Lionel Perqashi · Chief Marketing Officer · India
Presented to the Board or a committee
Board commercial-plan and customer-risk reviews
April 2021–present
Presented campaign withdrawal costs, revised installation illustrations and the separation of enquiry categories used in commercial planning.
| Capacity | Committees |
|---|---|
| Ready to join | Customer and commercial-risk oversight · Strategy and market development |
I would consider a first non-executive seat at an institutional equipment or technical-service business seeking better challenge on customer promises and market evidence. An experienced chair and colleagues with complementary expertise would be important while I learn director responsibilities. I would seek an appropriate member contribution to commercial-risk or strategy oversight rather than claim immediate readiness to chair a committee. I have reported to directors as an executive but have not served on a statutory board. My registration and governance preparation remain unfinished and should be explicit in the nomination discussion. The proposed company should explain what it expects my experience to add and what learning it requires. A suitable appointment would let me question the evidence behind a commercial recommendation without becoming another marketing manager or relying on customer relationships that create an unresolved conflict.
I would bring experience of the gap between a technically accurate fragment and the commercial impression created by the whole offer. A component price, a signal-delivery result or an enquiry count can each be correct while supporting the wrong decision if its scope is lost. I would help a board ask what the customer is likely to understand and what management can actually infer from the evidence. The discussion should include the cost of correction and the effect on forecasts, rather than treat clearer wording as a consequence-free improvement. I would rely on qualified technical, clinical, legal and financial colleagues for matters outside my competence. My contribution would be strongest where directors need to connect commercial ambition with the conditions of delivery. A board should challenge those conditions and the resources behind them while leaving campaign design and individual sales decisions with management.
The instant-assistance campaign used a signal test to imply a staffed response. A director should ask which part of the promised outcome the company controls and what evidence connects the remaining dependencies. The answer may require technical and customer-operating input, not simply a more confident marketing explanation. I would expect management to describe the scope of a test and the limitations of any extrapolation. The board should also see the consequence of correcting an existing message, including expense and conversations with buyers. In our case the ₹8 lakh write-off and ₹6 lakh replacement programme were real costs of an approval I had made. A small qualification would not have repaired the main impression. The oversight question is whether the company understands and can support the expectation it is creating, with specialist advice on claims that require it.
The 120 enquiries contained forty-five approved projects with timing, forty-two research conversations and thirty-three component requests. Combining them into an active-project count made the commercial plan look stronger without changing buyer intent. I would ask management to show the categories and uncertainties relevant to the decision, including whether opportunities are being confused with orders. Directors should understand what resources each group needs and how the report changes when an enquiry develops or stalls. The answer should preserve useful contacts rather than remove inconvenient ones from the measure. I would also ask how the company checks the assumptions behind qualification and whether incentives encourage optimistic classification. The board does not need to adjudicate every lead. It needs a credible basis for the investment, staffing or forecast that management is asking it to support.
I would begin by learning how the receiving company makes and fulfils its commercial offer. With the chair, I would review a few examples from initial communication through quotation, delivery and customer feedback. I would meet technical, commercial and finance leaders to understand where responsibilities overlap and where approval remains separate. The purpose would be to identify the material assumptions reaching the board, not to rewrite brochures myself. Twenty-five days is a provisional annual allowance for meetings, preparation, induction and travel, subject to employer consent and the actual workload. An expansion or customer issue could require more. I would ask experienced directors whether my questions improve the decision or pull discussion into execution. A useful first-year contribution might clarify one recurring gap between a forecast and the categories supporting it, while I develop knowledge of the company's obligations and market.
My employment and relationships through the engineering parent, institutional customers, installation partners and communication suppliers would be disclosed before an outside-role discussion reached confidential material. Holding no shares does not remove those connections. The receiving company should obtain suitable advice on independence and committee eligibility for the proposed appointment. I would not transfer customer project information, quotations or partner terms from Zervaqi into another board's work. A recurring conflict around the company's principal market could prevent a useful contribution even if an isolated matter could be managed. I would also examine whether the proposed calendar fits my executive responsibilities and whether employer consent remains practical during demanding periods. A board role should not depend on access to a competitor's market plans or an informal expectation of sales introductions. I would decline a seat whose central decisions required repeated withdrawal from the discussion.
I have neither equity nor a statutory seat at Zervaqi, but employment and relationships through its engineering parent still require a specific assessment before an outside appointment.
IICA Independent Directors’ Databank: Not yet registered
My preparation for an outside directorship is incomplete, including registration work relevant to a proposed appointment. I do not present executive board reporting as a director qualification or claim a completed assessment.