Week-2 Gr2.HarshitVerma.PGFB2017
So, this week kick started with an amazing guest lecture given by Mr. Mukesh Sharma, who is currently working as Head of sales for Modular switches division at C&S electric. He explained and briefed about the Channel management. He defined a channel as a mean to access and it acts as a bridge between consumers and company. Then we learned about different kind of channels like distributors/stocking agents, agents and CFA which are present in B2B marketing. He also said that there is no B2B market all of the market is working on B2C and he explained this with the help of example of Amrapali. He also explained the need and requirement for a channel and some of them is mentioned below: -
- To transfers the products to consumers and also, they supplement the efforts of the company
- It helps in making faster delivery and stocking points.
We also discussed about the procedure and steps involved in channel management. division. Then we discussed about the selection and retention criteria for a channel. The selection criteria for a channel that company looks upon are past performance, network strengths, financial health and competence and quality of the channel partner. Now talking about the retention criteria or things that a company sees while retaining a channel are training of channel, recognizing their contributions, ease of operation and brand strength. After discussing this all we learned about the 5C’s of channel management that sir has learned or gained from his practical knowledge. So, the 5C’s are Communicate, Close connect, Clear, Commitment and Consistent. These are the 5C’s of channel management which can be used for managing a channel effectively. He also told us about the most successful mantra for designing and managing the channel is to have “WE” approach while designing or implementing an idea for a channel because it’s not about you only it’s always about them so you have to take all things collectively.
After this we moved and continued our discussion over organizational buying behavior under which we learned various types of forces that influences the buying decision for a company/business. So, the forces that affects these decisions are listed below: -
1. Environmental forces
2. Organizational forces
3. Group forces
4. Individual forces
Then we moved ahead and started a discussion regarding the strategic priorities in purchasing from buyer point of view. So, the things that a buyer will think before purchasing goods or material from any new vendor are as follows: -
· Reputation of vendor
· Flexibility
· Inventory
· Delivery Schedule
· Pricing of Product
· Variety in same product range
· Trust in competence
There were several factors but consider that the above-mentioned factor are primary factors that will help buyer in selecting the right kind of vendor or seller. We also learned about TCO (Total cost of ownership). For example, if you like eating biryani’s and there is joint in South Delhi and you live in East Delhi so the total cost of owning or eating that biryani will not only include the cost of biryani but it will also include the cost of your travelling to that place and the sum total of cost will be the actual cost for you of eating biryani over that joint. TCO includes their types of cost Acquisition cost, Usage cost and Possession cost.