Praneet Bhandari Proprietor, Aditya Enterprises
ICR is constantly in touch with cement dealers, who are the crucial, connecting link between the manufacturer and the consumer. Dealers know the pulse of market, beat by beat. So we asked them how their business was going and what were the problems they were beset with. Here is their response, in their voice.
I have been associated with the cement industry for the last 30 years and have been a cement dealer since last 13 years. Retail customers are brand conscious; however those who deal in bulk volumes make decisions based on price. We deal only with large customers of big brands like UltraTech, ACC, etc. These customers place big volume orders in the range of 10,000 to 20,000 tonnes. We only forward orders from such customers to the company and then the company takes care of dispatching the material to the site. The commission is passed on to us.
They (manufacturers) cater to these customers separately. They even have a separate marketing department to serve the needs of such high value clients. Companies like UltraTech have good follow-up processes and they offer quality service. Good service is very important for big customers. I am expecting large orders driven by infrastructure projects to start coming in from March onward.