The second phase of my project involved travelling around the state of Karnataka. I travelled around 9 districts in Karnataka and interviewed 50 customers for my project. In a completely new state, I would wake up in a new district every second day. All alone. And after every tiring day of work, I would make sure to visit nearby places and treat my stomach well. It was a B2B market research and every customer was almost double my age. Initially, I tried not to look startled by the technical specification the would speak, and within a short span, I learnt a lot. There was a particular customer whom I called around 8 times in 40 days before he agreed to give me an appointment. For the first time, I could understand the meaning of the word “Brand Name” , customers would describe their association with Tata steel from generations and tell stories about their past experiences. The internship ended with the compilation of my market research and a 1.5 hour of presentation to the Kolkata head office through video conferencing.
This internship endowed me with the art of patience, made me realise the value of trust and relationship in a B2B business environment and motivated me by the opportunity to interact with the top management of the company. And that’s the ode to my X internship!
Ahwan Abhinandan Joshi
Class of 2019
Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar
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