USHA Dealer Satisfaction
USHA Dealer Satisfaction
USHA Dealer Satisfaction
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive summary...............................................................................
1 Introduction................................................................................ 1-3
1.1. Introduction...............................................................................................
...... 1
1.2. Nature of the problem..................................................................................... 2
1.3. Objective of the
study...................................................................................... 3
1.4. Hypothesis..................................................................................................
...... 3
2.Profile of the Industry and Organisation............................... 4-19
2.1. Industry analysis
2.1.1. Overview..........................................................................................
....... 4
2.1.2. Introduction......................................................................................
....... 4
2.1.3. Sector
outlook......................................................................................... 5
2.1.4. Classification of consumer durables........................................................ 6
2.1.5. Scope....................................................................................................... 7
2.1.6. Current scenario...................................................................................... 7
2.1.7. Future scenario....................................................................................... 7
2.1.8. List of companies................................................................................... 9
2.1.9. Top players............................................................................................ 11
2.2. Profile of the organisation.............................................................................
12
2.2.1. The Shriram group
history..................................................................... 12
2.2.2. The Siddharth shriram
group................................................................. 12
2.2.3. Joint
ventures......................................................................................... 13
2.2.4. Associates........................................................................................
...... 13
2.2.5. Mission of the
company........................................................................ 13
2.2.6. History of the
company......................................................................... 14
2.2.7. Divers product
portfolio........................................................................ 15
2.3. UIL’s Distribution network..........................................................................
16
2.3.1. Sales
force.............................................................................................. 16
2.3.2. Reach across
India................................................................................. 16
2.3.3. Supply chain
network............................................................................ 16
2.3.4. Sales management
practice.................................................................... 16
2.3.5. UIL fan market in
India......................................................................... 17
2.4. Product line of the company.........................................................................
19
3.Review of Literature.............................................................. 20-25
3.1. Review of literature.......................................................................................
20
3.2. Customer satisfaction....................................................................................
21
3.3. Measuring customer satisfaction.................................................................
22
3.3.1. Sub segments Vs sub
units.................................................................... 23
4.Research Methodology ......................................................... 26-29
4.1. Title of the study............................................................................................
26
4.2. Statement of the problem..............................................................................
26
4.3. Scope of the study..........................................................................................
26
4.4. Nature of the study........................................................................................
26
4.5. Research methodology..................................................................................
26
4.6. Universe..........................................................................................................
27
4.7. Population......................................................................................................
27
4.8. Sampling.........................................................................................................
27
4.9. Source of data collection..............................................................................
27
4.9.1. Primary
data.......................................................................................... 27
4.10. Tools used for the
study............................................................................. 28
4.11. Limitations of the
study............................................................................. 29
5.Analysis and Interpretations................................................. 30-40
6.Findings and Suggestions...................................................... 41-45
6.1. Findings..........................................................................................................
41
6.2. Suggestions.....................................................................................................
43
7.Conclusion.................................................................................... 46
Annexure..................................................................................... 47-52
1. Questionnaire......................................................................................... 47
2. Bibliography.......................................................................................... 51
1.1 INTRODUCTION
In today’s economy all manufacturers need to pay attention on how to build strong long-term
relationships with their dealers’ chain. In fact, it has been demonstrated that short term
policies aimed to provide dealers immediate benefits (e.g., price discount) may prevent the
development of long term and fruitful relationships. Also supporting dealers in promoting
manufacturers’ products has been proved as a sustainable strategy in the long run.
These issues have been debated in then field of Distribution channel management. In
particular, researchers emphasised that manufactures cannot ignore in designing long term
growth-oriented policies, strategies aimed dealers’ satisfaction. Furthermore, in order to
successfully plan business growth, it has been remarked literature the central role played by
communication. In fact, researchers underlined the failure in channel communication is likely
to affect the relationship between organizations and its own dealer structure
Such remarks suggest that in order to effectively build a long term relationship with an own
dealers’ chain, a manufacturer has to adopt a systematic approach aimed to foster market
consensus on aside, and mutual benefits on the other side. In particular, in the innovative and
revolutionary high-tech industry, manufacturers in order to achieve the desired sales revenues
cannot ignore the need to continuously promote activities aimed to both update dealers
employees’ skills and motivation.
This research project conducted by the researcher with a manufacturer operating in the
consumer durable Industry. It is based on the hypothesis that in order to successfully support
dealers, manufacturer has to design long term oriented policies aimed both build up a
growing potential customers’ awareness of company product a side, and increase dealer’s
employee skills and motivation on the other side.
Channel satisfaction and its consequent impact on channel relationships has been an
important concern of both practitioners as well as researchers during the last three decades.
This is in reaction to a world wide trend towards building closer, and more integrated
relationships between manufacturers and channel intermediaries. It is being realized that one
of the major prerequisites for achieving effective integration of channel operations is the
existence of high levels of commitment to the relationships. The focus of managerial
decisions with regard to channel management has thus shifted to a large extent on creating
and maintaining relationship commitment. As Morgan and Hunt (1994) in their seminal work
on channel commitment has put it “relationship commitment is central to all the relational
exchanges between the firm and its various partners”.
Drawing from studies from diverse domains such as marriage, social exchange,
organizational behavior etc. they feel that, “Commitment and trust are very important because
they encourage marketers to (1) work at preserving relationship investments by cooperating
with existing partners (2) resist attractive short-term alternatives in favor of the expected
long-term benefits of staying with existing partners and (3) view potentially high-risk actions
as being prudent because of the belief that their partners will not act opportunistically”.
Channel satisfaction is undoubtedly a major factor that could lead to greater levels of channel
commitment. Channel member satisfaction is defined as an overall positive affective state
resulting from the appraisal of all aspects of a firm’s working relationship with another firm
(e.g. Frazier, Gill and Kale 1989, Gaski and Nevin 1985). However, there exists considerable
variation among channel theorists on the exact definition of channel satisfaction (Andaleeb,
1995). In order to reduce this apparent variation in conceptualization, Geyskins and
Steenkamp (2000) proposed a two way classification of channel satisfaction wherein
satisfaction is defined in terms of its economic antecedents and social antecedents. Economic
satisfaction is described as “a channel member’s evaluation of the economic outcome that
flows from the relationship with its partners such as sales volume, margins and discounts”.
Social satisfaction on the other hand is defined as a channel member’s “evaluation of the
psychological aspects of its relationship in that interactions with the exchange partner are
fulfilling, gratifying and facile”.
When we talk about customer service and/or satisfaction, we talk about creativity. Creativity
allows us to handle or diffuse problems at hand or later on in the process of conducting the
everyday business. We talk about how, or rather what, does the organization have to do to
gain not only the sale but also the loyalty of the customer. We want to know the payoff of the
transaction both in the short and long term. We want to know what our customers want. We
want to know if our customers are satisfied. Satisfaction, of course, means that what we
delivered to a customer met the customer’s approval. We want to know if customers are
delighted and willing to come back, and so on. Fleiss2 and Feldman3 present examples of
that delightfulness in their writings. Fleiss has written about Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and
Feldman has discussed excellence in a cab ride.
As important as delightfulness is, some of us minimize it, or even totally disregard it. At this
point, we fail. Some of the issues that will guarantee failure in sales, satisfaction, and loyalty
are:
• Employees must adhere to a rigid chain of command
• Employees are closely supervised
• Conflict—in whatever form—is not allowed
• Rewards are based on carrot-and-stick principles
• Wrong objectives are measured
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Customer satisfaction is a key and valued outcome of good marketing practice. According to
Drucker (1954), the principle purpose of a business is to create satisfied customers.
Increasing customer satisfaction has been found to lead to higher future profitability
(Anderson, Fornell, and Lehmann 1994), lower costs related to defective goods and services
(Anderson, Fornell, and Rust 1997), increased buyer willingness to pay price premiums,
provide referrals, and use more of the product (Reichheld 1996; Anderson and Mittal 2000),
and higher levels of customer retention and loyalty (Fornell 1992; Anderson and Sullivan
1993; Bolton 1998). Increasing loyalty, in turn, has been found to lead to increases in future
revenue (Fornell 1992; Anderson, Fornell, and Lehmann 1994) and reductions in the cost of
future transactions (Reichheld 1996; Srivastava, Shervani, and Fahey 1998). All of this
empirical evidence suggests that customer satisfaction is valuable from both a customer
goodwill perspective and an organization’s financial perspective.
In attempting to measure customer satisfaction, it is possible that attributes can have different
satisfaction implications for different consumer and market segments – the usage context,
segment population, and market environment can influence satisfaction and product use
(Anderson and Mittal 2000). Failure to take into account segment-specific variation may lead
a firm to focus on the wrong aspect for a given set of consumers (Anderson and Mittal 2000).
Furthermore, consumers with similar satisfaction ratings, yet different characteristics, may
exhibit different levels of repurchase behavior (Mittal and Kamakura 2001). It is clear, then,
that market and consumer segments should be important factors to consider when measuring
customer satisfaction and its implications.
Garbarino and Johnson (1999) did consider segments in the customer base in their study of
satisfaction where they analyzed the different role played by satisfaction between low
relational and high relational customers. Their study, however, involved customers from only
a single organization. Our approach extends this work by studying customers from multiple
organizations, and shares some similarities with Anderson and Sullivan (1993) with respect to
the type of analysis and sampling methods. The goals of their research, however, were to
study the antecedents and consequences of customer satisfaction rather than investigate how
different types of satisfaction may influence the overall measure of customer satisfaction. In
addition, our theoretical approach shares some similarities to Hutchison, Kamakura, and
Lynch (2000) who posited that unobserved heterogeneity is a problem for interpreting results
from behavioral experiments. The basic point of their argument is that aggregation may create
effects that do not exist in any segments, or may mask effects that do exist. The present study
makes a similar point and provides an analytical method for overcoming such a problem.
Kekre, Krishnan, and Srinivasan (1995) examine heterogeneity of effects across individual
customers of a single company using a random effect ordered profit model. These models are
similar to the hierarchical linear models considered here, and a single customer could be
considered a subunit.
Other authors have examined the heterogeneity of customer satisfaction effects. Danaher
(1998) shows how latent class regression can be used to segment customers and estimate
regression effects by segment simultaneously. Our work is different in that we assume pre-
defined subunits – our concern is not to define segments that have different effects. For the
problems examined here, the subunits already exist. Danaher (1998) identifies segments of
customers (end users) who place different emphasis on different service attributes. Malthouse
(2002) defines such a process as sub segmentation. A firm has targeted a market segment and
acquired customers/end users. It then sub segments these customers/end users from a market
segment into smaller, more homogeneous groups based on some criteria such as utility for
aspects of the product in the case of Danher (1998).
An important conceptual question concerns when one approach should be preferred over the
other. We make two points in response to this question. First, the pre-defined subunit
approach to studying heterogeneity is more appropriate when the resulting managerial actions
will be implemented at the subunit level. Second, managerial actions implemented at the
subunit level are most reasonable when there is homogeneity within a subunit and
heterogeneity across subunits; when this is not the case the organization should seek actions
that can be implemented for sub segments of customers within a subunit. We give several
examples to illustrate these points.
Consider the case of a newspaper owner, discussed in more detail below. An owner in the
U.S. has multiple newspapers and wants to know whether to invest in improving either the
service or the content of its individual papers. Investing in content could involve hiring
additional reporters so that local news can be covered more thoroughly, adding pages to
existing sections, adding special-interest sections, etc. For most newspapers in the U.S. these
actions would have to be taken at the subunit level. One might object by suggesting, for
example, that large metropolitan newspapers (which represent only a small percentage of
U.S. newspapers) could improve content for specific suburban communities by hiring
reporters and adding customized local sections. We would argue that the suburban “zone”
would be a subunit.
A second example can be when actions primarily involve reach media. If a company is
communicating a single message with, for example, television, newspapers, billboards, etc.,
the message must be tailored to the subunit reached by the media. A third example is
managerial actions that are most naturally applied at the subunit level of retail stores, car
dealerships, supermarkets, and bank branches, as discussed previously. A corporation could
send employees of certain subunits, but not all, for specialized customer service training
programs. Corporations often choose where to locate subunits, and might opt for more
expensive locations in regions where “convenience” is more important. In addition, pricing
strategies often must be executed at the subunit level (Singh, Chintagunta, and Dube 2002).Of
course; there are numerous examples of situations where customer sub segmentations are
more appropriate. See Danaher (1998) or Malthouse (2002) for further discussion and
examples.
The present research represents the first study of which we are aware to measure customer
satisfaction from a representative sample of customers who are in turn from a representative
sample of organizations in a single industry. The analysis was replicated in a second industry
to confirm that the findings are not unique to a single industry.
2. PROFILE
2.1.1 OVERVIEW
With the increase in income levels, easy availability of finance, increase in consumer
awareness, and introduction of new models, the demand for consumer durables has increased
significantly. Products like washing machines, air conditioners, microwave ovens, color
televisions (CTVs) are no longer considered luxury items. However, there are still very few
players in categories like vacuum cleaners, and dishwashers.
2.1.2 Introduction
Some Facts
2. Some of the entry barriers in consumer durables sector are distribution network, capital,
and ability to hire purchases.
There has been strong competition between the major MNCs like Samsung, LG, and Sony.
LG Electronics India Ltd. has announced its extension plan in 2006. The company is going
to invest $250 million in India by 2011 and is planning to establish a manufacturing facility in
Pune. TCL Corporation is also planning to establish a $22 million manufacturing facility in
India. The Indian companies like Videocon Industries and ONIDA are also planning to
expand. Videocon has acquired Electrolux brand in India. Also, with the acquisition of
Thomson Displays by Videocon in Poland, China, and Mexico, the company is marking its
international presence. According to Isuppli Corporation (Applied Market Intelligence),
country's fiscal policy has encouraged Indian consumer electronic industry. The reduction on
import duty in the year 2005-06 has benefited many companies, such as Samsung, LG, and
Sony. These companies import their premium end products from manufacturing facilities that
are located outside India. Indian consumers are now replacing their existing appliances with
frost-free refrigerators, split air conditioners, fully automatic washing machines, and color
televisions (CTVs), which are boosting the sales in these categories. Some companies like
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and LG Electronics India Ltd. are now focusing on rural
areas also. These companies are introducing gift schemes and providing easy finance to
capture the consumer base in rural areas.
TABLE 2.1
TABLE 2.2
2. White Goods include dishwashers, air conditioners, water heaters, washing machines,
refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, kitchen appliances, non-kitchen appliances,
microwaves, built-in appliances, tumble dryer, personal care products, etc.
5. Mobile Phones
2.1.5 Scope
In terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), India is the 4th largest economy in the world and
is expected to overtake Japan in the near future to become the 3rd largest. Indian consumer
goods market is expected to reach $400 billion by 2010. India has the youngest population
amongst the major countries. There are a lot of young people in India in different income
categories. Nearly two- thirds of its population is below the age of 35, and nearly 50 % is
below 25. There are 56 million people in middle class, who are earning US$ 4,400- US$
21,800 a year. And there are 6 million rich households in India. The upper-middle and high-
income households in urban areas are expected to grow to 38.2 million in 2007 as against
14.6 million in 2000.
Rural sector offers huge scope for consumer durables industry, as it accounts for 70% of the
Indian population. Rural areas have the penetration level of only 2% and 0.5% for
refrigerators and washing machines respectively. The urban market and the rural market are
growing at the annual rates of 7%-10%and 25% respectively. The rural market is growing
faster than the urban market. The urban market has now largely become a product
replacement market. The bottom line is that Indian market is changing rapidly and is showing
unprecedented business opportunity.
With easy availability of finance, emergence of double-income families, fall in prices due to
increased competition, government support, growth of media, availability of disposable
incomes, improvements in technology, reduction in customs duty, rise in temperatures,
growth in consumer base of rural sector, the consumer durables industry is growing at a fast
pace. Given these factors, a good growth is projected in the future, too.
The penetration level of consumer durables is very low in India, as compared with other
countries. This translates into vast unrealized potential.
For example, in case of color televisions (CTVs), the penetration level of various countries is:
TABLE 2.3
India 24%
Brazil 11%
China 98%
US 333%
France 235%
Japan 250%
TABLE 2.4
FIGURE 2.1
1. AIWA
2. Akai India
3. BenQ Corporation
5. Bose Corporation
6. BPL
7. Canon India
9. Daewoo India
10. Electrolux-Kelvinator
11. Godrej
20. Panasonic
23. Samtel
25. Siemens
• Nokia India
• LG Electronics India Ltd.
• Philips India
• Titan Industries
• Samsung India Electronics
• Whirlpool Appliances
• Siemens
• Sony India
• Videocon Industries
• Blue star
2.2 PROFILE OF THE ORGANISATION
Usha International Limited. The Group's principal activity is to manufacture and sale of home
appliances and automotive components. The products include fans, sewing machines,
appliances, power products, auto components, water coolers. The Company export fans,
sewing machines, diesel engines, diesel engine parts and other automotive components. The
Group operates in four segments, namely, Consumer durables, Engines, pump sets and
motors, Auto products and others.
USHA international is one of the India’s known consumer durables marketing and
distribution companies. It started in 1957 and marketing its products for over 50 years under
the brand name USHA company majorly Manufacturing of Electric Fans and Fuel Injection
Equipment. Presently USHA have Over 50 million customers. They have a large distribution
network in core categories. It is the First Indian Company to be awarded ISO 9001:2000 for
Marketing practices.
The group was incorporated by Lala Shriram (grandfather of Siddhartha Shriram) in 1889.
Over the next 100 years, the group expanded into textiles, chemicals, sugar, automobiles,
engines, rayon’s / nylon tyre cord, automotive components, edible oils, heavy chemicals
(fertilizers/ chlor caustic), engineering foundries, sewing machines, fans, home appliances
and other kind of items.
In 1989, the group was split amongst the descendants of Lala Shriram and the businesses that
came to Siddhartha Shriram’s group have been mentioned below.
Siddhartha Shriram group is one of India’s renowned business groups with interests as
diverse as sugar, edible oils and industrial chemicals to fans, appliances and automobile.
2.2.3 Joint ventures
2.2.4 Associates
NGK India
Usha International's mission is to pursue excellence in all its spheres of business activity. It
believes in providing reasonable returns to its shareholders and adding value to the principal's
business operations through effective marketing. Thus, making it one of the leading
marketing organisation in India. This must be achieved by meeting customer requirements,
providing them satisfaction thereby building their trust in the company and its products.
2.2.6 History of the company
UIL is a multi product consumer durable marketing and distribution company with a
diverse product portfolio that includes the following six product lines:
TABLE 2.5
PRODUCT PORTFOLIO
Electric Fans
Sewing Machines
Home Appliances
Generators
Auto components.
Separate sales force for 6 product lines and 3 different channels (traditional, modern retail
and government sales)
16 Locational offices across India, with a Location Head to ensure capture of synergies across
product lines
SAP enabled across all UIL locations (head office, location offices, and warehouses)
The fan market was a well developed and mature market. Fans were the 4th largest owned
consumer durable after watches, bicycles and radio sets. In the year 1993, the electrical fan
market was more than Rs 1000 crores.
The market was dominated by the top 5 brands- Usha, Orient, Crompton, Polar and Khaitan -
who controlled 70% of the market. They also enjoyed 95% awareness in the market.
However, they were gradually losing market share in a low growth stagnating market, where
the rapid growth of the unorganized sector (10% annually) was giving them stiff competition.
The organized fan industry had witnessed a decline of 30 per cent in production last year
because of competition from small scale units which escaped excise duty. Despite this Usha
International had sold more last year and gained market share.
The size of the market is Rs. 1,300-1,400 crores in value terms including the small scale
sector and Usha's share is half of this. On import threat from China, company pointed out that
there was duty protection of 40 per cent.
On the other hand in the plastic table and wall fans segment there may be a serious problem
as China can make them much cheaper. The company will continue to focus on strategic tie
ups only in fans, sewing machines, small appliances, engines and motors, auto components,
air-conditioners and exports. It has no intention to get into white goods.
At the top end, the company has joined hands with the U.S.-based Hunter Fan Company,
biggest ceiling manufacturer in the world. It will exclusively market the Hunter range of fans
in India under the joint branding of Usha Hunter. The tie up has enabled Usha to enter and
create a high-end premium category in the ceiling fans market.
The premium end ceiling fans costing Rs. 5,000 - 10,000 are meant for hotels, guest houses
and air-conditioned houses. The consumers can now look forward to super premium ceiling
fans with wooden blades with an option of imported Belgian and Italian light fittings to
enhance the decor of any room. Around eight models will be introduced in the first year.
The company last year had a turnover of Rs. 400 crores and a profit of Rs. 9.8 crores. This
year would witness marginal growth in the top line segment.
In an effort to expand its market share in the lower-end, the largest consumer durable
marketing company, Usha International is planning to launch low-cost fans christened ‘Zipp’,
shortly. The company is preparing a new marketing strategy to enhance the market share in
the domestic fan market by creating price points for targeted customers. Without
compromising on the quality, the company is planning to offer a range of fans to suite to the
needs and paying capacity of the customers.
Company had launched 19 fan models between April and May 2003, besides the company
will also launch 10 models in the home appliances segments, he added. The models include:
Ceiling fans range-Opera, Optima, Sea Breeze, Sonata Decorative, Ultimate, Zipp, Table fans
range-Mist Air EX, Zipp table fan, Pedestal Fans range-Mist Air ultra, Mist Air Pedestal
remote fan, Mist Air EX pedestal fan.
The company last year had a turnover of Rs. 400 crores and a profit of Rs. 9.8 crores. This
year would witness marginal growth in the top line segment.
On the financial front, the company hopes to achieve a turnover of over Rs 500 crore in the
current year as against Rs 400 crore turnovers reported in the last year.
2.4 PRODUCT LINE OF THE COMPANY
TABLE 2.6
PRODUCT LINE
The efficiency and success of many organizations may be strongly based on the distribution
channels. This structure involves different agents and distinct organizations that, despite the
convergence in the objective to offer a certain product, may have conflicting interests.
Attending their purpose of providing products and services for the use or consumption and
satisfying the final market users – no matter if they are consumers or industry buyers – a large
amount of the channel structure make use of brokers that execute some kind of role on the
products and service distribution.
It emphasize the importance of channels that link specific activities which are connected to
the functions of distribution and final users necessity serving, dividing these causes based on
the demand and supply. Therefore it is obvious to keep the channel members satisfied and
motivated to keep the momentum of the business going. Any disturbance on this may cause
loss on the sales or even losing the channel member.
Considering this fact, the study was pertaining to the satisfaction of the dealers of Usha
International Ltd who belongs to the class II and Class III towns. In many times the
companies fail to give good service to those dealers because of the lack of resources or the
reachability etc. this study is to find out the satisfaction level of these dealers of UIL since
nearly the 20% of the sales of UIL is from the rural market.
OBJECTIVES
1. To find the dealers’ satisfaction of the Class II & Class III who deals with USHA
fans
2. To find out how the dealers rate the promotional activities carried down by UIL
3. To find out whether there is any co relation between the experience and the type of
promotion they needed.
4. To know the impact of after sales service provided by UIL and the satisfaction level
of the dealers
5. To know how effective are the employees in dealing with the dealers
The problem for the study was to estimate the dealers’ satisfaction of Usha International
Limited and if not in which areas they are not satisfied with the service of the company.
This study covers respondents form the class II and Class III towns in Ernakulam district who
are the dealers of Usha fans. The result of the study can be used as a support data for UIL’s
comprehensive marketing programme.
The type of research followed is mainly analytical and to a certain extent descriptive in
nature. Analytical research is the method used to analyze and draw inference from a set of
facts or collected data. This analysis is used to arrive at new information and facts.
UNIVERSE
The dealers of UIL in the entire district concertedly contributed to the universe.
POPULATION
50 dealers from the universe were selected randomly for the survey.
SAMPLING
Simple random sampling was the method adopted for the selection of sample from the above-
mentioned universe.
PRIMARY DATA
The primary data was generated through the questionnaire by soliciting the response of the
dealers of UIL. The questionnaire has been tested for its validity before the research is been
conducted. The reliability test has given an Alpha value of 0.604. The reliability statistics has
been given below.
TOOLS USED FOR THE STUDY
1. Statistical tables, Charts and Diagrams are used for the presentation of the data.
2. Analysis being carried down by the help of statistical software like SPSS
4.11 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
Since the study was within a period of 8 weeks, time factor was a major constraint.
The study was based on the assumption that the respondents will always be truthful
and correct. But this assumption might not be true always.
The study depends upon responses of the respondents, who are believed to be giving
the right information. Thus the accuracy of the survey and its findings depends a lot
on the respondents and their responses.
This sample size cannot represent the features and characteristics of the universe to its
entirety.
The study was confined to the Erankulam district, so the results may not be the same
in other parts of Kerala which are having different market conditions.
5 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONS
TABLE 5.1
EXPERIENCE IN DEALERSHP
1 1 – 3 years 2
2 4 – 7 years 8
3 8 – 10 years 15
4 Above 10 years 25
TOTAL 50
FIGURE 5.1
INFERENCE:
The experience of the dealers matters a lot in this analysis to find the degree of dealers’
satisfaction. The percentage analysis gives the percentage of their experience in their
dealership and if it is higher the analysis have the higher value.
Of about 50 dealers 50% of are having above ten years experience and 30% are in the
business of about 8-10 years. The other 16% have 4-7 years of experience and the rest 4%
of the dealers have 1-3 years experience. Since the chart above shows the dealers have
considerable experience and their answers are valued much and their statements are very
much helpful for the analysis to come effective.
TABLE 5.2
1 VERY GOOD 24
2 GOOD 18
3 SATISFACTORY 8
4 POOR 0
TOTAL 50
FIGURE 5.2
INFERENCE:
The chart above shows the degree of reliability on the quality of USHA products the dealers
have. From this inference we can analyse the quality USHA offers to their customers. Most of
the dealers said the quality of USHA is unbeatable. Around 48% dealers have the opinion that
it is very good, 36% of the dealers say the quality is good and only a mere 16% of them have
the opinion Satisfactory. No one reported on poor quality products from USHA.
TABLE 5.3
CREDIT PERIOD ALLOWED
Sl
Criteria No. of respondents % of respondents
No.
1 VERY GOOD 18 36
2 GOOD 22 44
3 SATISFACTORY 10 20
4 POOR 0 0
TOTAL 50 100
FIGURE 5.3
INFERENCE:
This table shows the degree of dealers’ satisfaction on the credit period allowed by USHA to
them. Most of the dealers are satisfied with the credit period allowed. 36% of the dealers are
very much satisfied about the credit period offered to them. 44% of the dealers are voted
“Good” and 20% of the dealers find no faults and almost satisfied with the credit period
allowed. None of the dealer has reported that the credit period allowed is not matching with
them.
TABLE 5.4
FIGURE 5.4
INFERENCE:
The promotion, one of the P’s of marketing is most important for the survival of any business
concern, be it public or private, service or production. From the analysis, the promotion
activities carried out by USHA is found to be satisfactory. 6% of dealers found it extremely
well and 30% of the dealers have reported as “Good”. 54% of the dealers are satisfied and the
rest 10% of the dealers are reporting “poor”. According to them the competitors are giving
good promotion for their products compared to Usha.
TABLE 5.5
INFERENCE:
This table shows the opinion of the dealers and customers about the price of the USHA
products. At any time, the price of a company’s product is always discussed; even it is
maintained at a low cost. But when asked to a lot of customers the real fact is revealed.
Among the 50 dealers, 20% of them reported that the product is priced the highest, 48% of
them are reporting it is higher but not the highest.
32% of the dealers are satisfied with the price, because of the product’s quality. And none of
the dealers have reported that the price is lower and no problem to deal with that.
To compete with the low cost products available in the market, the company has recently
launched products like Zipp, Atom etc.
TABLE 5.6
INFERENCE:
In the pursuit of marketing, maintaining good relationship with the dealers is essential. The
employees of the firm should maintain a good rapport with the dealers in order to carry on
their business in a smooth fashion.
This table shows that no dealer has a trouble in dealing with the employees of USHA, which
is also a main factor affecting the dealership and their satisfaction. The friendly relation with
the dealers helps much better for an organization to flourish.
Here, in the case of USHA, the replies depicts that they have understood this concept very
well. 24% of the dealers are proud to be the dealers of USHA and 56 % are much satisfied. 20
% produce average results and none of them have reported a poor relationship with the
employees of the company.
TABLE 5.7
FIGURE 5.5
INFERENCE:
After sales-service, is very much important for a manufacturing company to bloom. In that
matter, Usha finds a little problem with the dealers. They are quite satisfied, because, no
product will be of under-quality and a very few if found to be defective, are replaced and
repaired sooner.
From the above figure, it is evident that from the after – sales service offered by the company
6 % and 20%, so totally 26 % of the dealers have no problem and they are satisfied well. But
70 % of the dealers voted that the service is only moderate and 4% of the dealers find some
problems in the after sales service.
On observation, the dealers are having problem with the after sales service which is
unavoidable. They say that it takes time for the product to get repaired and having
comparatively less problems with the replacement; hence they do use local mechanics for the
sudden repair.
TABLE 5.8
DEALERS’ EXPECTATION ON PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITY
Sl
Criteria No. of respondents % of respondents
No.
1 DISCOUNT 32 64
2 GIFT 4 8
3 PRIZE 5 10
4 OTHER OFFERS 9 18
TOTAL 50 100
FIGURE 5.6
INFERENCE:
Some dealers have the suggestions, and the suggestions about the promotional activities are,
shown in the table. It becomes essential for the manufacturing organization to satisfy its
dealers by the way to sustain and compete.
USHA already offering discounts and they are satisfied with it. Hence the 64 % of the dealers
find no problem with the promotional activity and they get what they expect. 18% of the
dealers expect offers when they purchase in bulk. 8% expect for the gift items and 10%
expect prizes to be offered.
TABLE 5.9
PROMOTING FACTOR
1 PROMOTION 5
2 BRAND NAME 25
3 COMPANY POLICY 3
4 MARGIN 12
5 SCHEMES 5
TOTAL 50
FIGURE 5.7
INFERENCE:
While talking with the dealers about the main factors which drive them to deal with USHA, it
came out that most of the dealers prefer on Brand name to be the first factor. About 50% of
the dealers are dealing with Usha products because of its Brand name. 24 % of the dealers
have voted for margin and 10% for the promotional schemes and 6% for the company
policies. Though the dealers prefer margin, promotional schemes etc apart from the Brand
name, they believe that it is the Brand name of the company and its products which are the
main factors behind their promotion of the brand.
TABLE 5.10
DEALING WITH COMPETITORS
Sl % of
Criteria No. of respondents
No. respondents
1 YES 50 100
2 NO 0 0
TOTAL 50 100
INFERENCE:
Most of the dealers deal with the competitors also. This is because it is very essential for them
to satisfy their various kinds of customers who have different brand and product preferences.
Most of them are dealing in products of companies like Crompton Greaves, Havell’s, Bajaj,
Khaitan, Polar and many other local brands. Many of them are dominated by Crompton
Greaves.
FINDINGS
Usha have got an array of well established dealers. The dealers have a good track
record of their business.
The dealers are satisfied with the quality of the products which are offered by Usha.
None of the dealers said that the products are of poor quality.
It is found that the price is a little higher for the Usha products but when considering
about the quality, the product is worth the price. Most of the dealers are satisfied with
the price, because of the product’s quality and none of the dealers reported that the
price is lower so no problem to deal with that.
The friendly relation helps much better for an organization to flourish. Here, in the
case of Usha, the feedback depicts that they have understood this concept very well.
The dealers are happy with the involvement of the employees of UIL.
On observation, some of the dealers are having problem with the after sales service
which is unavoidable. They say that it takes time for the product to get repaired, hence
they do use local mechanics for the sudden repair but no problem faced on the
replacement front.
Most of the dealers also deal with the competitors. This is because it is very essential
for them to satisfy the customers who have different brand and product preferences.
From the observation, it is found that there are complaints about the profitability and
price of Usha products. Because the margin they are getting is less compared with the
immediate competitors.
There is a significant relation between the dealers’ experience and their Satisfaction
Level on the Credit Period allowed and most of the well experienced dealers are
satisfied with the credit period. The company gives less credit period to the new
dealers. When they prove to be good with their payment pattern, the company gives
extension on the credit period and payment modes.
There is a significant relation between the dealers’ experience and their Satisfaction
Level on the Promotional Activities, and most of the well experienced dealers are
satisfied with the promotional activities given by the company such as hoardings,
name boards, display aids etc.
While talking with the dealers about the main factors which drive them to deal with
USHA, it came out that most of the dealers prefer on Brand name to be the first factor
other than the profitability.
. CONCLUSION
Competing is the global brand and it is difficult one. From the survival point of view, UIL
should enter into all aspects of marketing activities to improve the product life in the future
market. The company has mostly achieved in satisfying its dealers and as well as its
customers. It is evident from this study and UIL is advised to maintain its Quality on its
products so as to retain this stage forever. The study has been successful in knowing the
Dealers’ Satisfaction with Usha International Limited.
The study is not entirely devoid of limitations. The sampling methodology deviates
substantially from a pure random sampling based methodology and therefore reduces the
generalisability of the study. Future studies could look at different contexts as well as
inclusion of other moderators.
SUGGESTIONS
The main objective of every analysis is to find the faults and road blocks of a business.
Some of the suggestions, based on the 4P’s of marketing are:
PRODUCT
Usha fans are well known for their durability, but the imported Chinese fans called the
Mist Air series are having a shorter life. More complaints are arising from this
imported Mist Air series. The company should be careful about these series fan;
otherwise the brand name may be affected.
Trendy designs should be adopted to have an aesthetical appeal which is lacking for
Usha fans compared with the competitors’ products, especially Havell’s and
Crompton Greaves
Most of the dealers are not highly satisfied with the after-sales service given by the
company. It should be taken care of because it is the vital factor in every business. For
this, a Gap analysis can be done to find out where the company is lacking in
delivering the after sales service activities, and the effective measures can be taken.
Opening more service centers across Kerala is needed for the better after sales
programme. The major towns like Kottayam, Alappuzha, and Palakkad are not
having a service centre for the company at present. By opening service centers at
these places, the company can cater to the needs of a wide customer base across
Kerala.
Periodic training programs should be conducted for the technicians as the company is
extending the product line periodically. They should become familiarized with the
technical specifications of the products for providing better after sales service.
PRICE
The company is offering discounts and allowances in the form of trade discounts to
the dealers. But the existing trade discount packages are benefiting the dealers who
are doing big volumes of business. The dealers in the class II and Class III towns may
not be able to do that much volume. In order to improve the rural sales, existing trade
discounts should be made in that way which should be motivating those dealers to do
the business.
Cash discounts are offered to the dealers who are making advance payments. It is now
merely 2%. Increasing that level may motivate the dealers for the cash purchase as
they are getting this benefit other than the trade discounts.
PLACE
The company should focus more on the rural market as it contributes nearly 20% of
the total sales and is an untapped market too. It can be beautifully done through the
newly introduced low cost products like Zipp, Wind, Zen and Atom etc.
The company is having a different channel for the low end model like Zen. Either by
adding members to this channel or by using the existing Members the rural market can
be captured.
It will be better to have a feedback from the dealers at regular intervals, to minimize
the communication gap in the distribution process between the dealers and company
people.
The dealers have some complaints about the delivery of goods. The company is using
road transport for the delivery of goods with the help of different transporting
companies. It should be taken care of while selecting the transporter. So that the
deliveries can be made in time.
PROMOTION
The company is now mainly focusing on the Push strategy for promotion. Since the
competition is strengthening, Pull strategy also can be used along with this.
The existing trade promotion schemes are not offering much to the small scale
dealers. There should be good trade promotion schemes which support the smaller
dealers too.
The immediate competitors are far ahead of Usha in using the Pull strategy. Usha
should concentrate more on advertising through Visual Media.
To encourage repeated purchases, Usha can take many short-term actions such as
price promotions, coupons, displays, and repetitive advertising.
Questionnaire
Name:
Address:
Yes No
If Yes, specify
BRANDS
CROMPTON
HAVELLS
USHA
BAJAJ
KHAITAN
POLAR
OTHERS
5. How do you rate Price of USHA products compared with the following competitors?
10. What do you feel about the employees dealing with you in USHA?
Average Dissatisfied
11. What are the factors that you expect from USHA?
Yes No
Yes No
If No, specify the reason,
14. What do you feel about after sales service given by USHA?
15. Do you have any suggestions to improve the quality of USHA products?
Yes No
If Yes, specify,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
Drucker, Peter F. (1954), The Practice of Management, New York: Harper &
Row.
JOURNALS
Anderson, Eugene W., Claes Fornell, and Roland T. Rust (1997), “Customer
Satisfaction, Productivity, and Profitability: Differences Between Goods and
Services,” Marketing Science, 16 (2), 129-145.
WEBSITES
http://naukrihub.com/india/consumer-durables
http://ushainternationallimited.com