A Reflective Paper

Protiviti

Student Details:

 Name of student: Siddharth Ravishankar

 Roll Number: MMAY17CM11
 Company Name: Protiviti
 Location of Internship: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
 Company Mentor: Shailendra Ranjan – Associate Director in Protiviti
 Academic Mentor: Farah Naaz
 Period of internship with dates: 20/05/2018 – 18/09/2018 (4 Months)
 Job profile: Marketing and Business Development Intern

Aim of Internship:

In the United Arab Emirates, the year had started with the Introduction of VAT (Value Added
Tax), it is a consumption levy imposed on goods and services in all the business sectors. It
was a ploy by the government of the UAE to diversify its economic activities to reduce its
dependence on revenue generated from Oil. What this meant for firms established in the
regions was to adhere to a strict compliance on VAT framework. In the face of this shift,
accounting structures had to be modified in firms and this opened up the business doorways
for tax consulting and financial advisory services. Protiviti owing to a reputed brand value in
the consulting field lays immense emphasis on Internal Audit services. As business was ripe
for VAT consulting, the firm wanted to ramp up business development operations. As an
intern, being part of a team of three, working under a mentor with vast business expertise,
formed a base for helping the firm achieve their business development objectives for a
quarter.
Scope of Work:

In a Nutshell, the main idea was to add a new element to Protiviti’s business development
operations – The Digital Element. This was, in essence, utilizing traditional methods of
marketing and concurrently combining them with contemporary ones to achieve greater
results. Another aspect of our roles was to employ different channels to establish and
maintain positive, professional and mutually benefitting business relations with new and
existing clients. The onus was on us to drive this operation and constantly add fresh
perspectives to the higher authorities to streamline this process for the better – Reach Goals
with minimal investment. Having practised a major in Marketing Management, I was bound
to grasp diverse business knowledge and awareness ubiquitously used in most of the
accounting functions. This was a chance for us to be versatile and have a wholesome
understating of finance frameworks, this would eventually help us in understanding industries
and prepare us for ensuing roles in the near future.

Work Accomplished:

1. Lead Generation: A major part of my job role was to acquire contact information on
prospective clients that would potentially be more susceptible towards accepting
consulting services. Targets were mainly decision makers (CXOs and Board
Members) in tier-1 companies in the Middle East. In terms of priority, our focus was
set on Dubai and UAE. I had employed a combination of premium sales prospecting
tools that enabled me to acquire leads on profiles the firm intended to contact. Post
collection of relevant information containing official work E-mails and direct business
phone numbers, a shared database was created which was accessed by the higher
management.
2. Secondary Research: This form of research was carried out to further supplement my
knowledge of various business activities and to provide invaluable information
whenever necessary. This resulted in a two-way learning between the team and our
mentor as we constantly kept sharing what we had learnt.
A. Marketing Tools – Being tasked with bringing new ideas to the table, I was
constantly on the lookout for new tools and software that would augment the
firm’s client acquisition process. My focus predominantly lied on the
acquisition of new clients.
 B. Middle Eastern Markets – Research various industries in several Middle
Eastern Markets (Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon & KSA) to hunt for probable
business doorways and to catalogue valuable content for client meetings. The
research was carried for the stock exchange in KSA i.e. TADAWUL to further
index the biggest companies in every industry, categorizing them on assets
held and net income generated after zakat.
C. Industrial Trends – Tasked with the role of regularly updating authorities with
changing trends impacting various industries. Focus Areas  Blockchain,
Digital Transformation, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Process
Automation.
D. Consulting Methods and Techniques – Researched various consulting services
and their standard operating procedures. Focus Areas  Robotic Process
Automation, Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), Data Analysis and Internal
Audit.
3. Validating Deliverables – Verifying and fact-checking cases prior to handover. I was
tasked to ascertain if the information was accurate and relevant. Had to make sure if
financial data and annual projections for a firm’s boded well with their strategies.
4. SEO and PPC campaigns – Developed and proposed the impact of Search Engine
Optimization (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC) model on the firm’s business
development. A sample framework was formulated to show the firm’s services would
be advertised.
5. E-mail Marketing – In the name of acquiring new and upholding existing client
relationships, an annual e-mail marketing template and agenda was proposed.
6. Cold Calling – Cold Calling to increase awareness about the services in offer in a bid
to set up introductory meetings with prospective clients.
7. ACL (Audit Control Language) – Learned a data automation software for integrated
risk management.
8. Organizational Charts – Developed schematic diagrams for clients mapping out their
organizational structure. A top-down approach was employed wherein I had charted
the position from the higher to the lower management. This gave more insights into
company culture and lucidly indicated the decision-makers.
Outcomes:

Over the course of this internship, I got to apply theoretical knowledge I had gained in
university and put it to practical use over the course of my internship. The concepts and
theories I had learnt in digital marketing especially came in handy when it came down to
proposing and digital/social media marketing plan. Our emphasis on PPC and SEO deemed
instrumental in establishing a base for future business development. The firm had benefitted
as a result of our efforts, our work translated to immense business over the course of this
quarter. Negotiation skills that I had duly learnt turned out to be helpful during our cold
calling sessions in our initial months, I was able to break through common barriers and
gatekeepers to obtain contact information which set up business meetings which subsequently
resulted in conversions. Sales funnel concepts were invaluable in developing a ‘Prospects to
Leads’ Blueprint which consisted of several parts and essentials tools to improve the hit ratio
of acquisition of new clients, this was later employed by the management after a few trails.

Conclusions:

The experience in Protiviti has been an eye-opener, the learning was exponential and strayed
well above my expectations. I had learnt new workflows and enhanced my skillsets that I
shall carry and utilize wherever I go. Being a part of a highly challenging work environment
equipped me with the mindset to thrive in demanding phases. The work culture in the firm
was of a high standard and entailed everyone to exude peak professionalism. Looking back,
the experience in Protiviti is a milestone, a stepping step towards where I intend to gravitate
towards.

On that note, I lay my deepest gratitude to the school in granting me this opportunity and my
mentors in having guided me throughout the course of the academic year and the ensuing
Internship.