Chalo Bazaar - Not to shop but to 'Sell'

On July 10th, the entire non-sales staff of Frito-Lay India got on to the streets. Don’t worry they weren’t doing any demonstrations or burning effigies. They were out there to work along with our sales executives sweating out in the scorching heat to sell the products and to bring some excitement in their otherwise monotonous lives. A truly commendable moment in the history of Frito-Lay India. All employees including our Managing Director left their air-conditioned offices and were working in the market place, talking to customers, checking the availability of the products, discussing with stockists, putting up racks, listening to shop owner’s grievances, chatting with consumers and helping the sales guys load - unload the stock. 80% of our corporate office staff devoted 800 manhours in a single day to meet their day's target which was 4 times higher than of a normal day. Every 5 minutes the cell phone would beep with a SMS flashing a victory that an employee has made either to open a new account or moving up the sales or to have introduced a new outlet to do away with the competition product.
Manjari our Executive Trainee from R&D shares her experience on “Chalo Bazaar Day” . Here's a picture of Manjari look alike.

Everyone on the street was staring at me. I got on to the tempo (a three wheeled vehicle being used to carry the stock to markets).When tempo picked up the speed I was afraid of rolling down on the road. I was equally apprehensive about the sale of the products and meeting the target. With these situations I started my venture for the Chalo Bazaar Day. However little did I know that all my worries would culminate into an evening when I really felt and wanted to speak out to my mom with the words like “mummy I have grown up, have become responsible, and have tasted the real struggle of fieldwork and bla bla bla……………. . Wanna know why…….go ahead.

Entire staff had started talking about the Chalo Bazaar Day (CBD) since Tuesday. I received information about the area I needed to work in and also got the two forms, but was not clear what I have to do with them. The real bombshell was when I came to know that the target was 4 times than that of a Route Sale Agent’s regular target. Now, that seemed impossible more so for a girl…….sorry a lady (have grown up friends……) who has been into restaurants and malls as a fastidious customer. But I did take it as a challenge.

I reached Rohini, Sector-8 at 10:30, an hour late against the scheduled time………….Was a little tensed about getting late (new employee…impression…seriousness…etc etc…) but came to know that Meenu (my colleague) and I were one of the first people to reach there among others. I heaved a sigh of relief. My distributor was a perfect gentleman. He went to bring his car for us so that we feel comfortable. That was very nice of him but somehow it could not materialize. Then came the unforgettable part. I popped on a tempo for the first time in my life. Scare, embarrassment, fun, laughter…………emotions poured over me.

I sold lots of Cheetos “Ben 10” packs and also Quakers (picture)…convinced Panwalas and Kirana men that all of it will be sold and not to worry……………Guys believe it, I hadn’t planned anything……. and I was planning the stuffs instantaneously. The tough part was to handle the complaints of shopkeepers and retailers. Knowing that I have come from the corporate office, shopkeepers and retailers shared there problems about stock unavailability, racks, margins, discounts etc with me which I very diligently noted down and assured them that these will be taken forward with the head office.

Another interesting part of my day was a cute little fight I witnessed between two perspective consumers about our two new flavors. A little boy around 5 years of age was fighting with his father to buy Saif’s Spunky Pomento (Saif seems to be hit with kids now-a-days with his movies catching up with little ones very successfully) whereas his father who seemed to be a die hard Dhoni fan was insisting on buying Dhoni’s Balsmic Blast. A perfect example of on- the- ground activation of our campaign “FFF – Fight For Flavor”. I just smiled at my RSA when both of them ended up buying both the flavors. It’s a delight seeing consumers loving our product!!

CONGO…………..My hard work as a seller of my products really paid……How?????? Guys I sold products worth staggering Rs. 10,000 against the set target of Rs. 5500……..nearly double. No I am not faking, friends, it’s true. At the end of the day when I was reverting back to the distributors point where everybody was eagerly waiting for the target feedback I saw our RSA, Pawan,very hardworking, poor fellow had to sit on a metal platform the whole day because there was not a place for him to sit.

Guys, there are no free lunches in life and one has to work hard for getting his fish. I have got this philosophy well embedded in me, thanks to the CBD. Well not ending with a philosophy stuffed notes, I should add that I will look forward to such opportunities yet again. But for now……….let’s enjoy some new kurkure “tedha hai par mera hain”…………………he he he…and be a little naughty with our new “Naughty Tomato” flavor