Ajit Raghavan: An Industry Stalwart Leveraging His Industry Expertise To Spearhead His Present Organization
Ajit Raghavan
Director- Sales, Asia
As an alumnus of the prestigious management institutes of India, Ajit Raghavan gladly avers that he owes a fair share of his professional success to his alma mater IIM Kozhikode from where he completed his MBA in Marketing & Strategy Management. As the Director of Sales (Asia)at Ramcro, Ajit holds 25+years of experiencein Fire Detection, Suppression, Security Systems, Leak detection systems, Corrosion Protection, Electric Heat Tracing, Hot Water Systems and Fire Survival Cables. Apart from his expertise in business growth and development, sales, marketing, operations, client acquisition, market research, liaisons, public affairs & codes and safety management Ajit possesses unparalleled strength in market intelligence, commercial planning & business management including setting up new businesses in India.
Ajit engages in an exclusive interaction with CEO Insights.
Give a brief glimpse of your professional background and experiences. What inspired you to venture into the sales domain?
After my graduation, I joined my family business in Packaging products. Here, I was assigned the task of Sales and I found myself fitting into the role quite naturally. Being a people’s person, I always loved meeting people, interacting with them, understanding more about their business, and offering solutions where needed. Soon I found myself being inclined toward entrepreneurship and started a new company, Stenco Engineering Company, which was into manufacturing Fire equipment.
Being new to this field, I had to interact a lot with the customers, to understand their requirements to serve them better.
Later, Stenco was acquired by Tyco Fire and Security, a US MNC, which marked their entry into India. I headed Tyco Fire for a few years, after which I given an opportunity to move to Tyco Thermal Controls, where I was offered a sales role along with the responsibility of over seeing business transactions in Asia and the Middle East for their Commercial business. This enabled me to have an exposure to different markets and interact with people from different countries as well as different backgrounds. Now, years later, I am reigning in this domain and have been leveraging my industry expertise to navigate my current organization.
Could you talk about the learnings and experiences that you had acquired from IIM Kozhikode and how you apply them in your current role?
I learned a great deal at IIM Kozhikode. This premium management institution trained me to hone my analytical skills which helped me find better strategies for the organizations I worked. As I had to interact and work with people from diverse backgrounds, my understanding of situations proved to be much better because of the training I have received at IIM Kozhikode.
Define Ramcro as an organization and its position in the industry? What is its USP?
Founded in 1979 as a family Company producing Special Cables, Ramcro SPA is a 42-year-old advanced special cable manufacturing company from Italy. Family Croci owns 100 percent of Ramcro and in the span of 42 years, the company has expanded its presence successfully across 50 Countries in key segments like Oil & Gas, Fire, Signal & Control BMS, and Optical Cables.
Ramcro’s greatest strength lies in its dynamic and agile team which believes in responding swiftly to the customers. The Management of Ramcro has always been Customer Focused and we as a company, ensures flexibility in our production to meet customer demands.
Later, Stenco was acquired by Tyco Fire and Security, a US MNC, which marked their entry into India. I headed Tyco Fire for a few years, after which I given an opportunity to move to Tyco Thermal Controls, where I was offered a sales role along with the responsibility of over seeing business transactions in Asia and the Middle East for their Commercial business. This enabled me to have an exposure to different markets and interact with people from different countries as well as different backgrounds. Now, years later, I am reigning in this domain and have been leveraging my industry expertise to navigate my current organization.
Ramcro’s greatest strengths lies in our dynamic and agile team which believes in responding back swiftly to the customers
Could you talk about the learnings and experiences that you had acquired from IIM Kozhikode and how you apply them in your current role?
I learned a great deal at IIM Kozhikode. This premium management institution trained me to hone my analytical skills which helped me find better strategies for the organizations I worked. As I had to interact and work with people from diverse backgrounds, my understanding of situations proved to be much better because of the training I have received at IIM Kozhikode.
Define Ramcro as an organization and its position in the industry? What is its USP?
Founded in 1979 as a family Company producing Special Cables, Ramcro SPA is a 42-year-old advanced special cable manufacturing company from Italy. Family Croci owns 100 percent of Ramcro and in the span of 42 years, the company has expanded its presence successfully across 50 Countries in key segments like Oil & Gas, Fire, Signal & Control BMS, and Optical Cables.
Ramcro’s greatest strength lies in its dynamic and agile team which believes in responding swiftly to the customers. The Management of Ramcro has always been Customer Focused and we as a company, ensures flexibility in our production to meet customer demands.
Ramcro cables are installed across a broad range of advanced energy and construction projects in the Middle East, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Africa.
Reflect on some of the major challenges you have experienced in your journey so far? How did you overcome them and what did you learn from them?
While working with numerous associates and distributors from different backgrounds, there have been few challenges I had to face, mainly due to cultural differences. I have worked with Americans who, according to me, are very focused on the numbers. However, they would allow you to work in your style to perform effectively. I also have worked with Japanese, who while working with you, would like to be closely associated with all the decision-making. My distributors were from diverse backgrounds like Asia, the Middle East & Africa. Here I found that their reaction to a particular situation could be different. While working with them, I try not to implement the same rules across all situations, because due to cultural and social differences, it is important that we understand them and be more patient with them.
How do you maintain the perfect balance between your personal and professional life?
Yoga and planning my time off have always helped me. Worklife balance is extremely important. Currently, as the President of the Fire & Security Association, it does take away a lot of my personal time, but I try my best to plan my weeks in advance which benefits me immensely.
What is your success mantra? And going forward, what are the goals that you wish to invest in?
My Success Mantra has always been planning my schedule ahead of time. I like to make pre-plans for all the situations. As of now, my goal is to position Ramcro as the No.1 special cable manufacturer and supplier for key projects in Asia.
Ajit Raghavan, Director- Sales(Asia), Ramcro
Skilled in interactions with different stakeholders across units, regions & groups, Ajit has been involved with several startups operations and ensuring its growth successfully. He believes that his analytical, problem solving and leadership qualities are inherited and influenced by delivering solutions in conjunction with business requirements.
•Favorite Cuisine: Japanese & Kerala
•Favorite Travel Destination:Ho chi Min & Munnar
•Hobbies:Travelling, Socialising with people
Reflect on some of the major challenges you have experienced in your journey so far? How did you overcome them and what did you learn from them?
While working with numerous associates and distributors from different backgrounds, there have been few challenges I had to face, mainly due to cultural differences. I have worked with Americans who, according to me, are very focused on the numbers. However, they would allow you to work in your style to perform effectively. I also have worked with Japanese, who while working with you, would like to be closely associated with all the decision-making. My distributors were from diverse backgrounds like Asia, the Middle East & Africa. Here I found that their reaction to a particular situation could be different. While working with them, I try not to implement the same rules across all situations, because due to cultural and social differences, it is important that we understand them and be more patient with them.
How do you maintain the perfect balance between your personal and professional life?
Yoga and planning my time off have always helped me. Worklife balance is extremely important. Currently, as the President of the Fire & Security Association, it does take away a lot of my personal time, but I try my best to plan my weeks in advance which benefits me immensely.
What is your success mantra? And going forward, what are the goals that you wish to invest in?
My Success Mantra has always been planning my schedule ahead of time. I like to make pre-plans for all the situations. As of now, my goal is to position Ramcro as the No.1 special cable manufacturer and supplier for key projects in Asia.
Ajit Raghavan, Director- Sales(Asia), Ramcro
Skilled in interactions with different stakeholders across units, regions & groups, Ajit has been involved with several startups operations and ensuring its growth successfully. He believes that his analytical, problem solving and leadership qualities are inherited and influenced by delivering solutions in conjunction with business requirements.
•Favorite Cuisine: Japanese & Kerala
•Favorite Travel Destination:Ho chi Min & Munnar
•Hobbies:Travelling, Socialising with people