Project Title: Market study of Voltas ACs in Bengaluru city including customer satisfaction Objectives: 1.

To study the market share of Voltas ACs (This would be done by collecting data from the marketing channels) 2. To study the customer satisfaction including after-sales service ( by surveying the end user) 3. To identify some of the possible reasons of buying a non-Voltas AC by the consumers (by surveying some non-Voltas customers at their point of purchase) 4. To suggest improvements to retain their market share Scope of the Study: The study aims to assess the customer strength of present market. In the process, marketing capabilities of competitors could also be assessed as their market share would be calculated (by surveying the marketing channels). This would further show the current competitor position and how many big players dominate the market. The study also aims at assessing the customer satisfaction of the consumer (by surveying the end consumer and implementing VOC). Question: Does Voltas not have these data already?? If yes when was it last done? What more can you add? Is there any secondary report you could assess? Ask your co. guide

COMPANY PROFILE
Voltas, a company engaged in providing diverse engineering solutions, was established way back in 1954 as a joint venture with Volkart Brothers and Tata Sons. The name of the company is an amalgamation of the two company names. Since its inception to the present day, the company has braved quite a few rough times to emerge as a market leader in most of its operating segments. With its vision statement as Engineering Solutions for a Greener Tomorrow, Voltas is primarily focused in providing eco-friendly engineering solutions. Voltas primarily has four divisions which are being represented in the following diagram:VOLTAS

EM&RBG

IOBG

UPBG

EPBG

EM&RBG: EM&RBG stands for Electromechanical and Refrigeration Business Group. This division is primarily focused in delivering Engineering solutions like Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC), Mechanical and Electrical Projects (MEP), and Water Management Projects. IOBG: IOBG stands for International Operations Business Group. This unit handles the same operations as EM&RBG but at an international platform. UPBG: UPBG stands for Unitary products Business Group. This segment basically deals in air conditioning products, Commercial refrigerators and Water Dispensers. EPBG: EPBG stands for Engineering Products Business Groups. This division doesnt manufacture but provide sales and service of machineries of OEMs. This business unit is further sub-divided into two divisions, the Textile Machinery Division (TMD), which provides equipments and machineries to textile mills, and Mining and Construction Equipments Division (MECD) which caters to the need of Mining and Construction Industry.

UPBG Division : Corporate Vision: Engineering Solutions for a Greener Tomorrow. UPBG Vision: Attain market leadership in Air Conditioning products. Sustain market leadership in Commercial Refrigeration and Water Cooling Products. UPBG Mission: Be a passionately customer-focused organisation providing innovative and green solutions UPBG Values: SWIFT Smart Thinking, Winning Attitude, Innovative + Initiative, Flexibility + Agility, Teamwork The organisation, with Pradeep Bakshi at the helm of affairs, has been able to make quite an impact in the market. With six zonal offices, fifteen branch offices and five area offices, the company is providing service across the length and breadth of the country. The SBU had bagged the Emerging Industry Leader as per TBEM External Assessment. It is the only SBU of Voltas which has its score in 551-650 range. The company attributes its achievement to the following factors: Lean and flexible Business model Increased distribution penetration to B and C class towns Distributed manufacturing to ensure reach that is closer and faster for customers Initiatives to increase employee management score

Robust review mechanisms like CEC, MBRMs, BMs meet, Quality Review Board (QRB) Meeting Create a culture of improvement through 5S, Kaizen, Six-Sigma projects, Suggestion Schemes and so on OHSAS and ISO 14001 certifications for the manufacturing facilities to ensure a safe working culture Training and implementation of TBEM (Tata Business Excellence Model)

The structural hierarchy of the Sales Division in Bengaluru office is depicted in the diagram below.

REGIONAL BUSINESS HEAD

BRANCH MANAGER

BRANCH SERVICE MANAGER

AREA SALES MANAGERS (A.C. , CR & WD)

F&C MANAGER

AREA SERVICE MANAGERS

AREA SALES OFFICERS

DATA ENTRY OPERATOR

SERVICE EXECUTIVES

The product line can be represented by the following diagram:UPBG

AIR CONDITIONERS

COMMERCIAL REFRIGERATORS
CHEST FREEZERS CHEST COOLERS CHOCLATE COOLERS VISICOOLERS

WATER DISPENSERS

SPLIT WINDOW CASSETTE SLIMLINE/ TOWER

In case of ACs, the company operates through the following channels:ACs

SSD

DISTRIBUTORS

RETAIL

MODERN TRADE

SSD: SSD stands for sales and service dealers. These dealers have the technical expertise and act as consultants to various institutional buyers. They provide cooling solution to them depending upon the requirement and the type of infrastructure involved. The company makes arrangements for training the personnel so that they can provide quality service to the end customers. Of course, a few institutional buyers directly trade with the companys sales force. Distributors: The Distributors are the bulk buyers of the product and trade with dealers, subdealers and smaller retailers. Retail: Retail sellers constitute large showrooms which are dedicated to sales of a particular category of products which in this case are air conditioners. These are usually multi-brand showrooms Modern Trade: The Modern Trade channel constitutes the multi-brand stores like Croma, Ezone, NEXT etc who deal in a variety of products.

COMMERCIAL REFRIGERATORS

SSD

INSTITUTIONS

DISTRIBUTORS

RETAIL

MODERN TRADE

All the above mentioned channels exist in case of Commercial Refrigerators. In addition to those, a separate channel called Institutions exist which cater to the needs of OEMs such as Ice-Cream manufacturers, dairy industry and food & beverages industry. Research Objectives: 1. To study the market share of Voltas ACs This they should have 2. To study the customer satisfaction including after-sales service Even if they have you could re-validate 3. To identify some of the possible reasons of buying a non-Voltas AC by the consumers This may be new 4. To suggest improvements to retain/ not gow? their market share Location Covered: Bengaluru City Methodology:

Source of Data: Primary Data Tool used: Questionnaire, Depth Interviews, Telephonic Interviews, Observational studies The Market Research for Market Share calculation would be carried out across all the marketing channels of Voltas and the outlets of competitors. (Your sample size is already determined here!) Since some of the Voltas dealers are not dedicated only to Voltas but to its competitors as well, a sizable amount of competitors data can be calculated from them. The data from the dedicated retail outlets of competitors would be difficult to access and only a rough estimate could be gained from them. For the customer satisfaction survey, after-sales service would be a major focal point. The organisation wants to know whether the service franchisees have delivered quality service and depending upon the result they would take steps to improve quality of service. The samples would be selected from the installation database. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR MARKETING CHANNELS (both dedicated and nondedicated) Not going through this again as already given inputs to the earlier one. Cant be reading it again and again Name of the firm.................................................. 1. Do you sell any other companys AC other than Voltas? a. Yes b. No If the answer is yes, then Q2 and Q4 wouldnt be asked 2. If yes, which other companies ACs do you sell? The query would give an idea of who the competitors are 3. What was the total Sales in terms of units and revenue collected (for Voltas ACs)? The finding would be essential to calculate relative market share , market share and Herfindahl Index. Relative market share indexes a firms or a brands market share against that of its leading competitor. Relative Market Share = This metric is useful in comparing a firms or brands relative position across the market and in evaluating the degree of competition in the market

Since coolers are not being considered into the category, I have removed penetration index This logic is not clear cant you have penetration index for ACs? Herfindahl Index: A market concentration metric derived by adding the squares of the individual market shares of all the players in a market. As a sum of squares, this index tends to rise in markets dominated by large players. I am not clear on this and what you will derive from it will ask Jha 4. What was the total Sales in terms of units and revenue collected (for non-Voltas ACs)? Company Name Total Sales (Units) Total Sales (Revenues)

The finding would be essential to calculate relative market share, market share and Herfindahl Index. 5. Why do you prefer to sell Voltas ACs? I have left this question open-ended as per your suggestions 6. Would you like to Voltas improve in certain areas? If yes, what are they? This question would reveal any shortcoming that the distributor perceives to exist QUESTIONNAIRE FOR NON-VOLTAS CUSTOMERS 1. Name 2. Sex 3. Marital status a. Married b. Single 4. Age Group

a. Less than 30 b. 30-45 c. Above 45 5. Income level: a. Less than 5 Lakhs b. 5-10 Lacs c. 10-15 Lacs d. More than 15 Lacs 6. What made you buy a LG/Samsung/Hitachi/Blue Star/Panasonic/Carrier AC? a. Price b. Aesthetics c. Technology d. Availability e. Previous experience of buying the same product f. After sales service g. Brand name h. Got a model that satisfied your requirements and matched your budget i. Promotions and offers j. Suggestion from friends k. Others This question also lets us know what factors a consumer considers when he or she buys an AC 7. Why didnt you buy a Voltas AC? ........................................................................................................................ CUSTOMER SATISFACTION QUESTIONNAIRE (for Voltas Customers) 1. Name: 2. Sex:

a. Male b. Female 3. Age Group a. Less than 30 b. 30-45 c. Above 45 4. Income level: a. Less than 5 Lakhs b. 5-10 Lacs c. 10-15 Lacs d. More than 15 Lacs 5. Marital Status : a. Single b. Married 6. From where did you buy the AC? ................................................ 7. Can you name the agency/franchisee who installed it? ................................................... 8. What made you buy a Voltas AC? (More than one answers can be possible) a. Brand Name b. Quality/Performance c. Suggestions from a friend d. Promotions and Offers e. Aesthetics f. Price g. Previous experience of buying the same product h. After Sales Service

i. Availability j. Others . 9. Did the AC meet all the requirements/specifications you had wanted? a. Didnt match at all b. Partially matched c. Completely matched d. Just surpassed my expectations e. Greatly surpassed my expectations 10. Are you aware of the toll free number for customer support? a. Yes b. No 11. Did the AC work perfectly after the installation? a. Highly b. Mostly c. At times d. Rarely e. Never 12. From the time of installation to till date, has the AC worked faultlessly? a. Yes b. No 13. What is the interval of servicing of AC that you believe is acceptable? 14. If no (if the AC hasnt worked faultlessly), how was the speed of response when the complaint was lodged? a. Very fast (within 4 hours) b. Fast (4-12 hours) c. Acceptable time of response(12-24 hours) d. Slow (24-36 hours)

e. Very slow (more than 36 hours) 15. Were the service people willing to respond to your request? (Call center people) a. Very willing b. Willing c. Neutral (Neither willing nor unwilling) d. Unwilling e. Very unwilling 16. Were they able to repair/service the product at the promised time? a. Yes b. No 17. What is your perception about the skills of people who serviced the AC? a. Highly competent b. Competent c. Average d. Incompetent e. Highly incompetent 18. How did you find the behaviour of salespersons at the time of buying? a. Very polite b. Polite c. Average d. Impolite

e. Very impolite 19. How did you find the behaviour of company personnel at the time of servicing? a. Very polite b. Polite c. Average d. Impolite

e. Very impolite 20. Were you satisfied with the service that was provided? a. Highly satisfied b. Satisfied c. Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied d. Dissatisfied e. Highly dissatisfied 21. Is the manual (provided with the product) helpful in operating the product? a. Very helpful b. Helpful c. Neither helpful nor unhelpful (Can apply to customers who havent read the manual) d. Unhelpful e. Very unhelpful 22. What is your perception about the products performance? a. Highly Dissatisfied b. Dissatisfied c. Neutral d. Satisfied e. Highly Satisfied 23. If you are dissatisfied/ highly dissatisfied with the product, what is the reason behind it? ...................................................................................................................... 24. What do you think of the price of the product? a. Very cheaply priced b. Reasonably priced c. At par with industry rates d. High priced

e. Very highly priced 25. If you need to buy an AC again, would you buy a Voltas AC again? a. If yes, why? b. If no, why? c. Cant say