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A
PROJECT REPORT
ON
“Employing the potential of Retail chain distribution
of Tata Tele Services
In partial fulfillment in award of PGDM
Two Year Full Time Programme
COMPANY GUIDEFACULTY GUIDE Mr. Neeraj Agrawal Mr. VIPUL SIR Assistant manager Sales & Marketing SUBMITTED BY TARA CHAND SAINI PGDM 4TH SEM (2009-2011) PRESIDENCY INSTITUTE INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT
1
PREFACE
The successful completion of this project was a unique experience for me
because by visiting many place and interacting various person ,I achieved a
better knowledge about sales . The experience which I gained by doing this
project was essential at this turning point of my carrer this project is being
submitted which content detailed analysis of the research under taken by me.
The research provides an opportunity to the student to devote his/her skills
knowledge and competencies required during the technical session.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I express my sincere gratitude to my industry guide Mr. Neeraj Agrawal,
Assist .manager – Sales & Marketing, Tata Teleservices Limited for his able
guidance, continuous support and cooperation throughout my training,
without which the present work would not have been possible.
I would also like to thank the entire team of Tata Teleservies Limited, for
their constant support and help in the successful completion of this
project.
Last but not least I would like to thank to all those who have directly or
indirectly helped me in successful completion of my training.
2
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY
I, Tara Chand Saini S/o Shri Paras Ram saini, having Roll no. 1031 of Batch
2009-11, do hereby certify and declare that this research report titled
employing the potential of Retail chain distribution of Tata Tele Services
Is the result of my own work? This report contains no materials or
information which has been previously submitted for any other academic
diploma or degree, except where indicated otherwise.
Date : Signature of the
student :
APPROVAL PAGE
This report, entitled, employing the potential of Retail chain
distribution of Tata Tele Services, prepared and submitted by, Tara
Chand Saini, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of PGDM is hereby accepted
Mr. Vipul
(Faculty Guide)
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
S. No. PARTICULARS PAGE NO-
1 INTRODUCTION OF COMPANY 5-9
2 CELLULAR TECHNOLOGY 10-15
3 LIST OF DOCUMENTS 16-17
4 HANDSETS 18-19
5 ADVANTAGES 20-23
1. INDIA TELECOM MARKET 24-30
2. INTRODUCTION TO THE INDUSTRY 31-39
3. MARKETING STRATEGY 40-48
4. BRAND AMBASSADORS & AWARENESS 49-54
5. RESEARCH METHOLOGY 54-57
6. DATA ANALYSIS 58-65
7. CONCLUSION 67-68
8. SWOT ANALYSIS & BIBILIOGRAPHY 69-71
4
INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPANY
TATA Group
Major Milestones
Year 1903: Started India’s first chain of luxury hotels with The Taj Mahal
hotel in Mumbai.
Year 1907: Pioneered India’s steel industry with Tata Steel set up in
Jamshedpur.
Year 1910: Started first power plant in India.
Year 1932: Pioneered civil aviation in India.
Year 1945: Led commercial vehicle production.
Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata(1839-1904)
Sir Dorabji Tata JRD Tata(1904-1993)
Sir Ratan Tata(1871-1918)
5
Year 1968: Led India’s first software development company.
Year 1998: Launched India’s first passenger car.
The Tata Group comprises 93 operating companies in seven business sectors:
information systems and communications; engineering; materials; services;
energy; consumer products; and chemicals. The Group was founded by Jamsetji
Tata in the mid 19th century, a period when India had just set out on the road to
gaining independence from British rule. Consequently, Jamsetji Tata and those
who followed him aligned business opportunities with the objective of nation
building. This approach remains enshrined in the Group's ethos to this day.
The Tata Group is one of India's largest and most respected business
conglomerates, with revenues in 2004-05 of $17.8 billion (Rs 799,118 million),
the equivalent of about 2.8 per cent of the country's GDP.
Tata companies together employ some 215,000 people. The Group's 32 publicly
listed enterprises — among them standout names such as Tata Steel, Tata
Consultancy Services, Tata Motors and Tata Tea have a combined market
capitalisation that is the highest among Indian business houses in the private
sector, and a shareholder base of over 2 million. The Tata Group has operations
in more than 40 countries across six continents, and its companies export
products and services to 140 nations
About TTSL
Tata Teleservices is part of the INR 76,930 Crore (US$17.10 billion) Tata Group,
that has over 90 companies, over 220,000 employees and more than 2 million
shareholders. With an investment of over INR 9,000 Crore (US$ 2 billion) in
Telecom, the Group has a formidable presence across the telecom valuechain.
6
Tata Teleservices spearheads the Group's presence in the telecom sector.
Incorporated in 1996, Tata Teleservices was the first to launch CDMA mobile
services in India with the Andhra Pradesh circle.
Starting with the major acquisition of Hughes Tele.com (India) Limited [now
renamed Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited] in December 2002, the
company has swung into expansion mode. Tata Teleservices operates in 20
circles i.e. Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Gujarat, Karnataka, Delhi, Maharashtra,
Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Bihar, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh (E), Uttar Pradesh (W), Kerala, Kolkata, Madhya
Pradesh and West Bengal. The investment in Tata Teleservices Limited
(including Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited) as of March 2005 totals INR
14,446 Crores (US$ 3.21 billion)
Having pioneered the CDMA 3G1x technology platform in India, Tata
Teleservices has established a robust and reliable telecom infrastructure that
ensures quality in its services. It has partnered with Motorola, Ericsson, Lucent
and ECI Telecom for the deployment of a reliable, technologically advanced
network.
The company, which heralded convergence technologies in the Indian telecom
sector, is today the market leader in the fixed wireless telephony market with a
customer base of over 2.8 million for the period ended September05.
Tata Teleservices' bouquet of telephony services includes Mobile services,
Wireless Phones, Public Telephony Booth, and Wireline services. Other services
include value added services like voice portal, roaming, 3-way conferencing,
group calling and data services.
The company has launched Prepaid FWP and Public phone booths, a range of
new handsets, new voice & data services such as BREW games, picture
7
messaging, polyphonic ring tones, interactive applications like news, cricket,
astrology, etc. These are in addition to its existing services of Postpaid Mobile,
Prepaid Mobile & Postpaid FWP.
Today, Tata Teleservices Limited along with Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra)
Limited serve more than 7 million customers in 1700 towns and aims at 4000
towns by March'06. With an ambitious rollout plan both within existing circles and
across new circles, Tata Teleservices is offering world-class technology and
user-friendly services in 20 circles.
Values
Fairness through meritocracy.
Trust based on accountability.
Tenacity for results.
Pioneering spirits.
Excellence in execution.
Leadership with humanity.
Mission
To empower every Indian to connect with the world affordably.
Vision
Trusted service 100 million happy customers by 2011.
The sectors, in which the TATA GROUP is into, are the following, namely:
8
Agricultural appliances (Tata Agrico), agrochemicals (Rallis), books(Tata
Mc Graw Hill), cellular products and services(Tata Indicom), ceramics (Tata
Ceramics), charter flights( Taj Air), cooling appliances(Voltas), credit
cards(Tata Sons), fertilizers(Tata Chemicals), financial services(Tata Asset
Management, Tata Investment Corporation), food products(Tata tea, Tata
coffee), garments and home products(Westside), holiday homes, home
appliances(Tata BP Solar), hotels, fertilizers (Tata chemicals),
insurance(Tata AIG Life Insurance, Tata AIG General Insurance), jewellery(
Tanishq), multi utility vehicles and passenger cars (Tata Motors),
telecommunications(Tata Indicom), watches (Titan) etc.
The board of directors comprises of Mr. Ratan N. Tata
Mr. N.A. Soonawala
Dr. J.J. Irani
Mr. J.K.Setna
Mr. V.R.Mehta (Institutional Representative)
Mr. R.Gopalakrishnan
Mr. Nusli N.Wadia
Mr. Helmut Petri
Mr. S.A.Naik
Mr. Ravi Kant
Dr. V.Sumantran
Mr. P.P.Kadle
Mr. P.K.M.Fietzek
9
10
CELLULAR TECHNOLOGIES
OverviewWireless communications use the radio-frequency spectrum for
transmitting and receiving voice data and video signals for
communications. The common element of all wireless radio services is
that they use a radio frequency or channel of a wire communicate to
and from one or more locations.
EVOLUTION OF CELLULAR TECHNOLOGIES
Wireless mobile telephone systems have evolved through three
generations:
First Generation (I G) Analog Systems
Second Generation (2G) Digital Systems-GSM, TDMA,
CDMA
Third Generation (3G) Digital Systems
First Generation Systems (1G): 1980s-PresentThe first generation cellular systems (1G), introduced. in the 1980s and
early 1 990s, used analog cellular and cordless telephone technology.
Networks based on 1 G analog dominated the majority of cellular
networks till the early 1990s. Analog systems still operate in the US,
with an estimated 49% of the end- 1999 subscriber base of 86.05
million. Other major countries where analog systems still predominate
11
include Canada (63% of end 1999 subscriber base), Brazil (34% in
1999), the Philippines (52% in 1999), and Thailand (56% in 1999).
However, by end 1999, subscriber base on analog technologies was
only an estimated 177% of the global cellular subscriber base.
Analog systems are more prone to interference, static, eavesdropping
and cloning than digital systems.
They also have several limitations, including lack of privacy and limited
capacity. The traditional analog cellular systems, such as those based
on the AMPS and TACS, use Frequency Division Multiple Access
(FDMA). The FDMA technique enables multiple users to share the same
region of spectrum, This standard supports clear communication and
inexpensive mobile telephones, but the transmissions are easy to
intercept on a standard radio receiver and therefore are susceptible to
eavesdropping. Although technically simple to implement, FDMA is
wasteful of bandwidth. Moreover, it cannot handle alternate forms of
data, only voice transmissions. Significantly, the analog systems used
one centrally located transmitter site, usually mounted very high up to
achieve the greatest possible range. For the mobiles to transmit this
far, they needed very high power.
Because of this power requirement, hand held devices were out of the
question, and portable ones filled a briefcase.
12
Second Generation Digital Systems (2G): Early 1990s-PresentDuring the early 1980s, even as analog cellular systems were first
going into service, research and development of digital cellular
systems were in progress. Digital cellular communications (2G Digital
Systems) convert all voice transmissions to computer language (zeros
and ones, or "binary" language) and then reconstruct them into the
original voice format at the other end.
Digital technology offers many advantages over analog
technology, including:
Efficient use of available spectrum and substantially enhanced
network capacity, due to
TDMA and CDMA, which allow a more efficient use of radio
spectrum than the previous FDMA technology.
Easy integration with personal communication systems (PCS)
devices, Superior quality of voice transmission over long
distances.
Difficult to decode, enabling voice privacy. Can use lower
average transmitter power, Enables smaller and less expensive
individual receivers and transmitters.
Opportunity to provide improved data transmissions in addition
to voice because of digital transmission over a radio channel.
Enables long term digital handset cost reductions with
economies of scale, since digital handsets have a lower power
13
consumption and their functional intelligence can be squeezed
onto fewer semiconductor chips.
As a result, digital systems are currently the technology of choice
throughout the world, with an estimated 82.3% of the global subscriber
base by end- 1999
Two types of 2G Higher Tier systems were standardized and deployed
in the 1990s. One is the cellular mobile systems which are more
prevalent today and are characterised by the division of a geographical
area into cells, typically 3-5 kms in radius, served by a radio station at
its centre. The other are the Personal Communication Systems (PCS),
which have much smaller cells, typically 200-500 meters in radius, and
are supposedly more economical and better in quality.
Personal Communication Systems (PCS)
They have much shorter distances between mobile phones and the
nearby radio station, which reduces the power required to transmit
signals from the mobile phones, improving the voice quality and
increasing data speed. However, in order to cover the same area, a
larger number of cells (and radio stations) is required, thus making it
suitable to more densely populated metropolitan areas. PCS has
several advantages over existing cellular telephone service. They
include better service quality through use of digital technology, more
compact radio interface equipment, increased mobility, enhanced
service features, and price.
14
Third Generation Systems (3G): 2000 Onwards
In 1985, the original concept for 3G wireless systems merged from an
ITU initiative known as the Future Public Land Mobile
Telecommunication System (FPLMTS). In 1996, FPLMTS was re-
designated as International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-
2000). The number 2000 was chosen, because the ITU's timetable
called for a standard to be defined by the year 2000.
IMT-2000/3G is best understood as a minimum set of capabilities for
delivering communications services. IMT-2000 does not define the air
interface that will deliver the services, nor does it specify what the IMT-
2000 services will be. 3G is an open, packet-based, networking
strategy that enables integration of voice, data, and multimedia for
wireless mobile networks worldwide. It would support higher data rates
than do 2G systems and yet be less expensive. The IMT-2000
recommendations call for a wireless data speed of 144 kbps for high-
speed mobile users, 384 kbps for users moving at pedestrian speeds,
and 2 mbps for stationary users. The indoor radio channels typically
support higher data rates with better reliability than does the outdoor
channel used by persons moving rapidly. 3G would also advance other
aspects of wireless communications by reducing equipment size,
extending battery life, and improving ease of operation. The key
features of IMT-2000 are high degree of commonality of design
15
worldwide; compatibility of services within IMT-2000 and with the fixed
network; superior two-way voice communication quality; small
terminals for worldwide use; worldwide roaming capability; and
capability for multimedia applications and a wide range of services
(e.g. video-teleconferencing, high speed Internet, speech and high rate
data).
16
List of documents :
List of Documents needed for a connection: The various documents that are
needed for a post paid walky and mobile connection from Tata Indicom are
the following:
For the connection that is to be installed at residence :
1. Identity Proof (anyone):
Driving license
Voter’s identity card
Passport
Bank Pass Book, with a stamped a photo on it
Photo credit card.
Arms and Ammunition license
2. Proof of Residence (Anyone):
Passport
Driving license
Paid telephone bills (not more than 4 months old)
Paid electricity bills (not more than 4 months old)
Paid water bill (not more than 4 months old)
Vehicle registration certificate
Ration card
Municipal tax payment receipt
3. PAN Card or Form 60.
17
For a connection that is to be installed at a shop or any
business related location:
1. Proof of identity (Anyone)
Shops and Establishment Registration Certificate
Municipal Registration Proof
Sales Tax Registration Certificate
Memorandum of Association
Government Document sent from a government office
2. Proof of Address (Anyone)
Memorandum of Association signed by the Director
Sales Tax Registration Certificate
Municipal Registration Proof
Shops and Establishment Certificate
Telephone Bills (Not more than 4 months old)
Government document sent from the government office
Original Bank Statement attested is a bank official.
18
HANDSETS
Huawei 2285
Kyocera K122
Samsung Hero NXT
19
Availability on Postpaid Yes Yes
Availability on Prepaid Yes Yes Yes
Unique feature Speaker phone & voice recorderBrew 2.1.1.2/ Candy Bar/ B&W
Display with Colour FilterMobile Tracker,Emergency SOS
alert ,T9 Hindi&LMS
B & W // Color B&W B/W with Colour Filter 4 Gray B&W
T-Sim / Non T-Sim T-Sim NA T-SIM
Display Size Type CSTN Monochrome, FSTN 1.33" , FSTN
Screen Resolution standardised format ( 128 X 90 etc)
96x65 96x64 128x128
SMS Yes Yes (50)100 (Inbox,OutBox& Draft)+ 20
Templates
MMS NA No NA
Ring tone type - Polyphony 32-Poly MIDI-1212 Poly -30 Embeded ringtones&
Tata Zone
FM Radio No NA No
Speaker phone Yes NA No
Games (2~3) No 1 2
Phone book memory 500 No
Data Modem No
Applications Platform No BREW BREW Lite
Browser No NA No
PC Sync No Phonebook Only Available
Camera No NA No
Video Capture No NA No
Zoom No NA No
MP3/ AAC Support No NA No
Bluetooth No NA No
Infrared Port No NA No
External Memory Slot No NA No
Email No NA No
Touch Screen No NA No
Touch Keypad No NA No
Handwriting recognition No NA No
Operating System REX Rex REX
Document viewer No NA No
Tata Zone support No YesRigtones download & SMS based
services
Battery Capacity 600mAh 900 mAh 800mAh
Talk time 3-4 hrs 3.5 Hrs 3Hrs
Stand-by time 150-190 Hrs 200 Hrs 215 Hrs
Weight about 80g 78 gms 76.2 gms
Video Streaming No
20
Advantages of using TATA Indicom:
Tata Indicom provides various facilities to its walky and mobile users. The
various advantages are:
Phone book: The phone has a vast memory and can store up to 500
numbers, and in the models Axxestel and LG LSP 350 T, the phone book
has a memory of 500 names and in front of each name, four numbers can
be stored. So, it makes up to 2000 numbers.
Display: The display screen is wide that helps the customers to see
clearly.
Large call history: The call book is very large, as it enables to check
the call history, that is all 60 last dialed numbers, missed calls, as well as
received calls.
Phone lock system: The customer can bar all the local as well as the
STD calls being made from the phone by locking the phone by dialing
the number given to the subscriber at the time of connection.
Caller Line Identification Process or CLIP facility: The user of the
phone can identify the caller through this facility as the number from
which a person is calling is displayed on the screen of the user.
21
Call waiting and Voice mail facility: If the user is busy talking to a
particular number, and any other person is trying to call him then the
third number from which the user is getting a call will be displayed on
the screen, along with a beep.
Closed user group: This facility is provided to only those customers
who subscribe in bulk. If there are more than ten connections at a time by
any person, or any society or even corporate, then they are given some
special facilities in the form of concessions in the call charges, like the
intra group calling will be free, and activation charges, like the amount
needed for the activation of the phone will be wavered, i.e. it will be
either reduced or there would be no deposits and no activation charges
etc.
Voice mail: The user can use this facility and keep receiving the call
indirectly, i.e., the message of the caller to that number will be recorded
in the phone and the user can refer to it, afterwards according to his/her
convenience.
There are some other facilities also that are provided by the company,
along with the above mentioned ones which are listed below. Those are:
Call forward: If a person wants to receive the call from other
number, then the call can be forwarded to his/ her number through this
facility.
22
Internet facility: A customer can access Internet through the
phones, with a speed of 120 kbps.
Hot line facility: This facility can be used in case of emergencies.
For this a number is fed as “hot line number”. If the receiver is off the
hook for one minute, then there is automatically calling to a number that
has been fed as the hot line number.
Off hook facility: In this, the customer can receive a call even when
the receiver is kept off the hook, i.e. if the receiver is not kept properly,
then the line for this number will be engaged for first three numbers, and
the fourth number which is being dialed to this particular number, will
start ringing. There will be a beep, and then the phone will start working
normally automatically. This is helpful as many-a-times the receiver is
not kept properly by mistake. So, in those cases, this facility helps.
Call restriction: If the customer doesn’t want to receive a call from
a particular number, then he/ she can block the number by calling to the
customer care centre. Again, if he/she can block the calls from a
particular city, or state just dialing the STD code of that particular place.
The person who will be calling to these numbers will always find the
numbers engage.
23
Three way conference: A person can talk with up to one thousand
people at a time. This can be achieved by just dialing the number and
you can invite
another person to talk to you. So, the chain can go on increasing till the
total number of people who are on line is one thousand.
Pooling facility: This facility is provided mainly to the corporate or
those customers who install more than five phones line connection from
the company. In this facility, there is a sharing of the bills amongst these
numbers. For example, if there are three departments in a office with
different requirements and intensity for calling. And if the customer has
subscribed to a plan in which he gets a free talk time of Rs.500. Now if
department A has a monthly expenditure for Rs.800, department B has a
monthly expenditure of Rs.200, and department C has a monthly calling
of Rs 500. Then, the balance amount of Rs.500 of department A will be
adjusted to the charge of department and, the subscriber would not have
to pay the extra amount for the unutilized amount of the free talk time of
department of as it automatically gets adjusted in department A’s
account. Thus, this facility gives the customer value for money.
24
Indian Telecom Market
Indian telecom market has shown excellent performance in the fiscal 2005-06.
Tele-density in India is galloping.
The number of telecom subscribers in India grew by 41.2 million in 2005-06 to
touch 140 million. According to the data, during 2005-06 the teledensity in the
country grew 12.73 per cent.
The large chunk of telecom subscribers are in the mobile phone category with
the customer base in this segment growing 37 million to touch 90 million,
according to the Telecom Regulatory authority of India (TRAI).
The total subscriber base of fixed line phones stood at 49 million by the end of
2005-06.
For mobile segment 5.03 million subscribers have been added during March
2006. The mobile additions consist of 3.78 million GSM subscribers and 1.25
million CDMA subscribers as against 3.17 million GSM and 1.11 million CDMA
subscribers in the previous month. The total mobile subscribers at the end of
March 2006 touched 90 million.
In the fixed segment a total of 0.30 million subscribers were added during March
2006. With this the total subscriber base of fixed lines reached around 49.75
million.
In fiscal '06, the increase was more than entire user base as recently as five
years ago. The teledensity in India is still much less than the developed countries
such as UK (102%) and USA (60%). India still lags China (23%). But it is
catching up fast. This increase has been brought about mainly by the explosion
in mobile subscriptions. Most of the recent growth has been in the mobile user
base.
25
In fiscal '01, out of the total increase of almost 7 million users, 6 million was for
fixed line connections. The trend started shifting from fiscal '02, when the number
of new connections added started to go down for fixed line and increased
exponentially for mobile services. In fiscal '06, the number of new mobile
connections added was close to 38 million, while the number of fixed line went up
by only 3.8 million. That is almost 10 times more! But fixed line connections are
going up again.
Within the wireless space, the GSM segment still leads in absolute numbers. The
GSM subscriber base continues to be more than 3 times the CDMA subscriber
base.
At the end of fiscal '06, the total number of GSM subscribers was close to 69
million users, while CDMA had close to 23 million. However, CDMA continues to
grow at much faster rates than GSM. During the fiscal '06, GSM subscriptions
grew at 68%, while CDMA connections grew at 86%.
The largest mobile operator continues to be Bharti with 19.6 million subscribers,
followed by Reliance Communications Venture Ltd with 17.4 million mobile users.
State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has 17.2 million subscribers and is third
in the race at the end of March.
At the end of April 2006, the total fixed-line telephone subscribers were about
47.51 million (against 46.78 million in March), taking the combined base of
mobile and fixed telephony subscribers to 144.43 million.
With the addition of 4.6 million new customers added in April, gross telecom
subscriber base in India has grown to 144 million pushing the tele-density to
13.16 per cent. The tele-density was 12.73 per cent in March 2005.
26
Operations in UP West [Dehradun Cluster]
TTSL products offered in UP West Circle are CMO i.e. Mobile Service (Prepaid
and Postpaid service), Walky (Fixed Wireless Phone) and PTB (Public
Telephone Booth).
These products are each being handled by separate departments. The UP West
and Uttaranchal is further subdivided into smaller clusters which are :
1. Meerut.
2. Dehradun
3. Agra
27
Demographic Details of major cities in UP West Circle
Product Contribution – UP West
28
UP West
24%
8%
6%62%
Walky Post Walky Pre CMO Post CMO Pre
Role of Distributor:
The responsibilities of Distributor towards the Retailer’s are:
1. Providing the retailers with the required stock to allow their proper
functioning.
2. Keeping the retailers updated about changes in Changes in Tariff,
Services and company’s policy of operation.
3. Timely collection of CAF from the retailers and submitting them to the
customer care division of the company.
4. Providing the retailer with POP material to help them attract more
customers.
5. Passing on the benefits given by the company to the retailers.
The responsibilities of Distributor towards the Company are:
1. To maintain a stock of handsets for 15 – 21 days and that of RCV
(Recharge Coupon Vouchers) for 7 – 14 days as directed by Tata
Indicom.
2. To ensure placements of Indicom’s products so as to increase the
availability and visibility.
3. To keep up superior relationship with all its retailers this would
eventually lead to sales with recommendations from retailer.
4. Achieving the secondary sales targets given by the company.
5. Opening up on new retail outlets in order to increase the availability
and penetration of company’s products and services.
6. Timely investment into business.
29
Beat Plan
Beat Plan is a schedule designed to make sure a certain number of visits to
retailers by the FOS over a week. These visits depend on the number of
handsets sold per month which are the basis for classification of retail outlets.
Classification of Retail Outlets
While preparing beat plan it becomes important to classify the retail outlets on
the basis of volume of sales they provide. All the retail outlets of Tata Indicom
were classified in four categories as under:
Category Monthly Sales Frequency of FOS visits
A Sales of > 15 handsets / month Daily
B Sales of 10 – 14 handsets / month Once in 2 days
C Sales of 5 – 9 handsets / month Once in 3 days
D Sales of 1 - 4 handsets / month Weekly
Class A retailers form only about 15% of all outlets but in terms of sales value
they provide 60% – 70% of business. Thus a Class A retailer is precious to Tata
indicom and needs to be given individual attention. Such a retail outlet is usually
provided with better schemes, is more often visited by the FOS and is provided
with the best POP (Point of Purchase) merchandise.
For Sample Beat Plan please refer to Appendix C.
Role of FOS
The FOS (Feet on Street) is a person trained by the company who works with the
distributor to make secondary sales, i.e. sales made by the distributor to the
30
retailers. The FOS is responsible for product presentation, order taking, stock
checking and collections on credit sales due to the distributor.
Each FOS is accountable for 3 beats, each of 30 – 35 retailers. These beats are
geographically allocated to different FOSs. The FOS makes visits to the retailers
under his territory according to the beat plan, which specifies which all retailers
are to be met on a given day. On these visits the FOS makes product
presentation, highlighting the benefits of Tata Indicom over its competitors. He
also lets the retailer know about the current promotional offers being floated by
Indicom for its retailers and customers. The FOS provides the retailer with
company merchandise and POP material, which increases the visibility of Tata
Indicom, its products and schemes. This also helps the retailer make sales easily
and earn a significant margin.
Another key task performed by the FOS is “Order taking”, which includes the
confirmation about the volume and value of the stock ordered and entering so in
the order book. The FOS also handles the duty of stock checking, where he
verifies the opening stock, the number of activations, stock of recharge coupons
and the closing stock. He is also expected to have a fair idea about the
competitor’s stock, number of activations and schemes as well.
On the Distributor end the FOS is responsible for timely submission of the
retailer’s orders and is liable to specify any special commitments made by him.
31
INTRODUCTION TO THE INDUSTRY
Telecommunications
One of the fastest growing sectors in the country,
telecommunications has been zooming up the growth curve at a
feverish pace in the past few years.
The number of mobile phones (including 20.8 million WLL
(M)) as on January 31, 2006, was about 83 million, which is
over 63 per cent of the total number of phones in the
country.
Over 32 million new telephones were added during April-
January of the current financial year, with five million
additions occurring in January alone, taking the total
number of phones in the country to 130.8 million as on
January 31, 2006.
Tele-density has increased from 8.8 per cent in January
2005 to 11.7 per cent at the end of January 2006.
According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(TRAI's) quarterly performance indicators, Internet user
base has grown 15 per cent from September 2004 to
September 2005, with private operators accounting for 2.6
million users.
32
The gross subscriber base of the fixed and mobile services
together reached 113.07 million at the end of the quarter
July-September 2005, from 104.22 million as on June 2005,
registering an increase of 8.49 per cent during the quarter.
Under the Bharat Nirman Yojana, a total 66,822 villages are to be
provided with village public telephones (VPT) by November 2007.
Destination India
The growth statistics of the sector combined with the
government's decision to increase the foreign direct investment
cap in the sector to 74 per cent is generating interest among
global investors. India, one of the fastest growing countries in
telecom manufacturing in the world, will attract another US$ 855
million as foreign investment over the next two years.
India has become the ‘crown jewel’ in Hong Kong-based
Hutchison Telecom, contributing about 41 per cent of the
group's total revenues of US$ 3.1 billion in 2005. This
amounted to more than half of Hutch International’s gross
profit.
Nokia calls India its stepping stone to success. It said that
convergence and 3G products will increase exponentially
33
from 2005-07 in Asia with key drivers being India along with
Brazil and China.
The China-headquartered Haier group, with a global
presence in home appliances and consumer electronics, has
set up a joint venture for telecom in India for the handset
and equipment business.
Nortel, North America's biggest telecommunications
equipment provider, has signed a five-year deal to provide
call centre services for Bharti, which has a more than 22 per
cent market share of the mobile phone market in India.
Israeli telecommunications equipment maker ECI Telecom
opened a new research and development centre in India in
an effort to reduce the time to market new products.
Global forays
India offers an unprecedented opportunity for telecom service
operators, infrastructure vendors, manufacturers and associated
services companies. With global telecom bigwigs keenly looking
at the fast-growing Indian market, domestic majors are busy
dialing in new deals and expanding overseas.
34
Bharti, which has been offering telecom services in
Seychelles for the last seven years under the brand Airtel
Seychelles Ltd., announced that it would soon launch next
generation 3G services there with an initial investment of
US$ 968,309.
Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) has said that SNO
Telecommunications (PTY) Ltd, in which the company is a
principal shareholder, has received a telecom licence to
operate in South Africa.
The Tata Group will invest more than US$ 230-million in
South Africa over the next three years to develop and
operate telecommunication services.
Reliance Infocomm has joined hands with China
Telecommunications to provide direct telecom connectivity
for the first time between the two countries. It will now
route communications traffic between India and China on a
global network of its group company Flag Telecom.
35
Telecommunication in India
The Indian telecommunications Network with 77m telephone
connections is the fifth largest in the world and is the second
largest among the emerging economies of Asia. Today it is the
fastest growing market in the world and represents unique
opportunities for UK companies in the stagnant global scenario.
Tele-density, which was languishing at 2% in 1999, has shown an
impressive jump to 7% in 2005 and is set to increase to 20% in
the next five years beating the Govt. target by three years.
Accordingly, India requires incremental investments of USD
10-15 bln for the next five years.
Private operators have made mobile telephony the fastest
growing (over 164% p.a.) in India. With more than 33 million
users (both CDMA and GSM), wireless is the principal growth
engine of the Indian telecom industry. Given the current growth
trends, cellular connections in India will surpass fixed line by late
2004/early 2005. Intense competition between the four main
private groups - Bharti, Hutch, Tata and Reliance and with the
State sector incumbents-BSNL and MTNL has brought about a
significant drop in tariffs. There has been almost 74% in cell
36
phone charges, 70% in ILD calls and 25% drop in NLD charges,
resulting in a boom time for the consumers.
The Government has played a key enabling role by deregulating
and liberalising the industry, ushering in competition and paving
the way for growth. While there were regulatory irregularities
earlier, resulting in litigation, these have all been addressed now.
Customs duties on hardware and mobile handsets have been
reduced from 14 percent to 5 percent.
The Indian government has merged the IT and Telecom Ministries
to speed up reforms and decision on the Communication
Convergence Bill to enable the common regulation of the
Internet, broadcasting and telecoms will be taken after the new
Government assumes responsibilities in may this year. An
independent regulatory body (TRAI) and dispute settlement body
(TDSAT) is fully functional.
37
INDIAN CELLULAR MARKET
The Bharti Group, which operates in 15 circles, continues to be
the country's largest cellular operator, with 30.71 lakh
subscribers. BSNL, which operates in 17 circles, has a subscriber
base of 22.56 lakh subscribers. Thus BSNL stands second largest
cellular operator in terms of subscriber base at the end of the
fiscal ending March 31, 2005, displacing Hutchison from the
second position.
Hutch, which operates in only seven circles, is the third largest
operator with a subscriber base of 21.64 lakh. Unlike fellow public
sector undertaking, MTNL, which operates in Mumbai and Delhi,
BSNL has been a very aggressive player in the market. "Cellular
operators who expected BSNL to go the MTNL way, were taken by
surprise and did not take effective steps to counter it, till it was
too late in the day," said a telecom analyst.
Belying fears of a slowdown in cellular subscriber acquisitions,
the cell club has reported a 7.92% growth, the highest growth in
any month so far, during March 2005. Year-on-year, the cellular
subscriber base in the country has almost doubled to 1.27 crore
38
in March 2005, a 97.29% growth over 0.64 crore in March 2004.
The subscriber base was 0.36 crore in March 2003.
The cellular subscriber club expanded by 9.31 lakh last month.
This is much higher than 5.9 lakh subscribers added in February
2005 and 2.13 lakh in January 2005. Idea, which operates in five
circles, is the fourth largest operator with a subscriber base of
12.80 lakh, higher than BPL's 11.31 lakh subscribers across four
circles. The subscriber numbers per operator drop sharply with
the sixth largest operator, Spice Communications, having a
subscriber base of 6.40 lakh, followed by Escotel with a base of
5.87 lakh and Reliance Telecom's 5.41 lakh subscribers.
MTNL is the ninth largest operator, with a base of 2.92 lakh
subscribers, followed by Aircel's 2.3 lakh subscribers and Aircel
Digilink's 1.83 lakh subscribers. RPG Cellular is the 12th largest
operator with 1.79 lakh subscribers, followed by Hexacom's 1.32
lakh subscribers.
The growth in the cellular subscriber base was seen to have
slowed down in the past two months because of the hype created
by limited mobility. Before that, monthly additions in the last
three months of calender year 2004 averaged around 6.75 lakh.
39
While the subscriber base-jumped by 3.38% to 44.39 lakh in the
metros, subscriber base of category A circles of Maharashtra,
Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu jumped by
10.18 % to reach 43.64 lakh. Category B circles of Kerala, Punjab,
Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (West), Uttar Pradesh (East), Rajasthan,
Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal recorded a jump of 10.69%,
with a total base of 33.74 lakh subscribers. Circle C has reported
12.74 % growth with subscriber numbers jumping to 5.08 lakh.
Among the metros, while Mumbai added 63,180 subscribers,
higher than the 58,646 added by Delhi, the Capital's cellular
subscriber base of over 18 lakh is still higher than Mumbai's
16.89 lakh. Last year, the cellular subscriber base had grown by
79.78%, thus reaching 64.3 lakh, compared to 35.77 lakh in the
year ending March 2001. While the cellular industry has been on
roll for the first three quarters of the previous financial year with
an average of 6.75 lakh monthly additions in the third quarter,
the first two months of 2005 had seen the growth slowing down.
40
MARKETING STRATEGY ADOPTED BY TATA INDICOM
Tata-Indicom has spent a considerable amount on advertising its
mobile phone service, Tata-Indicom. Besides print advertising,
the company had put up large no of hoardings and kiosks in and
around Delhi.
The objective behind designing a promotion campaign for the
‘Tata-Indicom’ services is to promote the brand awareness and to
build brand preferences.
It is trying to set up a thematic campaign to build a stronger
brand equity for Tata-Indicom. Since the cellular phone category
itself is too restricted, also the fact that a Cellular phone is a high
involvement product, price doesn't qualify as an effective
differentiator. The image of the service provider counts a great
deal. Given the Cell phone category, it is the network efficiency
and the quality of service that becomes important. What now the
buyer is looking at is to get the optimum price-performance
package. This also serves as an effective differentiator Brand
awareness is spread through the' campaigns and brand
41
preference through brand stature. Tata-Indicom's campaign in
the capital began with a series of 'teaser' hoardings across the
city,' bearing just the company's name and without explaining
what Tata-Indicom was. In the next phase the campaign
associated Tata-Indicom with Cellular only thereafter was the
Tata-Indicom Cellular connection brought up. Vans with Tata-
Indicom logos roamed the city, handing out brochures about
the company and its services to all consumers. About
50,000 direct callers were sent out. When the name was well
entrenched in the Delhiites’s mind, the Tata-Indicom campaign
began to focus on the utility of Cellphone. In the first four
months alone
Tata-Indicom 's advertisement spend exceeded Rs. 4 crores.
As of today the awareness level Is 60% unaided. This implies
that if potential or knowledgeable consumers are asked to name
a Cellular phone service provider that is on the top of his/her
mind 60% of them would name Tata-Indicom. As for aided it -is
100% (by giving clues and hints etc.).
Brand strength of a product or the health of a brand is measured
by the percentage score of the brand on the above aided and the
42
unaided tests. The figures show that Tata-Indicom is a healthy
and a thriving brand.
Every company has a goal, which might comprise a sales target
and a game plan with due regard to Its competitor. Tata-
Indicom's campaign strategy is designed keeping in mind its
marketing strategy. The tone, tenor and the stance of the visual
ads are designed to convey the image of a market leader in
terms of its market share. It tries to portray the image of being a
"first mover every time" and that of a "market leader".
The status of the product in terms of its life cycle has just
reached the maturity stage in India. It is still on the rising part of
the product life cycle curve in the maturity stage.
The diagram on the left hand side shows the percentage of the
users classified into heavy, medium and low categories. The
right hand side shows the revenue share earned from the three
types of users.
Tata-Indicom, keeping in mind the importance of the customer
retention, values its heavy users the most and constantly
indulges in service innovation. But, since heavy users comprise
only 15 - 20% of the population the other segment cannot be
neglected.
43
The population which has just realised the importance of cellular
phones has to be roped in. It is for this reason that the service
provider offers a plethora of incentives and discounts. Concerts
like the "Freedom concert" are being organised by Airtel in order
to promote sales. The media channel is chosen with economy in
mind. The target segment is not very concrete but, there is an
attempt to focus on those who can afford. The print
advertisements and hoarding are placed in those strategic areas
which most likely to catch the attention of those who need a
cellular phone. The product promise (which might cost different
1 higher) is an important variable in determining the target
audience.
Besides this, other promotional strategies that Tata-Indicom has
adopted are :
(i) People who have booked Tata-Indicom services have been
treated to exclusive premiers of blockbuster movies. Tata-
Indicom has tied up with Lufthansa to offer customer bonus
miles on the German airlines frequent flier's programs.
(ii) There have been educational campaigns, image campaigns,
pre launch advertisements, launch advertisements,
congratulatory advertisements, promotional advertise-
44
ments, attacking advertisements and tactical
advertisements.
Operations in UP West [Dehradun Cluster]
45
TTSL products offered in UP West Circle are CMO i.e. Mobile Service (Prepaid
and Postpaid service), Walky (Fixed Wireless Phone) and PTB (Public
Telephone Booth).
These products are each being handled by separate departments. The UP West
and Uttaranchal is further subdivided into smaller clusters which are :
1. Meerut.
2. Dehradun
3. Agra
Demographic Details of major cities in UP West Circle
Product Contribution – UP West
46
DISTRIBUTION
Company
Franchisee Distributor
Dealer Dealers
Customer Customer
The- company whose operations are concentrated in and around
Delhi. It 27 Franchisees and 15 Distributors- They also have 8
'instant access cash card counters- Each franchises or distributor
can have any number of dealers under him as long as the person
47
UP West
24%
8%
6%62%
Walky Post Walky Pre CMO Post CMO Pre
is approved by the Tata-Indicom authority. Each franchises has
to invest Rupees Ten Lakhs to obtain a franchise and should
employ an officer recruited by Tata-Indicom. This person acts as
an liaison between the company and the franchises. The
franchises can it any number of dealers as long as their territories
do not overlap. But unfortunately Tata-Indicom has not been
very successful in controlling territorial overlaps of dealers. The
franchises can carry out his 1 her own promotional strategy. For
this the. company contributes 75% of the money and the
franchises contributes 25% of the money. The dealers under the
franchisee receive the same commission. The franchises and the
dealer obtain the feedback from the customers and they are sent
through the liaison officer on a day-to-day basis to Tata-Indicom.
The dealer has to invest Rupees. One Lakh as an initial
investment. The dealer of Tata-Indicom are not allowed to
provide any other operators' service.
Target set for distributors and the dealers is 100 -150 activations
per month. Hence the dealers can also go for their own
promotions like banners and discounts on festivals etc. The
dealer provides service promptly. The consumer on providing the
bill of purchase for the handset and proof of residence has only to
48
wait an hour before getting connected. The staff of the dealers
and the franchisees are provided training by the Tata-Indicom
personnel.
The complaints encountered by the franchisees and dealers are
either handset being non-functional or the SIM Card not getting
activated. Anything more complicated is referred to the main
Tata-Indicom office in Delhi.
49
TATA INDICOM OFFERS
With Tata-Indicom, the subscriber wouldn't just get a personal
phone that lets him/her be in touch, always, but also gets a host
of benefits that let him/her manage his/her time like never
before.
An Tata-Indicom subscriber is provided with a Subscriber Identity
Module Card (SIM card) - that is the key to operating his/her
cellular phone. His card activates Tata-Indicom cellular services
and contains a complete micro-computer chip with memory to
enable one to enjoy one's cellular phone thoroughly. Each SIM
card contains a PIN code (Personal Identity Number) which may
be entered by one. Just plug your SIM card into your cellular
phone, enter the PIN code and it becomes 'your' personal phone'.
50
Brand ambassadors:
Global companies have long understood the power and impact of associating
popular personalities with their brand name and products. Most will agree
that a successful brand ambassador can make or break a new product launch,
or even catapult a company into a new era of exponential revenues after a
long drought of fading brand clout. But these days choosing a brand
ambassador isn’t what it used to be. Now, with the rapid diffusion of
information made possible through the Internet, companies are seeing the
dangers of making hasty decisions to link their products to public figures. In
the past, reputations were not etched in stone, but were relatively stable and
slow to change. Conversely, these days what goes around still comes around,
only now this happens at the speed of light and travels to the ends of the
world.
The primary role of the brand ambassador is to personify the values intrinsic
to the brand and evoke the dreams associated with owning the product. As
such, he or she must demonstrate a trend of increasing popularity and
notoriety in the markets where the advertising and promotion will be visible
in order to reach the projected target groups effectively. The notoriety of the
ambassador would be the magnet to attract a qualified target group to
appropriate the brand. The conversion process would start with a prospect’s
desire to purchase a certain type of product. The consumer’s ultimate choice
of brand and model would then be influenced to some degree by
identification with the brand ambassador.
51
Tata has always associated itself with success. It has tried deliberately to be
in the minds of the customers as the numero uno. For the same reasons, it
has selected the
most successful captain of Indian cricket team, Saurav Ganguly, s its brand
ambassador.
Saurav Ganguly can be associated with fame, success and glory. He brings
leadership and experience with his image. Again the other brand
ambassadors of the company are Narain Karthikeyan, Irfan Pathan, an d
Sania Mirza. These are the youth icons, and the rationale behind employing
them as brand ambassador is that they bring fresh energy as well as
enthusiasm with in the mind of the customers. They are the voice and the
face for Tata Indicom. Narain Karthikeyan is considered to be rationale.
His is synonymous to speed and efficiency, and accuracy. Indicom intends to
set a similar picture of its own in the minds of the customers.
Irfan Pathan and Saurav Ganguly advertised for the prepaid sector, while
Ajay Devgan and Kajol promote the post-paid sector of Tata Indicom.
This couple is now one of the most popular couple in the glam world. They
represent a happy go lucky, carefree, yet successful pair. At the same time,
the company portrays the couple as very conscious about choosing the right
thing out of the available choices. They always mention in the
advertisements that this is the most cost effective and the most suitable
telephonic service that one can chose.
52
Brand awareness of Indicom
Brand awareness is when people recognize your brand as yours. This does
not necessarily mean they prefer your brand (brand preference), attach a
high value to, or associate any superior attributes to your brand, it just means
they recognize your brand and can identify it under different conditions.
Brand awareness consists of both brand recognition, which is the ability of
consumers to confirm that they have previously been exposed to your brand,
and brand recall, which reflects the ability of consumers to name your brand
when given the product category, category need, or some other similar cue.
.
.
53
The benefits of a strong brand
Here are just a few benefits people will enjoy when company create a
strong brand:
A strong brand influences the buying decision and shapes the
ownership experience.
Branding creates trust and an emotional attachment with the company
or with the product. This attachment then helps the company to make
decisions based, at least in part, upon emotion-- not necessarily just
for logical or intellectual reasons.
A strong brand can command a premium price and maximize the
number of units that can be sold at that premium.
Branding helps make purchasing decisions easier. In this way,
branding delivers a very important benefit. In a commodity market
where features and benefits are virtually indistinguishable, a strong
brand will help the customers to trust the company and create a set of
expectations about the company’s products without even knowing the
specifics of the product features.
Branding will help the company to "fence off" the customers from the
competition and protect the market share of the company while
building mind share. Once the company has mind share, the customers
54
will automatically think of the company and its products first when
they think of buying the necessary product.
A strong brand can make product features virtually significant. A
solid branding strategy communicates a strong, consistent message
about the value of the company. A strong brand helps the company to
sell the values and tangibles that surround the products of the
company.
A strong brand signals that the company wants to build customer
loyalty, not just to sell the products. A strong branding campaign will
also signal that the company is serious about marketing and that it is
intended to be around for a while. A brand impresses the company’s
firm identity upon potential customers, not necessarily to capture an
immediate market but rather to build a lasting impression of the
company and the products.
Branding builds name recognition for the company or the product.
A brand will help the company to articulate the company's values and
explain why the company is competing in the market.
55
Tata Indicom has also concentrated on this aspect and thus has done a lot of
things to create strong brand awareness for the company. For example, it has
painted the entire exterior of local trains, giving its advertisements on them.
The idea is about surrounding the consumer in 360 degrees. As consumers
move away from conventional media, this kind of fragmentation and micro
targeting is bound to happen in many ways.
Again, in smaller towns, it has advertised heavily in the market places. Even
it has used a large number of billboards, banners, and occupied space in the
print media advertisements.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Title : Marketing Strategies of Tata Indicom
Data Collection
The methodology adopted for this project is exploratory in
nature since there is no hypothesis that has to be tested.
The conclusions have been drawn by exploratory research
work.
There have been two sources of information collected:
a) Primary Sources
56
I have met retailers of the Tata-Indicom of the company
and have been able to get first hand information
regarding the product, its features and the buying
patterns of the product. Their input has been valuable.
b) Secondary Sources
Secondary source has played a vital role to play in this report. A
good amount of data has been collected from various published
articles and reports found in magazines and journals. Another
vital source has been the Internet and particularly the companies
own website.
Objectives of the study
To study the importance and development of tele –
communication industry in today’s scenario.
To understand the various Marketing Strategies which
Tata Indicom has adopted to survive in highly competitive cell
phone industry.
To make a comparative study of the major players in Indian
Service Provider.
57
Scope of the study
To identify the marketing programs being run by Tata Indicom
and to study the impact of marketing strategies on Tata
Indicom.
SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE RESEARCH :
To facilitate in appreciative of marketing situation of Tata
Indicom.
RESEARCH TECHNIQUES
SAMPLING METHODOLOGY
Sampling Unit : Individuals & Families
Sampling Techniques : Convenient Sampling and judgmental sampling
Sampling Area : Dehradun
Sample Size : 200
58
LIMITATIONS
The company officials also too tend to give biased answers, as they
always want to give a rosy picture of their company.
The responses can be biased, as some of the respondents may not have
revealed the true pictures.
The managers were reluctant to give information about the product.
The sample was restricted to the Dehradun region only
59
DATA ANALYSIS
QUESTIONNAIRE ANALYSIS
Q1. Do you have a mobile phone ?
a) Yes b) No
Q2. Are you aware about
telecommunications service?
a) Yes b) No
if yes, then which operators
service do you use
a) Tata Indicom
b) Vodafone
c) Airtel
d) BSNL
e) Reliance
Q3.Which of the following services do you
use of Tata Indicom?
60
a) Prepaid
b) Postpaid
Q4. Which services are more helpful to
you while using Tata Indicom services ?
a) Call rates b) sms service
c) Network d)Value added services
Q5. Give your suggestions to help in services
you better
Name : ------------------
Age: ----------- Year
Sex: Male/ Female
Contact No. ----------
Signature : --------------
USAGE OF CELLPHONE
61
How long you are using Tata Indicom?
62
63
Services provided by the Tata Indicom
64
Rating of Existing Service Provider on the basis of prompt
service provided to the customer
65
Best feature of your TATA INDICA
66
What problem do you find on your mobile?
67
CONCLUSION
The promotional strategies, I got to learn at Tata Indicom gave me an
in-depth knowledge about application of Marketing Strategies in real
terms. I could understand better the role of different strategies at
different stages of evolution of business. Training at Tata Indicom gave
me ample opportunity to apply my skill and knowledge in dealing with
customers, channel partners, managing office and also field work.
Through keen observation, I found that all the Promotional Strategies
are inter-related with each other and there is a greater role of timing
which mainly decides the success or failure of it in the long run. The
actions or strategies of the competitor are very keenly observed and
corrective action taken from time to time. The knowledge of the
industry and a regular update is quite essential to survive in this
changing business arena.
Moreover, I got to understand that in today’s telecom market, the tariff
plan must be so prepared that it can meet the requirements of
different sections of the society.
The company should roll-out ant future service only when it is fully
satisfied with the complete working of the same otherwise it will create
negative publicity as in the earlier stages of its commercial launch of
services.
68
Employees also believe that integration of sales, marketing and
customer services function is must for achieving better relationship
with the customers.
Despite industry skepticism and tightening budgets, insurers will
continue to invest in CRM with the pre-requisite that vendors are
able to demonstrate that significant returns can be achieved.
Investments through 2002 and 2003 will be focussed on: smaller
scale projects to leverage greater returns out of existing systems,
the development of operational CRM to improve distribution
strategies, and the integration of core processes such as claims. In
the highly competitive insurance landscape, the main objective of
insurers is increasing the value of their customer base. Customer
Relationship Management (CRM) is pivotal in achieving this.
A reliable, efficient Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution
makes it easy to build lasting customer relationships, gives executives
the necessary resources to maximise their organisation.
In service sector like telecom, it is the quality which is important but
today’s market goes to those who can provide quality service at
affordable price. Here only the differentiator lies.
Finally, I concluded that it is the human effort which is responsible for
ultimate successes or failure. There is no limit to success and, so, as
it’s rightly said,
“If you think you can --- you can”.
69
SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
Cost advantage
Current leaders in quality service
Largest distribution network
Ability to constantly innovate
Highly skilled workforce
Entrepreneurial zeal
Tata’s increased equity and market cap.
WEAKNESSES
To prove credibility
Price pressures
Need for Government support
Awareness
Sales and Marketing
70
OPPORTUNITIES
To sustain passion and commitment
Tata’s market share increasing at other service provider
expense. Thus opportunity to wipe it out.
Attain higher value services
Collaborative business needs to be explored
Vertical repeatable solutions.
Low penetration level in rural markets.
THREATS
Foreign investment
Global trends moving from GPS to WLL.
Lack of global parity in telecom tariff
Other competition
71
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kotler, Philip; Amstrong, Garg. Principles of Marketing,
Millennium Edition, Prentice Hall of India Ltd., New Delhi,
2002.
Tata Indicom. Sales guides
Business World
Times of India
The Economic Times
Web portals (customer helpdesk).
www.bsnl.com
www.mit.gov.in
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