Channel diagnostics
Dealer health checks, territory gaps, channel architecture & a clear plan for distribution.
Entrepreneur · Business Advisor · Coach · Columnist · Author
Be the person who is remembered & also missed.
I help sales teams & promoter led businesses in building materials & interior products build the habits, systems & leaders that make it happen.
- Co Founder & Director
- Dr Decor
- Co Founder & Director
- Cub Crests
- Career
- 36 years
- Doctorate
- PhD, Business Management
- Executive Program
- IIM Calcutta
- Certified
- NLP Life Coach & Master Practitioner
- Salesforce
- Certified Platform Foundations
- Columnist
- OrissaPOST · Times of India · India First
About
From the streets to the boardroom
A practitioner first. Every idea I share has been tested on real dealers, real architects & real monthly targets.
I started as a sales trainee at Philips in North Bihar, selling radios & black and white TVs to dealers. Over 36 years the journey took me through LML, BPL, Samsung, Hyundai & Fedders Lloyd in consumer durables, then into building materials & interior products, across regions & cultures.
In 2021 I co founded Dr Decor, a wooden flooring & decorative panels business. In 2023 we added Cub Crests, a specialty panels company. Both run on one contrarian playbook we call the 4S: Specification, Selective Distribution, Segregation & Scarcity. Most of the industry chases every dealer in town. We chase the right ones.
Today I also advise family & promoter led businesses. Most hit the same wall: how to build management systems & grow without the promoter's day to day involvement. Which 2 or 3 levers will really run the business? Every big customer still wants to speak only to "Sir." I help them build systems & strategies that run without the founder at every desk.
A promoter's real success is a business that runs well even when his phone is switched off.
The DRH Philosophy
Datte Rehna Hai.
Stand firm. Stay the course.
- Stand firm when it gets tough.
- Stay steady when results are slow.
- Stay true when shortcuts tempt you.
Because giving up just before the right time is what separates the also ran from the winner.
Dr DecorCo Founder & Director · since 2021
Cub CrestsCo Founder & Director · since 2023
Business Advisor & CoachFamily & promoter led businesses
ColumnistOrissaPOST
My journey in building materials & interior products
01 · Lead
- Senior Vice PresidentGreenply · 2008 to 2012
- Business HeadHunter Douglas · 2012 to 2014
- Country HeadGreenlam Industries · 2014 to 2021
02 · Advise
Manilam IndustriesMaterial DepotNikhil AdhesivesStylamGreenplySkydecorSource Corp IndiaAction Tesa
03 · Build
- Co Founder & DirectorDr Decor · since 2021
- Co Founder & DirectorCub Crests · since 2023
Consulting services
Where I help
Engagements are hands on. I sit with your sales heads, meet your channel & build the system with your team, with their buy in. I challenge you to view each problem through different lenses & arrive at a differentiated solution. My advice comes from real life as an entrepreneur, with my own money on the line.
Specification selling
Get your brand approved into architect & designer specs before the BOQ is out.
KRA & KPI frameworks
Role wise goals & scorecards that make performance visible across departments.
CRM design & adoption
A CRM your sales team will actually use, built around how they sell. Use it for feedforward, not just feedback.
Influencer loyalty programs
Recognize contractors, carpenters & designers in ways that build lasting brand preference.
Executive coaching & training
One on one coaching for leaders & corporate training for sales teams & aspiring MBAs.
My leadership model
SMILE
Shiv's Model for Impactful Leadership Excellence
Helping every aspiring leader deliver memorable impact. Be the person who is remembered & also missed. SMILE exists to build high trust, high performance teams that defy critics & thrive in the face of adversity.
S
Self Management
Who am I? From the inner core to daily self renewal.
M
Master Your Game
What can I contribute? Know, play, win & change the game.
I
Inspire People
How do I multiply myself? Connect, trust, coach, empower & recognise.
L
Lead Change
How do I create the future? Change yourself, then the culture around you.
E
Enduring Legacy
What continues because of me?
The Shiv Mantras
Seven lines to carry back to work
Drawn from 36 years on the ground, the SMILE model & 15 Plus One Power Habits. Each mantra opens one of my talks.
-
01
Ask IIM before IIT.
Is It Me? before Is It Them?
Before blaming the team, the dealer or the market, look in the mirror first. Most fixes start with the leader.
A branch misses target & the manager blames the dealers. IIM asks: did I visit them, set the right scheme, train the team?
-
02
Sales isn't rocket science. It's neuroscience, with a dash of chemistry.
Customers decide with the primal brain & justify with logic. Trust is pure chemistry. Are you addressing the primal brain?
How neuromarketing helps you find the customer's buy button.
-
03
Aspirins are bought. Vitamins are sold.
A customer in pain buys on his own. One who doesn't feel the pain yet needs a salesman who can uncover it & show what he would be missing.
Help the customer turn a need into a want.
-
04
A NO is never a no till it's Not Over.
A first no is usually a “not yet.” Winners treat rejection as information, not a stop sign.
The order rarely comes on the first visit. Often it comes on the seventh, the one most people never make.
-
05
Tolerate a bad one, lose a good one.
Your best people watch how you handle your worst. Silence on poor performance is a message too.
The monkey who throws back the cucumber when his neighbour gets a grape. Fairness is felt, not announced.
-
06
Decide at 24°, but check it at 44°.
The AC cabin vs the market outside
Plans made in the cabin must survive the heat of the market. Walk the ground before you sign the circular.
A scheme that looked perfect on the boardroom screen, but stumbled at the dealer's counter.
-
07
Products can be copied. PACE can't.
People · Agility · Culture · Experience
When ten brands sell the same products at almost the same price, the winner is the one whose people behave like owners.
Grow big, but keep a start up's speed of response.
Speaking
Invite me to speak
My sessions are packed with stories from the field, so your audience leaves with habits they can use on Monday morning.
Sales is no magic. It is good habits, sound basics, sharp eyes & street smarts.
Shivaji Mohinta
- Talk 1Leading with SMILE: Five Pillars of Impactful LeadershipLeadership
- Talk 2Negotiation TechniquesSales craft
- Talk 3Selling with a StorySales craft
- Talk 4Powerful Winning Habits for Sales PeopleMindset
- Talk 5The Neuromarketing Way of SellingSales craft
- Talk 6Financial Knowledge for a Sales PersonBusiness acumen
- Talk 7Build & Manage a Sales PipelineSystems
- Talk 8Time ManagementMindset
- Talk 9Designing & Adopting CRMSystems
- Talk 10Influencer Loyalty ProgramsChannel
Corporate talks
Sales conferences, leadership offsites & dealer meets.
MBA pass outs
What B school does not teach about selling in the real world.
Sales team workshops
Half day or full day sessions with exercises & role plays.
Columns & articles
Business lessons from everyday life
A regular columnist with OrissaPOST since 2018, with op eds in Times of India & India First, & articles on LinkedIn. Dahi handi, Rath Yatra, Rahul Dravid & capuchin monkeys, all turned into lessons for leaders.
Scaling heights: lessons from dahi handi
Twelve team lessons from the human pyramid. Clear goals, tough targets & total trust.
Read the column ↗Instilling psychological safety at workplace
Why micromanagement spikes in a crisis & how to appreciate, invite & respond instead.
Read the column ↗Survival strategies in changing times
A tailor turned mask maker. An e rickshaw turned vegetable kiosk. Covid lessons in agility.
Read the column ↗Meet a need, become an icon
Capt. Gopinath, Sam Pitroda & the sachet king. Icons who solved a need nobody stated.
Read the column ↗Rejection need not stop you
Bachchan, Phelps, Ganguly & Nooyi turned a "no" into fuel.
Read the column ↗Management lessons from dahi handi
The original. What a human pyramid teaches about teamwork, trust & a strong base.
Read the column ↗A few more columns & op eds
- Jul 2026The human premium in an AI age ↗
- May 2026The fallacy of an ironed shirt ↗
- Jun 2025Even Gods take a rest ↗
- Apr 2025(Un)usual economic indicators ↗
- Jul 2024Unity in motion: big team lessons from Rath Yatra ↗
- Apr 2024The influence of influencers ↗
- Jan 2024The need to unplug ↗
- Nov 2023Navigating the shopping frenzy ↗
- Mar 2023Breaking through the invisible barriers ↗
- Dec 2022Wah Taj! When bullets failed ↗
- Oct 2022Learn slow to solve fast ↗
- Oct 2022Rahul Dravid way: building the wall brick by brick (Times of India) ↗
- Sep 2022Learning the Dravid way ↗
- Aug 2022You feel what they feel ↗
- May 2022A closer look at the monkey business ↗
- Jun 2019Collar guide to personality ↗
- Jun 2019Success through different styles ↗
- May 2019What keeps us stationary? ↗
- Apr 2019Be indispensable with your competence ↗
- Apr 2019Believe it to see ↗
- Feb 2019Are you a complete thinker? ↗
- Nov 2018Taming the not now habit ↗
From reader to supporter
After reading OrissaPOST's report on young weightlifter Birendra Sabar, Shivaji wrote in offering help. He sent Rs 10,000 to support Birendra's training. Some stories deserve more than a like.
Read the report ↗More columns & posts on LinkedIn ↗
The book
15 Plus One Power Habits to Give Wings to Your Sales Career
Talent opens the door. Habits keep you in the room. This book lays out sixteen daily habits that separate the top performer from the rest of the team, drawn from years on the sales floor.
Contact
Let us talk
For speaking invitations, consulting enquiries or a quick hello.