ART OF SUCCESSFUL MARKETING MANTRAS?- AUTO COMPONENTS? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

 MANTRA 1 - CUSTOMER 

BACKGROUND

In the present situation of Lower Demand, Lower Capacity Utilization, Uncertain Future, Covid pandemic, we have infect entered the real VUCA world which is clearly visible around in every walk of life,and business, Neither Govt of the Day nor Industry Pundits or the wise persons of society are able to offer any solution or way forward except WAIT & WATCH with guidelines on DOs and DONTs. ?

Political leadership starts with Jan Hai to Jahan Hai { Life First ...Balance all can wait } and then modify to Jan Bhee, Jahan Bhee { We need life and also need means to live }followed by Locking and unlocking process.

Fundamental of life is " Show Must Go On", therefore , it is thought wise to start economic activities and allowed it to continue with controlled guidelines to create means as Way Forward to protect life and move the Nation forward.

All the Commercial Activities may it be Manufacturing, and/or Services revolve around PRODUCER, SELLER, BUYER. In nutshell Marketing becomes the center point or important central function to Accelerate the Economy Cycle..

Being from Automotive industry with 40+ years of marketing experience in auto components, batteries, Tractors,and cars etc with manufacturing and marketing corporate both Indian and MNC out of which more than 25 years spent in leadership profile of being Country Head , I sincerely feel that after market business in general and auto component in particular is Recession Free but highly complex with varying degrees of growth on YOY basis rarely in negative . However this is based on Smart marketers with innovative Strategies supported by skilled people who believe that " There is Opportunity in Every Diversity".

Art of successful Marketing is the set of Mantras which revolve around following Elements;-

 1. CUSTOMER -    End Seller / End User

  2. STRATEGY-     Business Approach which win over the customers and competition 

   3. BRAND-        Identity of product which becomes the preferred choice of Customers

   4. MAKTG TEAM-  Group of trained persons led by Leader setting SMART targets 

I will elaborate on each of above elements as part of my series of articles under " The Art Of Successful marketing - Mantras" and will publish on linked in. I will start with CUSTOMER

SUCCESS MANTRAS- CUSTOMER

Following Marketing Approach is strongly recommended for effective and successful CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT in the sequence as listed below -

1. Customer as Central Focus of all Marketing decision-

  Every Marketing head needs to empathize and consider their existing /potential customer before taking any decision . question should be asked to self as " How your decision will make the customer happy ?" if there is any doubt drop the decision and consider different approach. Maintain the focus on happiness of customer. Think as follows-

- Keep Customer Interest on Top of your Mind

- Trust the Customer 

 - Value Customer for their Support

- Consider Customers Complaints as important Feed backs

- Always try to surprise and Delight the Customer 

eg I got assignment as country Head aftermarket marketing of shriram pistons and Rings ltd and there was problem of duplicate, and cheap import of pistons from china while piston rings were used from Indian organized brand like usha. the customer's usage is however piston and ring as assembly. . Therefore need was to innovate such packaging which serve customer purpose of using quality for both piston and ring while creating such design which was extremely difficult to imitate . . New packaging was finalized considering the objective, taking the service of design professional, setting the special machinery . while it resulted in cost escalation but this developed as USP. The USHA Piston Assembly for Honda motor cycle became the talk of the town and created the history in exponential sales growth. Till today it is the highest selling premium brand..

Mantra= Do what is good for the customer and business will always remain in fine mode.

2. Ensure Memorable Experience for the Customer-

One can win the customer once by first sales. But to convert this customer as a permanent client, effort should be made to offer delight and pleasureful experience to help the customer build emotional bond with your brand.. you may have seen that there are multiple brands available in the market offering similar quality, price etc etc but still one brand takes the leadership in the market if you analyze in depth you will find this company or brand must have offered customer some extra delight or convenience or pleasant experience to make him emotionally bonded .

Emotionally engaged customers become more valuable to company and its Brand due to following-

- they buy more

- they care less about the price

- they pay attention to co communication on new launch

- they recommends the brand to others potential customers  

eg M&M { Mahindras } OES parts were in tough competition with many component brands and to protect customers interest on quality and to encourage customer to opt genuine parts specially while doing engine overhauls , they introduced the Complete Overhaul Kit{ consisting of 50-55 parts } in the year 1999-2000 which offered delight and convenience of genuine parts availability in one pack being from manufacturer of tractors, and packaging was also usable as carry bag with final price being value for money to customers. .

 M&M ki became the highest selling brand pan India where both the end sellers and end users got benefited.

Mantra= Recognize /provide reliable assurance, Under promise and over deliver with fair balancing, Keep soliciting feed back periodically

3. Develop Customers as Brand Promoters-

With the customer concentric decision and ensuring memorable experience of the customers you have been able to create customer friendly environment which influences customer buying decision in favor of your brand leading to brand loyalty. these loyal customers becomes asset for the company . Auto component brands which have offered Value for Money,, Excellent after sales service support and memorable experiences to their customers have established large numbers of loyal customers who remain emotionally engaged with companies. eg Mico Bosch, Mahle, Usha, GS,BGL, Hella, NRB, Kirloskar, MF, Mahidra etc etc. 

Some of the leading Global market Research companies like Nielsons did online survey across 50 developing and developed nations in regards to basis of brand preferences and concluded " 90% of people trust brand which are recommended from people they know and are also influenced by customers online reviews"

Brand Promoters are also Brand Loyal customers who have following qualities-

- They are price insensitive ie not influenced by low prices etc

- They extend support to brand they deal

- They are early adopter of new products, new introductions from the brand they are loyal eg brands like GS, USHA, Mahle, Mico have entered into diversified products which are well accepted because of strong large loyal base

Brand Promoters not only helps in increasing companies' revenue but also helps in cost reduction by reducing cost of sales , but also increasing the bottom line by accepting the premium price.Steps recommended to convert loyal customers to brand promoters are as follows

- Ensure "Value for Money" tag to your Brand product

- Try and reach out to the Experts, industrial body and Loyal customer to endorse the brand 

Mantra= Adopt the system which ensures customer delight and memorable experience .

4. Transform Brand Promoters to Brand Employees-

This sound illogical initially but has proved very successful where customers works for the co /brand without actually realizing .  there is interesting cases of 

 - self service in fast food eating joints . customers do the job of serving staff by picking and dropping the plates etc 

 - increasing usage of ATMs, Net / phone banking in managing own accounts replacing bank branch staff

- checking in, printing boarding pass at airport replacing the airlines as well airport staff 

All the above case studies proves a point that you can transform your customers to do your job voluntarily and happily while maintaining the customer loyalty and protecting the market share .On analyzing the factors which prompted such a transformations, the following elements are identified-

- Convenience of operations eg choosing your seat and printing boarding card from anywhere and with out going to airport is great experience

 - availability of simple and easy to understand operating system 

- Special benefits and rewards eg if you order online or if you pay online you get special discounts eg amazon ,paytm,, movie ticket, 

In automotive industry which consist of both B to B and B to C segments in primary and secondary channel network , the channel partners are being considered as extended arm of marketing dept . companies and are transforming this loyal network to work for you in implementing companies scheme, sales campaigns, even advertising to promote brand . This is also helping to further strengthen the emotional engagement with the company as well building relationship for long term gains.

eg1 during my association with Daewoo Motors Corporation I introduced the concept of Cooperative publicity with our channel partners to initiate brand promotion campaigns where Daewoo would consider bearing the part cost but ensured your customers spent and worked hard to promote co brand as the co employee do.

eg2 During association with Shriram pistons and rings manufacturer of Usha brand pistons, Rings, E valves, I conceptualized contest for end sellers and end users to increase fitments at workshops with rewards starting from home appliances, gold coins and foreign visit which resulted into multi fold growth made usha the preferred choice in its business segment .

Steps recommended to transform your customers to employees are as follows;

- Offer Direct tangible /financial benefits on increasing sales. eg Sell more to Earn More 

- Offer / Announce intangible benefits in form of recognition, like sales champion + foreign excursion visit with family etc

- Adopt new technology operating platform to bring down their cost of operations to , minimize inter co transaction paper work etc and save time to spent on more promotion

 - Develop customer's complete trust by under promise , over delivery + fair transparency.

Mantra= Take care of customer and customer will take care for your brand/company

First series of Art of successful marketing Mantra on Customer Management can be summarized as follows-

1. Adopt Customer as central focus in all decisions

2. Ensure memorable Experience to Customers both during pre and post sales period

3. Transform Loyal customers to Brand Promoters 

UKJ

Please wait for my next article on 'Mantra' for successful Strategy