Canon rolls out new strategy for value customers

In a major restructuring exercise aimed at reaching out to customers in a
better manner, Canon India Pvt Ltd has created two independent channels--value
and volume. Value products consist of digital high-end applications, which are
usually networked while volume products of the likes of copiers would be worked
through the reseller channel.

A direct sales force has been formed to meet the requirements of customers
looking for high-end value products. Canon has about 20 value partners who have
been carefully selected for the value addition they bring to the company. The
target is to notch up a total of at least 40 such partners.

M Lakshmi Narayan Rao, Marketing Manager (OSS Value), Canon India, who was in
Pune for the Canon Technology Planet Road Show maintained that this road show
was a step towards reaching out the value customer. "The strategy is to
offer better value proposition to the customer, bringing in value addition
besides enhancing the productivity speed and efficiency." He added,
"We have attempted a different approach, moving away from the usual layout
adopted in roadshows and have worked towards replicating an office environment,
creating applications zones."

The six application zones begin with the office zone for the SOHO-SME
segment. This is usually for large offices where the aim is to add value to
large offices. The second is the transaction-printing zone where the onus is on
large-scale printing machines. "This zone looks at merging formats with
real time data. We have had installations at Hutch and Spice in Bangalore,"
explained Rao, adding that large operations have humungous data that needs to be
processed electronically.

The third is the print out demand zone that provides solutions with the aim
of providing what you need, where you need and how much you need at that point
of time. Companies that require sending out newsletters or conducting internal
training programs prefer this product. The next zone is the print in a pack area
that takes care of the graphic arts market. Canon has formed a vertical sales
team called the graphic art consultants who interact with the customers telling
them how they could migrate to digital printing.

Document Management Systems is the fifth zone where there is plenty of scope
for high-speed scanners with additional software to archive, retrieve and merge
data. Government presents the largest opportunity here. The CAD-GIS zone is a
fledgling market. This can be applied in regions where data has to be presented
in a large formation, such as mapping, formatting surveillance. Defense could be
one of the biggest customers for this particular application.

Canon has planned seven roadshows across the country. After Pune, the shows
have been planned at Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore.
Canon would be offering the complete portfolio across the country and is looking
at 25 percent of the market share. The strategy would be to bring in the latest
technology and solutions simultaneously in the overseas and domestic markets and
equipping the sales teams with the relevant skills.

"Currently, we are targeting the metros and state capitals. We have been
ramping up our sales competencies. We are present in around 250 locations in B
and C grade cities. And are looking at a wider reach through our value
partners," explained Rao.

Nanda Kasabe

(CNS)