Data and India: The Superpower Philips Needs

Akshay – My next question is for you Varun, what prompted you to start your journey with Bizom?

Varun – See, there were several factors we were evaluating.

One was the overall industry knowledge, how strong they are on data analytics, that was our primary need because we wanted real-time analytics and how fast we can deliver. How customization or how flexible the solution are.

But at the same time, when we evaluate any IT platform, we do a very detailed assessment. We also look at security, their overall consumer experience and there was also a requirement around having a mobile application and so on. So it was a thorough evaluation before we decided to go for Bizom.

Akshay – Varun, as a leader in the IT domain, how would you say retail intelligence impacts the Indian retail industry at large?

Varun – See, it has a transformative impact. In fact, today morning, I was looking at one of the articles in Mint, where they had published the insights from Bizom, and where they were talking about how the inflation has really impacted the consumer buying behaviour during Diwali, how the industry has performed as compared to last year. So, until and unless you have digitalization and intelligence, you cannot draw these inferences. And as a brand, you cannot perform in the market. So it’s very important.

Akshay – Vikram, here’s a fun question for you. As a Bizom user, which three dashboards are your favourite?

Vikram – Well, I would say all of them, but if you ask three, the first would be the secondary achievement on a day-to-day basis against the target that we have. Second is the distribution health, which means analyzing the data retailer depth, what CTNs billed, how many CTNs billed, what is the current coverage, right? The third is the team productivity, so team performance on the go.

Akshay – Another question for you Vikram, how do consumer durables companies sell differently from FMCG companies?

Vikram – I started my career with FMCG company. You also know the kind of retail universe that an FMCG company has, right? And with FMCD, the retail universe is obviously not that vast. Also, the consumer here in FMCD, while purchasing a durable item looks for the solution. Which means he’ll be spending more time in the shop assessing the products and evaluating it and then making a decision of buying it. Which means that the impact of a retailer, of what retailer says is high.

Our focus in FMCD is more on the relationship with the retailer, right? And that is long-lasting; how we really engage with them. So that when the Philips person is not there, the retailer becomes the promoter for your brand, and that’s the perception a consumer carries with him when he goes back and then he used the product, so it’s different.

One example that I would give, in FMCG generally the field-force covers 25 to 30 outlets generally or maybe more than that in a day. While with FMCD, it is only 10 to 12 per day, which means they are spending more time inside the shop and working on the relationship with the retailer, and then talking about the business. So that’s the process that is being followed here. So yes, there is a lot of difference between FMCD and FMCG way of working.

Akshay – The next one is for both of you. Since the time Philips has been using Bizom, what kind of efficiency and impact have you experienced?

Varun – See, as an IT business partner, it’s very important for us to have the right ROI from any solution we deploy, so adoption is a key thing. So initially, we leveraged your evangelization services to really drive the adoption. Also, as we move along, as we deploy the solution, there will be a lot of continuous improvements. So we were able to make a lot of changes to the solution as the things evolved. Also, along with your team, we had developed a very clear roadmap in terms of what are the new technology which we need to bring over the next few years.

Vikram – Well for me, it’s the productivity. What I can see is that the productivity has increased after Bizom coming in. That has helped us in growing in secondary.

The other thing that I see is the coverage which has grown, and not only the coverage has grown, our throughput per store has also grown. So, which means along with productivity, our coverage and our throughput per store is growing. And overall we are growing in secondary, and that is helping us.

Akshay – With Bizom’s outcome-driven retail intelligence solution, is there any particular tool, capability or functionality, that you would be keen on implementing to chase the company’s business goals for the next few years?

Varun – See, in general, in India, the eCommerce penetration is low as compared to developed economies and the government is currently bringing ONDC. So that’s one of the spaces I personally want to watch and see how it pans out.

Vikram – Akshay, for me, it is the Retailer app that I want to be working along with Varun, in the future. A retailer app can help us engage better with the retailer and understand what his needs are. Along with that, I would also love to have something on suggested orders from the customers. That would also help.

Akshay – So we are going to end this chat with a rapid-fire. Varun, we will start with you. Top three books you would recommend for future leaders.

Varun – Okay, the list is long, but let me pick three of my personal favorites.

One is my all-time favourite Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. One of the recent books which I read, which had a great influence on me is Robin Sharma’s The 5 AM Club. And then the all-time classic from Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People.

Akshay – One of the best examples of information technology that you use in your daily life.

Varun – So I use smartwatch to collect a lot of data around how much I walk, how much I jog on a weekly basis, and that is something which I analyze to take care of my health.

Akshay – One tip on work-life balance?

Varun – Start early in the day and avoid multi-tasking. Devote a dedicated chunk of time to get something done.

Akshay – Vikram, you’re up next. What’s the one thing people should do daily to become a leader in sales?

Vikram – Well, it’s not an overnight thing for sure. But yes, following the processes, and being patient. Be true to yourself in what you do. The bigger thing is that you always keep learning and always taking decisions which are data-based. So these are the five critical things for me.

Akshay – How do you tackle a bad sales day?

Vikram – Uh, well I don’t take the bad days very seriously. What I try to do is I try to learn what or where we really did not do well, right? Make the action plans accordingly, and implement them.

Akshay – Complete the sentence. Data is a superpower when ___________.

Vikram – It is quick and easy to access, and you can take timely decisions basis that.

Akshay – That was fun. All right, that’s a wrap folks. Thank you so much for joining us for this exciting conversation on Data and India: The Superpower Philips Needs. As a Philips consumer, I really had a great time understanding more about the business. Thank you so much, Vikram and Varun.

Vikram – Thanks, Akshay. It was fun indeed.

Vikram – Thanks, Akshay. That was a great interaction.

Akshay – Thanks for listening in, guys. Stay tuned for the next story.