Salesman Calling

The week saw us donning the hats of market surveyors. Students of different groups went out for market surveys of different products as part of a marketing assignment. Some were interrogators, some mere observers. Some were roaming vegetable markets, some TV showrooms whereas others were checking out second hand bookstores.

I belonged to a lucky group who had to survey TV buyers. Or so I thought! Lucky because we had the air conditioning working in our favor which probably the vegetable market guys were sorely missing. But then it is peak summer with IPL in full swing. We ventured out in the afternoon hoping to catch up some sleep later. But alas, empty showrooms greeted us. After spending two full hours of general loitering, better sense prevailed and we soon beat a retreat to the dorms.

The second session was planned in the evening and this time we could see some light at the end of the tunnel. We sneaked into a showroom and caught hold of an unsuspecting customer the moment he signed across the dotted line. Though taken aback, he seemed to be sympathetic and the IIM badge also helped to an extend. However, the store manager had another opinion of the whole affair. He intervened hastily and made sure we shifted our rendezvous to a suitable spot outside of the store in question. Nevertheless, we could complete our survey and returned with a handful of data to ponder over. The egos were busted in the process and the respect for salesmen in general took a significant boost.