SIBM, Noida Student Completes Summer Internship at Pidilite

 Subhanshu Bisht

 SIBM, Noida

   

"The market has a way of teaching lessons that no textbook ever can." 📚➡️🏪

Over the past few weeks, I had the opportunity to intern with Pidilite Industries Limited as a Management Trainee in the Consumer Products – Maintenance (CP-MNT) division, where I worked on a project focused on "Accelerating sales growth through Range Selling".

Like many MBA students, I entered the internship with frameworks, models, and plenty of classroom knowledge.

Then I stepped into the market.

And suddenly, everything looked different.

I spent my days visiting hardware stores, interacting with retailers, shadowing Territory Sales Incharges, observing buying behaviour, understanding distributor dynamics, and learning why some products move while others never leave the shelf.

One insight stood out more than anything:

👉 Sales isn't just about convincing customers—it's about making the right product available at the right outlet, at the right time.

During my field visits, I noticed that many retailers stocked only the fast-moving products, while several high-potential SKUs were missing—not because demand didn't exist, but because the conversation around them never happened.

That's when I realised:

💡 Range Selling isn't about selling more products. It's about solving more customer needs in a single conversation.

The experience also taught me that:

✅ Retailers don't buy products—they buy confidence.

✅ Visibility creates opportunities before conversations do.

✅ Strong relationships often outperform the best sales pitch.

✅ Every outlet has a different story, and every beat has a different strategy.

One of my biggest takeaways?

The market rewards observation before it rewards execution.

Every retailer interaction, every rejected recommendation, every successful range addition, and every discussion with the sales team added a new layer to my understanding of FMCG sales and channel management.

A special thank you to my manager, Mr. Vipul Dayma, for being an incredible mentor throughout this journey. Thank you for patiently answering every question, encouraging me to stay curious, and giving me the freedom to learn from real market experiences. Your guidance made this internship far more meaningful than I could have imagined.

I am equally grateful to esteemed Director Dr. Vandana Ahuja Ma'am, my Faculty Mentor Dr. Ritesh Dwivedi Sir, and Mr. Anjani Kumar Sir at Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Noida, whose encouragement and classroom learning helped me connect theory with real-world sales execution.

As I close this chapter, I carry forward not just a project, but countless lessons, meaningful relationships, and a deeper appreciation for what it takes to build a brand—one retailer, one conversation, and one outlet at a time.

Still learning. Still observing. Still growing. 🚀