Byju Raveendran tells staff not to sell courses but counsel parents; cuts course prices

NEW DELHI: In a bid to salvage the financial and cultural crisis edtech company Byju’s is currently in, its Founder and CEO Byju Raveendran has asked staff to pull the plug on aggressive selling, while slashing course prices by up to 30 per cent.

In a meeting with over 1,500 sales associates and managers, Raveendran apparently told them to adopt a pull-based sales model rather than “push-based”.

“Your job is not to sell, but to counsel. You just have to guide the students and parents who are already inclined towards the transformative learning that Byju’s offers. You are not sales people; you are education counsellors,” Raveendran said.

He told managers to now act as coaches, focused on supporting and enabling the sales team rather than enforcing strict call quotas, sources told IANS.

On the other hand, sales associates were asked to have the flexibility to work on their own terms, “with no tracking of the number of hours spent on calls”.

“If you can get results by spending just half an hour a day, please do that. Want to only work on the weekends? Why not?” Raveendran told them in the meeting.

The company, struggling to pay salaries to employees and clear vendor payments, has also reduced prices of its courses by up to 30 per cent.

The annual subscription for its ‘Learning App’ is now available at yearly price of Rs 12,000 (inclusive of taxes), while ‘Classes’ and ‘Tuition Centres’ (BTC) are priced at Rs 24,000 and Rs 36,000, respectively, on an annual basis.

The company told the staff that sales associates will receive 100 per cent of the sales closed directly into their accounts the next working day, with managers receiving 20 per cent of the same from the company.

After clearing arrears, associates will receive 50 per cent of sales closed, while managers will receive 10 per cent.

The Byju's CEO also told employees to report any ill-treatment, forced-sales or rude behaviour of managers directly to him.

Facing a severe liquidity crisis, the embattled edtech platform finally paid full salary for April to employees, except sales staff.

The company, locked in legal battles with some of its key investors, is yet to pay the remaining part of the salaries for February and March.