Designations change all the time, because everybody is doing everything. And Saugatha Chatterjee aka Soggy (36) is no exception. From a management trainee with Coats Viyella in 1993 to business head for their international retail and sourcing consulting division, Intrad, Soggy has come up the grassroots way.
At his next stop, Walt Disney India, he became the national group product manager. And today, he is a member of The International Association of Business Leaders Inc, New Bern, and USA, besides heading Interaxons Consulting, a collaborative customer relationship management services firm for brands like Levi’s, Nike, Pepsi, Peter England, and many more. “My core competency has been business development,” says Soggy, who has been part of three start-ups. “First was Coats Viyella’s international retail division Intrad and the next was launching and managing all the retail outlets of Walt Disney.”
It was all work and no play. “I set up Intrad from one room on MG Road and later occupied office space in the 11th floor of Manipal Centre,” says Soggy. “Marks & Spencers, Littlewoods and British Home Store were some of our clients.”
Many myths came unstuck along the way. “That sales is not typical hard sell… you can’t sell a product to a person who doesn’t need it. Because, you are not adding value… it’s the worst thing that can happen to a sales person.”
Customer relationship is as crucial. “When I was working as a sales representative in Bihar, I made many friends. When I became the branch manager, I saw the value of those relationships,” says Soggy. “Today, we are building a business around customer relationship.”
Belief is a by-word in business. “You have to believe in what you are doing fully. A con job is not long standing.”
And nothing that’s satisfying is easy. “Start-ups are a great kick; you really have the freedom to create. It’s quite chilling and scary, too. But when you are doing something new, there’s a great sense of achievement.”
There are many rules of the game. “You have to be adaptable to the changes. You must be able to see the opportunity emerge from the periphery of your vision; focus and morph yourself for a better tomorrow.”
At Walt Disney, the same logic stood up to its full height. “My job was to manage both the supply and demand chain,” says Soggy. “Who to source the merchandise from; decide the range and prices; talk to franchisees; award licences and set up new stores.”
Essentially, it was selling a concept. “On one side, we were selling licences to manufacturers and on the other, licensing franchisees to sell the Disney products from Titan, Levi’s and such licensees.”
It was out of the box thinking. “We had to think from scratch at Walt Disney,” says Soggy. “It’s the entire India concept where Walt Disney put its own money to set up Mickey & Pals outlets across the country to show companies that it works to be our franchisee.”
Post Disney, Soggy’s business plan on personalisation of entertainment secured provisional part funding. “It was one of the four business plans from India for the Business Plan Corporation in Singapore and one of the 50 from Asia.”
While the deal didn’t go through, it was all for the good. “I met HR Kiran, who is now my partner,” says Soggy. “Previously with ICICI, he brings completely different domain knowledge on finance and operations.”
And Soggy, a business management postgraduate from the Xavier Labour Relations Institute in Jamshedpur, set up Interaxons. The mantra is to mine data from affiliated stores across the city and understand the customer at various points of contact. “Earlier, you used to either differentiate the product or the price, now the only way to attain a competitive edge is to understand the customer better and build a more lasting bond.”
And that’s exactly what his job is all about. “If you buy at any of our affiliated stores, you get an Axon Card. It’s a privilege card at no charge. But what you get are discounts, offers and rewards.”
To date, more than 15,000 Bangaloreans are already hooked to Axon and 25 brands are associating themselves in this data collaboration exercise. “By March, card holders can take part in workshops, camps and spas at the best possible rates,” says Soggy. “It could even be an evening at The Pinch of Jazz.”
And when he is not building a community of consumers given to a branded lifestyle, Soggy is amidst a wide network of friends at watering holes like Pecos. When that is not enough, he lends his ear to Indian classical, jazz, rock and old Hindi film music. “I also string the guitar and read a lot of science fiction.”
(Published in City Reporter, 2003)