'We are seeking partners for whom we are not just another selling brand.'

After finishing his basic education in commerce from the Edinburgh College,

Alan went on to acquire a Scottish National Certificate in business studies and

continues to be a member of the Association of Certified Accountants. He joined

Canon Scotland in 1985 as financial director and in 1987 took over as the MD. He

was appointed as MD, Canon India, two years ago. Ever since he has been involved

in changing Canon’s image from a camera company to an IT organization.

Excerpts from the interview.

How has the overall business for Canon been this year?



Our business is constantly growing. Last year we achieved a revenue of Rs 120

crore and this year we are looking at a figure of Rs 160 crore.

What kind of scenario do you foresee for the Indian business in the next

six months?



I feel that India would largely remain insulated from the worldwide

recession. Though its GDP growth may not be as good as China, I believe that

India would record significant growth.

Has there been a change in your sales targets considering the dampened

market sentiments?



No. We haven’t changed out targets at all. We are a growing

organization and we are increasing our market share and bringing in new

products. We are quite confident that we will achieve the figures that we had

set at the beginning of this financial year.

How do you plan to achieve the growth targets that you

have set for yourself?



This will be done by concentrating on three areas. First,

increase our reach and for which we have appointed three regional distributors,

Compuage for West, Wellwin for South and Tech Pacific for the North. Very soon

we will appoint distributors for the Eastern region as well.

Second, we plan to enhance the channel engagement by

increasing the one-to-one interaction between Canon and its distributors and

resellers. This is precisely why we have recruited lots of new people. And

thirdly, we are trying to ensure healthy growth by way of introducing new

products in the market.

There is another important area that we are looking at and

that is the assembler community. I believe assemblers are great influencers as

far as customers’ buying decisions are concerned. So we are also trying and

seeing how well can we create a large mindshare for Canon among assemblers and

thus ensure a healthy growth for us.

While lots of organizations are laying off staff, Canon

has recruited a lot more new people. What is behind this recruitment drive?



It is very clear that to do business in these times you have

to have representatives who can go out and communicate face-to-face with a large

number of resellers, distributors and dealers.

At Canon, we have changed our philosophy from having a small

number of core people to having a larger team, so that we can interact directly

not just at the distributor or wholesaler level, but also at the reseller level

across the country.

What are Canon’s strengths when it comes to selling

through channels?



One of the major strengths of Canon according to me is that

we have people right across the country covering a very wide range of products

not just in the IT peripherals segment but also in the office imaging solutions

(OIP) range.

We are there in all states with a proper sales tax

registration and offer direct support to our channel. We also offer direct

credit to our partners. Though in the OIP segment you can say that we trade

directly with the channel, in the IT peripherals segment we involve the

distribution network.

So Canon has the necessary skills and infrastructure to trade

directly with channel partners. This, according to me, is a strong point for

Canon as far as understanding the needs of the channel is concerned.

What are the essential things that you look for while

appointing a channel partner?



Unquestionably it would be sales targets! We believe that the

Canon brand should be a very important element of the channel partner’s

business. Not that it should be exclusive but Canon should be an extremely

important selling brand to the channel partner. So we are looking at such

partners for whom we are not just another selling brand or a second-choice

product.

What kind of after-sales service and training support do

you offer to your partners?



We are very committed as far as service is concerned. In

fact, this is one of the major reasons that the new range of products were not

launched in India at the same time as the rest of the world. This was because

the necessary infrastructure for support was not in place here.

We have really put in a lot of work towards creating 28 Canon

Care Points across the country. We want to put this into the minds of resellers

that whenever they sell a Canon product to a customer, they (resellers) can

remain



assured about the efficient after-sales service they will receive from Canon.

Channel partners are increasingly complaining about

shrinking margins. What is Canon’s approach to deal with this?



Its a highly competitive business that the channel partners

are dealing in. We want our partners to make good profits on Canon products that

they sell. And that way we are very committed and everything that we do is

directed towards ensuring the same.

It has been noticed that vendors at times tend to

pressurize channels to push their products in spite of an unfavorable business

environment. What is Canon’s ideology in this respect?



Canon has never adopted a strategy to push sales ignoring the

concerns of channel. Pushing sales by way of pressurizing channels, in general,

cannot be a good strategy in the long term. After all, somewhere the supply and

demand has to equate.

However, if you were to ask me whether we would offer

large-volume discounts so as to create a competitive environment, then my answer

would be very clearly–No. We don’t intend to indulge ourselves in such

activities.

We will try to maintain our priceline and ensure that our

channel partners have consistent profits.

What are Canon’s expectations from the newly launched

range of products?



We see India as a bright star in Canon’s business. I am

confident about the success of these products. And what I am talking of is not

just dreams. Things are actually happening for Canon in the Indian market.

Every month figures show that and they are only getting

better. We expect to sell one million units of Canon products by 2005 and we are

already seeing a noticeable growth in the inkjet and laser printer segment. With

our increased product offering, our confidence has only increased.

GOLDIE in Mumbai