It was 30th of June 2009, after two years and ten months into my professional life, it was the day when I was supposed to deliver a high profile presentation to a client who was completely unaware of the existence of we as a company. Prior to it, I had spent three days thinking about what to put and what not. I basically didn't want us to to lose business due to some small mistakes which might be politically wrong. I read, read, read and again read through the presentation as though it was the only thing I had in life. I forgot the weekend. I forgot my usual work. Used to have head aches almost daily in this period... Well... it was not because of the pressure... but just that I wanted to make it RIGHT and be opportunistic.
It was supposed to be a high level presentation and a forum for discussions about what is good and what is BAD. Well well... the later part actually scared the shit out of me. It was my first presentation in front of a CEO who is expecting to click a business deal (probably) from the client. The morning of Jun 30th went very well. The CEO reviewed the presentation and had a mock session where the CEO made clear on his thought process about the presentation and the importance of it etc. With some minor changes in our approach, we were done with the mock! To my surprise, there were not many changes. So I spent the the rest 2 hours modifying it a bit and preparing for it...
It was 1:40 and I was in the board room checking the presentation if everything was in place. Suddenly one of senior fellows calls me and informs that the client will be there in 5 mins. Well, that is what I call punctuality! ;) (15 mins early to the meeting...). I had left my blazer at the third floor and I rushed to get that. Eventually I arrived 5 mins late to the meeting. I enter the board room to see the client, my CEO and a few more fellows sitting there. I was like "SHIT! WHY TODAY??" Nevertheless, the discussions started with the CEO trying to sell the organizational values to the client. This was the point of time when I remembered my B2B professor! His famous statement of "Bahut drama hota hai sir ek room ke andar" was running in my mind ;). The selling continued with one of the senior folks continuing the talks after the CEO. It was then the turn for me to pitch in. By that time, all the really good values and a few existing problems were identified.
I started the presentation... the second slide and it was high level for the client! She was also new to the client organization and thus didn't have much of an idea of the operations. The CEO had to pitch in at this time and give a high level picture wrt the client organization. After a 15 minute session, I knew that I had to change the way I was presenting and had to thus skip a few slides which were probably irrelevant to the client. Then came the opportunity for me to sell. I sold with great passion by highlighting all the really nice parts of the business that we had done to bring down the operational expenses of the client. The client was happy and so was the CEO. Then started the real DRAMA! We had a few issues with the client organization and I was not really sure as to how to put it across since I hardly knew the client and she hardly knew us. But with the initial interactions, I was at least clear that she was pretty straight forward and meant business. I went around in a really diplomatic way in saying "U can be better so that the business will be better and we can offer more reliable and formidable solutions" (well not so bluntly though...). The hour long session finally ended with a lot of discussions and disagreements (at times) etc. Thanks to my CEO, he covered it up soooo very well! And at the end of it the client gave me a title of a "POLITICIAN" and the CEO and the senior folks said that I was good! Well... frankly speaking I didn't know how I made the difference but if they say I was good, then they should have had some points in the mind. I accepted it and moved on...
It was a really different world which I saw inside the board room. No cinema, no theater can beat it! ;) LOL... But then, that is how it is. That is how businesses work! That is how clients are got! It was a first direct experience for me. That is when I realized that an MBA will not make a difference. All it can do is just give a few guides here and there (esp to create high profile PPTs overnight ;)...). This is where I remembered my MBA mates who had told this to me on the Day 1 of my PG :)... But yes, probably if it was not for my MBA, I wouldn't have been in the meeting at all. So, there are pros and cons of everything... Makes sense to take only the pros :)
Hope to have more of such experiences in the near future...
It was supposed to be a high level presentation and a forum for discussions about what is good and what is BAD. Well well... the later part actually scared the shit out of me. It was my first presentation in front of a CEO who is expecting to click a business deal (probably) from the client. The morning of Jun 30th went very well. The CEO reviewed the presentation and had a mock session where the CEO made clear on his thought process about the presentation and the importance of it etc. With some minor changes in our approach, we were done with the mock! To my surprise, there were not many changes. So I spent the the rest 2 hours modifying it a bit and preparing for it...
It was 1:40 and I was in the board room checking the presentation if everything was in place. Suddenly one of senior fellows calls me and informs that the client will be there in 5 mins. Well, that is what I call punctuality! ;) (15 mins early to the meeting...). I had left my blazer at the third floor and I rushed to get that. Eventually I arrived 5 mins late to the meeting. I enter the board room to see the client, my CEO and a few more fellows sitting there. I was like "SHIT! WHY TODAY??" Nevertheless, the discussions started with the CEO trying to sell the organizational values to the client. This was the point of time when I remembered my B2B professor! His famous statement of "Bahut drama hota hai sir ek room ke andar" was running in my mind ;). The selling continued with one of the senior folks continuing the talks after the CEO. It was then the turn for me to pitch in. By that time, all the really good values and a few existing problems were identified.
I started the presentation... the second slide and it was high level for the client! She was also new to the client organization and thus didn't have much of an idea of the operations. The CEO had to pitch in at this time and give a high level picture wrt the client organization. After a 15 minute session, I knew that I had to change the way I was presenting and had to thus skip a few slides which were probably irrelevant to the client. Then came the opportunity for me to sell. I sold with great passion by highlighting all the really nice parts of the business that we had done to bring down the operational expenses of the client. The client was happy and so was the CEO. Then started the real DRAMA! We had a few issues with the client organization and I was not really sure as to how to put it across since I hardly knew the client and she hardly knew us. But with the initial interactions, I was at least clear that she was pretty straight forward and meant business. I went around in a really diplomatic way in saying "U can be better so that the business will be better and we can offer more reliable and formidable solutions" (well not so bluntly though...). The hour long session finally ended with a lot of discussions and disagreements (at times) etc. Thanks to my CEO, he covered it up soooo very well! And at the end of it the client gave me a title of a "POLITICIAN" and the CEO and the senior folks said that I was good! Well... frankly speaking I didn't know how I made the difference but if they say I was good, then they should have had some points in the mind. I accepted it and moved on...
It was a really different world which I saw inside the board room. No cinema, no theater can beat it! ;) LOL... But then, that is how it is. That is how businesses work! That is how clients are got! It was a first direct experience for me. That is when I realized that an MBA will not make a difference. All it can do is just give a few guides here and there (esp to create high profile PPTs overnight ;)...). This is where I remembered my MBA mates who had told this to me on the Day 1 of my PG :)... But yes, probably if it was not for my MBA, I wouldn't have been in the meeting at all. So, there are pros and cons of everything... Makes sense to take only the pros :)
Hope to have more of such experiences in the near future...
