MD & CEO – BOSCH Pakistan

EVOLVE: Please share something about yourself, a brief overview of your professional journey? 

Syed Adnan Shah: I started my professional career 25 years ago. The Journey began from a regular salesperson to the MD/CEO of the Company. I still remember my early days when I had to move shop to shop on my motorbike in a hot and dusty environment to achieve my targets. This hardworking habit always strengthens me to fly high. I have been associated with Bosch for almost two decades, globally. All the way during this long journey and while living far from my country, I decided to go back to my country and do something for my people. So, I joined hands with the German brand of home appliances and launched my own company – Mega home appliances – which is the official distributor of Bosch home appliances in Pakistan. I believe Pakistani people deserve the world’s best quality. So, I decided to bring the Bosch brand to Pakistan. Al-hamdulillah, with the prayers of my beloved parents, I am successful.

EVOLVE: BOSCH is serving a diverse and specialized range of products around the world. What are your focus areas in Pakistan?

Syed Adnan Shah: No doubt, it is a one of a kind brand that possesses a huge range of products that provide solutions for home, mobility, industry, trades and technology, as well as offer market specific solutions. I believe there is an immense potential of high-end quality and energy efficient brands of home appliances in the Pakistan market. The best part is we are successful in filling this gap. Our main focus is to set a new standard to meet the needs of kitchen manufacturers and builders of residential and commercial projects with our complete range of Built-in home appliances.

EVOLVE: What sets BOSCH apart from other home appliances? 

Syed Adnan Shah: Being one of the world’s best brands in Home appliance, we claim no single brand has a complete range of home appliances except Bosch in Pakistan. Like I mentioned earlier, Bosch is committed to play an important role in Pakistan. As the official representative of the brand, we are introducing an exceptional feature of after sales services, which are not very common in Pakistan; Bosch stands within top five in terms of its best after sales services, globally, and we’d like Pakistanis to make full use of this service locally as well. Our professional representatives will be prepared to help customers on call for 24 hours in the near future. The company offers extended warranty on products for up to five years for peace of mind.

EVOLVE: Quality affects Price. How do you cope with this challenge especially when economical products are easily available in the market?

Syed Adnan Shah: It’s a common proverb

In Urdu for sure, it is challenging but customers of the twenty-first century are very smart. They know the importance of the principle - one-time investment for long term benefits. So they are willing to pay a one-time cost against high tech German engineered products for peace of mind. That is why our customers are very satisfied. They know that Bosch products give value to their hardship. Most importantly, the words of mouth from our satisfied customers always support us to cater this challenge.

EVOLVE: Please enlighten our readers about research & development initiatives of BOSCH? 

Syed Adnan Shah: BOSCH is dedicatedly committed to set high standards of innovation for better quality of life and upgrade its product range through technology. Bosch remains the leading manufacturer of home appliances in 2017. With over 77,000 registered patents, BOSCH is one of the most innovative enterprises in the world. There are 3,500 heads in our research & development team to ensure high quality. Bosch spends 4.5 percent of revenue on research and development that is a record high in 2017. Similarly, our products have gathered 610 design awards over the years. Our main focus is energy consumption and between 2015 and 2017, BOSCH has been able to reduce the energy consumption by 25 Million kWh.

EVOLVE: What kind of culture have you maintained in Bosch Pakistan and how would you throw light in its significance? 

Syed Adnan Shah: To maintain a standardized culture of development, equality and growth there was a need to build a team to run Bosch professionally and successfully in Pakistan equally as international standards. So, I prioritized transparency. I hire my team for cultural fits so that they feel included and in the loop on important decisions. They are motivated to be more engaged, committed to superior performance and doing their best work. I want to make people feel that they belong to Bosch so they can improve their contribution, collaboration and alignment, which will ultimately boost the company's revenue. Basically, I have invested and still invest in developing the best team and consider it as an asset.

EVOLVE: You must be facing a number of business challenges. How do you address them? 

Syed Adnan Shah: Indeed, one of the most highlighted challenges is price. We have offered RRP throughout Pakistan for Bosch home appliances. As compared to Bosch, local brands are available at less prices. But in today’s scenario customers are conscious about quality, innovation in technology, designs, and products' features. So BOSCH is a complete package in terms of a complete range of home appliances, German technology and Energy efficient products that justify its price and we are having this privilege that customers understand the importance of what they are getting against their spending.

EVOLVE: What are the important benchmarks if kept in the right direction can help any company climb ladders of success? 

Syed Adnan Shah: I trust in setting right policies and making strategic decisions that keep a business on track. In addition to that, my priority is to maintain high standards and quality to keep customers satisfied. As I mentioned earlier, BOSCH stands one of the best in after sales services globally and we would like Pakistanis to also get the same level of services. We always stand by to facilitate our customers because their satisfaction is our primary goal and greatest asset.

EVOLVE: How do you balance pursuing opportunities and maintaining focus? 

Syed Adnan Shah: I have launched Bosch home appliances in Pakistan with focus and ambition that Pakistani people deserve to enjoy high quality German engineered products. We have committed peace of mind and are planning to provide 24 hours’ customer care services in the near future. And I believe there are many more opportunities, as living style trends are changing and going high. In new housing projects people are considering home appliances that they can rely on from a quality perspective and are elegantly designed. So we are looking forward to filling this gap in almost all residential and commercial projects with our reliable range of Bosch home appliances. Ultimate goal is to provide peace of mind to customers with the World's No.1 choice of home appliances. 

EVOLVE: Is there any company that has ever impressed you, except BOSCH? 

Syed Adnan Shah: When you have one of the world’s best brands in hand then how could you be impressed with number two or the second best? One way or another, all brands are good but I have no other option while talking about innovation for life.

EVOLVE: What is the recipe to achieve long-term success? 

Syed Adnan Shah: I’d like to quote the founder of Bosch – Robert Bosch, once he said, “The integrity of my promises, the belief in the value of my products and of my word of honor have always had a higher priority to me than a transitory profit.” This is what I also believe in. Whatever business you do, always remember that success will run after you when you integrate honesty, value and sense of responsibility with your work.

EVOLVE: How do you elaborate your personal leadership secrets for leading a team? 

Syed Adnan Shah: If you know the art of conversion from demotivation to motivation, you can lead any kind of team. I do not discriminate on the basis of gender, family, casts or religions, but provide equal opportunities to all qualified professionals. I try to provide an environment for healthy competition where my team learns by two ways - self-development and business development. I focus on their personality development and they focus on business development. If they fail to achieve targets at one point, they must know how to fight back and turn the table on.

EVOLVE: Where do you see yourself and your organization in the next 5-10 years? 

Syed Adnan Shah: We developed a unique way to help business’s growth and enhance our customers experience by creating a synergy between consultancy and education. As we are growing Bosch Experience Centers all over Pakistan, my next goal is to provide high tech German engineering products at competitive prices. Along with Bosch, we are planning to start local assembly units, because when importing products, we have to pay hefty duties, which get really costly at the end of the day, not just for distributors but also eventually for the consumers. By kick-starting local units, we will have the facilities set up locally, which can cut the cost of imported products in Pakistan. It’ll create more jobs, more expansions and finally more contributions for my country in the next 10 years.

EVOLVE: Any message for the readers of EVOLVE magazine? 

Syed Adnan Shah: Let’s start giving more time to our loved ones. I noticed, the queen of the house in Pakistan spends lots of time in the kitchen and laundry. Let Bosch home appliances park at your home to do her work so the mother can give time to her children and wife to husband for a better home.