It has been an unexpected diversion on the career road for him. A few summers ago, he was hard-selling TVS motorbikes. Today, he finds himself comfortably at home in his new job. To be sure, he relishes this one. After all, this role helps him to reach out to the family as a whole and not just the individuals in it.
Meet R. Chandramouli, President and CEO of Emerald Havel Realty Ltd., a residential housing venture promoted by Venu Srinivasan-led group within the $ 6-billion TVS conglomerate. For him, the present job is no different from the earlier one. “If buying a motorcycle is a personal expression of an individual, having a house is a collective aspiration of a family,” he says.
He terms a motorbike an ‘I’ product (connected to individuals) and home a ‘We’ product (connected to the family). “All the same, it is about engagement with the people,” he points out. According to him, the entry into residential housing is not a diversification. “It’s a continuation of our consumer business,” he adds.
Many buyers of mopeds in the past may have moved up in their life. “We still strive to service them with a product called home,” he rationalises. Though house-buying reflects a certain yearning to upgrade one’s living condition, the choice goes beyond rationality and borders on the emotional quotient.
“It (buying a house) is everybody’s decision in the family. And, everyone in the family has a veto here,” he points out. The challenge, according to Mr. Chandramouli, lies in understanding the collective mindset and offering a solution that satiates also the aspirations of individuals and the family as a whole. Reiterating his faith on the “consumer is king” theory, he says “we want to change the way we deliver their homes.”
He is convinced that a customer can’t be expected to play a ‘quality inspector’ role. “We can’t abdicate our responsibility to customers” he makes it clear.
Having finished an 18-acre project ‘GreenHills’ under TVS Emerald brand name at Perungalatur near Chennai, it has embarked on another 18-acre project near Tambaram. If he is to go by, the focus of this TVS initiative will be to build communities where middle- and upper middle-class people will have enough space, privacy and greenery.
For Mr. Chandramouli, the template is the same — be it selling bikes or hawking homes. And, it all boils down to having an inclusive approach to selling.
