The Incredible Banker (15 page)

On the night of 1st October, when the 'Chariots of Fire' contest was announced to the entire credit cards team, Deepak was on a high. Deep down he considered it to be his plan, and it was. He was happy to see it launched with so much fanfare. Even Manish Bhalla, who was normally meagre when it came to praising someone, was generous in singing Deepak's glory. Finally, the targets were put up on the screen. Deepak's heart sank when he saw them. Though he already knew the numbers, seeing them put up in black and white made his heart beat faster. The three pegs of whisky that he had downed by then suddenly lost their impact. It was the first time Bhalla had praised him publicly. He couldn't afford not to accomplish his target for October. 'Chariots of Fire' could go to no one else. It had to be him. He had to win the contest. And for that, he had to get to 6,200 cards, at any cost.

The drive back that day was mired in introspection. How was he going to achieve the target? It was already the first of October. The next day was a holiday. He had already lost two days of the month, not knowing what to do. Savitha was with him that night. Realising that Deepak was in a thoughtful mood, she did not strike up a conversation with him. Deepak stopped the car when he reached the parking lot of the Chembur Club. He hadn't spoken a word since they left the banquet hall where they had all assembled for the launch of 'Chariots of Fire'. The ignition was still on, and Deepak was staring into the blank wall ahead of the car.

'Deepak, are you ok?' she asked.

'Yes, babes, I am fine.'

'You haven't spoken a word in the last twenty-five minutes. What happened? What are you thinking so much?'

'Nothing, baby. I am just worried about the October numbers... thinking how to get closer to them. I can't let anyone else win this contest. I have to prove to Bhalla that I can do it. That I am the most capable guy in his team.'

'You are, Deepak. No one in the team is more intelligent or competent than you. Come, let's get ourselves a drink. The referee will be waiting for you. You missed the game tonight.'

'Yes, let's go,' Deepak said and stepped out of the car. The car was locked with a beep as they walked towards the bar where the referee was waiting for them.

The discussion that night centred around the bank; the cards business, 'Chariots of fire' and the targets. The referee understood bits and pieces of the entire story but not being a banker, he found it difficult to relate to.

'Arre, what is the problem, Deepak, I am sure you will find hundreds of people willing to take cards. Who doesn't want money? Give me one, I will take it. In this bar alone you will find thirty people willing to take your card. Then why are you getting stressed?' the referee tried to calm him down.

'You stick to basketball, you idiot. Everyone will want to take money. But finding a guy who will return it to you on time is difficult. It's not a gift cheque, it's the cards business,' Deepak rubbished him.

'Hmm...right. Now I am beginning to understand.'

'From 4,000 cards in September to 6,200 in October is almost impossible', said Deepak

'Unless we get some bulk deals', added Savitha. Deepak looked at her and nodded.

'What do you mean by "bulk deals"?' The referee was inquisitive.

'Corporate deals...large companies signing up bulk cards for their employees. In such deals we get 100 or 200 cards in one go. Deals like these will make life easy.' Deepak responded to the referees query. 'But they take time', he added.

'What kind of companies do you look at for these deals?' the referee asked.

'Companies which have around400-500 employees, multinational organisations, companies with established offices and the reputation for paying good salaries and attracting good talent.. .companies which are the target market for our corporate bank relationships,' Deepak answered. And after a pause he added, 'Actually even if they are not target market for corporate relationships, that's also acceptable.' 'Hmm...ok.'

Deepak continued, 'Actually, with these companies it is important to be in their line of sight, in their consideration subset, when they are thinking of doing such deals. Otherwise you can keep going and banging your head against their walls and they will not indulge you.'

'You mean to say that you should be there when the company wants to cut the deal, right?' The referee saw Deepak's point.

'Yes.'

'I think I can help you here. But I don't know if at all you would consider this as a help since I don't know much about this.' When the referee said this, Deepak gave him a perplexed look.

'What do you mean?'

'Deepak, I might know of one such company. I don't know how big this opportunity is for you, or if at all you would see this as one.'

'Stop caveating and tell me what you want to say.' Deepak was getting impatient.

'Symbiotic Technologies,' the referee said.

'What about them?'

'Heard the name?'

'No.' Deepak shook his head.

'It's a company based in Kalina. The office is close to Raheja Centre Point. It's a software development firm. I had gone there for an interview a few days ago.'

'So?'

'Deepak, the company has over 500-600 employees, many of them based overseas. They pay well. Sad that they rejected me. But now that you are looking for large companies with a number of well-paid employees, it struck me that this could be a potential opportunity for you.'

'Hmm...keep talking. I am listening.' Now Deepak was interested.

'That's not all. That day I had gone for an interview I saw a guy with a Citibank ID card around his neck. Maybe he was there to sell cards or loans or something like that.'

'That's interesting.' Deepak looked at Savitha who nodded in return. 'Do you have any contact there...someone I can speak to?' he asked the referee.

'I will give you the number of the person I met there. He works for their HR department. You can either speak to him directly or get someone to call him.'

'Great, my friend. Sounds good.' Deepak was excited at the prospect.

'If this works, I will give you all my contacts in companies I have interviewed with and you can talk to them and see if they are interested in your offer,' the referee suggested.

'Thanks, buddy. I just can't tell you how much of a help this is.'

'If this works, what do I get in return, apart from "thanks"?' the referee asked smilingly.

'Anything you say, my friend. I will give you whatever you want,' Deepak promised.

The referee smiled again. He pointed to the Titan watch that Deepak was wearing and said, 'Give me that.'

'What? This watch?' Deepak sounded surprised. 'I will get you something far better than this. What do you say?' He looked at Savitha.

'Hmm...yes. Why Titan? You should buy him an Omega,' Savitha chipped in. And they all laughed.

'Waiter!' screamed the referee and the next round of drinks followed.

T
RING! Tring! Tring! The phone was picked up by the person at the other end after three rings. Swati was thrilled. Firsdy Deepak sir had given a referral and a number to be called. The call to the HR Manager of Symbiotic Technologies was her first call in the morning and someone had picked it up in the third ring. Third of October has begun in an ominous fashion, she thought, even as a gruff voice came on line.

'Hello.'

'Good morning, sir, main Greater Boston Global Bank ki taraf se bol rahi hoon,' she began the introduction.

'What? What are you saying, young lady?'

'Sir, main Greater Boston Global Bank ki taraf se bol rahi hoon.' she parroted.

'Hold on! Hold on!' the person at the other end was beginning to get irritated. The girl held on. There was some activity at the other end. The man she had spoken to was calling out to someone else. It was taking time. Swati's patience was running out. She was beginning to get restless to get onto the next call. Setting an outer limit, she said to herself, 'Thirty seconds, and I will hang up if no one comes on line.' This was despite the fact that they had been specially trained not to hang up till the person at the other end had hung up.

'Haanji bolo,' finally someone responded.

'Sir, main Greater Boston Global Bank ki taraf se bol rahin hoon.Hamare paas aapke liye ek bahut badhiya credit card ka offer hai.' Swati struggled to convey to him that she had a great credit card offer for him.

'Hmm...,' the speaker on the other side barely acknowledged. He probably did not understand what she had just said.

'If it interests you, I tell you,' Swati managed to quickly switch over to broken English from her speedy Hindi.

'Toh aap credit card ki sales kar rahin hain. We don't need it now. Thank you.'

'Sir, please take it. It is very cheap. And with every card we are giving four flight tickets free to anywhere in India on Kingfisher airlines. Very good offer, sir. You will like it,' she tried to convince him.

'Dekhiye, we do not need it now. If we need credit cards, we will call you. Why don't you give me your number? Kya naam bataya aapne?'

'Sir, Swati. Myself Swati. My phone number 9999999999. If you ever need cards, please call me only. I will give you your card in one week, sir.'

'Ok, ok. We will call you.'

Swati hung up. The first call in the morning had gone waste. She wondered how the day would go.

Hundred calls to make, fifteen appointments to fix for the sales guys – life was getting monotonous and dreary in her job as a telecaller at an agency which was selling cards for GB2. How was she going to motivate herself to get through the day?

'God, please help me,' her eyes automatically reached towards the ceiling as she instinctively picked up the telephone and started dialling the next number on the list.

It was her routine every day. She would come in by 9.30 in the morning and almost immediately get down to calling prospective credit card customers from some lists compiled by the agency owners clandestinely. Some of those lists would have been acquired from some unscrupulous database dealers who, in turn, would have acquired the lists from companies by paying off someone at the lowest level.

Expected to call a hundred prospects every day, Swati would even skip lunch breaks to ensure that she finished her work to head back home in time and cook dinner for her ailing mother. She hated this job, but the measly
6,500 she was paid was worth its weight in gold. Add to it the incentive she made which was around
200 per card sold to leads generated by her. It added up to make quite a decent sum. She needed the money to run the house, for her mother and to pay for her ever-increasing lifestyle needs.

By the end of the day, Swati was in a depressed frame of mind. That day was particularly disastrous. She managed to secure only six leads for the sales guys against a target of fifteen. She was wondering how she would escape ridicule and being pulled up for under-performance. Worried about the consequences, her mind was adrift even as she was packing up to leave.

Deepak was furious when he heard the update on the call made to Symbiotic Technologies. He called Gautam Bajaj, the telecalling shop head, and blasted him

'Bloody idiot, pata bhi hai yeh call kiske liye tha? Do you even have a clue?' The telecalling head just hung his head quietly.

"This was a fucking corporate deal and not a deal for a single card. I had given you this lead to see if we could close it in our favour, and you passed it on to a fucking telecaller. Are you out of your mind? I give you a 500-card deal and you handle it like a one card transaction. Fucking asshole. Teri toh chutti kar deni chahiye! Give me one reason why you should be here? Nikamma kahin ka! Just go and call the telecaller who made the call to Symbiotic.' Deepak was enraged.

Gautam quickly went to get Swati. She had left for the day. If he told that to Deepak, he was sure to lose his job. He was scared to come back. He hung around the telecalling shop for ten minutes wondering what to tell Deepak. Finally, he walked back to Deepak's cabin and opened the door. He was literally shivering in his pants. He had never heard Deepak scream like that. When the door opened, Gautam was greeted by a pleasant sight. Deepak was not in his room. He looked around but Deepak was nowhere to be seen. He turned around and looked at Deepak's assistant.

'He's gone to see Bhalla. Something urgent has come up,' she said without being asked.

'When will he be back?' Gautam asked, hoping that he didn't come any time soon.

'I don't think he will be back now. Bhalla's secretary told me that he has called for a review meeting and that might take time.'

Gautam couldn't hide his joy. This sudden call from Bhalla gave him some time to plan his response. Maybe he could call that customer again and speak to him on the corporate deal. In any case he had left a word with Swati's team leader asking her to call him back.

Swati was at that time making her way to the railway station. She was feeling quite low that evening. She climbed the stairs at the railway station in Malad, walked a few feet and took a few steps and got down at platform No. 3 from where she always boarded the Malad-Dombivli fast train which left Malad at 6.45p.m.

She had hardly got into the train and settled down when her phone rang. Digging into her bag, she took out her phone. It was a number she didn't recognise. Dumping her phone into her bag, she looked out of the window. She was not in the mood to talk.

The train started moving. Hardly had the train moved a little when her phone rang again. It was the same number. Someone was trying to reach her desperately.

'Hello, kaun?' she picked up her phone and spoke.

'Hello, is this Ms Swati?'

'Ji, Swati bol rahi hoon.'

'I am Rajib Sen...from Symbiotic Technologies. You had called us in the morning.' It suddenly struck her. Of course she remembered. This was the first call of the day. She had left her mobile number with Mr Sen. Normally she would only give her office number. She had no clue why she gave him her mobile number.

'Yes, sir. Tell me, tell me.' She was very excited that Rajib had called back.

'You had said in the morning that you have an offer on your credit cards. Can you tell me more about it?'

'Sir, we have an offer going on wherein if someone takes a full fee paid platinum credit card we will give that person four tickets on Kingfisher airlines, absolutely free. You want it, sir? Should I send someone?'

'Look, Swati, we are looking for a corporate deal for all our employees. We want to give credit cards to all our staff. We have over 1,200 employees in Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi offices. We want to give cards to everyone. I don't know if you are the right person. Can you ask the concerned person to meet me and close this out?'

'No problem, sir. I am the right person.' Swati had started salivating. 1,200 cards in one go. Seemed very exciting. She thought that even if 700 of the 1,200 cards got issued she would make an incentive of 200 per card which meant...which meant...a lot of money. She was poor in making mental calculations.

'When do you want someone to come and see you, sir?'

'Can someone come tomorrow?'

'Sir, I will ask my manager to come. When you want him to come? Please tell.'

'Any time after six p.m. tomorrow. You can give him my mobile number. He can coordinate with me. What is his name?'

'Sure, sir. I will ask him to call you in the morning and see you tomorrow.'

'Great! Thanks.'

Swati was super excited when she disconnected the phone. For the first time in her life, she had come in the vicinity of such a large deal. She was cribbing as she got out of the office and God answered her prayers almost immediately. She tried calling Gautam's number, but it was switched off. He had probably switched it off due to the fear of Deepak calling him back, but Swati didn't know that.

When she couldn't speak with Gautam, she sent him an SMS and headed home. In any case Rajib had to be met in the evening. She could pass on the information to Gautam in the morning, too.

That night sleep deserted her. By this time she had got her math right that if she managed to get 700 cards out of the 1,200 employees that Rajib was mentioning, it would make her an incentive close to a lakh-and-a-half; an amount which she had not earned the whole of last year. Wide awake, she began wondering what to do with the money she would get. Three pairs of Lee jeans, two shoes from Catwalk, a new bag, and if she had money left, she would buy a second-hand Maruti. Wow! So many things in one go. What had she done to deserve this? And by the time she finally did go to sleep, she was dreaming of an apartment in a Goregaon high-rise. Money makes people hallucinate, that's what Swati was doing.

The next day morning was full of excitement. A 1,200 card deal at one go was a big one by any standard. The moment Swati told her boss about it, all hell broke loose. Gautam was very thrilled. He could now go to Deepak and tell him that the lead had been handled properly and that he was just overreacting the previous day. However, better sense prevailed and he didn't do that. He just called up Deepak and told him that the deal was under control and that he was meeting the customer that evening.

'Fix up the meeting this evening. I will come with you,' Deepak told him. After the previous day's confusion, he was not too sure if Gautam would be able to handle such a large deal all by himself.

'Deepak, would you want to come right for the first call? Let me take the first call alone. You can come in for the next one. The customer will also be happy that we have got along someone senior for the next call,' Gautam suggested.

'It's ok. We do not have the luxury of time. We have to close the deal as soon as possible. I will come.'

That evening, Deepak and Gautam walked into Symbiotic Technologies. It was a swanky office in Kalina, which was an erstwhile down-market community dominated area that had suddenly shot to prominence due to its closeness to the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). Kalina, a poor neighbour of BKC, had benefited most from the opulence and grandeur of BKC.

The sixth floor office of Symbiotic Technologies was extremely well done-up. If the building was impressive, the interiors left Deepak and Gautam spell-bound. The reception was immaculate, the sofas looked rich, the painting on the wall seemed expensive and the furniture stylish. They were lost in admiring the ambience when a pretty face looked up from beyond the counter.

'May I help you, sir?' she asked them.

'Oh yes!' Deepak was stunned when he saw the receptionist. She was also a piece of art. For a moment he was dumbstruck by her beauty. He stood there with mouth agape as if he wanted to say something but words deserted him.

'Sir, is there anything I can do for you?'

Seeing the regional head struggling for words, Gautam took the lead. 'We are here to see Mr Rajib Sen.'