COMPANY PROFILE

INTRODUCTION:
HISTORY/FUTURE AND NATURE OF BUSINESS: Under the banner of 3ace Solutions Private Limited, 5 proprietary business houses have joined their hands in 2006 to emerge as a strong organization, both in terms of geographical reach as well as marketing & technical expertise. Being a front-line in sales, service & customer debt management of some of the top national as well as international organizations to deal in, company is looking forward to achieve further milestones. 3ace also deal in consumables used for XEROX COPIER/PRINTER machines, the yearly turnover of the same goes up to approximate Rs.1, 25, 00,000/-. This business in last two year has shown growth of more than 20% for the company & with changing market strategy & new technology multifunctional printing machines being in demand; it is expected to grow more. Company hold the exclusive service & sales support franchisee for Xerox India Limited, which is one of the leading document-print solution companies of the world. They sell & service, office-automation equipments & consumables. Around 3200 photocopier machines are supported technically by firm. Also the billing cycles are monitored for the revenue generated by them to the tune of Rs. 22 lacs per month approximately. They also impart technical service as an authorized service franchisee of Tata Teleservices Limited, one of the telecom giants of India, for their domestic, commercial as well as public telephony solutions. In all they handle a customer base of around 1,02,000 for Tata Teleservices Limited. A team of 60 engineers handle the same. Apart from this, 3ace also market their public telephony products and are responsible to generate revenue of Rs.30 lacs per month from the same. company also undertake the non-performing asset recovery on behalf of the company. 3ace provide debt management solutions to telecom & banking companies like Xerox India Limited, Idea Cellular Limited, Tata Teleservices Limited, HSBC, HDFC, ICICI and others. They operate with intense ageing analysis of client data along with a strong on-field backup team, having dynamic inter-personal skills. They also handle customer retention operations for Tata Teleservices and Idea Cellular Limited. Company have state of the art call centre solution outsourced for TTSL for retention & also have extended arm in TRAINING for OPERATIONS, PROCESS, SALES, CUSTOMER SERVICE & Customised training solution for call centre & soft skills.

GEOGRAPHICAL REACH OF THE ORGANISATION: 3ace is present at sequential locations ranging from Saurashtra to South Gujarat. Their major operational branches are located at Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Anand, Bharuch, and Ankleshwar & Surat which are centrally operated from the Hub Office of Vadodara. Also encompassed are other locations like Kheda, Nadiad, Halol, Godhra, Dahod and surroundings. With a varied reach in most of the commercial patches of Gujarat, gradually company is looking forward to expand the reach within the country.

INFRASTRUCTURE & MAN-POWER At all the above mentioned locations, we have office space of 4000 sq ft approx, equipped with all needed infrastructure to facilitate day to day operations for most business types. Operating with the total man-power of 250, which comprises of teams serving the segments of acquisitions, tech-support as well as debt & asset management for our clients. The teams are a blend of both business aggression as well as experience & maturity. BUSINESS COMPETENCE IN MARKET PLACE Company is promoted by 6 directors having wide experience in terms of sales, service, technical support, customer care & information technology & trainings. Major customers & major agreements for service contract (revenue sources) are for long terms & from GOVT. /SEMI GOVT./CORPORATES/PUBLIC SECTOR organizations. Being in service industry handling customer base of more than 1.5 Lacs, we have mastered the art of Customer Satisfaction. We have experienced 8 Tele-Care personals making tele-calls to various customers and take there feedback, with that we do analysis of the same and implement the strategies for further improvement. We have been recognized by many organizations in terms of Customer Satisfactions, which were done by external agencies. FINANCIAL DETAILS AND INFRASTRUCTURE 3Ace have turnover of 13 crores, with owned offices based at Baroda & Ahmedabad having office space of 4000 sq. feet, with offices at Anand, Bharuch, Halol & Surat along with 4 godowns. Company have 40 telephone lines, 5 fax and dedicated 24 hrs Internet cable line from VSNL And its core strength is our strong customer base of more than 1.5 lacs and 250 loyal, dedicated employees. FUTURE PLANS Firm intend to get associated with Companies dealing with world class product which are customer service oriented, for simple reason of our experience in handling product related to Services and hence CUSTOMER SATISFACTION.

VISION: To emerge as one of the TOP 5 Service Provider within the XEROX INDIA Family & to be benchmarked by added principals in information technology, Health care, communication industry through a continuing commitment to quality & customer orientation. MISSION: To develop market & service the range of principals offerings, products through self managed teams of professionals to help our principals enhance quality & become more cost effective through the productivity improvement. CORE VALUES: Place Customer First Believe People Make institutions Build work culture based on integrity, openness, trust & team work Be a learning organisation & achieve national Benchmarks Build a long term WIN-WIN relationship with all principals Nurture & develop total solution outsourcing business to achieve breakthrough growth Encourage Creativity Be a role model lead by vision, experience & empowerment.

Organization Chart

MANAGING DIRECTOR

MANAGER CREDIT &CONTROL

MANAGER STORES/ DISTRIBUTION BUSINESS HEAD ACCOUNTS OFFICER TERRITORY MANAGER SERVICE MANAGER HR & ADMIN

FLOOR HEAD MANAGER

MIS & COLLECTION EXECUTIVES ASSISTANT BUSINESS STORE DEVELOPER MANAGER ACCOUNTANT DEVELOPER CONTROLLER BUSINESS WORKS

TECHNICAL CONSULTANT

SUPERVISOR

DELIVERY EXECUTIVES

SALES EXECUTIVE

SENIOR ENGINEER

TEAM LEADER

CUSTOMER RECEPTIONIST JUNIOR RELATION ENGINEER MANAGER

CUSTOMER TELE SERVICE CALLERS ENGINEER

COLLECTION EXECUTIVE

Companys Present Operation

I. Office Automation Copiers

Printers

Scanners

Duplicators

MFD (Multi Functional Devices)

II.

Telecom

PCO/WLL/WLN

International Sim cards

III. IV.

BPO Retention/Collection Installation and Repairs for Telecom and Financial institutes DTH Service

Reliance - Installation and Repairs

V.

IT Media

Projectors

IWB (Interactive White Boards)

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Services
As far as services are concerned, company is giving services under the head of AMC that is Annual Maintenance Contract. Annual Maintenance Contract means contract which gives the surety to party for the servicing the machines including spare parts.

AMC mainly includes two types

Full Service maintenance Agreement (FSMA) Spares & Services maintenance Agreement (SSMA)

About Full-Service Maintenance Agreements

Nothing in the marketplace is as comprehensive as Xerox Full Service Maintenance Agreements (FSMAs). Xerox FSMAs include what you need to make your job simpler and keep your business moving forward.

Xerox FSMA value-added features:

Coverage for all repair and maintenance costs Support available beyond contract hours Flexible coverage and support options World-class customer care processes On-site and remote hardware problem resolution Second-level support Access to the knowledge of Xerox design and manufacturing engineers User application assistance Diagnostic and operating licenses, and system upgrades Xerox Sixth Sense Technologies Ensures the Xerox Total Satisfaction Guarantee

Xerox is known for quality and personal service. Xerox is recognized as one of the top 10 service providers worldwide. Additionally, the Xerox Services organization has long been recognized as one of the best trained and best equipped in the industry. Along with comprehensive knowledge of our products, Xerox professionals are renowned for their attention to personal service and eagerness to always be there for you and your Xerox equipment.

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About Call & Material Basis

If YOU don't have a Xerox Service Agreement....... ..... To cover your Xerox product, Xerox does provide remote and local on-site service on a "Call and Materials" basis. If you request C&M service, you will get the same benefits of Xerox certified technicians, 100% Genuine Xerox Parts and knowledgeable second level support. Features of C&M service include: Labor: Billed at current labor Travel: Charged depending on service Parts: 100% Xerox Parts billed based on the parts needed to complete Response Time: Best effort; prioritized behind Xerox Service Agreement customers. rates. zone. repairs.

About SPARES & SERVICE MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT:

This agreement covers all spares & services for a period of one year for the fix yearly charge payable in advance. All services are supported as per full service maintenance agreement, with the only key difference, the consumables are not covered & customer needs to purchase from us separately, as & when needed.

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Initial Product Orientation with Rex Rotary India

To become a successful, sales & marketing individual, one must have full knowledge of the products & services he is going to offer to his customer in the future. So in the very beginning our company, 3ace has outsourced the product-orientation of three days to Rex Rotary India Pvt. Ltd., a channel partner with Kyocera Ltd. They have also tie-up with 3ace on certain contractual agreement. Introduction Rex Rotary India (RRI) was conceptualized with the guiding philosophy of providing cost optimized solutions to customers for Document Management Solutions in 1993. Presently, Rex Rotary India through a metamorphosis spanning 15 years has shown forth as a leader in offering Consultancy and Solutions in a gamut of domains, that have a direct impact on the Efficient Knowledge Management of the customer organization, even while we assist them in achieving over all efficiency and productivity enhancement with the most cost effective solutions using State of the Art technology in conjunction with our Proprietary Operational Innovation. Rex Rotary India now leverages the experience and wisdom of one and a half decades to assert its Leadership in the Digital Document, Imaging, and Security & Communication Solutions. Its products ranging from Digital Document Products, Digital Imaging Products & Solutions, Digital Security Products & Solutions, Digital Communication Products & Solutions, And Digital Enterprise Solution Products.

Products Offered at Rex Rotary India. Under Digital Document Products, Rex Rotary India offers

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Multi Function Devices / Products A4 & A3 Digital Copiers Digital Duplicators Document Management Solutions

Product Information

Well, for this industry we mainly worked for the three to four products for which product orientation is given as below: NORMAL COPIER: Copiers are divided into mainly two categories on the basis of its technology.

I.

Analog Copier: Analog copier is the outdated one. This was in the previous years.

II.

Digital Copier: This is the most general copier which now a days used by corporate. And these copiers are also divided into two parts on the basis of its functional advancement;

i.

Dual Copier: Dual copiers are sold by very few companies now days. It includes both tonner and developer.

ii.

Mono Copier: Where as mono copiers are sold by most of the company in the world.

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PRINTERS: Printers generally divided into the two types on the basis of their technology like under,

I.
II.

GDI Printer: GDI (Graphic Device interface) types of printer in which you can connect up to 5-6 PCs. Network Printers: Network printers are those in which you can connect as many PCs as you want. Factors affecting the the copier-printer are under; Volume: By knowing volume we can come to know whether to offer copier-cum-printer or printer-cum-copier.

Concerned Person: It is very important to meet with the proper concerned person.
He/she must be on following one position. Purchase Manager IT Manager Admin Manager Branch Manager

Users: Users is also the main factor, one has to see which paper he uses maximum, A3
or A4

Types of Work: Types of work is also the important factor. Power Consumption: It is said to the most important factor, as its costs high in any
process of the organisation.

Paper Capacity: Paper capacity of machine is its cassette, which also plays significant
role in many times DUPLICATOR MACHINES: This new technology used when

When more than 500 copies to be copied then its used.

At 500 copies, break-even occurs. First master copy takes longer time. Product by Riso

SCANNER MACHINE: Scanner machines are of two types a) A4 scanner

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b) A3 scanner

Comparison between copier and duplicator

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Market Segmentation Application

Well, our project was all about the market segmentation in the copier industry. In the very first, stage we were required to find the suspect in the education field. So here is the example of market segmentation on the basis of industry concerned. Then after getting the data of various schools, colleges, institutes, consultants, training institutes etc, again we used the concept of market segmentation. We had done this thing on the geographical basis, economical basis and demographic basis. Here it is explained with the proper examples.

Geographical Segregation of the Institutes:

All the institutes, schools and colleges are scattered and situated in many different areas of the Ahmedabad and outskirts of the city. So first to reach everywhere we grouped each of these institutes in to various areas and location. And then finally we three separately picked different

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location everyday by using the codes. So thus, we had done geographical segregation meaningfully. Coding: Coding is the method we adopted for the systematic and smarter visit to the institutes. Coding means giving code to the particular zone, and categorized the institutes of the same area under that code. For e.g., H.L. College of commerce, Som-lait and St. Xaviers are in same area. Then they would be under one single code. I.e. Code-005.And also these codes are formed keeping in the mind the preference of visit. Means first visit to code-001, then code-002 and so on. So this method was a bit useful.

CODE 001 002 003 004 005 006 007 008 009 010

ZONES Ashram rd. Law garden/C.G. Road Laldarwaja/relief road/Raipur Vasna/Paldi University/Navarangpura Vastrapur/S.G.Highway/Bodakdev Thaltej/Gurukul Satellite/Jodhpur Shahibaugh/Sabarmati Gandhinagar/other odd places

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Economical Segmentation:
Economical classification was also one of the handy types of the segmentation. Each of the schools or institutes were analyzed and decided on their financial strength keeping in mind in the analyzing stage of the SPANCO. They were different from one another and having many types like government school, grant-in-aid institutes, self-financed institutes, trust schools & colleges and so on. Naturally self-financed institutes would be more spending and having modernization approach, whereas government ones are those which are bit conservative and less spending. So there are obviously less chances of giving offer compared to those self-financed. And also where management of the organization is much liberal towards its spending, greater the chances of business.

Demographic Segmentation:
Here in our project demographic segmentation mainly refers to the strength and heads of the organization. After assuming the number of the heads, we tend to make call for suspects. As, naturally more number of people involving in the organization, more will be the usage of papers, and thus more volume. Hence we can give better solution to them which minimizes its variables cost per page. For example, in the organization like Nirma University, L.D. College of Engineering. There we can have some long lasting deal. And those places where less no. of heads or less Xerox volume and more the computer print-outs, we have limited scope of offerings or we can give printer-cum-copier as a solution. So thus in this way, we used demographics segregation.

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Market Segmentation - Concept

Definitions:

A market segmentation of people or organizations sharing one or more characteristics that cause them to have similar product and/or service needs. The process of dividing up a total market into subgroups with similar characteristics. The division of a market into segments. Each segment consists of a group of consumers with similar requirements, which can be distinguished from the requirements of other consumers in the market. .. Companies cannot profitably serve all consumers in a given marketat least not all consumers in the same way. Thus, a company must take three steps to determine how they will sell in the available markets. The first step in that decision process is market segmentation. ...

Purpose of Market Segmentation

The purpose for segmenting a market is to allow your marketing/sales program to focus on the subset of prospects that are "most likely" to purchase youre offering. If done properly this will help to insure the highest return for your marketing/sales expenditures. Depending on whether you are selling your offering to individual consumers or a business, there are definite differences in what you will consider when defining market segments.

Variables Used for Segmentation

Geographic variables
Region of the world or country, East, West, South, North, Central, coastal, hilly, etc. Country size/country size: Metropolitan Cities, small cities, towns. Density of Area Urban, Semi-urban, Rural. Climate Hot, Cold, Humid, Rainy.

Demographic variables
age gender Male and Female family size family life cycle Education Primary, High School, Secondary, College, Universities. income occupation socioeconomic status religion nationality/race (ethnic marketing) language

Psychographic variables
personality

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life style value attitude

Behavioural variables
benefit sought product usage rate brand loyalty product end use readiness-to-buy stage decision making unit profitability income status

Technographic variables
motivations usage patterns attitudes about technology fundamental values lifestyle perspective standard of living profit is there in business from the existing clients

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BENEFITS OF APPROACH TO MARKET SEGMENTATION

Value based segmentation is the first segmentation scheme that uncovers the "hot button" for each customer. It is comprehensive, resulting in a score for every customer in the database. This means we can sell to the sweet spot of all customers, not just those customers whom we surveyed. Value based segmentation works in concert with data mining. Data mining alone matches a person to a product. With value based segmentation we can match a person to a product to a pitch. It enhances data mining targeting because the value-based segment score can act as a strong predictor of the behaviour that the data mining model is attempting to predict.

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SPANCO: A Concept
(SUSPECT, PROSPECT, ANALYSIS, NEGOTIATION, CONFIRMATION, ORDER)

SPANCO - Effective monitoring of the prospect to customer conversion process The selling process is a crucial factor for any business. Yet often, sales management is based on individual goodwill. Of course, goodwill is essential to achieving an objective, but it is not enough on its own. It has to be combined with the necessary factors for success, motivation, incentives, training, etc. not forgetting the methodology. In your company, like elsewhere, the sales process can be broken down into stages. Each of these stages is associated with a series of actions to be undertaken. By clearly identifying the stages in the sales process, you will be able to see the state of your portfolio of leads, so that at any moment, the salesperson (and their line management) can identify where and how to intervene in order to turn a lead into a customer. SPANCO stands for:

Suspect Definition of the target Prospect Identification of the lead Approach - Analysis Evaluation and qualification of requirements, identification of the solution Negotiation process Closing Finalization of the order Order Ongoing Account follow-up (up and cross-selling, etc.) Order management and sales monitoring

Although the SPANCO method offers visibility for each lead and progress at the various phases of the sales process, it also provides you with an ongoing vision of the rate of sales activity in your company. SPANCO enables you to display sales figures with KPI's (Key Performance Indicator) as well as to generate, manage and convert leads into customers. Areas of difficulty which may arise in terms of the various phases will be clearly highlighted, so that corrective action will be all the more effective and thus improve the performance of your sales department. Depending on your company's position in the Added Value/Sales Method table, the sales process, your product and service lines, SPANCO has to be adapted in order to meet the specific requirements of your situation. Preferably, it should be integrated with your CRM

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SPANCO: A Practical Application

SUSPECTING: In the very first step of the project was the finding the suspect, means the market we want to enter, market we want to cater the needs. As our firm was not much involving with the education sector and hence it was untapped market for them except few organizations. So as an MBA-trainee, we were given task to find the suspect in the education sector and to make a call. So all we had to do on our own, right from choosing sample to the final stage of order. First in order to gather database, we searched various schools, colleges, training institutes, abroad consultant, and universities from internet. And then it was time to determine where to go and how to go. As our sample size was 120 institutes, we ended up by suspecting in 60 institutes, from which we collected the data personally. For that, we even did various activities as an exercise before going to the field, like under; Brain-storming & vital few: In this particular session, we have done much planning and brain storming for the probable replies. We have done this thing among three of us and with one of the director of our company. Very common questions like how to initiate talk, and what could be the probable answers we get from them were the main vital few of the suspecting activity. Script-writing: By asking and communicating with one another we even did script-writing and listed down the frequently asked questions so that there wont be any confusion arise at the time of interacting with the customers. Role-plays: After doing script-writing, we have done different role-plays among us and our director. For e.g., out of three members one became caller, second customer and third would play a role of observer. We did suspecting activity with the help of suspect-card, as a mean of getting details, which was given us by our firm. In the suspecting, sometimes we experienced that some of the institutes which actually seems to be conservative and orthodox in giving details but there we get some very good reply, where as at some places where we were expecting some good reply but we get negative or no reply.

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PROSPECTING: Prospecting is the second activity which we did after the suspecting in this process. In prospecting we have worked upon the institutions in which we found the bright prospects to offer the solutions for the documentation. For this prospecting we even determined the criteria for selection like under: Criteria for selection: There are mainly four criteria for selections that we determined for our suspecting; High Volume of Usage To select any prospect, for this industry it is very important to know the volume or usage per month to offer the solutions. For, e.g. if any org. need to copy minimum 500 same copies per month, in that case duplicator machine would be more feasible. Then also on the basis of its volume, we can offer high end and low end machines.

Simplified structure of Organization

For purchasing decision, it is very important to know the structure of the organization. And also the decision hierarchy, whether it is centralized or decentralized. Modernization Approach

Modernization approach refers to the attitude, willingness to spend and way of working of the organization. Broader the perspective of the organization, better the chances of the deal.

Self-financed colleges and private coaching classes

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As from our whole sample, we found that self financed colleges and private coaching classes are the one from which we can expect some positive response and can find need in them. So we also took them as our main criteria for selection. As whenever we move forward, we did realize these criteria for selection works immensely. So, getting row data of the marketing and from that finding the possible prospects was the thing which we get from the this experience.

List of Institutes for the sample study

A.G.T EACHER 'S C OLLEGE (AES) AES-PGIBM (HL-MBA) AHMEDABAD
INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL

A HMEDABAD

SCHOOL

AMA AMITY BUSINESS SCHOOL A NAND NIKETAN , AROMA C.U. S HAH

SATELLITE

COLLEGE

BRITISH LIBRARY COMMERCE COLLEGE

CEE
CHIMANBHAI INST .

OF MANAGEMENT

DEVASHISH SCHOOL
EDUCATIONAL INTIATIVE

FRANKFINN

AIRHOSTESS TRAINING ACADAMY

GLS- GROUP H.K. A RTS C OLLEGE H.K. BBA C OLLEGE H.L. C.C. H.L. I.C.

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H.L.B. C.A./H.L.M.C.A. H.L.B.B.A. H.L.C.P.E. IBMR

BUSINESS SCHOOL

ICFAI INC ADAM SMITH I NDIAN J.G

INST . OF

OF MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT

I NDIAN INSTITUTE

ISTITUTE OF PUBLIC HEALTH

INFLIBNET
INTERNATIONAL CAMPUS

J.G. ASIA L.D. ARTS L.J.

INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

CAMPUS

KNOWLEDGE ACADEMY
COLLEGE

(MBA, MCA, ENGINEERING )

COLLEGE SCHOOL

LJ-BBA & BCA

M AHARAJA AGRASEN N ATIONAL COLLEGE NATIONAL NEC NAVAKAR CA N EW L.J. NIRMA

INST .

M AHATMA G ANDHI LABOUR INSTITUTE

OF

COMMERCE MANAGEMENT

INSTITUTE OF

CLASSES

EDUCATION CONSULTANT COLLEGE

NIMCJ OF
MANAGEMENT

N IRMAN SCHOOL
PRAKASH HIGH SCHOOL PROFESSIONAL TUTORIALS

P ROTON BUSINESS SCHOOL R.B.E. R.J.T.C.C. S.L.U.

ARTS AND

H.P.T.

COMMERCE COLLEGE

S.R.M EHTA

ARTS COLLEGE

SOM LALIT INSTITUTES

SPIPA S T . XAVIER S U MIYA

COLLEGE

ARTS AND COMMERCE COLLEGE OF

UNITED WORLD S CHOOL WEIGAN & LEIGH

BUSINESS

COLLEGE

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APPROACH-ANALYSING: After the spotting prospects in suspects, one of the crucial things would come, and that is analyzing the available prospects; in this analysis, we usually evaluate the each of the prospects on the basis of its usage-volume, willingness to invest, and its existing cost as well as costbenefit analysis. And hence, we derived on one solution for the given prospects, which we can offer to them to minimize its existing cost and improving the productivity. In short this stage we can say, all about How to improve the Productivity & reduce the Cost of Documentation in the particular Institute So, this stage also crucial to determine the qualification of the prospects and to identify the right solution to the right customer. For e.g. institute like Knowledge Academy, Chimanbhai Patel institute of management, etc.

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NEGOTIATION: Exactly after the completion of the analysis stage, turn comes of negotiation of the deal. For example, in our example institute like Knowledge Academy & chimanbhai patel institute of business management, in which stage to find out proper solution got over and we have already offered them those solutions. But now everything depends on the price-negotiation that we will be doing at the time of deal. Negotiation mainly depends on relationship with customer, competition, profit-earning and much more. So negotiation is really matter of skill, indeed!!!

CLOSING-CONFIRMATION: And the finally the stage which show yours mettle or we can say the stage of success, is the Closing-confirmation stage after negotiation. Stage where customer finally confirms order with us and seller get this confirmation in written and close the case. As such till this time, we have not reached this stage yet. But we got some insights regarding closing stage. But yes really, we can say this could be the sense of achievement in any sales person profession.

ORDER ONGOING:

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It is said that, Sales without payment received is not real selling so whenever any selling take place, it is utmost important duty of the seller to collect the payment. And also the duty checks whether delivery will be made on time and place as per the schedule. So its all about the accounting follow-up, order management and sales monitoring.

So, thus like I said in all, these SPANCO process, we managed to reach up to the negotiation and rest of the two stages is not come during our internship. But yes we got some useful insights about it from our sales-manager from industry example.

ORDER

2 Institutes

MARKETING YIELD PYRAMID

CLOSING

4 Institutes

NEGOTIATION

10 Institutes
ANALYSIS

30 Institutes
PROSPECT

60 Institutes
31 SUSPECT

120 Institutes

Interpretation
There are no easy ways to sell your product in this competitive market so by the Marketing Yield Pyramid we can understand how the SPANCO process is used to gain the order from the suspect and also we can see the suspect to order ratio, which is 60:1. So by doing work in actual field, we understand the reality of the markets that about in market there are only 5% are marketing and rest of the 95% are selling. We have suspected 120 institutes from that we choose 60 prospects then we have analyzed 30 institutes where we can study the institutes and having solution for reducing the documentation cost and improving the productivity of that particular institute. From those 30 institutes we have negotiated with 10 institutes about various solutions and products about document management offered by the 3ace solutions. And from those 10 institutes, we are in process of finalising the case of 4 institutes, from which we are expecting order from 2 institutes.

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ASK: A Concept
(Attitude, Skills, Knowledge, Understanding, & Wisdom)

All professions are based around:

Attitude: Skills: Knowledge: Understanding: Wisdom:

The ability to get on with others. Ability to do the task. Knowing what to do. Perceiving and comprehend thoroughly. Ability to discern, act or judge rightly.

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The Copier Market in India

Overview
The copier market in India is valued at Rs. 850 crore and is a highly competitive one. The market offers huge potential as the overall penetration of copiers hovers just around 26%. The market is dominated by a few but strong players like Xerox, Canon, (Ricoh) Gestetner, and HCL Toshiba. State-of-the-art technology and international range of machines are being introduced on a continual basis by each player in the market, in order to Counter the technological obsolescence - Address varying needs of end-users, especially those from the IT sector The biggest differentiators in the industry are the penetration and the distribution strength, areas in which Xerox has built up a considerable edge over other players in the market. Efficient after-sales-support, which is closely linked to the distribution strength, is an imperative for any marketer, given the kind of wear and tear a copier typically goes through. The copier demand has been, to a large extent, fuelled by the growth in the services sector, with banks and multinational companies leading the way. The future is likely to be in developing India as a manufacturing base and in providing comprehensive services to customers.

Demand Drivers
Though the demand for paper oriented office equipment products like facsimile, photocopiers, and printers is considered to be on the decline with the advent of Internet and efficient electronic data transfer, marketers are ruling out the possibility of a paperless office in India and see a huge potential for their product range. The drivers for demand are: - Government: Government organizations are large buyers of copiers, as the bulk of their daily work requires complex documentation. Most of these organizations are over staffed, and thus generate large quantities of hand-written paper, copies of which have to be stored in multiple locations. Also Government organizations havent yet responded in earnest to electronic documents and thus have not seen a considerable decrease in copier demand. The potential for copiers is relatively high in this segment as a typical Government firm seems to have a need for decentralized copiers (a separate copier for each department). - Service Industry: Among the non-government organizations, the most paper oriented is the service industry, like banks, which requires a greater degree of documentation. However, this market is declining steadily. - Jobbers: This is the segment of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It comprises both corner shop photocopying services and full-fledged documentation management centers, servicing retail customers. Metros and active business areas have a high concentration of Jobbers, who service the retail customers. Copier companies consider this segment as steadily growing in size, and hence are setting up business centers and franchisees to meet the documentation needs of the retail customer. - Corporate: This is an important segment for any marketer (comprises IT and non-IT companies: both MNCs and non-MNCs). This segment is characterized by a comparatively higher penetration of the Internet. Therefore, to survive in this segment, any marketer needs to be customer service oriented as well as quick enough to introduce the latest technology to meet ever-changing end-

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user requirements. This segment, typically, seeks for a multi-task device that can design, transmit, store, retrieve, colour, print, copy, merge, scan, and fax etc. The Digital range of copiers (multi-task / multifunctional ones) are likely to have a great potential in this segment. Increasing market pressures have led to slicker advertisements, brochures, users manuals, and proposals, which in turn have influenced the demand for colour copiers. As against the rest of the user segments, both the colour and digital copier segment are growing in this segment. Though the small office segment (SOHO Small Office Home Office) is largely a Printer-oriented one, it offers a good potential for combo machines that can print and copy, and multi-task / functional copiers. Long-term value, superior technology and comprehensive customer support are the universal themes for any marketer to survive in this market. Superior quality of copy/print, high levels of network compatibility, and higher speed are other key factors one would look out for in a copier.

Market Structure
The copier market, product per se, gets classified into two basic categories, i.e. Analog and Digital. While Analog copiers are Black & White machines, the Digital range comes in both B&W and Colour. Analog copiers, still, account for the majority of the market, i.e. 90-95%, while the Digital range is at its nascent stage. The market is equally split between the black & white and colour copiers, with the latter gaining ground recently. Digital copier, unlike Analog, can be upgraded to local printer, fax system, scanner, so that it can be used for network printing, sending facsimiles, scanning etc.

As per the product architecture, the market falls into three categories. They are basically low-end, mid-end and high-end copiers. The low-end of the market comprises both personal and lowvolume machines, where the copying volume, typically, would be in the range of 5,000-10,000 copies/month. While the mid-end copiers are used to copy 10,001-30,000 in a month. The highend copiers are capable of delivering more than 30,000 copies in a month. Copiers are, now, available in a wide range of speed to meet the copying volume, a user typically have i.e. speed ranges from 4 copies/minute (entry-level personal copiers) to 35-40 copies/minute (high-end, bulk copying). The mid-end copiers (20 copies per minute) account for a larger share of the market.

Company Xerox

Product Analog & Digital copiers Low/Mid/highend Analog & Digital copiers Low/Mid/highend Analog & Digital copiers Low/Mid/highend

range Price range(Rs.) 45,000 1.5 crore 40,000 10,50,000 (+) 83,000 lakhs 15

Companys presence In the market Market leader on an overall basis Government and Corporate segments Worldwide leader, second largest player in India Jobbers Established player in duplicators market, strong in Government firms & educational institutions Latest entrant in Copiers

Canon

Gestetner

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HCL Toshiba

Analog & Digital copiers Low/Mid/highend

70,000 lakhs

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New entrant, loyal base of corporates

THE TRUTH ABOUT COPIER SALES

Listed below are some of the things that make copier sales such a great career booster. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Highly Competitive Industry: many players out hunting and beating the bushes for deals, head-to-head competition Technical Products: think hardware, reps have to demo products, troubleshoot problems, study and develop their product knowledge and continuously learn about the competition Capital Sale: higher dollar value means more commitment required on the part of the customer, more persuasion and skill required of the rep to close the deal Higher-Level Decision Makers: C-level selling experience is good because a sophisticated and demanding buyer is more like a surgeon than is your average consumer Excellent Sales Training: not just on products, but sales as a process, it should be "formal" i.e. classroom not just Joe Mgr telling you the way he's always done it True Close: somebody's got to sign on the dotted line and commit funds from their bank account More than a One-Call Close: consultative selling, digging into the buyer's needs/pain, requires some rapport/trust/relationship building B2B: selling to businesses, not individuals, 'nough said Rankings: you'll need to be able to document your performance against your peers

If you can find most of these characteristics in a sales position, then it might be a good alternative to copier sales. Other types of sales to consider include: wireless, IT/hardware, some financial sales, uniform sales. These positions may not have all of the characteristics listed above, but with a good training program, might be worth considering. Companies include Verizon, Cingular, Cintas, New York Life in addition to the Xeroxs, Laniers and Ikons of the copier world.

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Future
Reports suggest that the global electronic documents market is growing at 60-70% as against paper documents, which are growing at 15-20%. However, advent of the Internet age does not seem to be deterring the copier marketers in India largely, as the printing volume (vis--vis copying volume) is expected to grow. This, marketers feel, would be addressed by the digital range of copiers. The new breed of products embraces the digital imaging technology, which bundle in photocopiers with scanners etc., would certainly address this shift. The copier segment faces a threat of extinction, to some extent, because of the greater role played by digital methods. Printing, thanks to the technological advances, is now simpler and quite cheap. According to HP, Copying will go away, and not because HP wants it to. Theres a move towards digital methods, and it will have an impact on copying and faxing. Studies show that because of declining prices of network-ready printers and scanning and printing services, users are increasingly reprinting originals instead of photocopying them. Towards this end, marketers started introducing `Digital Multi-task/functional device where the copier technology is used for printing, so that one have a print at the cost of a copy. This further increases both the speed and efficiency of the machine. Just to let one have a peek at the latest technology, where functional convergence is the key driver for growth. HP has launched multi-feature products such as its AiO suite printer, scanner and copier rolled into one, and the HP Mopier, one of HPs Digital Senders with digital messaging and email capability, which are expected to mark a new era in office automation. As a category, in the Asia-Pacific markets, AiO products are growing at 25%, three times the rate that common or garden-variety printers are, though its cost still is forbidding to the Indian users. In brief, the Indian copier market is an amazing combination of technological obsolescence (characteristic of a few user segments in the market), demand for high level of product innovation and a huge untapped potential, which can be led by a marketer with superior technology and strong distribution muscle.

Key Success Factors in Copier market

Product range with the latest technology to address a variety of consumer needs in this age of convergence Deeper penetration in the market Comprehensive after-sales support

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RATE CONTRACT

Every year, in order to purchase the various tools, machines, high-end properties, assets and equipments for the various government department, central governments Directorate General of Supply & Disposals (DGS&D) declares the government rate contract for the standardized cost of purchase through-out nation. And copier machines are included in that category list. The present role of the DGS&D is mainly to conclude the rate contracts to be operated by the consuming departments of the Government for items of common use. DGS&D has been identifying such items, whose anticipated annual purchase by Government Organisations is normally more than Rs. 25 lakhs a year, and bringing such items on rate contract. The purchase policy envisages according preference to indigenously produced stores vis--vis imported stores. DGS&D concludes rate contracts with manufacturers, as a matter of policy. Only where manufacturer himself does not market his products, DGS&D entertains sole distributor/ selling agent in lieu. For imported stores, DGS&D may deal with stockists/ suppliers of imported stores provided they have proven relationship with the foreign manufacturer with guarantee of after sale service and supply of spares. Such entities are required to have adequate infrastructure for after sale service in India. The DGS&D undertakes pre-despatch inspection of stores on orders placed by civil indenters on rate contracts. This ensures that stores actually supplied are strictly as per rate contract specifications & are of proper quality. The Quality Assurance Wing of the DGS&D also undertakes inspection of the stores being purchased by Government Departments outside rate contracts on payment of fees, as also inspection for State Governments/ PSUs & other Government Organisations. The paying authority in respect of the rate contracts is the Chief Controller of Accounts (CCA(S)), Department of Commerce (Supply Division). Subject to adequate safeguards, advance payment up to 98% of the value of the stores is given to the suppliers on submission of bills in the Offices of the CCA(S). The policy of making advance payment facilitates cash flow for the industrial units.

Advantages of the Rate Contract Scheme:

To Buyers:

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Facility of bulk rate at lowest competitive price. Saves time and effort in tedious and frequent tendering at multiple user locations. Enables buying as and when required. Just in time availability of supplies reduces inventory carrying cost.

To Suppliers

Availability of quality goods with full quality assurance back up.

Access to large volume of purchase without going through tendering and follow up at multiple user locations saving in administrative and marketing efforts and overheads. Rate contract lends respectability and image enhancement

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Data Analysis

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Market Competition
Market Share Analysis for the Education Sector in Ahmedabad

Interpretation
As from our study and observation we have derived this information about the Market share of different companies in education sector in Ahmedabad in copiers industry. It is clearly seen from the graph that current market leader in copiers industry is Canon with more than half of the market share. Other players in this competitive market are HCL-Toshiba with around 15% and Xerox with 13%. Apart from these major players, there are others players like Kyocera, HP and Sharp with a relatively lower percentage share in the market.

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GREY MARKET INFLUENCE

Used Copiers:
Used copiers are a good proposition for small to medium businesses, who do not want to make a large amount of investment, which nearly every sophisticated copier entails. Customers have an option of choosing from a wide range of used copier options including black and white, colour, digital, and analog used copiers. With used copiers you get the best of both worlds. You have all the benefits of a high-end copier without spending a large amount of money. But you must take all precautionary measures while going for used copiers. Make sure that they have passed through a stringent process of inspection. Most vendors selling used copiers make sure that the machines have a minimum of 50% of their functional life left. Before buying a used copier ascertain whether a rigorous quality and reliability check has been conducted or not. As mentioned before, used copiers are known for their cost-effectiveness. You can get the best of technology to satisfy your entire automation requirement without burning a hole in your pocket. Moreover, you can also upgrade your existing copier with a used copier, with very little investment. While purchasing a used copier, bear in mind that you must select a dealer who has an excellent track record in the sale of used copiers. It is of paramount importance that the dealer is such that you can build a strong trustworthy relationship with. This will be beneficial to you in the long run if your used copier develops problems. Though there is a bit of risk involved, as far as used copiers are concerned, it is the next best option to buying a brand new copier.

Buying a Used Copier or a Refurbished Copier:

Many a potential copier buyer has been discouraged by the hefty prices of some of these machines. Well, do not fret. Go for a used copier instead! This definitely can be a smart choice for you. It is natural that people have doubts about buying refurbished copiers; however, many such copiers are being used by numerous offices, for years. The choices, when it comes to refurbished copiers, are immense. You can choose from a number of brands like a copier or go for any other colour copier. But, a word of caution here always go for a properly refurbished copier. What this essentially means is that, the copier should not only be thoroughly cleaned, but one must also ensure that all its worn-out parts have been replaced. Its no secret that all good used copiers go through a rigorous, as well as, extensive process of maintenance before they are sold.

Iron Clad Maintenance Agreement

Whether you buy a colour copier, or any other kind of used copier, its of paramount importance that you also buy a maintenance agreement that encompasses all the parts of a copier, especially those that are more liable to breaking or wearing-out, like the belt and drum. It has to be remembered here that even if you go for a used

BUY BACK of COPIERS:

Companies like Xerox, even through the partner like 3ace, used to buy-back the copier machines from the existing or new customer. Buy-back is done when any analog machine or digital machine becomes out of dated and costs higher. In that case, company offer to buy-back that machine instead of new-one, paying less amount. Its not necessary to have buy-back of same company, it

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could be different brands. With the buy-backs company can get service contract, old machines & even spare-parts from old machines which they can sell as a second hand.

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTH:

WEAKNESSES:
Costlier price: Products of the Xerox generally higher than its competitors which is the main minus point. Irregularities in services: As many times we found the complain from the existing customers. Pressure: as firms always have bit pressure from Father Company.

Quality products: As Xerox always had

been market leader in terms of quality and brand. Providing both sales & services: 3ace is providing both sales & services to the customer. Complete package of office automation: 3ace has been providing all the products of office automation like copiers, printers, scanner, fax machine and everything. Experience & knowledge: Management of 3ace and its staff are having vast experience in this field & good rapport with customer.

Geographical reach: 3ace has presence all over the Gujarat.

Accreditation & Qualification: Firm is having ISO: 9001 certification and also qualification.

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OPPORTUNITIES:

THREATS:

Untapped market: There are some

untapped markets like education sector. Documentation Consultancy: Firm has fair chances to be consultant to the large corporation for the documentation. Upcoming organizations: In Gujarat, because of huge investment many upcoming organizations are entering, esp. in education. Innovation: Innovation in the product every year by the Xerox helps firm to grow further e.g. HiQ

Growing grey-market: A biggest threat

is the growing grey market by players like canon. Emergence of the paper-less system: As now new paper-less system emerge, more and more adoption of digitech. Increasing competition: Year by year, more & more competitors added up to provide quality like Ricoh, Toshiba. Large numbers of channel partners: In Gujarat alone Xerox has 7-8 channel partners, so in this case 3ace has much to do. Sustaining brand-value: Even now for Xerox it becomes very difficult to sustain its brand-value in this competition. Economy Condition: As economical condition in the country goes slowdown, people would less likely to invest in copiers.

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PRODUCT LAUNCH: AN UNIQUE EXPERIENCE

It was 14th July, 2009. On that day, Xerox India Ltd. was going to launch its new innovation in the form of Hi-Q. So, company, like the tradition of every year, this time they announced its new product in the range of colour copier called Xerox Work Centre 7425/7428/7435 multi functional device. A formal function was organized at Hotel Fortune Landmark in the evening and as a trainee we were invited in the same and that was really a privilege to us to be there. Started with the formal well-come speech by one of the Xerox executive. All the channel partners, customers, dealers, company executive, sales people and media were present over there. Mr. Pankaj Malhotra, product-marketing manager, Xerox India Ltd., gave presentation of the new product and showed its new features, advantage, benefit and innovations they made on screen. And finally he unveiled the its new colour-copier with the bang and request all to have free demo of the product. So we even got to know many things about the product in demo. And then it was all chatting and interacting session with the concerned stakeholders, followed by the delicious dinner. But after all, in training, it was indeed an amazing experience!!!!!!

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Conclusion
So, finally at end of our two months tenure of summer training, as we have been passed through summer training, day by day we actually learn what the sales & marketing is all about and how it is being done in the practical scenario. We also learn that it is very difficult to sell your product in market and to sustain your brand value but the seller-customer relationship and consultative approach to give solution can give you the edge over other competitors. The most important learning Office Automation especially in copier industry, you are not only selling the price but also selling the Relation. And thus we, three people, really found this training a worth and quite productive.

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THINGS WE GOT BEYOND KOTLER!!!

In this part of the project we would like to highlight some of our practical experiences that came across us over the period of two months, and for that here we are presenting each experience as a part of our conclusion to this summer internship.

One thing we got to learn is Observation skill to get cold call ideas in the marketing for this industry. For e.g. Zaveri & co. How to tackle the target pressure nicely and scenario and role of the marketing man. In Sales & Marketing for this industry, one of the core competency is based on customer relationship; cold calls assumptions which gave him many new customers via existing customers reference. As our sales managers target niche market is industries and corporate. Another thing we got to learn is, sells without amount received is not sales and also whatever deals you negotiated, make sure that you keep it everything in written, the whole contract including terms and conditions. Also got insights about the DP (dealers price) and MRP. Marketing person can offer discount only the amount between DP and MRP, and should be the above minimum price which is usually set by dealer.

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One of the most important things which we learn was In sales and marketing, never give or offer the details and information on the first hand or first visit or in first talking thats called smartness. Things like brochures, pamphlets, and pricing and all.

In channel, sales and marketing guy has to manage many parties, like his channel boss, company sales manager, clients, service engineers, and store manager and also have task to increase to sales.

Be a much familiar and friendly with the front-desk executive, receptionist, or office attendant in order to get nut-shell idea, nature and environment of business and the decision-maker also.

Learning about the AMC ( annual maintenance contract)

One more thing in the sales and marketing heard that in the past marketing people were respected in the organization everywhere, even by a receptionist but now things get worsen and market becomes merciless with the much competition. In marketing, one has to keep aside his ego, and be very calm while dealing with the customer and has to be very much polite, gentle and also down to earth with the smile. One can never be egoistic or become short-tempered anger in dealing with customer. The Government Rate contracts and its web-site, how its being used by company, government and even by some institutes.

Another most important thing we knew in sales & marketing, person should never enter or visit the client only with the intention to get some business. Many times it happens that marketing guy just solve the current problem and get the best solution suited to the customer, in that it may not be his companys product or area in he wants to do some business but by doing this kind of consultancy he can create and build the trust in his client, which last for the long-term & not the short-term transaction. Thus he can be solution provider and could get the business in the tough competition even.

Also one thing was that at the time of one call, we can do business in other ancillary or allied products as well by asking or probing for the same to the customer.

Also one thing we learnt was that by giving names or reference of other existing related customer of the same field. We can do some influence to the on hand customer.

Also one more thing we got to learn from our manager is never ever give time reminder to the people like army personnel if you are asked to wait for few minutes. Sustaining the value of brand and quality in services & product you sells as per many customers Xerox and even 3ce up to some extent failed to provide so even to their loyal

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customers because of many internal and minor reasons company fails to give its services at par with the best, so they have to suffer major failure of trust and relationship and commitment.

Bibliography

Books

1.
2.

Marketing Management, Philip Kotler, and 13th edition. Marketing Mantra, Vaswar Das Gupta.

Websites

1. 2.
3. 4.

www.google.com www.wikipedia.org www.xerox.com www.3acesolutions.com

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5.
6.

7.

www.rexrotaryindia.com www.aliababa.com www.dgsnd.gov.in

References
1.
Mr. Prashaant Vaishnav, Director, 3Ace Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

2.

Mr. Anil Sinh Rajput,

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Channel Manager, Rex Rotary India.

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Annexure

53