Like a bottle of old wine that tastes exceptionally crisp and clear, a person with over 13 years in the field of marketing across different sectors from hospitality to advertisement, has an astute sagacity that is unparalleled. Ms. Deepti Sampat is one person who adds value and contributes to whatever she aspires. With an acute excellence in her domain, she is one of the most dignified individuals for many of her peers who have had the opportunity to work with her. She’s been diligent for long now and in the past has completed B. Com (H) & masters in Mass Comm. before opting for an MBA from IIPM. She now stands tall as a specialist in market communications and with a zest to go the distance; there is no force that can detract her from getting what she goes for. Her passion and focus is a benchmark for every starter irrespective of gender. Ms. Sampat has vivid experience in client servicing and loyalty programmes which enables her to ingest perfection in every sphere of life – personal & professional.
Ms. Sampat’s career embarked much to her liking as she was placed in McCann Eriksson from IIPM, and she was the only one from her batch to get through. She adds, “I worked there for eight years in advertising and worked at BTL, direct marketing, and CRM”. She admits that she went through the ups and downs in her advertising career, as it is indeed not an easy industry to be in. “It looks glamorous from the outside but in reality, it is a very tough world”, she opines. But it is these eight years of working from the scratch that has helped Ms. Sampat to reach at the current career heights. In the last five to six years, she has been associated more with the corporate side of business, which was also an essential albeit different learning for her.
Being with the travel industry, Ms. Sampat feels that it is bound to grow heaps in the near future as the purchasing power will keep on rising. “The pace at which the travel sector is increasing is also very exciting”. At Expedia, her role primarily revolves around CRM and loyalty. She adds, “The number of people taking vacations every year is growing which really makes travel industry the place to be”.
Ms. Sampat is a CRM specialist in every sense which is evident as she skillfully goes on to explain the concept of CRM. According to her, every single touch point with the clients or customers is part of CRM. “At each touch point, you are making a relation with the customer, and hence travel packages, websites, guest relationship manager, call centers etc. are all an integrated part of CRM”. CRM, she feels, is now a hygiene factor for most organisations. There are methods like loyalty programmes, SMS marketing, emailing etc., which are all tools for engaging the customers, and thus they add up to be CRM. She says, “For BFSI sector, CRM is part of their core system”. Ms. Sampat also highlights that earlier, direct marketing was the tool but today, it has evolved to become CRM. But CRM is no stroll in the park she feels. “It requires a lot of hard work and one has to burn the midnight oil and go through the drill to understand CRM in depth”. A person should understand IT, Finance, HR etc fully in order to incorporate a successful and effective CRM structure.
To keep a professional updated about CRM trends, Ms. Sampat recommends that it is important to be aware of the industry that you work for. And this holds true for every organisation. “I subscribe to all the CRM programmes of different organisations other than the travel industry”. CRM basically revolves around creating repeat customers, and over a period of time, it is a great learning experience. Ms. Sampat herself handles the loyalty programmes for PVR. For aspiring CRM enthusiasts, her advice is to read a lot and gather knowledge through various white papers, conferences etc. on CRM. She adds, “You have to keep yourself updated very regularly”.
Ms. Sampat admits that her learning experience in terms of CRM have been immense as her career has unfolded. “I became aware in terms of how team leaders should be able to get work done, ensure multitasking of team, analyze strengths and weaknesses etc”. She believes that most of this learning is imparted ‘on the job’. Her stint with the Oberoi Group has also been a feather in her cap as she came to learn about the nuances of a big business group like them. “At Oberoi’s, it was crucial to be able to don different hats when interacting with people from different levels, and as a result, I am a much better reader of people today”, she asserts.
“AT EACH TOUCH-POINT, YOU ARE MAKING A RELATION WITH THE CUSTOMER” –
According to Ms. Sampat, effective positioning of the product depends totally on the kind of product and the brand building around the same. As a leader, she adopts a mixed approach to get results. For her, giving the right direction is vital to get the work done. “I am a very strong believer in appreciation, as it is a huge motivation”, she adds. She insists that as a leader she tries to value Emotional Quotient (EQ) a lot.
On social media interface within the travel sector, Ms. Sampat agrees that social media has and will continue to play a big role. “Everything is online today, as people also post their holiday plans on sites seeking for help or advice, which is in turn a platform to get feedback on the particular industry or organisation, even though it is a little unstructured”, she iterates. Going forward she thinks that soon, organisations will look forward to ways in which these can be more structured.
Ms. Sampat cherishes the fun filled days at IIPM, especially the projects and the presentations which is a clear indicator of her diligent nature. On summer internships, she insists that students should not do it just because they have to. She adds, “Put some effort and thought to find out what you really like to do and which direction your mind wants to proceed”. She is also quick to point out that if one does well, then the organisation recruits the intern in their own work force. Coming on to corporate grooming and behaviour, Ms. Sampat feels that it is important that one asks the right questions and initially the idea should be to crack it! “Even if you have the industry knowledge, you are unaware of the organizational process. You need to understand the fundamentals well to come up with better ideas”. She thinks that it is a good step to try and understand the people and spend time with them which includes people from other departments as well. “The idea is to try and build a connection which is not very personal but sort of comfortable”, explains Ms. Sampat. On grooming, she feels that whatever are the cultural norms set up by the organisation, they have to be followed at all costs. She adds, “You have to be well dressed and well conducted, to be taken seriously, which also includes the way you communicate or provide inputs”.
For CRM enthusiasts, Ms. Sampat clarifies that it is not a place where you can make large amount of money. “But, it is certainly a field where you can measure your performance well, and know what you have achieved”. She adds that in CRM, efforts get culminated on to good numbers which get reflected in transactions, website visits etc. She also likes to spend time with her family during weekends either at home or the occasional movie or two. “To me, that is typically family time”, she concludes.
