The Hindu Business Line : Empowered rural officers

The colour television (CTV) segment has always been the most profitable one for LGEIL, writes Dr Yasho V. Verma in Passion: The Untold Story of LG Electronics India (www.biztantra.in). He narrates how the segment became a crowd puller.

"Within a few years of operation, we came to discover that airconditioners and refrigerators sold mainly from March till July/August. The sale of washing machines likewise peaked during the monsoon season. For other product categories, Diwali was the peak season. But CTVs continued to be sold all through the year, helping us maintain a good cash flow system."

So, what did the company do, to capitalise on the market behaviour? It started introducing models in each category for every strata of the Indian society, reminisces the author. The objective was that no price point is left unmanned for competition to elbow into!

Elsewhere in the book, Verma talks about LG's rural initiative. "Earlier, our research had revealed that a few of our competitors had failed to dent this market only because they unwittingly made rural posting a punishment posting," he decodes. "Or, they floundered because they hadn't pumped in enough resources into linking their rural-urban infrastructure."

LGEIL, therefore, decided to handle the task, on a different scale and with a higher level of preparedness, recounts the author. The company appointed RAOs (remote area officers) from among the best qualified and committed people, and empowered them in every possible manner.

"The connectivity issue between the RAOs, the branch and the head office had to be resolved, which meant an additional expenditure of $55,000 to $66,000 per office, at the minimum."

Describes Verma: "The company went the whole hog into the field and in one stroke set up, not one or two, but dozenodd RAOs in just over a year's time. In nearly eight months, we had a strong rural network in place. We became dominant on this turf in less than a few year's time."

Instructive read.

Level 2 ethics

The New Sales Manager : Walter Vieira

There are at least four levels of ethical behaviour in all companies, says Walter Vieira in The New Sales Manager ( www.sagepublications.com). The first level is of obeying the law. Nex t, meeting the recognised public expectations. Thirdly, anticipating new social demands; and finally, leading the way.

Sales managers in the twenty-first century will need to ensure that their companies reach at least level 2, insists the author. He recommends that managers should review all promotional material and sales correspondence to check for defamatory material or false claims.

Also: “Tell salesmen to avoid making statements that may be interpreted as damaging to the reputation of a business. Ensure that they avoid making inaccurate comparisons about a competitor’s product.”

It will no longer be enough to be successful; you should be successful and ethical, declares Vieira.

Well-packaged wisdom with catchy illustrations by an unnamed artist adding to the value.

D. Murali

http://BookPeek.blogspot.com