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Monday, April 29, 2013

Career in FMCG Sales and Marketing After MBA


Career in FMCG after MBASales career after MBA




Students in B-Schools in India prefer working in FMCG sector after MBA according to Campus Track Business School survey by Nielsen 2012 and 2013. According to the survey majority of the students at the IIMs wanted to work in FMCG sales. Well FMCG is an abbreviation for Fast Moving Consumer Goods. Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Indian Tobacco Company (ITC), Proctor and Gamble (P&G) and Nestle etc are some of the companies in the FMCG sector. FMCG companies sell day to day products like toothpaste; soaps, processed foods, detergents etc and they are mainly focused in the retail industry in India. FMCD stands for Fast Moving Consumer Goods and major FMCD in India are companies Samsung, LG, Sony, Panasonic, Whirlpool, Godrej and Voltas etc.  FMCG and FMCD both have many common characteristics and have similar sales. This article will primarily discuss about Sales as a career both advantages and disadvantages. There are many students who are apprehensive of even thinking of Sales career. This article will discuss the about Sales as a career after MBA in FMCG/FMCD sector.

FMCG sales career

You can know its coming to you. There is no hiding or running away. You can sense it miles apart…. It is the damn excel sheet
                                          
Revised targets_march_2014_v2.0.xlsx

FMCG sales are a dream for many in b-schools and no other career will crush your post MBA-ego like FMCG sales. If you are have a faint heart. You can’t handle pressure. If you have been brought up pampered by your mom and dad and are still living in that shell it’s not for you kid. Success in FMCG sales needs tough people with steel balls, a lot of calm and patience, hope and optimism and never give up attitude. Above all in Indian FMCG industry you will need the desi jugaaad skills that you cannot learn from a b-school.
A career in sales is one of the most respected careers one can choose after MBA. If you think you have what it takes, then welcome aboard.

The # 1 What Do Sales Guys Actually Do?

Do the sales guys sell? No they don’t. They are responsible for a product’s sale in a particular area. After MBA in FMCG/FMCD sales the primary job is channel sales. Channel sales means…well don’t worry Google it.




How Does One Sell?
The targets are based on the market potential analysis which is calculated by looking at the past sales figures. The management is too good at this calculation. They always have impractical targets to achieve. They are good at inflating the potential of an area and then making the employees believe that it can be achieved. The gm sales can raise the targets because he had a bet with his wife.
So they get an area and distributors  Then people map their areas and get into action. Sales are not simple as distributors are pakka baniyas. They are 10 times more experienced than a MBA grad from IIM-A. Dealing with them is not simple. People learn a lot of new things from them on field.

Location Of Placement For FMCG Sales

The best thing is you get your hometowns as preference in sales….and yes i just lied. Anywhere in India or abroad except your hometown location you can least expect in FMCG sales. During the start of career you will be placed anywhere, but as you become senior you rule the metros. There you can expect to have something like… ab settle hua hai ladka. Half of your life is on the field and the other half in hotels. Sales guys literally travel more than migratory birds.

What Kind Of Pressure Is There In A Sales Job

The blast of a pressure cooker bomb will have lesser effect on you but the pressure a sales person gets on the last week of every month is priceless. If one fails to achieve his/her targets, and then get ready for a torture from your boss. If one achieves that target then please buy booze for every one in the team. Anything below teachers or black dog is not accepted.

Sales And Booz

In Indian FMCG sales career: sales and booz go hand in hand. There are many reasons to drink like a guzzler. The channel partner/distributor is the ticket to achieve monthly sales. He is usually your drinking partner. Then the junior officers under you get motivated more from the alcohol than anything else. When you achieve your target your boss also needs a party. So if you don’t drink or are not comfortable around people drinking, then you may have to rethink about joining an FMCG company. FMCG sales is not for you holy cow. You do not expect people to get motivated with idly sambhar or a nice meal at kfc.

Career Path In FMCG Sales




In sales you start from area sales manager or senior sales executives after an MBA. Then you grow very fast in the career. The more one moves up the more is the amplitude of yelling from your epiglottis. The best part is your vocabulary of cursing improves to great extent. We collected some of it. After a sales presentation the boss said like this “this is the best quality of shit work I have ever seen”, and “there are ladies inside this room otherwise I would have never taken your bullshit” etc.

So Sales In FMCG Is Horrible And Not For Me??

The truth is that FMCG sales have a lot of pressure. Rahul Dravid is the guy you want to be. You will have to travel a lot and you can feel lonely at times. This job is not for everyone.
I have saved the best for the end. Sales gives one a great start if one doesn't makes directly to marketing. You can switch among different careers like sales and marketing consulting, marketing, product management etc. The rich experience brings out the best in people. However there are careers like a being a driving teacher because that one cannot get into after sales you one just can’t stop yelling. Most of the sales guys will like to stick to FMCG sales because of the growth it has.

The rewards are endless. Sales people are the earning members of the company so they get the highest share. Starting salaries in FMCG sales is at least Rs. 8 lakh per annum excluding the many perks. The monetary incentives are what a FMCG sales guy wants. The non monetary incentives are free vacations, phones, laptops, appliances etc.

So now you may have got an idea why a professor at b-school or a marketing guru like Kotler can’t do sales. If one has the mind filled with desi jugaads and ready to work their ass sales is one rewarding career. One has to be very sharp and resourceful to be in FMCG sales. At a b-school’s placement season the sales manager who came for the interview asked the placement guy “ye cv wagarh to theek hai, ye batao inmay se sabse bade kaminey kaun kaun hai

Final Verdict

Sales cannot be taught in a b-school lecture. It can only be experienced. A career in sales will give you immense respect and on the other hand it requires a strong spine.
So at the end of the article there are two sides. One side is terrified with FMCG sales and the other who are waiting to get into this career.
Well thanks to my b-school friends for sharing their experience for this article.