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
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.
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.
