A

PROJECT REPORT
ON

ENHANCING PERFORMANCE OF NEWLY ONBOARDED

EMPLOYEES (FRONT END SALES FORCE) AND MAKING THEM
BUSINESS READY (BY INITIATING A BUDDY SYSTEM)

SUBMITTED BY: Bikesh Kumar Singh

Enrollment No. 20A1022189

Specialization: Human Resources

Under Supervision of: Nidhika Abrol

Date of Submission- 14th Aug 2022 (2020-22)

SUBMITTED TO

Institute of Management Technology, Centre for Distance Learning

A-16, Site-3, UPSIDC Industrial Area, Meerut Road, Ghaziabad – 201 003, Uttar
Pradesh, India
1
 Declaration Certificate

I BIKESH KUMAR SINGH certify that this project work titled “ENHANCING
PERFORMANCE OF NEWLY ONBOARDED EMPLOYEES (FRONT END SALES FORCE)
AND MAKING THEM BUSINESS READY (BY INITIATING A BUDDY SYSTEM)”
submitted by me for the partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of Post Graduate Diploma
in Management is my own bonafide work and carried out by me under the supervision of NIDHIKA
ABROL. The work embodied in this project report has not been submitted for the award of any other
degree or diploma to any Institute or University.
I hereby declare that I have faithfully acknowledged and given credits to published work that I have
referred from other published sources, by citing and mentioning the credits in bibliography. I further
declare that the work presented in this report is original and has not been copied from any other
sources. If my work is found copied or plagiarized, the institution holds the right to reject my
submitted project report.

Date: 14th Aug 2022

Name: Bikesh Kumar Singh
Enrolment No- 20A1022189

(Signature of the Student)

2
 Certificate from Guide
This is to certify that Mr. Bikesh Kumar Singh a Student of IMT- Centre for Distance Learning,
Ghaziabad has completed the project work on “ENHANCING PERFORMANCE OF NEWLY
ONBOARDED EMPLOYEES (FRONT END SALES FORCE) AND MAKING THEM
BUSINESS READY (BY INITIATING A BUDDY SYSTEM)” under my guidance and
supervision.
I certify that this is an original work and has not been copied from any source.

Name of Project Guide- Nidhika Abrol

e-mail: n.abrol@samsung.com

3
 Acknowledgement

I have prepared this project report titled, “ENHANCING PERFORMANCE OF NEWLY

ONBOARDED EMPLOYEES (FRONT END SALES FORCE) AND MAKING THEM
BUSINESS READY (BY INITIATING A BUDDY SYSTEM)”” as a part of my PGDM
Programme.
I have derived the contents and approach of this study paper through discussions with colleagues as
well as with the help of various procurement centric websites and course material. I would like to give
my sincere thanks to a host of friends and the teachers who, through their guidance, enthusiasm and
counselling helped me enormously.
Apart from this, I hope this study paper would stimulate the need of thinking and discussion on the
topics like this one.

Date: 14th Aug 2022

Name: Bikesh Kumar Singh
Enrolment No- 20A1022189

4
 Table of Contents:

S. No Chapter Page No

Cover Page I

Declaration II

Certificate from Guide III

Acknowledgement IV

Table of Content V

Executive Summary VI

Introduction VII

5
 Executive Summary

This project will focus on enhancement on performance of new employees joining at Cars24 in sales and retail
team to how to improve their performance during first 60 days.

Objective for New Employees- 1- Getting rookies business ready by ensuring business productivity 2-
Enhancing product knowledge and ensuring they are on track on key business metrics (identified) 3- Reducing
gestation period of rookies. And for Buddies 1- Developing their Capability for the next role of people
management 2- Providing opportunity for buddies to grow within the system and earn reward and recognition

Problem statement:

Rookies
 Lack of business readiness for the initial 60 months 
 Lack of handholding leads to demotivation 
 Less productive in the initial months leading to less incentive earning

Buddy (RA/RM)
 Lack of opportunity for growth and success despite being the performing RAs/RMs 

Objective:

For rookies (New employees)

 Getting rookies business ready by ensuring business productivity
 Enhancing product knowledge and ensuring they are on track on key business metrics
(identified)
 Reducing gestation/introductory/probationary/cooling period of rookies

For Buddies (Retail Associate/Retail Managers)

 Capability development for the next role of people management

 Opportunity for buddies to grow within the system and earn reward and recognition

Reward and recognition for performing buddies:

(i) Monetary benefit - If the assigned employee is performing and showing delta improvement of
above 20% in all the input metrics and product knowledge (short term achievement)
(ii) Recommendation in next appraisal for the next jump - RA to be RM and RM to be ZM (Long
term achievement)

6
 Project Report (Main)
1. Introduction-

This project will focus on enhancement on performance of new employees joining at Cars24 in sales and retail
team to how to improve their performance during first 60 days.

Objective for New Employees- 1- Getting rookies business ready by ensuring business productivity 2-
Enhancing product knowledge and ensuring they are on track on key business metrics (identified) 3- Reducing
gestation period of rookies. And for Buddies 1- Developing their Capability for the next role of people
management 2- Providing opportunity for buddies to grow within the system and earn reward and recognition

1.1 About the Organization- Cars24 (Cars24 India Services Pvt. Ltd.)- CARS24 is an online used car
marketplace that is headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana, India. The company sells more than
1,50,000 cars annually. The company is considered among the four major organised players in the
used car segment in India. In 2021, the company expanded operations internationally in several
countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Thailand and Australia. The company operates
202 branches across 73 cities in India as of 2019. Apart from its own branches, the company has a
tie up with more than 10,000 channel partners across 230 cities in India. Cars24 raised US$200
million in Series E round of funding in 2020 and it became a unicorn startup as it is valued at over
a $1 billion. Cars24 raised US$100 million in a Series D round of funding in 2019.

1.2 Problem statement:

Rookies
 Lack of business readiness for the initial 60 months 
 Lack of handholding leads to demotivation 
 Less productive in the initial months leading to less incentive earning

Buddy (RA/RM)
 Lack of opportunity for growth and success despite being the performing RAs/RMs 

1.3 Objective:

For rookies (New employees)

 Getting rookies business ready by ensuring business productivity
 Enhancing product knowledge and ensuring they are on track on key business metrics
(identified)
 Reducing gestation/introductory/probationary/cooling period of rookies

7
For Buddies (Retail Associate/Retail Managers)

 Capability development for the next role of people management

 Opportunity for buddies to grow within the system and earn reward and recognition

8
2- Theoretical Perspective:
We used to train buddies first so that they are capable enough to train all the
mentees- Below is the topics we used to train all the buddies-

9
 3- Methods: Questionaries used for assessing rookies capabilities

3.1- Status and methods involved

Section Question Opti Sc

ons or
e
Morning Was the RA aware of the process of generating virtual numbers for any Yes 5
call/ appointment ID? No 0
confirmatio
Partia 2.
n
l 5
Was the RA aware of the next step in case the virtual numbers is not Yes 5
available? No 0
Partia 2.
l 5
Was the RA aware of the steps to update the remarks of morning call? Yes 5
No 0
Partia 2.
l 5
Lost leads Was the RA aware of the process of finding the lost leads in Galactic? Yes 5
No 0
Partia 2.
l 5
Was the RA aware of the step to reschedule any lead showing in “lost Yes 5
leads” section? No 0
Partia 2.
l 5
Lead details Was the RA aware of the step check the web quote of the car through Yes 5
and activity Galactica? No 0
feed
Partia 2.
l 5
Where to see the activity feed of the appointment ID and what are the Yes 5
usage? No 0
Partia 2.
l 5
TP not set Was the RA aware of checking the TP status from galactic? Yes 5
No 0
Partia 2.
l 5
Was the RA aware of the process in case the "TP not set" is showing in Yes 5
Galactic? No 0
Partia 2.
l 5
Was the RA able to fetch the credit report from admin panel? Yes 5
No 0

10
 Partia 2.
l 5
Waterfall Was the RA aware of the difference between inspection report and Yes 5
depreciation report in galactic?
No 0
Partia 2.
l 5
What is the reason of not showing depreciation report in few of the cars? Yes 5
No 0
Partia 2.
l 5
Was the RA aware of the steps to send the depreciation report to the Yes 5
customer?
No 0
Partia 2.
l 5
Was the RA aware of the difference between SDV and IDV? Yes 5
No 0
Partia 2.
l 5
QC status Was the RA aware of the steps to check the QC status of inspection? Yes 5
No 0
Partia 2.
l 5
How many types of QC rejections are there for inspection? 5 0
2 5
Was the RA aware of the critical and non-critical rejections? Yes 5
No 0
Partia 2.
l 5
PR Was the RA aware of the steps of rasing PR in active loan case? Yes 5
No 0
Partia 2.
l 5
Was the RA able to answer the steps/ POC in case the PR is rejected? Yes 5
(Trainer to give some rejection scenarios like - Bid expire, Authorized
representetive, etc)
No 0
Partia 2.
l 5
OTP What is ideal duration of OTP verification? 30 0
verification mins
Withi 5
n 60
mins
Was the RA aware of the step in case the customer does not ahve the Yes 5
option to check the OTP in his primary number?
No 0
Partia 2.
l 5

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 Was the RA aware of the steps to change the price of the car in case there Yes 5
is a difference in C24 quote and final C24 quote?( PLL - after the bid
expired)
No 0
Partia 2.
l 5

3.2 Itinerary of interventions used between mentees and Buddies-

Buddy and new hire Itinerary

Tas
Durati k
Conn We Mo Catego Object on(in Own Link/ Rema
ect ek Day Agenda Detailed Agenda de ry ive mins) er Task rks
Power
Introduct
ion of Behavi Bud
buddy oural 5 dy
Rapport Behavi Bud
Building oural 10 dy
Success Link of
story of Behavi Bud scoreca
buddy oural 10 dy rd
So far
journey
of new Behavi Men
hire oural 3 tee
Discussi
on on
the
problem
of new Fac Behavi Men
hire e to oural 10 tee
We
Tues Roleplay fac
1st ek
day - First e/
1
interacti Virt Buddy Scen
on with ual to be ario
Custom Bud the by
er 10 dy seller L&OD
New
hire to
keep
his/her
perform
ance L&OD
data will
One and share
homewo major the
rk for Proces Bud problem forma
new hire s 5 dy area t
Your
Feedbac feedbac
k form k
by new Men matters!
hire 2 tee !

12
 55
Buddy to discuss
the performance
of mentee based
on all the
business
parameters -
Target
achivement%, Probi
Conversion%, ng
Discuss follow up%, skills
the quality call% , Link of is
homewo CDID(RMs) - All Behavi Bud scoreca requir
rk these are MTD oural 8 dy rd ed
Buddy to ask the 15
trick to negotiate
with customers
2 to 3 scenarios
based negotiation
to be done Fac
Explain Expalin MOODRC e to
We
Frida the topic - all with fac Content
2nd ek to new explanation and Bud by
y e/
1 hire scenario dy L&OD
Virt
Questio ual
ns to be 1 or 2 scenario Questio
asked and RA need to ns by
after tell the possible L&OD
explnati price of the car Bud in the
on 3 dy content
Wrap up of follow
up call and initiate
the conversation
of homework
One Follow up call -
homewo topic of next week
rk for and homework for Bud Follow
new hire next week 3 dy up call
Your
Feedback link to
Feedbac feedbac
be shared by
k form k
buddy to the
by new Men matters!
mentee
hire 2 tee !
35
3rd We Tues Discuss As per the Fac Behavi Unders 5 Probing
ek day the discussion on e to oural tand is
2 homewo above topics, fac the require
rk buddy will start e/ knowle d
with the Virt dge
understading of ual level of
mentee on the new
follow up (the hire
discussion will be
retated with the
1st connect topic -
First interaction
with Customer)

13
 and then will start
the follow up call
What is Follow up
call?
What all should
RA discuss to the
customer in follow
up call, please
provide 2 to3
scenarios ( Price
issue- RA raised
PAI, Price issue -
Gap is high, Price
issue - negotiation
pointers to be
covered)
On which IDs
follow up call
bneeds to be
done - By retail,
PLL and HI
What should be
the % of C3A - 80
to 90%
What to do if
Customer is not Follow
responding to up call-
Topic of calls - Content
the day- C3A( attempts to by
explain be done) 10 L&OD
Questio
Questio Current % of RA - ns to be
ns to be MTD asked
asked Target by buddy by
after to mentee for the buddy
explnati month on the
on 10 topic
Wrap up of follow
up call and initiate
the conversation
of homework
One Quality Call - topic
homewo of next week and
rk for homework for next Quality
new hire week 5 call
Your
Feedback link to
Feedbac feedbac
be shared by
k form k
buddy to the
by new matters!
mentee
hire 2 !
35
4th We Frida Discuss Buddy to ask Fac Behavi Unders 5 Probing
ek y the related to quality e to oural tand is
2 homewo calling: fac the require
rk What is quality e/ knowle d
calling? Virt dge
What is the target ual level of
of quality calling? new

14
 hire
Buddy to explain
the topic
Minimum call time
to maitain the
quality calling
Topic to be
discussed -
Greeting,Car
Inspection
Report,Negotiatio Quality
n,objection
call -
handling,closure(
Topic of Ensure that RA is Content
the day- talking to decision by
explain maker) 10 L&OD
Questio
Questio Current % of RA - ns to be
ns to be MTD asked
asked Target by buddy by
after to mentee for the buddy
explnati month on the
on 10 topic
Wrap up of quality
call and initiate
the conversation
of homework
One
homewo Docket rating -
rk for next week Docket
new hire homework 5 rating
Your
Feedback link to
Feedbac feedbac
be shared by
k form k
buddy to the
by new matters!
mentee
hire 2 !
35
5th We Tues Fac Unders
ek day e to tand
3 Buddy to ask fac the
e/ knowle
related to Docket
Discuss Virt dge Probing
the rating: ual level of is
homewo What? Behavi new require
rk Importance oural hire 5 d
Topic of What is docket 10 PPT
the day- rating? Link
explain Why is it important
for RA and
customer
What are the
consiquences in
case the rating is
not 5
types of rating and
scenario
How to handle

15
 exceptional cases,
if the TAT is over
and the document
is with RA after
the TAT
Questio
Questio Current % of RA - ns to be
ns to be MTD asked
asked Target by buddy by
after to mentee for the buddy
explnati month on the
on 10 topic
Wrap up of docket
rating and initiate
the conversation
of homework
One Incentiv
homewo Incentive e
rk for structure - next structur
new hire week topic 5 e
Your
Feedback link to
Feedbac feedbac
be shared by
k form k
buddy to the
by new matters!
mentee
hire 2 !
35
Buddy to check Unders
the understanding tand
of Incentive the
structure: knowle
Discuss How to earn? dge Probing
We the Maximum amount level of is
ek Frida homewo which can be Behavi new require
6th 3 y rk earned by RA? oural hire 5 d
How can RA earn
Incentive?
Targets to achive
the Incentive?
Which all factors
ditrectly impact
the Incentive
Scenario based
calculation- (i)
Docket rating
issue (ii) IM
issue(only for Incentiv
RMs) (iii) TArget e
Topic of achivement structur
the day- calculations(Only e- used
explain for RAs) 10 cases
Questio
Questio Current % of RA - ns to be
ns to be MTD asked
asked Target by buddy by
after to mentee for the buddy
explnati month on the
on 10 topic

16
 Ferrari for HI and
PLL
Negotiation Ferrari
eLeraning for and
Retail core(where waterfal
waterfall is not l
One live) Negotia
homewo Waterfall for Retail tion
rk for core (where the eLearni
new hire same is live) 5 ng
Your
Feedback link to
Feedbac feedbac
be shared by
k form k
buddy to the
by new matters!
mentee
hire 2 !
35
What is Ferrari?
Parameters of
Ferrari?(HI and
PLL)
What is waterfall? Unders
Within how long tand
inspection report the
to be send to knowle
Discuss customer? dge Probing
We the Retail - Customer level of is
ek Tues homewo inetraction(TBD _ Behavi new require
7th 4 day rk JC and Bikesh) oural hire 5 d
Ferrari:
What, parameters,
weightages and
questions
Impact of Ferrari
on business and
RA
Waterfall:
What is SDV and
IDV, difference
between the same
Calculation of
both
Factors to be
explained to
customer with the
help of waterfall
page
Retail:
What all to be
done in Welcome,
Inspection, Price
discovery and
Topic of Closure( only Content
the day- pointers are by
explain sufficient) 15 L&OD
Questio Current % of RA - 10 Questio
ns to be MTD ns to be
asked Target by buddy asked
after to mentee for the by

17
 buddy
explnati month on the
on topic
Aspire
to be
complet
One ed by
homewo Aspire eLearning the
rk for to be completed mentee
new hire by everyone 3 s
Your
Feedback link to
Feedbac feedbac
be shared by
k form k
buddy to the
by new matters!
mentee
hire 2 !
35
Overall
understanding of PPT to
Discuss RA in reagrds to be
the Aspire shared
homewo What? by
rk How it helps RA? L&OD
Buddy to pick the
problem are of RA
based on the
performance
(bases the 1st day
Problem homework) and Link of
area of pick up the topic scoreca
new hire bases the problem rd
How the RA can
improve the
perfor,ance of the
problem area Unders Probing
Conversion last tand is
month% the require
Target knowle d
achivement last dge
We Topic of Follow up% level of Link of
ek Frida the day- Quality Call % Behavi new scoreca
8th 4 y explain Doubts, if any oural hire 5 rd
Your
Feedback link to
Feedbac feedbac
be shared by
k form k
buddy to the
by new matters!
mentee
hire 13 !
35
Final
perform Conversion last
ance month%
review - Target
all the achivement last
We business Follow up% Refer
ek Tues paramet Quality Call % the
9th 5 day ers (all are MTD) 10 sheet
Questio Assessment of 15 Buddy

18
 ns
related
to
process
and
business
paramet
ers to be
asked -
Final Mentee(to be &
scoring done by buddy) ZM/TM
Roleplay
- Scenarios to be Buddy
scenario given beforehand &
based to the buddy 15 ZM/TM
Your
Feedback link to
Feedbac feedbac
be shared by
k form k
buddy to the
by new matters!
mentee
hire 2 !
45
Closure
email
with
perform
ance
and Loopi
scores ng L1
will be of
sent to budd
new y and
hire and L&O new
buddy D hire

4. Detailed Study and Analysis-

Stage Owner Partner Action Insights/remarks

Pre Work Sapna 23 business Stakeholder connect - Problem statement
people(GM, Challenge identification of identified:
TM, RMs/RAs) - new hires 1.Product
Knowledge(galactic, Admin
3 days panel, PR rejection, IM
issue, docket rating,

19

Gopu Krishnan,
Identification of potential
Satchit Varma buddy profiles
and BI
2 step criteria - business
nos will act as a qualifier.
Potential 2nd level qualifier - Cross
L&OD Trainer Viva - to establish
buddies
their knowledge levels
Incentive structure)
2.Key business
metrics(quality call, follow up
call, ID, CD)
62 RA/RMs - Detailed dump
is available below the table
Basic gate criteria - Potential
Buddies should score >80%
in CT viva to qualify as a
buddy

Vetting of
potential buddy Eligible People skills such as
profile buddies - After communication, feedback,
L&OD performance influencing will be developed
and knowledge Eligible buddies behavioural through the behaviour
check session- 3rd level check workshop. Certification for
behavioral assessment this workshop is a must
Certified buddies to get the Final buddies should get the
L&OD Final buddies next plan of action - details confirmation and ready for
shared below the table next step in their journey
Rookies to be introduced to
Communication New hires - 0 Planner to new hires - task the program and with their
L&OD
to mentees to 90 days explanation buddy and schedule for
buddy sessions
To ensure that buddies and
mentees are on the same
page, L&OD will become the
bridge
New hires - 0 Introduction session with
L&OD will help facilitate the
to 90 days Mentees and Buddy
introduction session
between the mentees and
buddy and walk them
through the program
Buddy connect with 8 connects will happen in 4
mentees - 30 days weeks + 1 connect in 5th
During project Buddies Mentees
plan(details shared below week( final performance
the table) check of new hire)
New hires - 0 Feedback forms - connect New hires to fill the feedback
L&OD
to 90 days insights form after every session
Performance/connect Competition among the
Gopu and dashboard will be sent - buddies to ensure they are
L&OD
Satchit weekly for both buddies and connecting with the mentees
new hires and helping them
Closure email - performance Performing buddies will be
Closure L&OD Gopu &team and knowledge finalized for RnR(follow
improvement selection criteria

5- Conclusions and Recommendations:

20
We are happy to share the completion of the first phase of "The Buddy Program"
where more than 50 Buddies have helped 100+ Mentees (new joiners) over a
period of 60 days. These buddies have done 300+ connects with their mentees
and have helped them in enhancing their business acumen!

Sharing a few insights from the journey and details of top-performing buddies (basis
performance of their assigned mentees)-

What did we do?

A focussed training program for 50+ buddies on how to help their mentees
effectively and enhance their performance
 Business leaders had helped our buddies by mentoring them and setting
the expectations of the program

 These 50+ Buddies connected with 100+ Mentees (new employees) and
completed 300+ connects over the period of 60 days
 Helped mentees on key business metrics - Target achievement, First
Customer Interaction, Negotiation, Follow Up & Quality Calling, Docket
rating, Ferreri, etc.
 Shared live scenarios and conducted roleplay during every connect to assess
the mentee's understanding & areas of improvement.

How has it helped?

 The average target achievement of the all the mentees has improved by
21% (from 54% target achievement in Feb to 75% in Mar)
 85% of mentees felt that this program has helped them in managing their daily
tasks (basis feedback scores from mentees- link in trail for reference)

We would also like to congratulate all the Buddies for successfully completing the

journey with their Mentees. Special shoutout to 16 winners (buddies) who have
helped their mentees in scoring 90%+ (in all 4 predefines parameters).

Winners List (Buddies of high performing mentees)

 Buddies of Mentees who have qualified with overall scores > 90% have

been selected as winners
 Winners (buddies) have been evaluated based on their Mentees' performance
 Evaluation is done basis performance on the following business
metrics - Conversion, Target Achievement, C3 Follow up Calls & Quality
Calling

21