"An Introvert In A Marketing Job" joke
If you can sell yourself, you can sell anything" said the celebrated Shah Rukh Khan, in one of his countless interviews. "So true!" said I, "and that’s what I can’t do!" thank God I’ll never be in a marketing job.
But the opportunity presented itself, and I, decided to take the challenge. In February 2007, I took up my new job as a one person department of Corporate Relations (my papers said Asst Mgr Corp Rel), and took my first posting in a developing (with a bolding), prosperous but disorganized, second tire town in north Karnataka.
And this is what I discovered.
Sure, some people have the gift of the gab. And sure, it helps in striking first contacts. Also, a social person with extrovert attitude will enjoy marketing, as his job is to do what he loves most.
However, marketing is not the job of the smart or the charming; it is the job of the purposeful.
Introverted attitude is that in which the energy flow is inward, and the preferred focus is on thoughts and ideas, rather than on people and things. I am introvert, and I enjoy it. One is company.
So when I set out to meet the first client on my own, I chanted to myself, "It’s not that bad, itna bhi khatarnaak nahin hai".
It wasn’t. the people I met were civil to me. It was much easier to present the services of my organization, than it would be, say, to chat someone up at a food joint or the railway station. There was an important difference. I was there for a purpose. I had something to tell them, to inform them, I was on my job. And I was enjoying it. An introvert is not perpetually tongue-tied. He/she will love to express their point, if they feel they have a valid point.
Then came the more difficult part, the follow-up. Some prospects were genuinely interested, some were genuinely uninterested. And then there were the gray ones. They posed a problem to me. An introvert is immensely uncomfortable contacting (relatively) strangers, much more so when he/she thinks that the contact is unwelcome. So, I, with all my sincerity and dedication towards my targets, called to follow-up, and got a postponement, made a visit, and did not get to meet the concerned person.
My doubts about the feasibility of these tie-ups would have converted into a doubt about my own abilities, but for an article, by Kelley Robertson, "Persistence Without Stalking", I read at the correct time. The author mentioned that "It`s been said that most sales are made after eight contacts with a prospect." and explained how, for our customers, their customers are the top priority, not us, who are vendors. Was I contacting so systematically? I put a follow-up system in place, and Pursue! Persist! Persevere! became my mantra!
Considering marketing as a task, at that, enjoyable, rather than a personal assault on my ‘personality type’ has helped. It won’t be honest to say that it is my best-loved job. I still like operations. But now, I’ve overcome one of my largest fears. Deals are getting through. I still can’t sell myself, and yet I can sell my product.
The day the former happens, what will become of Shah Rukh Khan?
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