Factory – Not Charity – And Time For NUEGA
Widely lauded for putting more money in the hands of India's vast rural population, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) provides guaranteed employment of 100 days per year to the…
Of Black Swans And White Tigers
I can easily understand Alex Gross's complaint with the Seattle zoo where he takes his son in James Patterson's novel London Bridges since my family and I have faced similar…
Season’s Greetings!
Talk of Many Things wishes its readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2010. Apart from WordPress on whose popular blogging platform this blog is built, let me…
Embrace Voicemail Messages To Trigger Action
In India, it's customary for people to take calls on their mobile phones even when they're busy in meetings or while they're driving - most often only to tell the…
Mass Brands Can Acquire – And Retain – Customers Of Class Brands In This Recession
If there's one thing that's different about this recession from the ones before, it's the permanent shift of customers from premium to value brands. In a recent report, McKinsey says that…
Credit Cards Don’t Lead To Overspending
Retailers incur a cost for accepting credit cards from their consumers. Known by various names like 'merchant discount' and 'swipe fee', it is usually levied as a percentage of the sale value…
McDonald’s Is Number 1, But It Still Tries Harder
Unlike Hertz, which didn't or couldn't stop Avis a few years ago from making a credible claim to "try harder" because it was the #2 in the car rental business, McDonald's…
Mobile Subscribers Will Vote With Their Handsets, err… Wallets
I recently inquired with my mobile network operator how I could opt for one of their newly announced per second billing plans - assuming, of course, that I'd find one of…
You Can’t Do Without Cold Calling Although You Can Do It Better – Part 2
In Part-1 of this post, we'd seen why you can't do without cold calling if you're in the B2B technology business with relatively large ticket sizes (>$100K per deal) and narrowly defined target…
You Can’t Do Without Cold Calling Although You Can Do It Better – Part 1
Frustrated with rejections on a daily basis, salespersons have been seeking out alternatives for years to cold calling for generating leads. In former times, the search used to be from…