Get Closer to Customer, Dream Big and Get Bigger : By Mr. Moninder Jain Director – South Asia, Logitech

While 2006 set the tone, 2007 is most likely going to be the year of the “inflection point”. This is going to be the year when we are likely to see even greater penetration  due  to  better  customer awareness of the usefulness of PCs – from the metros to the remote villages. 

Malcolm Gladwell in his book  “The Tipping Point” has talked about “epidemics” – how suddenly a development spreads fast and becomes a trend.

Epidemic may be a negative word. So, let us call this phenomenon (especially from a marketeer’s perspective) “Runaway Success”. The Tipping”Point is the magical moment when ideas, trends and social behaviours cross a threshold, tip and spread like a wildfire. The conditions certainly are very ripe. More and more people are realizing the importance of the PC in their lives, as well as in their children’s lives. (And if you look at the great “Empty Nester” opportunity”– in their parents’ lives as well!) The PC is becoming the centre of the digital world. It helps educate and entertain. It is not just “doing mail”. Education CDs and the sheer wealth of information on the Web are helping children  prepare  better  for  a very competitive world. Web cameras are helping people stay connected – real time – visually. And, of course, in a Film/Music Crazy Country, DVD Drives and Speakers are making the PC a complete entertainment device. 

Logitech and the Big Bang
Logitech and its partners are uniquely poised to take maximum advantage of this Tipping Point. With our wide range of peripherals, we are not only in the New PC opportunity, but also the Huge Upgrade Opportunity – brought about by the dramatic shift in especially Mice technology (where Optical is improving vs. Scroll and Laser are waiting in the wings). Also, the “Upgrade to Cordless” opportunity in both Mice and Keyboards is huge. 

However, to convert these into actual sales requires a slight shift in strategy. For too long have all of us in the PC industry been concerned with getting the customer to buy by lowering prices rather than giving him a great value proposition. The old approach may have worked in the Indian market so far. But, as observed earlier in the article, the consumer is evolving.  She  is  more aware, more informed, more equipped to make appropriate decisions. And is looking for Great Value.

The natural corollary of this is that we need to get Closer to the Customer. 

Closer to Customer – Developing a Relationship of Trust and Delight
It is simple. A Home PC customer is also a customer for a set of Speakers, a Web Camera, PC headsets, Gaming Devices. Our partners need to leverage their existing install base to help maximize the PC peripheral spend on these existing customers. The starting point for this would be to build a database of your customers. Some partners may have 10 customers, some over 1,000. Partners who have invested in retaining post-sale contact with their customers will have the best chance to flourish. So, in case one already has not done so, start now. Know your customer’s demographic and psychographic  profile. I know most of us know it in our minds, but it helps to maintain written documentation. Analyse the same – her love for entertainment, the requirement of gaming (depending on the age and children’s age), the use of Internet Chat’– all these are great pointers to what is most likely to be an “easy sale”. Also, the type of mouse and keyboard  currently used and the age of the same are also great pointers on “when  will  she upgrade”. The best way to notch up “easy sales” is to do “studied sales”. 

Also, for the first time, Logitech is prepared fully to leverage not just the PC assembler channel, but also the corporate reseller and the Emerging Retail channel. We have exciting products like the Notebook Peripherals (mice, desktops and web cameras),  Cordless Desktops (Mice–Keyboard Combination packs),  High-Tech Sleek Web Cams, PC Headsets to help Corp esellers tap the BPO opportunity and last but not the least, Gaming Devices. 

For the Year 2007, Logitech as a company will also invest in building up the existing customer database and putting in place analysis tools for the same. With many years of presence in India and with leading market shares, almost all PC users are likely to have at least one Logitech product. The year 2007 will be dedicated to a strategy where they have more than just one!

Dream Big, Get Bigger 
This is the mantra that we would follow and the mantra that we would encourage all partners to follow. A Closer to Customer outlook will make you achieve  sales,  which  so  far looked out of reach. It is immaterial whether  you  have  been selling one unit or ten units. Do not target just a normal growth of 30–40 per cent. Target 100 per cent–– and then work backwards to arrive at actions that will help you realize your dream. More often than not, if you have a vision and go all out to achieve it, you will definitely realize what others would consider “impossible”. Who knows, it may be this approach of ours that actually ushers in the”“Tipping Point”.