During the summer season, power electronics products like inverters, UPS systems and batteries need a real push to sell faster. Promotional schemes have always been an inherent part of a company’s channel strategy. With fierce competition and a crowded market offering a variety of products, it is essential for principal companies to engage with their partners on a continuous basis. According to Su-Kam Power System’s founder and CEO, Kunwar Sachdev, it is worth spending on channel partners as it is they who push products off the shelves. “Planning schemes and incentives for the channel partners is as good as advertising your products,” he adds.
By Srabani Sen
Monday, August 22, 2011: Power electronics vendors are gearing up their channel partner strategy with new and innovative schemes this summer. Apart from channel partners, summer seems to be the best time even for end customers to walk into retail showrooms and avail heavy discounts and gifts with every purchase of electronics goods.
This summer, Luminous has launched a pan-India loyalty programme for channel partners called ‘Lakshya’, which guarantees great benefits in terms of prizes, varying from cars, refrigerators, LCD TVs and much more. “It’s an entirely performance driven programme and the motive is to reward top achievers,” says Rakesh Malhotra, founder and managing director, Luminous Power Technologies Pvt Ltd.
Every summer, Microtek also comes up with schemes for its channel partners. This year, it has launched ‘Videsh mein masti’, an offer on SOHO and high end sine wave inverters. Channel partners, based on their performance, get a chance to tour Dubai, Turkey, Egypt and Switzerland. The company also has a scheme for its customers called ‘Scratch India, scratch’ on all its products, where a customer gets a scratch card on the purchase of a Microtek product and has a chance to win a car, bike, AC or other gifts.
Says Kunwer Sachdev, “Schemes are an extension of our constant endeavour to encourage our partners to achieve more than their targets.”
Su-Kam has initiated the unique concept of a Web based partnership programme called ‘Club 100’ for channel partners. It has hosted a website to gather all the information about its channel partners. This e-interface brings each and every channel partner across the country onto one platform.
Club 100 is a community of premium channel partners whose off-take comprises of a major part of Su-Kam’s turnover. The concept was initiated with the purpose of giving special privileges and benefits to those who are a part of this club. The initial selection was done through a formula specially devised for this purpose, which took into consideration the turnover of the channel partners, their credit worthiness, standing in the market and also their market penetration.
Based on these criteria, Club 100 members are given benefits like special TOD for members on their sales, special scholarships for their children, overseas trips with the family and many other gifts to recognise their achievements.
Currently, upsINVERTER.com is offering heavy discounts to its channel partners on its Hi-Lite brand. Truepower is also offering free trolleys to buyers of Truepower inverters and batteries.
Channel partners, however, feel that these schemes should be region and tier specific. If a scheme works well in A class cities, it does not mean that it will work for the emerging markets. Principal companies should first figure out which products are in demand and what kind of schemes will attract the channel partners.
Electronics Bazaar, South Asia’s No.1 Electronics B2B magazine
