It is the season of deals!

The post-monsoon period in India signals the arrival of festivals, with every part of India out in the open after months of torrential rain. While the rains gods in the past was the lifeline for an agricultural economy, the mood in the country is still dictated by the volume (and timing) of rain received across the country. And, if the spell is good enough (as this year is largely projected to be), then the upbeat mood makes the festive fervour stronger. This year, the added element is the supposed calm that vaccination has brought to tame the scourge of Covid-19. While there is still a lurking anxiety over the likely emergence of the third-wave of the pandemic, there is greater belief that the blight can be controlled.

Adding to the festivity is the torrent of shopping deals with every storefront welcoming you with large posters screaming 'SALE!'. And, in the virtual world that has become so familiar to us in the pandemic, E-sellers compete intensely to grab your attention – with click baits galore waiting to trip you up. Oh, what a world of plenty that we live in!

This begs the question, has Selling changed? Supposedly, the Sales function was the ultimate refuge for the non-technical, sharp-talking man who couldn't possibly fit in the factory. The classical myth is of the salesman who had loads of stamina, a sharp nerve and a loquacious personality, which was employed to smooth-talk someone to buy a product. Thankfully, that caricature has been blown to smithereens with the realisation that this vital revenue producing arm of a business needed savvy individuals (both men and women) who could build relationships with the customer. From mere information transfer from a buyer to a seller, we understand today that the professional salesperson requires a set of skills to craft an enduring rapport that can withstand minor tremors that are but natural in any association. Besides, the salesperson is no longer a purveyor of half-truths in the quest for a quick transaction. Today he is an active listener who delves deep to uncover latent and unresolved needs that the customer is troubled by, and seeks to resolve them with a carefully developed set of products or services.

To those who think that selling is an esoteric art that only a few can employ, it would be wise to heed the words of the respected author, Daniel Pink, that 'anytime we persuade someone to act; we are selling.' In his interesting book, 'To sell is human', Pink emphasises that we are all in Sales. While the style, method of interaction, and offering, will vary according to the industry, the underlying principles are largely the same. In a world where generic knowledge is freely available (think Wikipedia), a professional salesperson has to skilfully find ways to connect with his prospect. Be it direct selling to individual customers (B2C) or to an institution (B2B), the need to be in synch with the customer's wave-length is a prerequisite. In Pink's word, attunement is essential for a meeting of minds. And, once a balance is achieved and a common channel of communication is created, comfortable conversation can flow. With an avenue of exploration thus created, there is an opportunity to get clarity on the issues that needs to be addressed.

The wonders of technology have created multiple tools for business today. The intent of a business is to reduce the transaction time by making information accessible to the customer (a website is a good substitute to the physical catalogue); offer easy and any-time access to a product (think e-commerce); a variety of payment options (even loans can be provided online); and, doorstep delivery (the seller takes care of the logistics). However, take a look at the underlying process in this chain. The success of this business transaction still depends on the creation of a relationship of trust between the seller and the buyer, perhaps even more necessary than ever when one operates in a virtual world.

A good firm underplays the bells and whistles of the technology they employ, and focuses on the essentials. Building a foundational basis of trust is vital for ongoing interaction, as the quintessence of business is continuity. No firm wants to begin a daily hunt for customers. Instead, they want to farm customers by offering comfort to them, so that in return they stay loyal to their business. Thus an edifice is created, reducing overheads and generating profitability.

It is easy to miss the wood for the trees when a new wave of excitement sweeps us away. Technological innovations are dazzling us as they are truly marvellous creations. Nevertheless, once we remove the clutter, the fundamentals of commerce remain unchanged: business happens when the buyer is satisfied by a seller's offering, and pays a mutually agreed fee. And, the role of the salesperson? Bring into play, in Daniel Pink's words, 'the ability to move others to exchange what they have for what we have.'

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Sunil Chaturvedi was the former Director Marketing of NMIMS University and the Director of Pharma Network in SVKM NMIMS University in charge of placements in all SVKM & NMIMS University's Pharma Schools.

Previously in his career, he was associated as the Vice President – Domestic sales of Agrochemicals, Seeds & Specialty Fertilizers business in Tata Rallis and was the Vice President – Marketing & Sales, at DoctorAnywhere.Com, the Telemedicine Division of Ruksun Technologies - Pune, connecting doctors practicing in rural India with specialists in urban areas, for specialized second opinions.

Sunil Chaturvedi was also associated with Lupin Laboratories and Rallis Pharmaceutical Division as General Manager – Marketing & Sales and in Merind Limited, a Tata company (formerly Merck Sharp & Dohme USA), where he served for 29 years, heading its Human Health Division. In Rallis, he was part of the turnaround team responsible for radical initiatives involving the sales & marketing team's learning & growth, policies & processes, customer engagement & service levels, thus improving the quality of sales for profitable growth. Having worked in practically all districts of India, he has over 50 years of rich experience and expertise in managing large field forces across different industries, from Pharmaceuticals, IT, Agribusiness, Academia & Consulting, and is currently a Business Consultant with Team Productivity Consultants Ltd.

He is a Graduate from Lucknow University and 3TP from IIM-A.

Gillian Tett, an award-winning FT journalist and former anthropologist, heads the FT's American editorial board, and is the author of "Anthro-Vision," a book about how anthropology can be applied in business. The author has specialised in this subject in which she has a PhD. from Cambridge University.

She is a frequent speaker at Davos. Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, turned to her for recommendations on ethnographic monographs when he wanted to broaden his understanding of markets.

According to Gillian, bankers think only like bankers, economists like economists, doctors like doctors, techies like techies. They lack "lateral vision", without which they commit avoidable blunders of policy and perception.

Gillian claims that anthropology - with its empathy for strangers, principles of listening to someone else's view, and emphasis on seeing "what is hidden in plain sight"- is an antidote to tunnel vision.

She describes many examples of how she has been able to see around corners, for which she consistently credits her anthropological training.

Thus differentiated, wide-angle lens approach can be rewarding, as Gillian Tett discovered in 2006. Something was amiss in her familiar world in the city of London, the financial nerve centre of the world. No one was paying attention to the fast-expanding world of derivatives, replete with acronyms like CDO (Collateralised Debt Obligation) or CDS (Credit Default Swaps) because it was complex and dull. None of the financiers knew what was going on or had assessed the risks; they only knew parts of the puzzle. The bankers were busy making money hand over fist, and that was all that mattered.

Gillian applied the skills she acquired studying the marriage rituals of Tajikistan to her conversations with the bankers asking open questions, assuming nothing to make the familiar strange. For all their globe-trotting and global views, the financiers were no less insular than Tajik matrons with whom Gillian worked earlier in the field. They were, she says, a close-knit tribe "with little external scrutiny" who "could not see whether their creations were spinning out of control" - which they were, as the financial collapse of 2008 was to confirm.

Through a series of sharp, critical articles, Gillian exposed what was going on and effectively predicted the financial crisis of 2007-2008.

Gillian Tett reminds us throughout the book that 'we need to make the 'strange familiar' and the 'familiar strange' and take in a worm's-eye view by paying close attention to the world around us.'

For example, economists would think beyond money and markets (and also acknowledge that the ancient practice of barter is, as she asserts, "a pillar of the modern tech economy"). Asset managers would see how their tribalism worsens risk. Techies might want to reflect on how their "reverence for efficiency, innovation, and Darwinian competition" can seem amoral to others.

Tett believes that anthropology and ethnographic practice will help all of us, general readers, anthropologists and specialists in the following ways.

1. We cultivate a mindset of empathy for strangers and value diversity
2. Listening to someone else's view, however, "strange," does not just teach compassion for others; it also makes it easier to see yourself.
3. Enables us to see blind spots in others and ourselves.

This book makes a compelling case for the value of anthropology in business and far beyond.

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