Adventures of a Corporate RM

6 months ago, I started my new job as a Corporate Relationship Manager with a bank. I was excited to move up the ladder from an NBFC (Non Banking Financial Company) to a bank, from retail clients to corporate clients. Little did I know about the adventure that was to begin.
Looking back at these six months, I realize, I have spent more time in corporate offices than my own. I also realized the hard way that telling a receptionist proudly that you are from a bank is a great way to ensure you won’t move beyond the reception. And if your corporate is based in an I.T SEZ, then all the best!

In one of my first visits to a company located in an I.T SEZ, I was greeted with ”Bankers and Telecom personnel not allowed”. My mind flashed to that scene from “Mard” where a board said “Indians and Dogs not allowed”. In true angry young man style I retorted, “But I’m not those pesky people who want to sell credit cards!” When that didn’t work, I tried flashing my AVP card to no avail.
Let’s face it. I belonged to the respectable salary accounts team who will sell you salary accounts which will in turn enable those pesky people to sell you credit cards! Whew! That wouldn’t have worked if I had tried. Some frantic calls to the HR head who I was supposed to meet, and I was finally allowed. After that every time I went there, I picked a different company to say where I was from.

For the few places, where they didn’t frown on hearing “bank”, I was met with a disdainful look. “You want to meet Mr. XXX? Regarding???” Please note: The word “regarding” is said without a glance at you, and as though you are invisible. I learnt to look important, and say “She/he is expecting me. I have an appointment”

Once past these initial hurdles, comes the visitor’s register. The multiple fields need to be filled legibly at multiple entry points in the corporate. And when you are visiting 3-4 companies a day, it is the bane of your existence. And god help you, if you have someone else (Read: Bosses) with you. “No plus 1s in the register. Make separate entries please!”

And so, entry made, photo clicked, visitor tag collected. Where now? The visitor’s lounge beckons you. Juggling my bag, trying to put my company ID inside, getting out my visiting card holder out, I make my way inside only to hear a stern, “ Madam , please wear the visitors’ tag at all times!”

Once settled in the visitor’s lounge, an interminable wait awaits. You wonder, have they informed the person that I am here. You wonder, does the person remember that they have a meeting with me. And yes, sometimes you also have the good fortune of being in the visitor’s lounge at the very time the company is undergoing a fire drill.

Then comes the actual meeting. I have had meetings in the most cramped places with space for two chairs, as well as the biggest of boardrooms with me and the person sitting at opposite ends. I have had meetings in the reception area as well as meetings in the cafeteria with so much noise, I couldn’t hear myself. The variety of it never ceases to amaze me.

And then of course, the question of tea/coffee etc. Should you say yes, when offered? Or politely decline? After few days of having 5 cups of coffee a day, I decided to stick to water since it would have been too much to ask for green tea! I have had meetings where I was given coffee with cookies, and a promise to have their best masala chai next time.

So, at the end of six months, I ask myself; What have I learnt so far from this adventure? And the answers are already on this page. But if there’s one thing I have really learnt and love about this job is that it’s a great leveler. One day you are hobnobbing with the CFO/CEO/HR head, and the other day a co-ordinator won’t even take your call. One day you are shown the red carpet, and the other you spend 2 hours cooling your heels. And yet whoever you are meeting, irrespective of how long you have waited, you need to smile and do your thing. And such is life too!

So bring on more adventures! May the breed of us Corporate RMs flourish and conquer!

P.S: Watch out for my next adventure soon.