Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Accomplishments
Timeline
Generic
Arpana Thakur

Arpana Thakur

Pricing & Strategy Expert | Customer Service & Operations Expert

Summary

Versatile Senior Manager with 12+ years of Experience specializing in Pricing & Strategy, Business Development, Customer Service skilled at planning, implementing and overseeing key improvements to drive business growth and efficiency. History of cultivating an open culture with free exchange of information. Pursuing new professional challenges with a growth-oriented company.

Overview

15
15
years of professional experience

Work History

Senior Manager

Zee Entertainment Pvt Ltd.
12.2022 - Current
  • Modified inventory control programs to maintain and enhance annual business plan.
  • Implemented and developed operational standards, policies and procedures.
  • Used industry expertise, customer service skills and analytical nature to resolve sales concerns and promote loyalty.
  • Spearheaded change management efforts for seamless adoption of new systems or processes among employees.
  • Leveraged data and analytics to make informed decisions and drive business improvements.
  • Collaborated closely with peers from other departments to drive organizational success jointly as one cohesive unit.
  • Developed detailed plans based on broad guidance and direction.
  • Mentored junior staff members for skill development and career progression within the organization.
  • Examined quarterly financials to determine business operating capacity.
  • Recommended and implemented successful strategies to maximize revenue.
  • Brainstormed and developed sales strategies to achieve short and long term sales revenue objectives.
  • Achieved operational excellence by streamlining processes and implementing best practices.
  • Assisted with day-to-day operations, working efficiently and productively with all team members.
  • Used strong analytical and problem-solving skills to develop effective solutions for challenging situations.
  • Acted as a team leader in group projects, delegating tasks and providing feedback.
  • Proven ability to learn quickly and adapt to new situations.
  • Worked effectively in fast-paced environments.

Deputy Manager - Print Media

Bennet and Coleman (Times of India)
12.2018 - 12.2022
  • Business Development - Secured an understanding of different business verticals, editions and products of TOI
  • Assisting the sales team in achieving revenue/market share/yield targets thereby generating profits for the company
  • Strategic Skills – Implement and support effective pricing strategies based on volume of the advertisements, space availability in the editions and market requirements
  • To ensure optimization of revenue and maintain healthy balance between volume, market share and yield
  • Planning & Management – Forecasting and prioritizing to take timely action as per market needs
  • Analyzing the different seasonality and planning promotional activities thereby milking revenue in the peak season while maintain share for the off-peak season
  • Training & Coaching – Training the team members on applications and software's like tableau, Revenue reports, Response applications etc to draw effective insights enabling to make effective decisions
  • Rapport Building - Maintaining healthy rapport across the verticals of the sales team and company strata to facilitate smooth flow of information across teams
  • Smart Sell – Help Sales team with strategies to cross sell and package different products of the company in turn giving a complete solution to advertiser by offering deals not only on the print medium but also on the non-print medium as well.
  • Mentored junior staff members on best practices for project management and team collaboration skills, fostering a supportive work environment.
  • Developed strategy to increase sales and drive profits.

Pricing & Revenue Officer

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd.
10.2014 - 11.2018
  • Business Development - Secured an understanding of local market dynamics, commercial environment of different ports and macro aspect of HO
  • Assisting in achieving revenue targets thus generating revenue for the company
  • Strategic Skills - Implementing and supporting effective pricing strategies based on network and market requirements
  • To ensure optimization of revenue and maintain healthy balance between load factors and yield
  • Build strategies to maximise revenue from different business channels like corporate, trade, e-commerce enabling to package and bundle products and make lucrative deals for clients
  • System Knowledge – Well versed with ATPCO and fare filling logics thereby processing and co-ordination with different teams to ensure the pricing reflects correctly on different GDS
  • Cost Saving – Actively involved in budget planning and ensuring effective fare filling logics to reduce cost for the company
  • Planning & Management - Forecasting and prioritizing to take timely action as per market needs
  • Making optimum use of inventory
  • Rapport Building - Maintaining healthy rapport with Sales and RMO to facilitate smooth flow of information between teams
  • Training & Coaching – Conducting trainings and workshops for teams to effectively use different sales tools e.g
  • Qlikview, Airline Insight, E-smash, GDS/system training to maximize revenue
  • Team Player - Assisting and training team members to ensure efficiency in team operations and individual growth
  • Creating and sustaining a dynamic environment to develop & motivate high performance in team members.

Customer Sales Agent

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd.
09.2010 - 09.2014
  • Direct Selling – Identifying opportunities where to bring in new business through direct sales channel
  • Source SME's and Corporate to increase sales volumes and bring in incremental sales
  • Acting as one point of contact for regular direct sale passengers for all their services and requirements
  • Revenue Generation - Actively be involved in suggesting new ideas and providing recommendations on an improvement of the service provided, thereby increasing revenue and ensuring Cathay Pacific success as a market leading airline
  • Optimizing revenue through different sales channels e.g
  • Corporate, trade and e-commerce
  • Meeting Targets – Achieving self and team revenue and service targets
  • Ensuring achievement of monthly direct sales target through efficient customer relationship management
  • Client Relationship – Handling HNI client and their account and ensuring to provide seamless service to them by meeting their travel needs
  • Building and maintaining relationships with people within the Organization as well External Agencies and play a pivotal role in developing strategy to promote a positive company image
  • Coaching – Conducting workshops for the trade to train and enhance their knowledge of the products offered by the company thereby ensuring a brand recall
  • Call Handling – Providing customers, corporate and distribution partners with appropriate levels of service and communication support as determined by call nature
  • Online services& Learning – Provide efficient after sales service for online travelers, as required
  • Proactively promoting CX/KA online services available to customers.

Sales Executive – E- Business Department

Thomas Cook
04.2010 - 09.2010
  • Call Handling – Handling PAN India calls through customer toll free numbers
  • Providing clients with detailed information about holiday products, Foreign exchange, student offers and any other services offered by the company
  • Handling Data Base crunching – Converting sales leads through cold call outs
  • Sales Tracking - Preparing individual MIS on fortnightly basis and follow up on conversion of sales leads
  • Meeting Targets – Achieving self and team revenue and service targets
  • Ensuring achievement of monthly targets through efficient customer relationship management and quick turnaround time on calls
  • Website Servicing - Assisting PAN India Branches with handling of the website to ensure smooth daily functioning of the portal
  • Monitoring ticketing done on the portal and assist clients with booking failures, various payments options and highlight any fraud cases
  • Customer Complaints – Handling customer complaints through the portal regarding any service discrepancy and escalating same to the concerned departments and providing timely reverts to the client.

Customer Sales Executive & Assistant to Area Sales Manager

Van Heusen
07.2009 - 03.2010
  • Counter Handling – Maintaining and setting up of Van Heusen Male and Female western apparel counter in SOBO central mall along with handling all of Mumbai Western Suburb counters situated in different locations
  • Meeting Targets - Achieving weekly set targets of all counters thereby achieving self and western India target and reporting same to the ASM and Zonal head of W.I region
  • Revenue Generation – Maximize revenue through the existing counter sales and implanting new ways of selling and packaging products
  • Apart from the regular sales channels, develop and source new channels e.g
  • Corporate clients, gift hampers, bundling various products to do cross selling etc
  • Stock Audits – Conducting regular stock audits and replenishing stocks in a timely manner meeting the demands of the shopping malls and client demands
  • Sales Tracking – Fortnightly preparing MIS for each counter ensuring effective sales tracking and reporting same to ASM
  • Visual Merchandising – Bearing dynamic fashion trends in retail industry assist the ASM with displaying merchandise in an appealing and fashionable manner to enhance the view of the counters and ensure that the counters are well maintained
  • Training and Recruitments – Conducting regular sales trainings and product briefings for the frontline staff
  • Recruiting staff as demanded by the nature of business and handling payrolls ensuring timely disbursements of salary and incentives.

Education

MBA - Global Studies

Deakin University
UpGrad
04.2001 -

Bachelor of Arts - Sociology

Sophia College
Mumbai, India
04.2006 - 2009.04

No Degree - Tourism And Travel Management

International Airfare Desk
Mumbai, India
04.2001 - 2010.04

Skills

  • Business Analysis and Reporting
  • Strategic Planning
  • Business Development
  • Operations Planning
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Customer Service
  • Data-driven decision-making
  • Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
  • Time management abilities
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Self Motivation
  • Excellent Communication

Accomplishments

  • Bennet and Coleman – Times of India: Won internal pricing competitions for achieving revenue target & Implementation of festive offers.
  • Bennet and Coleman – Times of India: Awarded excellence certification for presentation skills.
  • Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd: Awarded a certification for achieving highest direct sales contribution.
  • Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd: Topped couple of internal team contest for achieving targets e.g.Toppers for selling Premium Economy, Enrolling pax for frequent flyer Club (Asia Miles), Upgrade Passenger to Marco Polo Club program.
  • Van Heusen: Awarded a certification for exceeding the targets and service excellence for 2009/2010.

Timeline

Senior Manager

Zee Entertainment Pvt Ltd.
12.2022 - Current

Deputy Manager - Print Media

Bennet and Coleman (Times of India)
12.2018 - 12.2022

Pricing & Revenue Officer

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd.
10.2014 - 11.2018

Customer Sales Agent

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd.
09.2010 - 09.2014

Sales Executive – E- Business Department

Thomas Cook
04.2010 - 09.2010

Customer Sales Executive & Assistant to Area Sales Manager

Van Heusen
07.2009 - 03.2010

Bachelor of Arts - Sociology

Sophia College
04.2006 - 2009.04

MBA - Global Studies

Deakin University
04.2001 -

No Degree - Tourism And Travel Management

International Airfare Desk
04.2001 - 2010.04

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Arpana ThakurPricing & Strategy Expert | Customer Service & Operations Expert