Mr. Chetan Chavan is founder-director of Ideal Dry, Satara (Tier-III) town in central India. Ideal dry is functional for last 15 plus years. It makes cloth drying solutions. He has done 35,000 installations and also has successfully catered to B2B Customers. He is an example of coming from a humble background, a nondescript town and developing a successful business.
Q1: As an entrepreneur, what are your 3 main challenges and how do you overcome them?
A1: As an entrepreneur, my three primary challenges are,
I. 1.Sales and marketing
II. 2.Cost management and Customer Retention
III. 3.Finding good employees.
To overcome this, we focus on Budget planning, utilizing various marketing tools like Digital marketing,
print media, and giving physical Demos. For Customer retention we prioritize excellent service, fulfilling customer demands, and ensuring our employees leave a positive lasting impression. For instance, our technicians clean up after installations and properly explain product workings to customers. To encourage our employees to give good customer service and to increase the sense of spirit amongst them we arrange two company trips annually. However, finding the right people as team members is a difficult task.
Q2: As a businessman, what is your understanding of marketing and selling?
A2: Marketing and selling, though related, differ from each other. Marketing is to make our product reach everywhere and to create a need for it in the customers in daily life. Sales is a part of Marketing; it is the effort made to sale our products and to reach out to the new customers while convincing them on pricing and product quality. Both are crucial for business success, and effective marketing leads to sales. We employ various marketing methods such as digital marketing, print media, and society demos.
Q3: Is selling, marketing or getting and retaining customers a challenge for you? If yes, what do you about it.
A3: Yes, sales/marketing and customer retention pose significant challenges. Creating a budget plan, educating people on product usage all this within budget constraints. We use digital marketing, print media, society demos, and exhibitions to reach out new customers. Offering quality products at affordable prices helps overcome challenges in selling. Additionally, customer service and ositive reviews contribute to effective publicity.
Q.4 What is your way of understanding customer needs?
A4: Understanding customer needs requires strong leadership and communication skills. Actively seeking feedback, using feedback forms and addressing common problems faced by customers can help us. Marketing should be done in a way that it leads to generation of potential customers and these potential customers are then turned into existing clients, but for this there should be a lot of co-ordination and carefulness. We maintain a specific dress code for employees, show respect and effective communication when dealing with customers. It’s not just about the good service of the product but the customer also gives good reviews to others which helps us in publicity.
Q5. What is the role of technology and process in your business?
A5: Technology is integral to our business growth. We launched an app to monitor leads, tracking system status, and adhering to standard operating procedures (SOPs) ensure efficient operations. SOPs help employees work without mistakes, contributing to the overall success of the company.
Q6: Tell us something creative/informative you do to your sales/marketing or any other aspect of your business?
A6: Changing our sales and marketing strategies is important. Developing innovative products like the Solid handling stand significantly increased our company’s turnover. Additionally, offering assistance for minor tasks, such as drills and cutouts, shows our commitment to customer satisfaction. The creative aspect of adapting sales and marketing strategies and developing innovative products emphasizes the entrepreneurial spirit of exploring new avenues for business growth and customer satisfaction.
By Abhay Kardeguddi, of NIVA Growth Consultants, Pune – India
