Indian Market for Luxury Products hasn’t Shown Any Signs of Slowdown: RP Singh
Some people are real aesthetic enthusiasts. They expect thoughtful concepts, unique designs, flawless executions and perfect results – in work and private life. In a similar fashion, Rana Pratap Singh, Managing Director of Miele India, a premium luxury home and kitchen appliances brand, likes to set standard in his profession. With a goal to produce the most innovative technology in an exclusive design format, Singh feels that word of mouth plays a big role in convincing others to adopt.
That’s why he has effectively managed the business operations across all categories with a view to consistently deliver the highest standards of customer experience and brand visibility at Miele. As the Managing Director of the premium brand, Singh feels the Indian market for luxury products hasn’t shown any signs of slowdown, with non-metro cities such as Surat, Ahmedabad, Indore and Chandigarh gaining momentum. Soon Miele plans to enter tier 2 cities like Jaipur, Goa, Indore, Raipur, Rajkot in 2017. In a brief chat, we spoke to Singh on life and more.
I like being MD because
I am able to set clear, specific objectives about what needs to be achieved. By showcasing the passion for the brand, I am able to create positive influence on everyone in the team and provide strong decisive leadership to make sure everyone believes in the vision and can see where things are going. It’s all about cherishing the collective achievement.
Any Aha! leadership moment in your professional career.
There are many moments in my professional career that I cherish, but Aha! moment was when we as a team at Miele managed to bag the single largest project order globally. It was a proud moment for us to bring forth an amalgamation of two prestigious brands that has flair for fine lifestyle and appreciates luxury in minutest of details of life.
Any toughest decision you made so far.
Saying ‘No’ is the toughest thing to do. I had to tell ‘No’ to my team and all the people who appreciated our experience center, that we will do away with it as it wasn’t getting any more interest in doing same kind of events.
Tell us about the next big thing in your industry vertical.
The consumers are getting quality conscious and stylish. Indian kitchens are getting transformed from being functional to fashionable. The customers are increasingly becoming brand conscious and the same is being extended to kitchen as well. To take care of the new trends in kitchen, Miele as a promise and true to the motto Immer Besser brings in handle less appliances known as Artline series which are clean lines and timeless elegance to suit most diverse of interior designs and kitchen furniture fronts.
One thing that young entrepreneurs should do better.
Setting clear goals and targets for the team, which means team understands the expectations of the business and therefore meets the requirements. Also appropriately delegate the task to the right people so that fine details get managed well.
Where do you see your role heading in the future?
I believe great leaders can cultivate great leadership. My endeavour is to promote and help members of the team to grow and develop into leadership roles within the company, as this will benefit individuals and the company.
The last book on your bedside and what you learnt from it.
The book is Alex Ferguson’s ‘Leading’. It is inspirational guide to great leadership from the most successful football manager of all times. The learning that comes out is that discipline, control, teamwork and motivation are important but for complete success delegation, data analysis and dealing with failure is no less important.
