Sporting Success

“I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”.. Robert F. Kennedy

Well, Anil Kumar did some sorts of that when he returned to India in 2004 after a 7 years of stint in the US with Wipro & Ramco.

India was on its 9%+ GDP growth trajectory, the middle-class was booming. Though not exactly a sports-crazy nation, but increased disposable income, global exposure thanks to satellite TV & changing aspirations found a nation wanting more in sports and thereby, more in sports infrastructure.

Great Sports Infra (GSI) saw an opportunity and moved in with alacrity.  In 2004, when India knew only about AstroTurf® (at that time exclusively used for Hockey and needing enormous amount of watering), GSI introduced new-generation artificial grass that didn’t need a single drop of water and was maintenance free! Soon it expanded its Service Offerings by adding synthetic athletic tracks, multi-sports surfaces, inter-locking modular sports flooring and other variants of indoor and outdoor sports facilities to its repertoire.

For the cricket-crazy country that India is, it came up with an innovative solution to enable swift removal  of water from the outfield the moment it starts raining, so that the field will be ready to play as soon as it stops raining, saving hundreds of millions in lost revenue & more importantly, ..bringing back smiles on the millions of fan-faces! J

In a period spanning a little over a decade, it achieved many ‘firsts’ to its credit:

·         India’s first FIFA certified artificial grass football field (Salt Lake  

          Stadium, Kolkata)

·         India’s first ever artificial turf football field

·         India’s largest indoor sports flooring (Govt of Gujrat)

·         World’s largest artificial turf rooftop (Govt. of Gujarat- Mahatma Mandir)

·         Golf academy, (Hamoni Golf Camp, Gurgaon)

The man behind this spectacular growth story, Mr. Anil Kumar, a first generation entrepreneur with an Engineering and MBA background and later an Executive Development Program from Kellogg, is a dapper, soft-spoken professional with many accolades. He is a regular speaker in various forums on sports and entrepreneurship including FICCI, CII & TiE. He was a national level sportsperson in track & field and Handball, a legacy he rightfully leveraged in the inception and growth of GSI.  

Future perfect:

With 5,500+ sports & landscaping sites in 7 countries in S. Asia and E. Africa, 8 Million+ sq. ft. of artificial grass and sports surfaces and with a market share of 45%, GSI is poised for an exponential growth and could be joining the big league of Rs. 100 crore+ within a couple of years. It can play a pivotal role in the burgeoning Indian sport ecosystem and thereby nurturing a much-needed sports culture in India! Aligned with its mission and strong sense of corporate social responsibility, I won’t be surprised if in near future GSI adopts few schools/colleges where sports is still considered a luxury!!

Selling 101..(but not Zig Ziglar!)

Congratulations!

You’re in the most critical business function of organization and that is “SELLING”!

Let’s face it, unless you bring in revenue, all other things will come to a grinding halt!

You’re going to make (break is not the option) it to a stupendous success!

So be immensely proud of yourself!!!

And don’t be tense too..

Because we all have done some selling, many a times, even inadvertently, right from the childhood. (Remember how you convinced your Papa for buying that glitzy bike as your birthday gift :-?)

And you know what, selling hasn’t changed a bit. No matter what tons of tomes say about all those changing paradigms and blah, blah! After all, it is just the inter-personal relationship stupid..!!

How quickly you can strike a chord with a total stranger, determines how quickly you can convert a prospect into a customer. It also separates the men from the boys in the challenging selling field!!!

And in today’s always-connected, so-shrunk world, there are no strangers. Utilize social media wisely before you meet a prospect. Search on Google/Facebook/LinkedIn/Twitter & you’re bound to know the softer side of that person, his/her hobbies, interest, passion, something which you need to bring into your conversation seamlessly & you will see the glint in his eyes! Gotcha!!

I remember my B-school’s dean’s famous saying here, “You should be able to talk to your CEO’s wife for 5 minutes”.. Think over it. What it means is, you should be so well-read & articulate that you’re able to hold the attention span of CEO’s wife, without sounding timid or currying for some favor or flirting!

If you can make the other person comfortable with your demeanor & communication, you have almost won the battle!  Mindshare to wallet-share comes next..!!