HE is a source of great motivation and true inspiration for young budding marketers at CIRIN in particular and pharmaceutical industry in general; HE is the driving force behind CIRIN’s sharply climbing sales graph; HE has led three companies to tremendous success in the past; HE is none other than Khwaja Abdul Basir – Sales Director of CIRIN.
I was fortunate enough to get hold of him for a small interview for the benefit of TeamCIRIN members. This intends to share some aspects of his professional and personal life with our colleagues and shed some light on his vision and future ambitions for CIRIN.
ME: Sir, Tell our TeamCIRIN members something about your early days.
KAB: Hailing from Abottabad, I belong to a family of six. We are four brothers and I am the second oldest. My early years were spent in the wonderful picturesque valley of Abottabad where I stayed till I passed intermediate examinations in 1972. I moved to Peshawar and did my graduation from the Islamia College.
I started my career in 1978 from the medical representative level with Beecham Pakistan that was leading the pharmaceutical market at the time. I was extremely fortunate to have an exceptional team of professionals around me. My seniors were very supportive and cooperative towards juniors and I learnt a lot from them. Even today I take pride in saying that I was groomed, developed and shaped as a marketer by an extraordinary breed of professionals who made history of the pharma industry in this country.
It was due to my own hard work and then my senior’s guidance that my career progression was quicker than anybody else. You will be surprised to know that I held record of three straight promotions within two and a half years time, and this record remained intact till the time Beecham got merged with SK&F. Shortly after Beecham’s merger with SK&F in 1992, I left my parent organization for a very young Wilson Pharmaceuticals in order to spearhead their campaign to earn a place in the market.
This was yet another wonderful experience for me that I cherish till now. There, I got to develop everything from the scratch. I was allowed to freely demonstrate my skills and experiment. I took the company way ahead of competition. During this time not only Wilson grew rapidly but I also earned recognition in the market. I developed my personal repute and established my own standing in the market. Those were wonderful times.
ME: Please take us through the hist of CIRIN and your time with this team.
KAB: Yes, coming to the birth of CIRIN, I would say that this idea was not conceived immediately but took shape over a long period. I had close relations with Mr. Mahmood Ali, former chairman of Beecham Pakistan. After his retirement I had been pursuing him to assemble his team with a mission to form a national company par excellence; a company capable enough to compete with any international pharmaceutical manufacturer in quality of products and services. I finally convinced him and CIRIN was born in 1992. Eventually I too became part of it.
Early years at CIRIN were extremely challenging for us. We were a group four self-made and successful professionals in our respective fields. We were ambitious, adventurous, daring, and headstrong. As a result what came out of our combined effort was very innovative and refreshing for the industry. We were extremely successful in engraving our image as a quality-conscious company in the minds of customer.
We were perhaps the first company to come up with the novel idea of promoting CIRIN as an ‘organization’ rather than individual products. The results were tremendous and we succeeded in winning the confidence of our customer. They began to believe in CIRIN and in its products. They knew that the drugs from CIRIN will work and this feeling continued to grow day by day.
It was not smooth sailing though and there were difficult times. Rapid expansion and increased market share led us to outgrow our resources. For years we remained in a financial crunch. But we were a group of survivors. We learnt to live within our resources and made best use of whatever was available. Our core team remained intact and they weathered all storms with us. We are therefore proud of our people.
ME: What is your vision for CIRIN and wher do you see CIRIN in another five years time?
KAB: In the heart of my hearts, I want to see CIRIN amongst top 20 pharmaceutical companies in Pakistan. And I sincerely believe that we can do it; we have got all that it needs; we have the infrastructure, the human resources, the products, and above all the WILL to be there.
We know that having potential is one thing and effectively utilizing it is another. Unfortunately, we lost time in the past; we are not going to do it again. Rather, we are gearing up to makeup for all the lost time within next three to five years. You know that CIRIN has improved its ranking in every quarter this year and this momentum shall not be lost.
I am very passionate about this objective and then my team is with me. They believe in our vision and Insha’Allah we will achieve this objective.
ME: What do you see as the most exciting feature of your job? What makes you press ahead everyday?
KAB: This is a very interesting question and thought about it. I must confess that I am a born marketer. I thrive in this world of intense competition. You see, you are always in a race with competition; you cannot afford to lay low; it keeps you on your toes; here it is survival of the fittest.
In marketing and salesmanship, you need to bring the best out you; you regularly put your skills to the test; and when you win a customer it gives you immense satisfaction; you feel good about your job.
Now, in my position I do not often come direct in contact with our customers but I channelize my energy to my team. I want to develop them, nurture them, and turn them into a successful marketer. I try to make them earn respect from the customer, organize well, and be successful in the field itself. I try to make them believe in themselves and in their organization; we are always there for them and they know it.
ME: What are your expectations from your present team? Do you see them taking CIRIN to new heights?
KAB: Oh yes! I am very much confident about it. Our team has matured well over the years. We are fully committed to our goals, and we are well equipped to achieve these.
I am very pleased to state that our per person productivity has improved a lot. We have been able to establish an elaborate MIS network where sales information is compiled on daily basis and then shared with the team across Pakistan. We have much more time to respond now than previously. All this is contributing in building an atmosphere of healthy competition and ultimately increasing sales revenue.
So, expect some big things from this team. I am 100% behind my team.
ME: Have you prioritized anything for Career Development of your team? What type of career growth opportunities are there for CIRIN employees?
KAB: Retaining good professionals for a long time is an inherent problem for Pharmaceutical industry, where there are so many new opportunities presented every day. We have tried to tackle this problem from various angles.
We have improved our induction process and only pick best from the available. Our overall compensation package has improved against competitors. Above all we provide excellent career development opportunities to our employees without any prejudice. We are spending hugely on training and development. This includes investment of time and money.
Then there is no dearth of opportunities to grow within CIRIN. We appreciate and encourage people to have a vertical career progression and there are many amongst our managers who started with us from entry level. This gives confidence to the new entrants and a drive to perform better.
ME: Any message that you would like to give your young team members?
KAB: Yes! I would like to convey two things to my colleagues. The first and foremost is that know your destiny and the second is be passionate about your missions; everything else will follow.
It is very often that we do not realize what we want to do in our lives and where we want to be. Then this means that we may not be 100% committed to and passionate about what we do. Success will always elude us. So my message is simple “know what you want to be and be passionate about it”.
ME: Thank you sir, thank you for your time. I am sure our team members will love to read your views and it will inspire them in their own professional lives.
KAB: Thank you.
