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While the argument about whether barcoding will be overshadowed by RFID
applications continues, Shailesh Deshmukh of Zebra Technologies is not
perturbed. He believes that both barcoding and RFID are perfectly suited to
complement each other, and will therefore co-exist. And since Zebra has both
these technologies in its portfolio, diminished interest in one will be offset
by an improved uptake of the other
Is barcoding a dying technology, especially with RFID gaining popularity?
I do not think that bar coding is a dying technology. In fact, bar coding
and RFID are perfectly suited to complement each other. As of now, RFID is
implemented mainly at the pallet tracking level.
How important is the channel in your company's business fabric?
Zebra Technologies is primarily a channel-driven organization, and 100
percent of our business goes through the channel. My key priority is to set-up
the channel in terms of understanding the geographies of the country, evaluate
the gaps, and identify system integrators and value-added resellers who are
strong in terms of a vertical segment perspective.
Over and above this, there are quite a few multinational accounts for
Zebra-for example, Nokia, where we work closely in terms of providing technical
expertise and support.
At the same time, we still engage the channel in terms of giving solutions to
such customers. In short, we are trying to grow our channel's business across
the country and reach out to a wider set of end customers.
From a marketing perspective, we are also looking at creating visibility for
our brand. One of the key activities is the end-user campaign that we are doing.
We conducted one such campaign in the first half of 2007, which was well
accepted by our customers. This is a brand-building exercise in terms of
creating visibility and awareness for the channel to cash-in on it, which we
carry out regularly.
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Shailesh Deshmukh
Territory Manager-Indian Subcontinent, Zebra Technologies |
What plans are on the anvil as far as the channel is concerned?
We have just rolled out our PartnersFirst program. It is a structured
program that evaluates the channel, based on the partner's revenue and
commitment. The objective of the PartnersFirst program is to give the channel
benefits like the usage of the Zebra logo, a rebate program determined against
the partner's target, sharing of market development funds, etc. We would like to
have more players who not only sell our products but are also aware of the
barcoding technology.
What do you expect to gain from the PartnersFirst program?
The objective of the PartnersFirst program is twofold-to build on to our
existing partners and show them the value from a business perspective, and
second is to have new players entering into this market.
Another reason to pursue the PartnersFirst program is to give a logical
progression path to our resellers. So now we will not get someone directly on
the board, as it would not make business sense.
At present, we have 10 partners distributed across three levels-Premiere,
Advanced and Associate partners. These 10 selected partners will be categorized
across the three levels based on their revenue, the number of offices they have
and their manpower strength. We currently have four Premiere, five Advanced and
one Associate partner. A partner will also be upgraded to the next level of the
program, depending on the quantum of business he does.
Elaborate on your recently announced replacement program.
As part of this program, a partner can go back to the end customer and
replace his old mid-range and high-end printers at very good prices.
The old printers can be either Zebra printers or of any other company. There
are many customers who might be using five-year old printers, and since then the
technology has evolved considerably.
We are looking to provide a value proposition to the customer in terms of the
capital expenditure. The goal of this program is customer acquisition.
It is also exciting from the channel perspective, as the channel today needs
something as value addition to go to the customer and give them as an offering.
What are your plans for propelling the company's growth in India?
One of the key things we are looking at is reaching out to new geographies.
We have appointed 'Online' as our distributor in India. We are also in talks
with a national IT distributor in terms of signing up for distribution of Zebra
products in the market.
So one of our key objectives is to reach out to new resellers and our
distributors will play a key role in that. Besides, we want to work with system
integrators who are strong enough in certain key verticals. We are looking to
have around 75 resellers under our folds by the year-end.
How do you plan to maximize your growth opportunities using the channel?
We aim at growing mutually along with the channel. We are very keen in doing
end-user campaigns along with our partners.
What are your other plans for this year?
Presently, we are in the final stretch of our financial year. We have
doubled our team. Currently, we have sales personnel in North and South as
well.
We are clearly looking at more market and visibility-related activities as we
move into the next year. These activities that are targeted at reaching out to
the end customers would also in turn benefit the channel. We are also very keen
on expanding our team as we go along.
What is the key differentiator for Zebra vis-à-vis its competiors?
One of the key differentiator is the support backup and infrastructure that
we have in the country today for Zebra vis-à-vis our competitors. This has
helped us win many local accounts, and not just multinational accounts.
Currently we have five Zebra authorized service providers (ZASP) and 50 plus
Zebra authorized service engineers (ZASE) through our channel partners. To
qualify as a ZASP, the channel partner must have at least three Zebra-certified
engineers and at any point in time must have printer spares worth 10,000 pounds.
Right now, we are in the process of updating our ZASP list, which we will
announce very soon.
Besides this, we are the leading company in terms of manufacturing barcode
printers. Also, the channel is always comfortable working with someone who is
locally present and has a fast turnaround time. Zebra has always excelled in
having a fast turnaround time, be it the end-customer or the channel. If the
channel gets a faster turnaround time, then it can revert back to the
end-customer faster.
AVISH KHAPRA
ravishk@cybermedia.co.in Page(s) 1
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