Jonnavithula Raghunath, general manager of marketing of a jewellery player, is now a Guinness World Record holder for imparting largest sales lesson that lasted for 53 minutes on effective selling skills and cold calling to the largest active participants — 328 management students.
The unique feat was the first approved attempt held on March 12 at the Gayatri Vidya Parishad School of Management Studies, Rushikonda campus and Mr. Raghunath was in for a pleasant surprise when he received the confirmation email from the Guinness World Records management team a couple of weeks later.
Sharing his excitement with The Hindu , Mr. Raghunath says his 31-year-long stint in the marketing field that mainly focussed on adopting innovative techniques in retail vertical market made him find a place in the Guinness World Records. “However, retaining the attention of all the participants and engaging them throughout the session was the most challenging part of the endeavour. Fortunately, my three-decade-long experience in the marketing space helped me impart quality training, citing real-time examples,” says Mr. Raghunath, who trained more than 3,000 executives and students in marketing skills so far.
Apparently, the subject he opted to teach for the record was suitable to any retail marketing and that he felt has set him apart to gain an entry into the record book. “Besides participating as a VIVA expert at the Indian Institute of Management -Visakhapatnam and the GVP College, I have been delivering guest lectures on sales and marketing at a few institutions, including the GVP and the Andhra University, on a regular basis,” Mr. Raghunath said.
After a stint of 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry, Mr. Raghunath joined Vaibhav Jewellers 11 years ago as manager (Marketing) and is now working as general manager (Marketing). “My team members motivated me to excel in the endeavour I embarked on and it has certainly helped me push the boundaries. The achievement has set a new target for me to exceed self-imposed parameters and scale new heights in the field,” he sums up.
While the largest sales lesson (single venue) to largest active participants feat was uploaded on the Guinness World Records official website, the certificate from the management team is expected to arrive soon.
