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Rizhkant Zha
Director - System Sales Division
Panasonic India
A robust and continuous engagement mechanism with channel partners is the most fruitful way for companies to realize maximum return from its relationship. Panasonic believes that this concept of engagement with its partners shifts the focus away from just tactics to more towards building a relationship strategy that is directly linked to business outcomes. Connecting with the channel partners on an emotional level, deepening organizational and brand relationships, heightening the levels of enthusiasm amongst channel partners and encouraging them for prompt outputs are few motivational factors in developing/engaging channel partners.
Channel Base
Panasonic boasts of a huge channel base across India and seeks to strengthen the base year on year. It has 155 Exclusive Brand Shops pan India and around 1,115 service centres. We have 80 P4 (Panasonic Premium Partner Program) outlets spread across the country. Also, Panasonic has around 900-plus dealers selling its printer and supplies across India. The company has about 2,000 retail partners and expects it to rise to 30% more by the end of FY 2013.
“Panasonic now has a renewed focus on the B2B and B2G business. Our aim is to make B2B a 50% contributor to Panasonic’s overall revenue by 2015. We believe that B2B industry in India has a high potential. Keeping in line with the same, Panasonic will be introducing new product ranges in this segment mainly in the healthcare, security and education segment in 2013,” says Rizhkant Zha.
Channel Management
Panasonic believes that Channel management is about managing the relationship with the third parties that helps them to get their products into customers’ hands while ensuring quality post-sales service and support. “If done well, channel management can help increase revenue and margins for companies by incentivizing channel partners to promote a company’s products and services.Channel management can also control price reductions which can slow price erosion. Strong channel management helps create and maintain customer loyalty while strengthening the channel partner relationship,” asserts Rizhkant.
Channel Policy
A few things that Panasonic considers while planning the channel policy are the in-depth distribution capacity of the channel partner, and high credibility in the IT market. Rizhkant points out that they also introduce various channel schemes to create and sustain channel activity and loyalty. With businesses growing and spreading across the length and breadth of the country, and operating in such competitive environment today, it becomes imperative to have consistent partners, which not only help us improve day-to-day business but also bring reliability and widerreach to our operations.
Channel Relationship
Panasonic has invested a lot of time and energy to nurture and build a profile of one of the largest reseller networks across the country, all with a clear focus on their objectives. Rizhkant asserts that while overall sustainability of the relationship, mutual trust and alignment of the thought process does matter, there are certain critical factors that define this relationship; and the first amongst them is a mutual desire to want the relationship to work. Certainly, factors like communication and assessment strategy and the right kind of training and support goes a long way in building and nurturing the relationship.
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