As a part of Jaipuria Institute of Management’s strong industry interface programme, Mr. Vishal Khanna, Marketing Manager at Reliance Infocom, shared his expert knowledge of consumer behaviour with students and faculty at the Jaipuria Noida campus. The event was set in the backdrop of the recent placement of two interns from Jaipuria Noida with Reliance Infocom for the summer training programme.
Showing keen insight into the consumer’s decision-making process, Mr. Khanna took the future managers from Jaipuria Noida through the entire consumer behaviour process. This included how a consumer decides onproduct specifications, how he searches for suppliers, seeks proposal solicitation, carries out selection and finally, carries out post-purchase evaluation.
Mr. Khanna made his talk interesting by sharing many real life situations faced by him and his company with the students of Jaipuria Noida. “The actual study of consumer behaviour begins only when the consumer seeks proposal solicitation. With time, consumer behaviour has become a very complex process that is highly researched, and is critical for the success of a product and a company,” he said.
In an interactive way, Mr. Khanna discussed a number of case studies with the youngsters of Jaipuria Noida, which showed how consumer behaviour varied from department to department even within the same organisation.
“There are a number of reasons for this. Some of these are: difference in perceptions of departments involved, conflict – technical versus commercial, cost reduction versusincreasing efficiency – which is pretty much Finance versus HR. The role of individuals also has a part to play in consumer behaviour.”
Mr. Khanna’s talk covered all aspects of consumer behaviour, from the reasons behind different buying behaviour for same product, to challenges faced in selling products to the corporate buyer as well as the retail customer. He brought out various examples of how companies try to overcome these challenges, particularly through communications aimed at the target consumer. Step by step, Mr. Khanna took the aspiring managers at Jaipuria Noida through the process of the creation and implementation of a ‘Brand Recall Strategy.’
“By the time you pass out from Jaipuria Noida, you will know that the one who knows his consumer, and has studied the nature and requirements of his consumer well, is most likely to win the deal,” concluded Mr. Vishal Khanna, Marketing Manager, Reliance Infocom.
“I feel absolutely in touch with the industry now,” said Mohammed of the 2011-13 batch of Jaipuria Noida. “Thanks to our faculty at Jaipuria, we knew most of the terminology used by Mr. Vishal Khanna, and were able to make sense of what he was saying. It was great to learn from the experience of such a senior manager at Reliance Infocom.”
With two of their peers placed with Reliance Infocom this year for summer internships and the valuable industry interface with Mr. Vishal Khanna, students of Jaipuria Noida feel that this is just the beginning of a long-term relationship between Jaipuria Noida and Reliance Infocom.