Genius gears up with schemes

Genius recently concluded phase one of its multi-city channel meet. The

roadshows kick-started in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai. “In the second stage

we will hold it in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Upcountry is our priority so we

will also be including these regions, like in South we will be covering Kochi,

Coimbatore, Mysore, Hubli and Vizag. In West, we will be covering Ahmedabad,

Pune and Goa; Chandigarh and Lucknow in North and Rachi, Patna and Bhubanes-war

in East,” detailed Sandeep Ramani, Country Manager-OBM Sales Division, KYE

Systems.

Through the event Genius took the opportunity to meet all their partners

under one roof, introduced new products and briefed them about the future

strategy. “We wanted them to pull up their socks and get ready for the festive

season,” said Ramani.

Expanding its reach across the country, Genius has been regularly increasing

its channel base. “Just last month we increased our distribution network by

appointing Inspan. We have also increased our channel base. Our current network

comprises four national distributors, who bill to 135 Genius Volume Partners (GVPs)

who further bill to 1,200 resellers, dealers and SIs. By the end of this year we

are planning to extend our GVP base to150 and channel base to1,500,” shared

Ramani.

Adding to its range of products Genius recently announced the availability of

its cameras--DV and DSC, that come with 5-12 megapixels. Currently the cameras

are being sold through Homeshop18. “We wanted to do test marketing hence we took

this medium, and the response was very good. Now we can feel we have a pulse of

the market and feel confident of its success. During the festive season we will

make three to four models available through the channel. Though these cameras we

will offer all the features that are available in the other brands, they will be

25-40 percent cheaper. Our digital still cameras come with a two-year

replacement warranty,” noted Ramani.

For servicing and warranty Genius has tied up RT Outsourcing for six

locations-Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata. “In the rest

of the locations the partner has a choice to take the service from our

distributors. They can send the product directly to the nearest service center,

and one-side freight will be paid by Genius. Even end-customers can go and avail

of the after sales service. 95 percent of products are on replacement warranty,”

informed Ramani.

Post-sales service is increasingly becoming an issue for channel partners to

deal with. But according to Ramani, service centers can provide good support if

they are backed by the vendor.

Speaking about the threat from the growing number of local exporters, Ramani

opined that they cannot continue after the second quarter as the peripherals

business is very dynamic and there has to be much focus on the consistent

availability of the product, maintaining quality and after-sales support.

“During the slowdown about 50-60 percent of factories in China had to shutdown

their operations so the regular importers faced major problems in sourcing their

products. So a lot actually got out of the market. We are seeing a change in the

customer mindsets. If you give them confidence of brand they will stick to you,”

asserted Ramani.