“Change is the only constant, and you have to constantly be learning new things and innovate for the better,” quotes Mr. Rajiv Lamba, the Founder & CEO of SurveySensum. Rajiv is a technopreneur with over 25 years of industry experience and strongly believes in staying relevant with the times, driving innovation, transforming the market research landscape, and, most importantly, creating leaders of tomorrow. Undoubtedly, Rajiv is setting an example as an inspirational leader on all fronts.
A Journey Down the Memory Lane
Rajiv began his professional voyage with Insight Asia in 2004, a market research agency in Indonesia, followed by Mindshare and Nielsen. He further elaborates, stating, “With my desire to learn and do more, I joined Kadence Indonesia in 2011 and grew the company 5X in 5 years as a Managing Director along with my friend.” Having worked with numerous companies, Rajiv identified critical market gaps waiting to be tapped upon. The first big trend he witnessed was the need to understand the subconscious mind of the consumers, and the second was the capital constraint of enterprises when it came to opting for consultancy services. Taking cues from these two limitations, the creative wheels in Rajiv’s mind started turning and led him to bring neuroscience concepts to Indonesia.
In 2018, Neurosensum was established, and within 6 months of its launch, the company became profitable. “The same year, I also saw the need to make research accessible and affordable to the small and mid-size enterprises and added one more brand in our portfolio called SurveySensum in 2019,” states Rajiv.
A Unique AI-enabled CEM Platform
SurveySensum is a fast, affordable, and dynamic feedback management platform where people can build and share their own surveys and get insights in real-time for quicker business decisions. To date, SurveySensum has rendered services to automotive, insurance, banking, multi-finance, and other sectors to help them move from traditional market research to online methodologies, saving them time, resources, and total survey costs.
“But what makes SurveySensum unique is the ability to let brands draw actionable consumer insights from feedback data in real-time at a much more affordable cost than other platforms,” asserts Rajiv. Another advantage that SurveySensum offers its tech-friendly clients is the omnichannel experience. Enterprises can share surveys and connect with their customers via email, WhatsApp, SMS, QR Code, social media, etc., throughout the customer journey in contrast to traditional consulting, which is primarily uni-channel. Furthermore, a platform like SurveySensum can capture the true “moment-of-truth” of customer experiences, making it more reliable.
Pandemic Proved to be a Productivity Driver
The COVID-19 pandemic put forward unprecedented challenges in front of leaders and organizations. The main challenge for SurveySensum was to keep its SEA spread team motivated and together. Agile methodologies such as Scrum and CRM systems were adopted and implemented to work in a hybrid mode. Even though it took some time to make these additions and get used to the system, the final outcome was rewarding for the entire team of SurveySensum. Rajiv says that such unexpected challenges enabled him to build a more muscular and leaner structure in the organization. Before the pandemic, sales were conducted in person; however, the arrival of COVID-19 changed the traditional scenario and led to digital avenues.
“I would say that the pandemic proved to be a big productivity driver. As the world moved online, we also became more active on social media, ran campaigns, and even accelerated by conducting webinars. This helped us grow and improve our profitability significantly,” mentions Rajiv.
Likewise, special focus was given to employee engagement at SurveySensum during turbulent times. Employees were engaged and motivated through virtual meets, online gaming sessions, and other activities. As the Founder & CEO of SurveySensum, Rajiv says that feeding and sustaining these happy hormones has helped his team members minimize stress and feel more engaged at work.
Taking Lessons from the Past Mistakes
No true journey is complete without pitfalls and challenges. What makes it valuable are the lessons learned over time. When SurveySensum was at the developmental stage, Rajiv and his team paid much attention to other products built by market competitors. To make matters worse, they ended up targeting an incorrect customer base in the marketplace. These crucial mistakes resulted in Rajiv and his team recreating the correct Minimum Viable Product (MVP) from the ground up.
“So, my biggest learnings have been on: personas, size, whom do you want to sell, and where is your MVP centered at? Altogether, introducing the product as early as possible is the key,” remarks Rajiv.
A Piece of Advice for the Aspirants
Shedding light on some of the lessons he learned over the years, Rajiv asserts, “My first piece of advice would be to always understand your market deeply, know their pain points, how big the market is, talk to your target persona, and then create an MVP. It’s important to put something out there in the market with the MVP before investing thousands of hours and dollars and then innovate and progress as you grow.”
In addition to that, Rajiv’s second advice is to never take away the sight of profitability. For any successful organization, it is important to have a business model where a product makes its own money and is more self-sustainable.
A Day in the Life of a Leader
Rajiv begins his day early by practicing Pranayama, followed by meditation and exercise. According to him, morning hours are the most productive, so he makes the most out of it. At work, he prioritizes his tasks, sits with the team, discusses strategies, and makes overall plans. Just like his time at the office is busy, Rajiv’s traveling schedule is also centered around communicating with clients & team members. “On weekends, I love to spend time with my family and friends. In my free time, I also enjoy watching and playing sports like cricket and tennis, reading books, and listening to podcasts,” reveals Rajiv.
Rajiv takes a breather to relax, analyze the situation at hand, and live in the present moment during stressful situations. “I derive great motivation from the Holy book, Bhagavad Gita, which has taught me how important goals are, but what’s more important is doing good deeds every day,” adds Rajiv. These are his personal mantras of staying positive & calm, living in the moment, and giving his best.
Career Highs Giving Lasting Memories
Over the years, Rajiv has been bestowed with numerous awards and recognitions. He was recognized as ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ at the Indonesia IT Leadership Awards and chosen amongst the ‘Top 30 Entrepreneur of the Year’ category by Silicon Review. But as a leader, Rajiv’s proudest moment was successfully growing Kadence Indonesia five-folds during his 5 years of tenure as its Managing Director. Rajiv was also ecstatic about how Kadence’s brand was expanded in Vietnam and the Middle East and later sold to Cross Marketing Group Japan with 72X returns to the initial investors.
“I challenged the status quo and created job opportunities for almost more than 2000 people throughout Indonesia and inspired many more to become future leaders,” shares Rajiv with pride. Today, 7 of his former team members are successfully running their own businesses and carrying Rajiv’s torch of creating more job avenues for others.
Eyeing New Markets for Expansion
Presently, Rajiv and his team plan to expand SurveySensum in international markets, especially the USA. “We are putting a lot of our efforts into inbound marketing; right from SEO to website optimization, content creation, and marketing, we are going all in to understand the target market, generate more leads from the US and build an effective marketing and sales strategy,” asserts Rajiv. Moreover, they are also looking forward to establishing offices in India and Malaysia.
For More Info: https://www.surveysensum.com/