The practice of snatching away customers from fellow dealers by under-cutting prices
was rampant in Nagpur until a few years ago. But channel partners realized that they were
hurting themselves in the process. Some enlightened members thought that unless the
community came together and discussed these issues threadbare, unethical practices would
continue. "We thought why fight among ourselves," quips Sudhir Budhay,
founder-president.
Thus was born Vidarbha Computer & Media Dealers' Welfare Association (VCMDWA) in
1991 which has been successful in bringing about a great deal of transparency in business
dealings of channel community. The transparency has come about because channel partners
have begun to trust each other more creating a conducive trading environment.
"The association has been successful in generating more faith among
ourselves," says Micky Chinoy, President. This has resulted in a clean business
environment. Of course, this has come about after much soul-searching by channel partners
who have given their full-hearted support to the activities of the association.
All-out support
The all-out support of the members has helped the association to take up
channel-related issues with the government as well as principals. It was because of the
strong representation made by VCMDWA to the local government, the octroi was reduced from
five percent to 1.5 percent which has been recently raised to three percent. "We want
to once again make a representation to the government to bring down the octroi to the
original figure of 1.5 per cent," says Sanjay Sinha, Secretary.
The association put up a strong case when government officials raided establishments on
MRP-related issue. VCMDWA approached the government explaining the context under which IT
products were sold. Due to the noise created by the association and efforts to taken to
resolve the MRP issue, raids were stopped and seized goods were released to the concerned
parties.
Warranty issues
VCMDWA has also taken up warranty issues with principals bringing relief to its
members. Internal conflicts related to payments have been resolved to the satisfaction of
aggrieved parties. The names of defaulting parties are publicized by sending emails to
members to ensure that they safeguard themselves while doing business.
The association currently has some 70 members while the city of Nagpur is estimated to
have roughly 170 dealers. The association is not very keen on increasing the membership
for numbers sake. "We want to provide certain status to the membership of
VCMDWA," says Dinesh Gupta, an executive committee member.
Thus, VCMDWA has developed a few strict qualifying parameters to get the membership. If
a channel partner wants to become a member of VCMDWA, he/she should be in IT business for
at least two years; should have a sales tax number; and, he/she should be recommended by
two current members.
Successful exhibitions
Within two years of its formation, VCMDWA organized the first IT exhibition in Nagpur
which turned out to be a big success. Since then there has been no looking back as the
association has put in efforts to showcase the latest products in IT and communications
every year.
If the first exhibition had just 25 stalls, the latest one held in January 2000 had 91
stalls. The first show was visited by some 5,000 people while the latest one had over
22,000 visitors. The successive exhibitions have generated a large amount of inqueries for
channel partners providing a boost to their business.
"Exhibitions serve several purposes. First, visitors get to touch and feel latest
IT products; second, they create inquiries for channel partners; and third, exhibitions
bring in funds for the association," points out Hitesh Parikh, Vice-President.
Indeed, the collections from exhibitions have left VCMDWA flush with funds for expansion.
Association web site
VCMDWA wants to have an office of its own in the near future. It is planning to have
its own web site within the next three months. "The idea is to provide maximum
business-related information to members through the web site," says Micky.
The regular gatherings of the association have transformed channel partners in Nagpur
into a well-knit community. VCMDWA organizes two outings every year, one with the family,
the other one only for members.
VCMDWA has been utilizing its funds to give away prizes to those children of channel
partners who have passed their SSC and HSC exams with high percentages. In fact, this year
the association is planning to distribute prizes to all the children who have scored above
75 percent marks.
Channel partners in Nagpur have clearly shown that there is strength in unity. Their
coming together has not only reduced internal conflicts but also made their voice strong
with government and vendors and brought rich dividends to the public at large who are now
in a position to have a glimpse of the latest IT products at the VCMDWA annual
exhibitions.