Aircel- Product and Competitors

Product
There are four types of products Aircel deals in1.
2.
3.
4.

SIM Cards & First Recharge Coupon (FRC)

Paper Recharge Coupon
E Recharge
3G Internet Dongle

Aircel deals in sales in 3 levels which are1. Primary Sales- It is between company and distributors
2. Secondary Sales- It is between distributors and retailers
3. Tertiary Sales- It is between retailers and costumers (May or may not be consumer)

Competitor
Competitors of Aircel are other companies in telecom sector providing similar services,
namely, Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Docomo, Idea, BSNL and Telenor. Aircel has a competitive
edge on their competitors due to their low pricing. Main competitor in UP and Northern zone
is Telenor and Idea. Telenor in calling segment and Idea in internet segment. Telenor and
Aircel are neck to neck when it comes to providing cheaper call rates. One example is Aircel
offers a tariff pack for 30 p/min calling for 28 days in 11 while Telenor is providing the
same for 12.

Insight into a Day in life of a Salesperson of Aircel

The salesperson I accompanies was in-charge of dealing with salesperson of the company. He
was area head of Aircel UP East. He summarises the end of day report of each sales person
and keeps an eye on target given and target achieved and decides the agenda of next day.

Morning Reporting
In Aircel or I can say in telecom sector, there are no morning meetings but instead the agenda
for next day is decided one day in advance. The agenda for next day is decided at 9 PM - 11
PM a day before. But in case of any schemes being launched (ex- A bonus of 2 to retailers
for every sim sold), the announcement is made next day in the morning between 9 AM to 10
AM mainly due to two reasons. First being that retailers dont hoard SIM for next day when
they get extra and secondly the competitors cant know about this scheme and try to counter
it. The agenda or should I say target for the day is communicated to salesperson through
message on one of 28 WhatsApp groups which are made for very specific purposes.

Visit to Clients
Now for a salesperson of Aircel, there are normally 20 KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).
He has to achieve at least of 10 KPIs to be regarded as a good salesman. After the
agenda/targets are communicated to salesperson by senior managers, they plan their day
according to task assigned. Now two kinds of tasks can be assigned to a salesperson. One can
be to go to various dealers and retailers and try to push their product. This normally requires a
very good timing and an optimum combination of price and value to tempt them. There are
normally two kind of outlets, namely, UEO (Unique Easy Recharge Outlet) & UAO (Unique
Activated Outlet). For a successful sales deal to be closed, the salesperson has to keep in
mind that the retailers must receive a maximum NLC (Net Landing Cost) which depends
upon sim cost & FRC, over the air transfer (OTF) and schemes which have been discussed in
detail in next paragraph.
Other kind of task can be to push product related to some particular scheme. This job is
normally easier unless there is an inclination of retailer to some other rival company.
Salesman also has to prepare hand drawn or printed posters of schemes launched. This is a
part of their job and they are paid whatever input cost they incur in making of posters. This is
how customers are attracted to the offers and schemes launched. Schemes change at a rate of
3 scheme per day.

Evening Report
This report is submitted by each salesperson and manager to their superior. They sum up the
days sale of territory or people under them and report it to their superior on a WhatsApp
group which is made specifically for this purpose. This reporting is done on or before 12 AM
and not a minute later since 12 to 7 is time for resting and no ones disturbed unless there is
an emergency so they can be ready for next days target.

Key Learnings

Effective use of social media which is easily available at our disposal in effectively
communicating to superiors and juniors as well as colleagues.
How to handle of pressure of target since the target achieved is checked every hour in
Aircel.
How to pitch a product to a retailer in telecom so that we can tempt him.
A clear insight into telecom sector and how day to day operations are carried out
there.
How to make quick decisions and at the same time, effective ones. (Last minute
decisions taken in order to counter the schemes launched by competitors which
company becomes aware of from official as well as unofficial sources).
How to execute a plan effectively and timely.
How to be subtle and firm at the same time while handling the customers.