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Cracking a Tractor Case: When a Mock Consulting Interview Gets Into the Fields

  • May 13, 2025
  • Consulting

Our mentor Anshul Mehrotra conducted a Practice Case Interview for a second-year IIM student Sukumar (name changed), who was preparing for consulting roles. In this mock interview with Anshul Mehrotra, what starts as a cricket guesstimate smoothly transitions into a classic business case: declining sales in a traditional industry.

​​The setup:
Client: A tractor manufacturing company
Problem: Sales have been declining quarter over quarter
Student’s Task : Identify the root cause and recommend what the company should do next

Let’s dive into the conversation — missteps and course corrections included.

If you are looking to crack MBBs (McKinsey, Bain, BCG), ATK (A T Kearney), Oliver Wyman, Roland Berger, L.E.K. Consulting, Accenture or the Big 4s (PwC, Deloitte, EY and KPMG), dive right into this case interview!

The problem….

Anshul: Let’s do a case. Assume you’ve been hired by a consulting firm. Your client is a tractor manufacturing company. They’re losing sales quarter on quarter. You need to identify the root cause and suggest what can be done.

Student: Okay, sir. So just to reiterate, our client is a tractor manufacturing company and they’re seeing declining sales over the past few quarters, correct?

Anshul:Correct.

The student did Step 1 – Paraphrased the question – to ensure that he will solve the right problem. 

Getting more information…..

Student: I’d like to begin by asking a couple of clarifying questions. First, is this an industry-wide phenomenon or company-specific?

Anshul: It’s company-specific.

Student:Understood. I’m assuming our primary customers are farmers?

Anshul: Yes.

Taking some time to structure thoughts…..

Student: Okay, give me a minute to structure my thoughts.

 

Student: I’d like to look at this from two perspectives: revenue side and cost side. Since we’re talking about declining sales, this seems to be a revenue-side issue. (Blooper Alert – Its already mentioned revenues!)

Anshul: Yes, I mentioned QoQ sales decline. 

Student: Ohh yes. On the revenue side, I’ll break it into demand-side and supply-side issues. Is the company domestic or does it sell internationally?

Anshul: India-based and sells locally.

Student: Are there any crop failures or fluctuations in agriculture that might have impacted demand?

Anshul: No, assume external macro factors are stable.

Student: What about product mix? Does the company sell only one type of tractor?

Anshul: Yes. Single product. All competitors are also focused on the same.

Student: Has there been any technological disruption in the industry?

Anshul: No. No new players or disruptions.

Student: Have there been complaints or service issues specific to our product?

Anshul: No.

Interviewer now giving hints…..

Anshul: Have you considered the 4Ps?

Student:Yes. Let me walk through them. Product — the tractor seems to be working fine; no complaints, so that’s likely not the issue. Price — I assume the pricing is competitive and in line with peers?

Anshul: Yes. No issue with pricing.

Student: Promotion — are we doing active awareness campaigns?

Anshul: We’ve been doing the same kind of promotion for the past two to three years.

Student: That leaves Place. Have we identified where the drop in sales is happening?

Anshul: Exactly. The issue is in the western region of India. You should have asked that earlier.

Interviewer giving additional information….

Anshul: Now here’s something important — competitors are conducting village-level trade fairs. They’re doing on-ground demos, showing how the tractors and their ancillaries work on farms. They’re allowing test drives, creating engagement. We’re not doing any of that.

Student: Understood. So here’s what I would suggest:

  1. We should participate in rural trade fairs, just like our competitors.

  2. Offer live product demonstrations and test drives to farmers.

  3. Set up demo kiosks or mobile stalls in agricultural zones where footfall is high.

  4. Partner with financing companies to provide loan options and increase affordability.

Anshul: Go on.

Student: We can also identify specific areas within the western region where sales have dropped and run hyperlocal campaigns there. By training our on-ground staff to communicate product advantages and participate in trade fairs, we can directly engage potential customers.

Case interview Takeaways….

Area Explored

Performance

Initial structuring

Good start, but spent time asking broad questions without location focus

Frameworks used

Applied revenue vs. cost (though not appropriate), demand vs. supply, and later 4Ps

Missed early signal

Did not ask “where” the issue is upfront. Anshul had mentioned that its an India based company. He did ask on product mix, but not on geography mix.

Solutioning

Strong ideas once prompt was received — demos, rural fairs, financing model

Our Consulting Mentors….

Practicing case interviews with experienced mentors not only gives valuable insight, but also much required practice.  Our mentors from McKinsey, BCG, Bain and others can help you with your consulting careers.


One of the biggest advantages of GoCrackIt’s platform is its flexibility—you can schedule mock interviews online at times that work best for you, without geographical limitations. Their pool of industry experts spans across different roles and companies, ensuring that your mock interview preparation is relevant to your target job. With focused online interview practice, you can work on areas like problem-solving, behavioral responses, or technical deep-dives, depending on your unique needs and goals.

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