Lobbying for Growth
LOBBYING FOR GROWTH
The 5-30 a.m. beep from his wristwatch woke up Anurag Saxena. In characteristic style he jumped out of bed and headed for the bathroom only to stop at the door. Memories of the previous day came rushing back and Saxena realized that there was no need to hurry. Yesterday he called up Tim Leed, director for India and West Asia of the New York-based Denver Instruments, to say that he was quitting the company. “Wait for a day Anurag. We can talk about this again tomorrow,” was all that Leed said.
Twelve years ago, Saxena was the brightest star at Denver Instruments India, company manufacturing office equipment. He was than the sales manager of the western region, which account for over 50% of Denver’s turnover. It was his sales acumen that made Denver’s foreign parents optimistic about its plans for India. Whenever the monthly sales figures were faxed to New York, accolades poured back. Saxena’s counterparts in other regions watched his performance with unconcealed amazement and secretly envied his abilities.
Saxena was workaholic. Week after week, He calculated the deficit in his target and scanned the territory map to figure out where the balance would come from. He poured over the targets of his area salesman, watched every order minutely and pushed his team till it was delivered. Not that they resented his pushing and chasing. All members of the sales team had worked with him closely to know that Saxena thrived on the pressure his job created.
When sales target slipped, his paranoia was at its height. For instance, when rival co. Remlen India launched its brand of printers; Saxena quickly assessed his own region’s performance. He examined the status of orders in each territory and groaned when he saw that Pune was lagging. “What is the problem with Pune?” he asked Sharad Dani, the area salesman. “There’s been no cyclone, no rains, no transporter’s strike, no power cuts, and then what is it? I am coming with you, we need to push Pune,
The 5-30 a.m. beep from his wristwatch woke up Anurag Saxena. In characteristic style he jumped out of bed and headed for the bathroom only to stop at the door. Memories of the previous day came rushing back and Saxena realized that there was no need to hurry. Yesterday he called up Tim Leed, director for India and West Asia of the New York-based Denver Instruments, to say that he was quitting the company. “Wait for a day Anurag. We can talk about this again tomorrow,” was all that Leed said.
Twelve years ago, Saxena was the brightest star at Denver Instruments India, company manufacturing office equipment. He was than the sales manager of the western region, which account for over 50% of Denver’s turnover. It was his sales acumen that made Denver’s foreign parents optimistic about its plans for India. Whenever the monthly sales figures were faxed to New York, accolades poured back. Saxena’s counterparts in other regions watched his performance with unconcealed amazement and secretly envied his abilities.
Saxena was workaholic. Week after week, He calculated the deficit in his target and scanned the territory map to figure out where the balance would come from. He poured over the targets of his area salesman, watched every order minutely and pushed his team till it was delivered. Not that they resented his pushing and chasing. All members of the sales team had worked with him closely to know that Saxena thrived on the pressure his job created.
When sales target slipped, his paranoia was at its height. For instance, when rival co. Remlen India launched its brand of printers; Saxena quickly assessed his own region’s performance. He examined the status of orders in each territory and groaned when he saw that Pune was lagging. “What is the problem with Pune?” he asked Sharad Dani, the area salesman. “There’s been no cyclone, no rains, no transporter’s strike, no power cuts, and then what is it? I am coming with you, we need to push Pune,