lS & Distribution Management

stream audios and CD-VCRs segment by 80% and in the Walkman market by 20%.
Speaking about the success of the program, Mr. Rajeev Karwal, Philips India senior
vice-president (consumer electronics), said, "The company has benefited from this
exercise as the USPs have helped in reinforcing the superiority and product
differentiation of Philips products in the dealer salesman's mind, resulting in increased
confidence in the Philips brand.'" Buoyed by the success of the program, Philips
decided to make USP a regular feature and conduct the program twice every year.

Dealer training programs were also bcing increasingly adopted by FMCG product
companies. Sensing the need for training its business partners, HLL, the leading
FMCG company in the country, launched an ambitious sales training initiative aimed
at distributors' salesforce called 'Project Dronacharya' in 2003. Under this program,
HLL planned to train nearly 10,000 retail stockists' salespeople spread across 70 cities
in a phased malmer. The training pr9gram covered various aspects of the sales process
including merchandising, route planning, cross-selling, and upselling. The training job
was entrusted to leading training organization NIS Sparta. The training program
involved 139 trainers called 'Dronacharyas' accompanying the retail sales stockists'
men (RSSM) on the field and explaining what their shortcomings were and how they
could improve their skills. Within eights months of the launch of the program, HLL
saw good results. The total lines sold per day (TLSD) and sales target improved by
15%. Some distributors achieved sales above Rs 10 million.

Another prominent example in the FMCG sector was the Gujarat Cooperative Milk
Marketing Federation (GCMMF) (the brand owner of Amul), India's largest food
products marketing organization. GCMMF also undertook a similar initiative called
'Amul Yatra'. Under this program, the company trained all its 3,000 distributors and
their sales force on various aspects such as the Federation's philosophy and culture,
procedures, and operational systems. The training program also aimed at improving
their selling skills.

Commodity product manufacturers like Tata Chemicals too focused on training their
business partners. In 2002, the company conducted a training program for its business
associates aimed at strengthening the brand equity of Tata salt, the largest selling
iodized salt brand in India. Tata Chemicals initiated these training programs as a part
of its strategy to develop a long-ternl relationship with marketing and distribution
partners, to improve the synergy between the company and the channel members, as
well as to leverage on the resources effectively and efficiently. During the first phase
of this initiative, the company conducted a five-day training program called 'owner
management program', wherein the channel members and distributors were provided
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training in marketing and strategy skills. The objectives of this program were t0 :

• Equip participants with marketing concepts. techniques, and functional inputs.

• Help them comprehend organizational decisions and responses in the face of

evolving markets and consumers.

• Help identify opportunities and successfully manage an enterprise.

• Enhance value propositions in transitional markets.

"USP - Philips goes in for Unique Retail Training Programme," The Financial Express,
October 13, 2000.
http://www.tatachemicals.netlO_news_features/events/20030S_may/200205_bridges.htm.