A journey called Growth
Before this, I thought of writing on “what
customers are doing with the toys (SmartSense) gifted by Ecolibrium Energy”!
Then, I thought of what they are doing comes much later than how we set
expectations. Early before I joined the Ecolibrium family, team used to pitch
clients for SmartSense. Unanimously,
the approach was to convince client to install our system – whether they buy it
or take as a demo at least. A PO used to make environment joyful, whereas a
demo used to generate hope. A strong plea we used to make in front of the
clients, followed by our personal presence during installation to sustain
client confidence. Similar appeal continued for almost six months, subsequent
to my joining, though with a polished approach.
On the back-end – we used to give consistent
feedback to the Tech-team about the issues we faced. Tech-team was more like a
SWAT team today and was spending a great amount of time in fire-fighting. It
was their great support, we could stand in front of the clients. Whenever there
used to be an issue, firmware developers used to be there on the field with all
his weapons, along with BD team. It was then, client created an image that we
go on the site, diagnose the issue, we leave the site (if job is done, or even
day gets off), we come back and ensure system operation gets on track
healthily.
Then came an era when our development and
sales push reaped fruits in the form of goodwill customers across Gujarat. In
parallel, teams in northern India was putting full throttle efforts in
convincing the clients for demo even – almost same what Gujarat BD team used to
do 6-8 months back. Truly, it was not a cakewalk for them. Same cycle repeated
in the Southern India in 2013-14. However, for each such leap – we had not only
better technology platform to offer, but also a lot of client reference, a few
channel partners and some more products to offer. I am sure, looking into the
past all the clients – who are with us till date – would appreciate efforts as
flawless and sustainable. I am sure they would agree with me that there were
technical hick-ups in our solution, but not any flaw in the value
delivery.
With most of these customers – whom we can
say innovators – have always been demanding. More demanding then the early
adopters; and even more encouraging. We could successfully set rational
expectations. In a typical industry – where AMC (annual maintenance charges) used
to be paid for typical services (like computer, big machines, house-keeping,
etc.), we could convince people faithfully for AMC for Energy Management
Services. Their readiness to pay AMC shows their trust on the values,
Ecolibrium Energy delivered.
If they teach in the class about “Product
Life Cycle”, some us could proudly say we have been through the journey. It’s
like – it take immense efforts for a chick to crack the egg-shell. Once
cracked, then comes life. If there is a life, there is an element of growth.
Growth requires sustainable efforts. Sustainability has to prosper to survive.
I think, we are in a stage where “Growth
requires sustainable efforts”.
Beginning with a stable SmartSense, this year we are much equipped and ready to gear up GridSense and GreenSense. While SmartSense
will penetrate further the industrial space this year, GridSense will unlock its potential having Smart Grid Projects and GreenSense shall see a way forward with
a few industrial customers and hopefully a few government undertakings. For the
first time in the history of Ecolibrium Energy, this year, we shall grow by stretching all its core products
– SmartSense, GridSense and GreenSense – together.
(Tapan Patel is the author of this post and a long time team member and currently leads the Projects team)