James[/@ch_1] weaves between desks, clutching his battered laptop.] James moves with a tense energy, eyes flicking between his laptop screen and the maze of cubicles. His brow is furrowed, lips moving in quiet rehearsal of the data points he must defend. Around him, snippets of whispered conversation rise and fall—rumors of new competition, of changes coming from above. He pauses at the conference room door, breathing in, preparing for the scrutiny he knows awaits.

Amar[/@ch_2], arms crossed, a skeptical frown deepening the lines on his face. A solitary wall clock ticks loudly in the tense silence, interrupted only by the rhythmic tapping of Amar's pen.] With a shaky hand, James slides his laptop forward, the screen aglow with cluttered Excel sheets. "James, show me your visit report for the last quarter. I want to see which dealers we are missing and what’s happening with product movement." "I’ve compiled all the visits here, but since it’s on Excel, it’s a bit tricky to filter exactly who we haven’t met, or which products are underperforming. There’s just so much data, and it’s hard to spot trends." "Without clear insights, we’re just guessing. We need to know exactly where the gaps are – not just rely on memory. OK. How many total dealer visits happened last month? How many unique dealers did we meet?" "Uh, let me check Amar… Yes, here it is. I have 60 visits to 35 dealers."

Amar[/@ch_2] leans in, his gaze sharp, as James scrolls through rows of names and numbers, sweat beading at his temple.] "OK, how many of these visits yielded orders?" "I do not have that information ready, Amar. There is no way to track this." "Well, we have a CRM platform. We can upload the visits there and check whether the accounts have purchased any products, more specifically post your visit." "No Amar, the platform does not capture the sales done between my distributor and my dealer. Even if I update my visit on CRM, it does not allow me to manually map this with the report which I pull out from my distributor. I don’t really have any way to check whether my visits are productive. The only way would be to wait and see if the customer orders the products that I promote. I have discussions with the specific customer on why they have still not ordered the product during my next visit."

Amar[/@ch_2] drums his fingers, voice edged with impatience.] "We have visited 35 dealers with a universe of 250 dealers. How many dealers have the distributor’s sales executive visited? Are we tracking this?" "Yes, we are Amar. However, we are unable to analyze this data since the executive’s formats are different. Most of the executives’ responses are on Whatsapp or on a call since they do not have a laptop. I do not have these details ready." "This is not ideal James. We cannot then make a data-driven approach with respect to adding new resources if required, even if they are resources of the distributors." The numbers blur together, and James feels a weight settle in his chest—an accumulation of disjointed data and missed connections.

James[/@ch_1]'s laptop chimes with a new WhatsApp message, but he ignores it, focusing instead on Amar's next barrage of questions.] "What about pipeline management? Which dealers haven’t ordered in the last three months? Are we running out of stock anywhere?" "I have some notes from my visits, but it’s hard to say definitively. Raj at Raj Hardware sends me updates, but it’s mostly over WhatsApp or calls. There’s no real visibility, Amar." "Alright. Let’s talk more specifically. It says here in your report that ABC Corporation has not transacted in the past 3 months with your distributor. What is the issue here?" "Customer mentioned to me this month that there have been no walk-ins in the past 2 months. The pipeline has dried up here. I do not see any foreseeable orders in the coming months as well." "That’s surprising James! No walk-ins for 2 months! Do you know whether they have bought any other products such as Appliances/Lighting/Surfaces?" "The category material is delivered from other distributors. I do not have a clear idea of whether the customer has bought the material. I speak to my colleagues on understanding this; however, this is again a manual activity. Since some of the colleagues were travelling, we have not had this discussion for the last few weeks. I need your support on improving this."

Amar[/@ch_2] leans forward, his tone urgent. Outside, the city blurs with the midday sun, while inside, the stakes rise with every sentence.] "How do we know what support you actually need? How can we react to what’s happening in the market? The competition just rolled out a special scheme on their new kitchen line. They’ve stocked three months of inventory with several of our dealers and offered them extended credit. We’re losing shelf space fast." "I didn’t even know they moved so aggressively. But we had also launched a scheme earlier in all regions. Was that not successful? How many customers qualified for the scheme?" "Amar, I don’t have visibility on how many customers qualified in real time. I must check this manually based on the transactions at the distributor. With the absence of such data points, I am not able to figure out which customers to focus on. So, I broadcast the scheme to all customers and ensure to pitch the products to all the customers. There is no segmented approach. Just imagine trying to promote 10 different schemes for different products for 250 customers every month! It is overwhelming!" "In fact, many customers are still complaining about my settlement period even now. We are yet to settle the schemes for last quarter. Moreover, there are so many returns due to delayed timelines. Trying to understand what returns to consider for which scheme settlement is a massive manual activity."

"Look, James, we can’t keep operating like this. We need a process or a system that gives us immediate visibility – not just for inventory, but for customer engagement and market trends, KPIs, etc. Otherwise, we’ll always be playing catch-up." "You’re right, Amar. I feel like I’m drowning in data, but finding no answers. I want to focus on growing the business, not just chasing numbers." As they sit in silence, the weight of indecision settles in. James glances out the window, imagining the rows of dusty products and the dealers slipping through their fingers, yearning for a system—any system—that could help them find their way out of the data labyrinth.