Why marketing is a must for all Indian managers ?

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So you are in marketing, all you need to do is talk right?
 
This is the most common comment I receive when I introduce myself at any gathering. For the non Marketing Indian managers, Marketing folks are only good at talking. Whether in customer service of in business development, most people believe that marketers have it easy as they have the "gift of the gab". Unfortunately for the others it is the gift of the gab that they need to develop. Let me tell you a few good experiences that I have had in my life.
 
We once had a product demo for a customer in Europe. The technologist doing the demo was a brilliant engineer and a poor orator. He not only confused the customer with his wrong grammar and diction but also gave me a headache. Needless to say the customer later gave me feedback that the engineer was not sure on many of the features of the product and maybe I should have done the demonstration. I took his advice seriously and at the next demo I insisted on making the presentation which I did after hours of training and breaking down the complex technical features into business benefits. The audience was very impressed and decided to go with us and one of the customers even offered me a seat on a user group within a governing body.
 
Business communication is a key aspect that no one in a B school or a engineering school pays attention to. This is a very important trait and now with the advent of social media which is the user generated content this problem is only going to get worse.
 
International marketing has created its own set of challenges, for Indian managers. Not only are their management consulting styles questioned but also their lack of any marketing skills becomes a further detriment to their growth.
 
We once had this excellent charted Accountant who went to Japan for a brain storming session who refused to contribute to anything to the discussion. When he came back he was very proud of the fact that he had not disclosed his plans unlike his Indian managers in marketing. After a few weeks he was removed from the brainstorming group as he was not found "not knowledge."
 
Indian managers have a long way to go before they understand the nuances of business communication and its importance in business development. B2B marketing is lot more communication especially through word of mouth marketing as references help you build brands in the target markets.
 
But business development without business communication is like trying to hit a six blindfolded.
Thought marketing is a lot about communication it is time that all professionals especially Indian managers pay more attention to this aspect.