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Enough has been said about the growth in upcountry markets and how it is lucrative, and how vendors and channels alike are eyeing it. However, this potential also has a flip side. Issues pertaining to sales and service of a product or brand are key obstacles for attaining the desired growth. To address this issue, many upcountry partners are in favor of creating local advisory boards that will be led by vendors, and comprise representatives from the local channel. Inspired by the innovative step taken by HP, which formed separate partner advisory boards across metros, upcountry partners too want a similar platform.

Leading the pack, PK Sinha of Patna-based Astric Computers, who recently came back from the HP Partners Summit 2008, held in Dubai, says, I have always appreciated this move by HP wherein they have created advisory boards comprising top member representatives in each location. Based on their comments and feedback, the company commences corrective measures. He further said, Unfortunately the practice is limited to the metros only. However, I strongly believe that this practice should also be spread out to upcountry locations like Patna, Bhubaneswar, and Guwahati for the betterment of these growing markets.

A Good Beginning
Due to the remoteness of upcountry towns, problems faced by the partners are more serious and remain unaddressed. Says Sinha, It is suggested that the principals now start thinking of creating regional partner advisory boards in all the important upcountry locations that will provide first-hand information on the challenges and opportunities, based on which sales and services strategies can be modified. It is important to address the problems of the upcountry markets to sustain ongoing growth, or escalate it.

Backing his cause, Abhishek Poddar of Bhubaneswar-based SA Infosys says, Any such move is always welcome. It is apparent that there is a requirement to create such a platform, which I believe will definitely help to resolve the pertaining issues related to sales and services in upcountry locations, faced by channel partners and end-users. Swarup Sinha of Guwahati-based Advantage says that this is an appropriate thing to be done by any principal company. Measuring the high growth potential of the upcountry markets, it is imperative to take corrective actions and make desired modifications to resolve problems to boost the growth.

Paramjit Singh Juneja of Ludhiana-based Secant Technologies feels action will definitely help in bringing forth and resolving the issues faced by upcountry partners and customers. I am aware of the partner advisory board created by HP in the metro cities. Unfortunately, nothing has been done in Ludhiana, neither have I heard of anything similar in any other upcountry location, he says.

According to Sudhir Budhay of Nagpur-based Business Algorithms, the market demands, behavior, and issues keep changing with every 500 km. Therefore, it is advisable that vendors should accordingly create territory-wise boards to take care of the market within every 500 km radius. Deploying partner advisory boards in upcountry hinterlands are highly desirable, as it would not only help the local partners in resolving the problems faced by them, but also, vendors will be able to improve their channel commitments, he says.

The Flip Side
Rajiv Kalra of Shillong-based Indian Export and Import Company had a word of caution: It is always better to have such advisory boards comprising local channel partners and backed by the principals. But it is also important to select the right members for the board, who can keep it alive and take active participation. Else, it will be of no use.

Arvind Modi of Jaipur-based Bits and Bytes had some bitter experiences to share. He observed that merely creating a board is not enough; rather, willingness of the vendors to solve the problems faced by upcountry partners would be the key. I strongly believe that these advisory boards are nothing but farce. In the case of HP, theres a full-time, big team present in Jaipur. Yet for the last six months, none of the local HP partners has received their backend payments and incentives. says Modi. We interact and give feedback to the company representatives on a day-to-day basis. Therefore, they are very much aware of the issues faced by us. But nothing is implemented to address them. A board or a company is made of people and if they are not willing to take proper action, nothing will happen, he adds.

According to CP Praveen of Vellore-based Vasavi Computer Academy, These activities will moral boost for partners, as they will be confident that someone is there to take care of their issues and solve their problems. As an upcountry dealer, the major problem they face is that they are left at large when there is an issue. Only a handful of partners are aware of the effects of the issues or the processes to resolve them. In Vellore, HP had committed partners certain incentives on achieving targets set by them but finally nothing happened. HP sponsored even a couple of their associations annual expos. For the 2005 event, we received the payment in 2007, that too only after we started boycotting the partner programs floated by HP, says Praveen.

However, like Modi, Praveen too felt that it was not the companys fault. I believe no company is at fault, its the middle-men who are responsible for such undeserved practices. By creating partner advisory boards, companies will also benefit along with the channel.

Piyali Guha
piyalig@cybermedia.co.in

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