suddenly someone on a scooter overtook the bus coming opposite side and banged on my car. Fortunately I applied the break on time and the pillion rider got a bit injured on his leg. I didnt know what to do but one of the passerby gave a clean chit for me to the traffic police. Without realising that I should not take the car from the accident spot, I parked the car on the sides and rushed to meet Madusudan Reddy, who was waiting for me at the nearby Sarover hotel. He sent a message to the police. But i was asked to come to the police station and by the time everything got over and i returned home it was around 9pm and Jeyanthi was at her panicky best along with her brother and sister in law who had come to spend some time with us. I should have contacted them from some phone booth but I was very stressed out and also did not anticipate it would take so much of time. i went and saw the guy who got affected, in the hospital and told him that I would take care of his expenses but he was a smart guy and told me that I should not get stressed out as they would get whateve amount they have to, from the insurance. And my driving license was compounded...What an exprience.....Guys if you ever face such situation, do not give your license and always coopeatate with the local policel

Around 89 April DR was inducted in to HL from McD...he came down to Hyderabad on a market visit and we bonded instantaneously. I still remember bringing him to my home for a coffee straight from the shop we visited as part of his induction, which was opposite our building.  

In May 1989 I was called to Chennai and was adviced to pack my bags and come to Chennai as Zonal Manager TN. (I liked the title but in terms of job content it was nothing but ASM for entire state) In AP I was the boss where in Chennai its regional office and the RM was the boss....but TN was growing and probably my boss thought I would do much better in TN with my learnings from AP. So it was a promotion. Kandan was shifted to AP in my place.

During our Hyderabad stint, our first baby didnt survive and within an year my wife got conveived again. She was also enjoying her bank job and the place we were staying, we quite like it too. One of our neighbors Ramgopal Rao, a NABARD employee, was our close friend along with Natarajan another Nabard employee. My dad and my uncle used to frequent us. Movies were our favorite pass time. The communications were through BSNL only and once got a call from my friend Senguttuvan of Godrej that he was in Hyderabad and asked him to come down to my place as Jeyanthi was away in Kerala and i was with my uncle Nagu. Senguttuvan came around 6 pm and it was an unforgettable time. He came with his colleagues and it was party time....drinks and cards with dinner prepared by my uncle Nagu. Both Nagu and my dad were great cooks. Senguttuvan always remember the great food he had in our place cooked by Nagu. Dwarak and Jaisree visited us once in Hyderabad. Raghavan and KGR, Raman my friend once.... But I was very busy with my travel and local work. There was no Saturday off....just Sunday only and Sunday morning was always a visit to the secunderabad veg market with Ramgopal Rao....

Reddys were very good with me and they didnt want me to leave Hyderabad. Infact Madhusudan told me he would pull strings in HO and stop the transfer. But I decided that it would be good for me to head TN operations and decided to take the transfer. Ideally the first year in any job, goes in to understanding, second year consolidation and third year growth trajectories and break throughs....one should not spend more than 3 years in any market as head of the branch.

AP experience has given me a great foundation. Dealing with so much of complexities and coming out successfully!!

My advice to those who are going to newer horizones.....first and formost, learn the dynamics of the market in terms of sects...once you know, understand their way of doing business....it would help you to prepare your approach and also build your relationships. Especially in a place like undiveded AP....If you speak the local language, it would be an added advantage. But the message you have to give them is that you are reliable, dependable and trust worthy, as a manager. Also you have to keep a tight leash on your team and you should be the first one to know before the competition and you have to hear it from the team, which means your team has an ear to the ground. Also make it a point to know their family and organise team get togethrs....when the family bonds well the team gets stronger. 

So its bye bye Hyderabad and back to Chennai as ZM....1989 May.....will talk about this in the next blog...till then stay safe and enjoy life....thanks for going thru this blog....