2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 3,800 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 6 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

ATML and Standardized Data Exchange

Recently I came across a situation in automated test setting which clearly demonstrated how lack of standardized data exchange can drive up cost and cause significant delays.

As it is demonstrated above lack of standardized ATE and test information data exchange among companies and their suppliers and OEMs contributes significant overhead costs to manufactured products. Luckily for these organizations a new XML-based standard for ATE and test information data exchange, known as Automated Test Markup Language (ATML), is emerging with widespread support among test and measurement industry leaders as well as major government programs. With the emerging promise of ATML as a test and measurement industry XML standard, some leading vendors already have begun implementing ATML capabilities into their products and test solutions.

Marketing Monster 2011 in review

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,100 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 3 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Online Stores in India

Many were looking for a list. There are many more, I will update the list frequently.

Store	Type
Yebhi.com	Apparel
Myntra.com	Apparel
Ebay.in	Auctions
Carwale.com	Automobiles
Flipkart.com	Books, DVDs, Electronics
Tolmol.com	Books, DVDs, Electronics
Infibeam.com	Books, DVDs, Electronics
Quikr.com	Classifieds
Olx.com	Classifieds
Sulekha.com	Classifieds
Letsbuy.com	Computer, Electronics
Naaptol.com	Computer, Electronics
Snapdeal.com	Daily deals
Dealsandyou.com	Daily deals
Fashionandyou.com	Luxury
99acres.com	Real estate
Magicbricks.com	Real estate
Futurebazaar.com	Superstore

I will come up with a comparison and an analysis of the segment soon.

Network-based Marketing

Network based marketing

•High tech market trends are driven by influencers

•Influencers can be senior executives in large firms, association leaders or online network owners

•Engage Them-> Recognize Them -> Get Enriched (Grow Business)

Building a Market Research Machinery for Indian Market

If you are a company planning to come up with new products consistently you have to setup a strong machinery for Market Research. Market Research enables two things-> validates & improves the idea and create a strong sales funnel.

 Market Research can be categorized into the following ways:

- Email forms

- Landing page/Polls

- Cold calling

- Cold visits

B2B – Email, Calling & visits

B2C – Email, Polls, Landing Page

Email Forms/Polls

Probably the easiest to do but also the least effective. All you need is to create a form using the online tools like google form/ surveymonkey and other umpteen tools. Mail it across to email ids you personally collected/ bought from a website/ post it in a Linkedin/Facebook/other on line communities. Collect the feedback, collate it and infer results.

Landing Page

Setup a landing page with a poll or form. Do SEO/viral marketing for your page, get people to come to your page and make them fill a form/ vote on a poll or sign up for a newsletter/beta/update. A little difficult considering that you have to pull users than push a form. But if people sign up for your beta/release update that is a good sign.

Cold Calling

First thing you have to do prepare a script. You need to get the person’s attention in first 30 seconds. So have a very well scripted pitch. Customize it for different segments if required. Also script the desired outcome because this will ensure a better outcome for the call especially if you are going to delegate it to someone else. While product managers should design and validate the market research plan and tools it will be a good idea to make a pool of employees, one from each team (sales, development & operations) to take up phone MR. One should also undertake a brief pre-call research of the client. This is effective and also saves on time and traveling cost especially when you cant be sure whether you will get a hearing during your cold visit.

Cold Visits/Interviews

A cold visit or interview is the most effective market research tool. Not only it helps you ask more spontaneous questions and more engagement from user, it helps in getting a real commitment from a potential client. Most of the things which are required for cold calling are also true for cold visits. Carry a printout or a tablet which has the product presentation. If a demo is available skip the presentation and do the demo and let your client talk. Don’t forget to carry your visiting card. Do your homework which includes all the things I have mentioned above. Think of it more as a conversation than you trying to ask them a list of questions – you will get more information (sometimes unexpected surprising insights, if you listen). Also if the interview is boring you it’s probably boring the other person: you are not learning anything and they are unlikely to agree to another one. If the primary outcome from the interview is that you have a much better understanding of a prospect’s operating reality-and you have been a good listener-this certainly opens the door to a follow on conversation. Consider interview not as a transaction but as the start of an ongoing dialog.

Preparing for the ‘First Job’ interviews

No matter how senior you are in your career, an interview always gives you blues; especially if you are in a situation where you need to change the job. Given that, we can easily assume that for a fresher attending an interview for his first job gives the biggest blues. And first job is a very important event in life which can influence the rest of your life.

Before any interview you should have the belief that you are good enough for the job being offered. You have to believe that you can do a better job than anybody else who is applying for the same job. Once you are confident, the right answers, the right gestures will come to you by default. There was a period in my life where I couldn’t convert any of the interviews I attended. I was worried about another interview which was scheduled and my friend asked me why I should be worried as my resume is much stronger and more suitable for the job than anyone else. I went with the same belief to the interview and I got the job with a coveted private equity firm. On hindsight my resume was not very different from others who had applied for the same job. It was my belief that I am better which helped me get the job. Since then I have never walked out of an interview without a job.

One thing which can win over any panel member is passion for the segment in which the prospective employer operates. I remember being asked in my interview with a leading MNC in internet space, why I want to join them rather than accepting an offer I had from a better paying company which operates in the same field as my last employer and where my engineering degree is more relevant. My answer was I just love what the company does and I spent most of my time reading and tracking what is happening in online space. That answer got me the job.

Another important aspect is to rightly gauge the person who is taking your interview. There is no one size fits all solution for interviews. Your approach should differ from person to person. You should be able to judge that in first 3 minutes of the interview. Some like people who are honest in answers while being very open about your plans might land up in trouble with some. Many like you taking control of the interview while there are panelists for whom interview is like an opportunity to demonstrate their own knowledge.

But you can’t put all the advice into practice without preparation. Getting the right practice at right time is very critical. Equally important is being able to track your own performance across interviews and take necessary steps to improve aspects where you are lacking. Feedback from the right people is also essential. The best place to get feedback from is an alumnus from same industry or organization.