Erode Resellers Demand Service Centers From Vendors

Resellers in Erode are bogged by the fact that they have to either send
components or go personally to Coimbatore and Chennai for processing service
orders. This costs a lot of their time and is an expense in terms of money as
well as manpower. Therefore, resellers want vendors to open service centers or
atleast a collection center in Erode. This immediate need of such a center was a
top priority in the minds of the dealers who attended the IT Panchayat in Erode
recently.

IT Panchayat, a series of events conducted by The DQ Week in order to provide
dealers, vendors and distributors a common platform to discuss various local
issues related to the market as well their day-to-day business, was held on June
29 in Erode. The event in Erode was the 27 in the series and got an overwhelming
response with 65 partners from Erode and Salem participating in it.

“Erode is a booming market for IT products. As dealers, we put in all our
efforts to promote various vendor products. Given that it is a growing market,
we feel that a service/collection center is the need of the hour,” said C
Balakrishnan, President, Erode IT Association (EDITA).

Agreeing with him, S Prakash, Secretary, Confed-ITA said, “Service and
warranty issues are clearly a cause of concern for us. Another issue is the SRP
and MRP of the products. Currently, vendors advertise the price as street price
of products (SRP) and then add a few extras that include installation cost, case
cost and taxes. These extras however are not high­lighted in the advertise­ments
and customers claim a discount on the MRP that we sell at. This is causing us
lot of problems. We feel manufacturers should include the basic price plus all
extras in their advertisements.”

Participating partners also felt that any new model announcement should reach
the dealer atleast 10 days before the media advertise­ment. In the ensuing
discussion, dealers also said that they needed to battle issues like price
protection, DoA and also warranty claims.

EDITA also submitted a 15-point charter of demands to The DQ Week. This
included setting up of service/collection centers; need for training,
certification and market support for partners from the vendors; setting up
realistic scheme targets for partners; organizing meetings with partners and
setting up vendors' office in Erode; need to send freebies with the product;
notification of product price and new models; making clear warranty terms,
warrantly claim rejections and calculation of warrantly period; clarity on DoA
cases and offering price protection to partners. Also need for buffer stock,
driver CD and better turn around time, besides preventing direct sales activity,
were mentioned in the charter.

The panelists at the event included C Balakrishnan, President, EDITA; S
Prakash, Secretary, Confed-IT; S Sarvanan, Secretary, EDITA and

P Manikandan, Treasurer SITA and Subbalakshmi BM, Content Editor, DQ Channels
represented The DQ Week.

Subbalakshmi BM

subbalakshmibm@cybermedia.co.in