People

Chetan Hingu- Head - Inside Sales (APJ), Commercial Strategy (India), Value Business (India), AMD

Please share your professional background, current role, and relevant experience.

Answer: I’m an Electronics engineer, MBA from IIM Calcutta and have 26+ years of experience. I’m working with AMD since last one and half years, prior to that I worked with HP for 18 years and prior to that organizations like Sify, Modi Xerox. At AMD I manage Inside Sales team for APJ, and throughout my career, I’ve been with, Enterprise Sales, Channel Sales and done Category roles with P&L Management.

What led you to pursue a career in sales?

Answer: Getting into career in Business Development / Sales was not my choice. Our MBA batch was big, and we students had decided during campus placement, whatever job we get we will take that and exit the placement process, so whole batch can get placed comfortably.  I got sales job and had no option but to pursue same. I spent initial years trying to come out, but then I started enjoying B2B sales, aspects like, you are consultative advisor to customers, you are the one articulating / demonstrating / showcasing value proposition of your organization to customers directly. 

How have you adapted to the evolving technology landscape in sales?

Answer: When customers look at you as consultative advisor, it is supremely critical that you keep pace with latest technologies, nuances of products and services you are selling. Besides knowing the specs & feeds, it is important that you share this in curated form basis customer’s background and use case. For this, technology events, online courses, listening to your presales teams, social media comes handy. 

 How do you maintain work-life balance in the high-pressure environment of sales?

Answer: I think most important is to have hobby, it could be sports, music, art, reading, trekking, biking, etc. It is very important to give quality / uninterrupted time to your family. If you don’t unwind yourselves after office hours / over weekend you will not be able to bring new / fresh perspective at work. I enjoy playing the Cajon and reading in my free time, I also find fulfilment in teaching my son maths and contributing to the household.

What is your top advice for aspiring tech sales professionals?

Answer: Every deal, every sales pitch, every customer requirement is different, my advice: approach every customer with a genuine desire to understand and address their needs. We need to assess the situation, use presence of mind and change the approach in every situation.. If you don’t feel customers pain, you would not be able to bring change for him and customers would not acknowledge your presence. 

Lastly, What book would you recommend to our tech sales community and why?

Answer: Best is to know your organization, industry you are in, to the core. If there is autobiography of your organization founders, please read that. I’ve read multiple times – “HP Way” by Dave Packard. Besides this, the book, which made deep impact on me in beginning of my sales career, was “Winning” by Jack Welch.