VCMDWA intros tollfree helpline

The Vidharbha Computer Manu­facturers and Dealers Welfare Asso­ciation (VCMDWA)
will finally rollout the tollfree helpline. Though this facility was announced
in January 2008, it was not active till date.

Prashant Ugemuge, President, VCMDWA said, "Through the helpline customers
will get direct benefit in terms of quick information and dealers will get
indirect profit." Since January, the helpline is providing basic information to
customer queries with respect to availability of products and services in
Amravati. But it needed some fine-tuning, which the association has been
researching and working on for the past six months.

Ugemuge said, "Initially, there was no data available and we didn't have an
idea of the type of questions customers would ask and therefore were unprepared
for it. We researched on the likely questions customers would ask and the
answers they expect from us. Now the database has been updated and from this
month the helpline will work to provide better and faster service to the
customers." The estimated implementation cost for this tollfree number will be
Rs 1 lakh with a recurring monthly cost of Rs 25,000. Members of the association
will reap benefits because the helpline will act as an alternate lead generation
tool for them. For instance, if a customer wishes to buy a printer and calls the
helpline, he will be given a list of dealers with their contact details who
offer printers in the vicinity specified by the customer. This is also
beneficial for customers as they can get instantaneous information about the
right sources for various products, thereby saving their time.

VCMDWA is mulling on charging customers a nominal fee for giving this
information, though no official decision has been taken in this regard. At
present the association is offering this service for free and the helpline is
active from 10am to 6pm. This might be extended depending on the response the
service gets.

The channel feedback for this helpline is varied. Some dealers feel that it
will be unfruitful because they feel that the customer will be given contact
details of only a few big dealers. "Right now, most of our walk in customers
just give us the configuration for various machines and then we advise them on
the price. But if they get this information over the phone, they are unlikely to
visit us. In view of the existing competition, this will be detrimental to our
business," said a partner.

Rita Sudhir Budhay, CEO, Business Algorithms, on the other hand, said, "There
is no disadvantage in providing helpline service. Here the association is not
going to provide any commercial information about the products. The association
has a list of the dealers who provides various products, services and solutions.
This can be passed on to the customers and it is then up to the customer to
select products, brands, or dealers as per their requirement."

Rakesh Agarwal of Mayur Computers said, "This helpline will help genuine
dealers who promote products in an ethical manner. Such an initiative helps to
put an end to unethical traders who approach the market with low cost products
and zero service. Through the tollfree helpline, authorized dealers will be
introduced to customers who will give their business a fillip."

However, most of the dealers were unaware of this initiative by VCMDWA, which
the association is trying to remedy. It will give advertisements about this
service in local papers as well as put up banners in the city.