Overview

The year- 2017; The place – Bhubhaneshwar, Odisha, India
Abinash Mohanty is a 35-year-old Sales Manager at a Sanitaryware company. Abinash was Son of an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police, Abinash has seen the hardships faced by policemen and the kind of living quarters they are generally allocated. After all, he grew up in one of them. So when he heard of this new opportunity from his GM, Mr. Naren Jha, it was as if life had come full circle.

Naren told him about a new Quarters being built by the Odisha Govt. for Policemen and their families, in Koraput district of Odisha. Koraput being a backward district, land is cheaper here, so the state Police Dept. had decided to build Quarters for their cadre there. It would be much larger compared to most police quarters, and offer a better quality of life for policemen and their kin. This is what excited Abinash as he always dreamed of living in such a colony during his childhood.

The Problem

However, there were challenges.

  • The Govt identified this construction as a low-cost housing project. So everything in the project had to come cheaper compared to most Govt. projects and this included sanitary fittings as well.
  • Preliminary meetings with concerned officials revealed their suspicion that most vendors would push low quality products to improve their margins.
  • Further, the committee members wanted to have the latest fittings with newer technology features that would benefit users. However, obtaining this information was a challenge to them.
  • The technical nature of the product information also made it challenging for Abinash and his colleagues to understand them and in turn communicate it effectively to the purchase committee.

Abinash realized that merely sharing product literature or repeatedly meeting the Purchases committee would not help. The committee was looking for more value-add, and more commitment from the vendors. Abinash realized that just going head on in a pricing discussion against his competition products would not help. He has to differentiate his company and products on its quality, after sales service, financial RoI etc. And although his company had all these information, it was now on him to access this content, learn all about the range and also impart the same knowledge to his team mates so they come across as experts while meeting the executives of the purchase committee

The Approach

This is when he and his team turned to Outsell. Broadly, Outsell helped Abinash and team to learn and communicate about:

  • Extended warranty: Abinash showed how the extended warranty would increase the life-span of their products by another 30% at no additional cost. This meant fewer replacements of fittings over the years.
  • Quality of materials used: The quality of the products was not a mere statement. Abinash established this through information on materials used, certifications received, case studies and testimonials.
  • IAPMO certification: The International Association of Plumbing & Mechanical Officials publishes quality codes and certifies products for technical superiority, ease of use, life-span, and certain other parameters. The IAPMO certification for products from Abinash’s company was a feather in the cap which was very convincing for the Purchase Committee.

The Outcome

Thanks to the value-add provided by Abinash and his company, the Purchase Committee called him within 7 days of the presentation to confirm that the order was theirs. Today, Abinash is a happy man.

  • This order pushed the sales revenue at his company by 37% and brought a lot of attention to the company. He was promoted to Asst. GM, and put in charge of a larger region.
  • The project opened the doors for more such projects from state and central divisions in Odisha and other states

Retailers and manufacturers like Abinash’s company routinely face the challenge of presenting technical specifications, or selling effectively. Outsell is the ideal solution for such people, as it simplifies sharing of product knowledge; creating fruitful conversations; and presenting data in interesting ways.

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