The conversation between Modi and Shah no one knows about!
It was one
of those days when he came back to his office after a very long tiring day,
visiting several constituencies, talking to the people in charge, and taking
the status of several ongoing government schemes. He was trying very hard to
make these government schemes reach the bottom of the society, to every
single citizen of the country, and in doing so, he had also faced the brunt of
the people.
The government was criticized for poor planning and
implementation of a few policies, due to which citizens suffered a lot. Though the clear and huge mandate by the people had given him an extra responsibility
to do something better for the country and to improve the lives of his fellow
countrymen, thoughts on not performing well in the coming Lok Sabha election often
came to his mind.
He rushed
into his office only to find his friend sitting and patiently waiting for him.
He received him with a hug and started to talk.
Parmendra
Modi: Mota Bhai! This time it is going to be tough to maintain our strength in
the Lok Sabha given the fact that the oppositions are coming together to attack
us and to the works, our government has done so far. I am not able to figure out
what strategy should we go for to tackle the political situation this time. In addition
to all this, the citizens are in dismay with several policies we have taken in
the past. I am worried Mota Bhai. How are we going to pitch our past works and future plans to the citizens of the country?
‘Calm Down,
Parmendra Bhai!’, told Anmol Shah who was patiently listening to Modi. ‘Have
some water and relax first and then we will talk about other things.’
Sitting down
on the sofa, Modi said: This is the problem Mota Bhai, we take things lightly. I
do not want to relax unless our party wins the election this time.
Shah: I
totally understand your anxiety towards this and I am very well aware of the
several happenings on the opposition side and I assure you that we will win
this election.
Modi: So,
are we ready with our strategy? How are we going to convince the citizens to
vote for us? Do we have any plan for this?
Shah: We
have to go step-by-step. But for now, I want you to meet someone who is going
to help us win this election.
The door opened
and a guy with a black suit, adjusting his spectacles, walked in the room.
Coming close to Modi and Shah, he bent forward and extended his arm for a
handshake. “Hi Sir, I am Ankit. I am here to make you win this election.”
Surprised by
the heavy baritone of his voice and the sparkling attitude of the person who
just entered the room, Modi did not know when he extended his arm for the
handshake.
Shah:
Parmendra, meet Ankit. He is a Marketing Consultant. He will be helping us in
framing our communication strategy in this election. He has worked with several
companies across industries before and has a very successful portfolio. Though
it is his first task in the political arena, I am sure he will give us positive results. Aren’t you, Ankit?
Ankit:
Absolutely Sir. That is my job and I am sure you won’t regret taking me in. In
addition, I want to thank you for introducing me to Modi Sir. It would be a
great opportunity and pleasure to work for you..
Abruptly
stopping Ankit to say any further, Modi said, “Ankit, I appreciate your enthusiasm
but let me tell you one thing, you will not work for me rather I want you to
work with me.”
“Definitely
Sir. It would be an honor.”, responded Ankit with a sense of respect for the
person sitting in front of him.
Shah: Now if
you both are done with your bharat milaap, let us talk business.
All three
laughed.
Taking a few
sips of green tea, Ankit started to speak. “Few of the many things that I
learned when I started my Sales and Marketing, which can be applied to any
industry, are
- Business Development
- Channel Management
- and, Customer Relationship Management.
These three
pillars provide a future path to any company and determine its success and
failure. Though it is easy to say that we require only these 3 pillars for our
success, the reality is that it is supported by numerous small pillars which
make the three pillars stand their ground. One more thing to notice here is
that the strategy is our roof. So if the pillars fall, our strategy will come
down to the ground instantly.
In your
case, Business Development is all about how you are going to acquire new
supporters and voters. This is one area in which we need to work more than the
opposition. I am aware of the fact that few of your government’s policies have
not been received well among the citizens but the intention was never bad and it has
always been good to try to improve the system as well as the life of the
citizens. So, I would suggest going with an aggressive strategy to tackle the
opposition. If you are true to your actions and believe in your strengths,
people will believe you and follow you.
Shah:
Definitely, I second you Ankit on following an aggressive strategy, but at the
same time, in this election, we want to capitalize on the market trends and be
in parallel with the consumer perception and attitude. I am not expecting the
same perception towards us from the citizens. It might have improved for many
and might have deteriorated for others; we just want to show them that we are
always there for our citizens.
Ankit:
Absolutely, and that is what the support functions of the earlier said Business
Development would do, that is by following an Integrated Marketing Strategy. Here
the goal is what we just discussed, ‘To be always there for our citizens and to
elevate the quality of living.’ An integrated Marketing Strategy would be developed
keeping this in mind. In simpler words, our communication, be it anywhere, will
have the essence of it. And that will be our Positioning.
Secondly, we
also have to look for opportunities to capitalize on. One good way to find
one is to look at the weaknesses of the opposition and voila, there are our
opportunities. Unless and until we choke the opposition on their weaknesses, we
do not stand a chance to compete with them in the current scenario of events.
As earlier said, being aggressive is the key.
Listening patiently
and quietly sipping his tea, Parmendra Modi put down his saucer and the cup and
started to figure out what Ankit has just said.
Modi: That’s
quite an insight Ankit. Well done. But I have a question running in my mind.
How can we grow? As you know that we had a majority in the previous Lok Sabha
election and like any company or organization would look for growth every year,
we also do want to increase our seat share in the upcoming election, maybe
300. Can it be achieved? And also, we see a very different citizen today. It is
not the same as it was 5 years ago. What is your take on it?
Visualizing
how sharp and to the point Parmendra Modi is, Ankit paused for a little, gave a
thought on it, and started to put his point.
Ankit:
Firstly, figure 300 is tough but it can be achieved if we stick to our
strategy till the end. Secondly, on citizen behavior and their aspirations,
likes and dislikes, our team has already done the research and would love to
share the results once we meet again to finally present you the whole strategic
plan which we will be following in the coming election.
The Modi-Shah-Ankit
strategic plan succeeded in the election and helped them to achieve more than
300 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
P.S: This is
a hypothetical conversation between two political leaders ahead of an election
of the largest growing economy in the world.
Until the next time...
In case you happen to run a business and want us to relook at your communication style and design a long-term communication strategy for your business, feel free to contact me.
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Until the next time...
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Ankit, yes we loved what you wrote and to think of this conversation and putting it into words is really something to be appreciated.
ReplyDeleteKeep it up..we are looking forward..
Thanks a lot for your appreciation. It means a lot to me. :)
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