Month: April 2018

“Meet The Team” – Issue 8

IN A NEW SERIES OF ARTICLES, WE WILL LOOK AT THE INDIVIDUAL ROLES OF A CROSS-SECTION OF DIFFERENT FTI EMPLOYEES. FOR OUR EIGHTH  ISSUE OF “MEET THE TEAM” WE SPEAK TO MR. RAJAS NAINAM                                                                                    

WHAT IS YOUR NAME?

My Name is Rajas Nainam and I am from Calicut, India.

WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT POSITION IN FTI?

I am the Sales and Business Development Manager for MENA region and have worked at FTI for almost 2 years.

WHAT DOES YOUR ROLE INVOLVE?

The main function of my role involves developing and growing distribution channels in the MENA region for FTI brands and identify potential clients for the Private Label business. I am also very much involved and responsible for the distribution of the Verbatim brand in Middle Eastern region. In general, I am responsible for selling products and maintaining / improving relationships with the clients.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL DAY AT FTI?

My day in FTI starts by reviewing my sales forecast, looking ahead to see how I am projected to perform during the month or quarter. I then conduct a range of activities to develop business for FTI – these include conducting research to identify new markets, identifying potential clients and the decision makers in the target organisations, sending emails, making cold calls, arranging business meetings with prospective and existing clients, promoting company’s products / services, delivering effective communication of our products to potential clients and – finally – transforming all of these activities into increased business for FTI.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN CHALLENGES YOU FACE IN YOUR ROLE?

I would say that the toughest part of my job is prospecting – I expect that many salespeople will tell you that this is the biggest challenge of their job, regardless of industry. For example – cold calls can often get ignored and emails can often go unanswered by customers. The MENA market is a very competitive one and major customers are often difficult to persuade to change from their existing major suppliers, and to overcome this challenge I must think outside of the box and try to be different. However, my past experience and the unique FTI product range and services help me to target the right customers with the right offers at the right time. Nevertheless, there is always a sales cycle to go through and I must allow enough time to find prospective clients to turn into real business.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE TEAM THAT YOU WORK WITH?

In FTI, I work closely with the Product Management team who help in providing the product related information I require to effectively communicate to prospective and existing clients. I also work closely with the  Marketing team who assist the sale teams in providing support and materials for brand promotion. Having worked here for almost 2 years I must say FTI  is a multicultural organization that prioritizes the contributions of a diverse workforce. Here I can feel the spirit “Alone we can do a little; together we can do a lot.”

WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO OUTSIDE FTI?

I love travelling and reading books. My favorite books are “The Alchemist’’ by Paulo Coelho and “Love in the Time of Cholera “by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. As an Indian I love Indian food, however I am also a fan of Chinese and Lebanese cuisine.  I like watching football and am a supporter of Barcelona, Spain – I am especially a big fan of Lionel Messi. Finally, also like music and movies, especially Indian movies and songs. My favorite English movie is “The Pursuit of Happyness’’.

“Meet The Team” – Issue 7

IN A NEW SERIES OF ARTICLES, WE WILL LOOK AT THE INDIVIDUAL ROLES OF A CROSS-SECTION OF DIFFERENT FTI EMPLOYEES. FOR OUR SEVENTH  ISSUE OF “MEET THE TEAM” WE SPEAK TO MR. RAGHU RAJ KURUP                                                                                    

WHAT IS YOUR NAME?

My Name is Raghu Raj Kurup. I am from India, and am currently living in Ras Al Khaimah UAE.

WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT POSITION IN FTI?

I am the Regional Sales Manager for Middle East & Africa region, and have been with FTI since the early days of the company – a total of 11 years and 11 months.

WHAT DOES YOUR ROLE INVOLVE?

My main responsibility is to build distribution channels for FTI Brands in Middle East & Africa and Private Label Business in South-East Asia. This is a role that includes many different activities and facets, however like many of my colleagues in the customer-facing side of FTI, the ability to communicate is a vital skill for my role.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL DAY AT FTI?

Typically, my day starts with short meetings with the product management and sales support teams on pending orders and shipments. Then, I spend a considerable part of my day communicating with the clients, gathering market information, understanding competitor’s strategy etc., which I then discuss in-depth with the MEA sales team. Furthermore, I devote some of my time to contacting new prospects and promoting FTI products, highlighting the benefits of doing business with FTI. The need to maintain constant contact with new clients is crucial because the sales cycle behind a new client deal takes a minimum of 2 to 3 months, and some cases up to a year.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN CHALLENGES YOU FACE IN YOUR ROLE?

I think the MEA market volatility is a considerable challenge that I must deal with on a daily basis. The market volatility is related to the fact that end-consumers of our product are not always quality conscious, and the market is therefore influenced by cheaper competitors who produce lower-priced products from Far East Asian Brands. However, with FTI’s unique product range, consistent quality, proximity and customer relations we are able to overcome such challenges and maintain our positive market position.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE TEAM THAT YOU WORK WITH?

The closest working relationship I have is with the product management team, who regularly update me on production capacity, lead times, new product information etc. Secondly I often interact with the marketing team, who is very active in social media and in supporting sales managers with catalogues, POP materials, banners etc. Overall, I would say that FTI has a very professional team across the board, who work hard to ensure that all processes happen very smoothly.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO OUTSIDE FTI?

I like to be physically active and on week days I often play badminton, whilst at the weekends I enjoy cycling – Ras Al Khaimah has some excellent roads and tracks to cycle on and this is one of the benefits of living here. I also enjoy international cuisine, and whilst I would say that food from my home country of India is my favourite, I enjoy sampling cuisines from different countries, especially Lebanese and Iranian food.