About Daphne Rose:
The world of business is a sea change from what I was doing previously. I hold a Masters degree in Plant Biology and Biotechnology having completed a Bachelors in Biotechnology, Zoology and Chemistry prior to that. Soon after the completion of my Masters, I was set to embark upon a PhD in Environmental Biotechnology from a European country I was fairly excited about but life, and I, had other plans and soon I rejected that offer and moved to advertising instead. I've worked in the copywriting and advertising field for about two years now with both full time and freelance experience contributing towards that period. I've also worked actively in the social work space with about five years of volunteer experience, most of which was in the teaching field. Currently, I'm pursuing an MBA in Marketing(with a minor in International Business) as my specialisation and am set to graduate from the Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, Pune, in March 2020. As the ex-President of the student body and senior coordinator of two of the most dynamic teams (Events Cell and Production House) at the institute, I consider myself a driven individual who thrives on challenges and risk-taking.
About the Internship
- Company - Piramal Realty
- Industry - Real Estate
- Role - CSR Intern
- Location - Mumbai
- Duration - 2 Months
- Company - Piramal Realty
- Industry - Real Estate
- Role - CSR Intern
- Location - Mumbai
- Duration - 2 Months
How was your overall experience?
'Breezy', is the first word that comes to mind when I look back at my summer interning with Piramal Realty. I was extremely fortunate to be picked for a team that was in the business of customer servicing and maintaining relationships - a quality that the team brought in to their work ethic and their interactions within the organization, too. The company at large, too, is very value-driven and places a lot of stock by doing things by the book whilst also encouraging autonomy amongst its employees. One facet that I particularly enjoyed was that as a conglomerate, there were multiple interns from other domains and functionalities that we got to meet and interact with. So while we were the realty interns, our learning or experience wasn't restricted to just real estate as there were interns from the OTC division, finance, strategy, marketing etc., meaning a lot of peer-to-peer learning was to be had.
'Breezy', is the first word that comes to mind when I look back at my summer interning with Piramal Realty. I was extremely fortunate to be picked for a team that was in the business of customer servicing and maintaining relationships - a quality that the team brought in to their work ethic and their interactions within the organization, too. The company at large, too, is very value-driven and places a lot of stock by doing things by the book whilst also encouraging autonomy amongst its employees. One facet that I particularly enjoyed was that as a conglomerate, there were multiple interns from other domains and functionalities that we got to meet and interact with. So while we were the realty interns, our learning or experience wasn't restricted to just real estate as there were interns from the OTC division, finance, strategy, marketing etc., meaning a lot of peer-to-peer learning was to be had.
How was the selection process conducted?
It all started with an aptitude test that was conducted online based off of which students were shortlisted for the campus rounds. The online aptitude test had components of English and Data Interpretation and was more a test of logic than static knowledge. Once the shortlist for the campus rounds was announced, the applicants were taken through a Group Discussion (the topic given to us was "Is the Real Estate bubble in India set to burst?") following which 15-20 odd students were selected for the Personal Interviews round. Towards the end, three of us were selected to intern at PRL for the summer of 2019.
It all started with an aptitude test that was conducted online based off of which students were shortlisted for the campus rounds. The online aptitude test had components of English and Data Interpretation and was more a test of logic than static knowledge. Once the shortlist for the campus rounds was announced, the applicants were taken through a Group Discussion (the topic given to us was "Is the Real Estate bubble in India set to burst?") following which 15-20 odd students were selected for the Personal Interviews round. Towards the end, three of us were selected to intern at PRL for the summer of 2019.
What was your project and how did you execute it?
My project revolved around designing a possession strategy for Piramal Vaikunth, an upmarket housing society and the first PRL venture that took birth in 2013 and is set to come up for handover (possession) by December 2020. As the first Piramal Realty venture, houses in the society are owned by the whos who of Bombay, including the Piramal family themselves, and thus was a project that was being closely monitored by the CRM Business Head, Ms Reshmi Panicker, herself. As the only intern in CRM across Piramal Realty, I'm glad to report that the company was very supportive and put all their resources at my disposal in order to help me execute my project. Information and research on CRM, especially in the real estate sector is shockingly lacking, and so I was heavily dependent on the CRM team and my mentor, Ms Rhea Chen, to see my project through. Unlike the other interns at Sales & Marketing who had the option of mystery shopping or researching competitor websites online, the after-sales process (which is where CRM comes in) is not one that companies usually talk about and so a lot of my project was based on picking the team's brains or that of their contacts across the real estate sector in Bombay as I sought to ideate or benchmark towards the fulfilment of my project objectives.
My project revolved around designing a possession strategy for Piramal Vaikunth, an upmarket housing society and the first PRL venture that took birth in 2013 and is set to come up for handover (possession) by December 2020. As the first Piramal Realty venture, houses in the society are owned by the whos who of Bombay, including the Piramal family themselves, and thus was a project that was being closely monitored by the CRM Business Head, Ms Reshmi Panicker, herself. As the only intern in CRM across Piramal Realty, I'm glad to report that the company was very supportive and put all their resources at my disposal in order to help me execute my project. Information and research on CRM, especially in the real estate sector is shockingly lacking, and so I was heavily dependent on the CRM team and my mentor, Ms Rhea Chen, to see my project through. Unlike the other interns at Sales & Marketing who had the option of mystery shopping or researching competitor websites online, the after-sales process (which is where CRM comes in) is not one that companies usually talk about and so a lot of my project was based on picking the team's brains or that of their contacts across the real estate sector in Bombay as I sought to ideate or benchmark towards the fulfilment of my project objectives.
How was the work culture at Piramal Realty?
As a family-run conglomerate and part of the larger Piramal group, Piramal Realty straddles a fine line between being an MNC with Indian ethos versus an up and coming start-up established nary seven years ago.!
As a family-run conglomerate and part of the larger Piramal group, Piramal Realty straddles a fine line between being an MNC with Indian ethos versus an up and coming start-up established nary seven years ago.!
What were the key challenges that you faced during your internship?
As mentioned previously, my most major challenge over the course of my internship was the absolute lack of information on CRM in the real estate space. In such a situation, expecting any sort of information on "Possessions", which was the project given to me was naive. This I felt severely restricted my perspective and insight as I could only depend on the immediate knowledge of my team or their contacts for whatever information I required.
As mentioned previously, my most major challenge over the course of my internship was the absolute lack of information on CRM in the real estate space. In such a situation, expecting any sort of information on "Possessions", which was the project given to me was naive. This I felt severely restricted my perspective and insight as I could only depend on the immediate knowledge of my team or their contacts for whatever information I required.
What were the key learnings of your internship?
That teams should always "walk the talk". As part of the customer service and relationship management team, I found that everyone on the team, without exception, was inordinately helpful and did not shy away from helping an intern who they had little or nothing to do with. That aspect of their work ethic definitely left me feeling very humbled and grateful. Apart from that, I also learnt what an important role CRM plays in driving business and can safely say that forget marketing or pricing or promotional strategies, CRM is the differentiator that companies need to work on in order to gain a competitive advantage.
That teams should always "walk the talk". As part of the customer service and relationship management team, I found that everyone on the team, without exception, was inordinately helpful and did not shy away from helping an intern who they had little or nothing to do with. That aspect of their work ethic definitely left me feeling very humbled and grateful. Apart from that, I also learnt what an important role CRM plays in driving business and can safely say that forget marketing or pricing or promotional strategies, CRM is the differentiator that companies need to work on in order to gain a competitive advantage.
Any memorable moments from the internship?
I think I had the best team of co-interns and we had the most fun over the course of those two months. Our conversations and constant calls for "chai" as we sat and worked through our respective summer projects in Victoria (a conference room in the PRL head office) are memories that I'm going to cherish for a lifetime!
I think I had the best team of co-interns and we had the most fun over the course of those two months. Our conversations and constant calls for "chai" as we sat and worked through our respective summer projects in Victoria (a conference room in the PRL head office) are memories that I'm going to cherish for a lifetime!
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