Sumeet Singh on customer experience and data and measurement

Hi, Sumit. Welcome to Trailblazers. You have a fantastic backstory. You're the daughter of a military man. You're a generalist. You're an entrepreneur in your own right. You've been head of the Indian Venture Capital Association. But then one day, you get into InfoEdge, and with no apparent marketing training. You're asked to be the CMO. How did that happen? And how did you even go about learning the trade, Sumit? So as you said rightly, I've done very varied things, started with sales, went on to Thai, IVCA. I joined InfoEdge not in marketing. I actually joined them to start their corporate comm and strategic alliances division. And about 10 months into the

job, I felt we've kind of set it up, got a team there, done what Sanjeev and Hitesh wanted me to do. And I said that it's time to move on. And that's when they said, why move on? Why don't you head marketing? So I think one just got into it, you know, and one learned on the job. And you can learn, right? Because a lot of people think this is something you have to be qualified in. No, I think if you have the right instincts, it's not rocket science. And talk to us specifically, Sumit, about digital, the brave new world of digital. This is 2005. How did you get your head around it? And what are the learnings? So it was very interesting. I actually told Hitesh, I don't know these CPMs and CPCs because

InfoEdge had started doing SCM way back in 2004, you know. They used to use their own credit cards. And I felt if I had to lead a team of digital marketers, performance marketers, I better know something myself. And I remember Hitesh saying, your good at numbers, learn, learn. So in those days, I remember I started an account with 500 rupees on Google AdWords and tried to sell blue socks and red shoes and stuff like that to learn on the job. And I think, you know, as I said, if you're open to learning, there's nothing which is impossible. So that's how my digital marketing started, you know, and then came in more technical things like SEO, etc. And I've always believed hire people smarter than you so that you can learn from them.

So it's kind of like life. It's, you know, the quicker the learner, the better the outcome. How much are you spending on Google today? Oh, a lot. A lot. Okay, let's talk a bit about customers. You're on record, Samit, as being a great champion of customers, customer centricity. But, you know, you're in a digital world. How with brands like 99 Acres, how do you actually put customers at the heart of this? So for us, in most of the brands, whether it's 99 Acres, Naukri, Jeevansathi, Shikshar, our education brand, we've got two types of customers. Customers who pay for the services, say 99 Acres, those are builders and brokers. And then we've got the seekers, right? So people who are looking for property, right? Whether to buy or to rent.

I think the brands were built by Sanjeev and Hitesh at the core, having, you know, customer centricity. So everything that we do on product has to stem from improving customer experience or actually filling a gap of customers. So I think being in the internet industry and having all digital brands, the advantage is that you've got a lot of secondary data as well, right? So say on 99 Acres or on Jeevansathi, somebody fills in their requirement. When you look at what they're actually doing, you know, and you can see all that data, right? You actually see what they've maybe specified, whether it's in jobs or in matrimony versus their behavior. Actually, they're doing something very different to what they had maybe registered as their ideal, right?

So I think a lot of focus on data and we have the advantage of being in a business, which is absolutely online. So we have access to a lot of data. So you see a lot of user behavior coming from there. And then once yours are in the market, we actually, I personally even now conduct a lot of researches. I go and meet customers, go and meet consumers. And I think that's very important. One on one. And I think that's very, very important. Because if you don't do that, you don't know what you're not fulfilling, you know? And the other thing is, I've always believed that while we're very happy with people who renewed, right? People who are retained on the app. As marketeers, I think it's very important to talk

to the people who did not renew or did not retain, right? Because that's where you get the insights on what is not really work. Yeah, our absent friends are as important as our present friends. Let's wrap up, Sumit. We never have enough time. But let's talk a bit about the many challenges you must have faced. And what's your advice for young marketeers out there? I think one, coming from my experience, I think just believe in yourself and totally believe that you can do anything, right? Keep your ears in the ground, on the ground, know what is happening in the market. And I've always said, it's very important to be forward looking. From a technology point of view, we must know what is coming up, what is working. But don't just do things because

it's a fad, because it's the latest buzzword. You don't have to adapt it if necessarily it's not required for you at this point in time. However, you need to know what all is happening. So those are my feelings. So kind of a bit like you, Sumit, be yourself. Absolutely. Courage of your convictions. Sumit, that's fantastic insight. Thank you so much for joining us on Trailblazers.