They greet you with a namaste, give you utmost importance and are ready to ‘help you’ – sometimes with a forced smile on their young, eager faces. Meet young boys and girls who are routinely hired by big brands in plush malls, glitzy showrooms and snazzy marketplaces, as salespersons for their products.
But behind the gloss of sparkling shelves stocking premium brands and halogen spotlights lies a sad, if not sorry, tale of youngsters who are pushing companies’ sales at ground level but see very few growth prospects when it comes to their own careers.
These youngsters are typically graduates, undergrads or those who have only completed 10+2 but have little or no skill sets otherwise. They normally seek work in these places to become an earning hand for their families owing to financial backwardness.
Once hired by big outlets, they are given basic training about products in the stores, told to use a few words of English and they are ready to take on the world. More often than not, most salespersons across board are labelled ‘staff.’ They have no distinctive identities or designations.
Dhirender, 23, a graduate in Sociology and currently pursuing post graduation, has been working in the same store for the past two years but has issues, lack of designation not being one of them, yet. He believes his salary doesn’t justify the work or the hours he puts in. “I stay for nine-ten hours in the store without shifts. When we don’t achieve our sales targets, our boss comes down on us heavily. It’s not a very great experience.”
His colleague, who does not wish to be named, feels the same. “They’ll need a younger person for this post soon and then we’ll be out.”
Though most salespeople Metrolife met, shied away from sharing emoluments we found out that for an average salesperson, the salary falls between Rs. 5,000 to 12,000.
Big brands do not mind hiring a little educated person with a limited skill set as long as he or she provides good service and helps achieve targets. They are trained, on an average for about 2-3 days, about the products that the store stocks, the type of material and correct pronunciation of brands.
Deepak Lal, store manager at an international brand, says that 19-30 is the preferred age group for such hires. Lalit Kumar*, 29, has been a salesperson ever since he failed in college, II year. Currently, he’s is employed at a bookstore. “This is one way of earning money where I don’t require higher education or skills. If I want I’ll join some other store but there’s no growth in this line,” he says with a small smile.
To make matters more grave, once they get older, chances are they won’t be of much use to employers who prefer youngsters at the front-end. Everyone Metrolife spoke to, admitted that youngsters have to be face of the company at these outlets, meaning thereby that they themselves don’t have a shelflife of more than a decade or so.
Consequently, growth of this trend will mean that a substratum of such people will form, who in a few years time will be rendered incapable of providing for families, in the absence of better prospects.
Dhirender, if ousted from his job, plans to seek help from government employment schemes, but he might miss the bus if he crosses the age limit. Most of his ilk have, however, no idea as to where they would be 10 years down the line.
Their store managers paint, for obvious reasons, a rosy scenario. Bharat Patti*, store manager with an MNC says, “There’s a hierarchy in sales. You grow from one position to another. If you can’t work at the front-end, back-end office is always there but (Catch No.
1) you must have the willingness to learn.” The promotions that you could get at most, are Floor Manager and Sales Manager depending on your experience, work and behaviour at the store.
Lalima Atri*, another store manager at an international goods outlet says, “We don’t need MBAs but someone with a good IQ. They are allowed to work at the back-end but that depends on their qualifications.” Catch No. 2.
Even so, employers are not really the bad guys only. According to Lalima, around 40- 50 per cent of their salespeople remain employed with the company. A famous lingerie brand’s store manager, Sujata Singh* says that, “they can always study through correspondence while at work.” (with 10 hours of workdays, sure. Catch No. 3). Dilip Nayak, a consultant with a shoe store tells us, “There are certain companies which sponsor some percentage of the fees.”
Sadly, most salespersons come to this profession to support their families and get stuck in the rut. Seemingly unaware of the long-term frustrations and unhappiness that lies in store, they harbour great dreams. Most of them want to start a business of their own and live the lifestyle they see around them. But when asked how they will be doing it, they have no reply.
Life is not always what it seems, it would seem.
*names changed on request