Gaurav Krishna, Senior Vice- President, Global Technical Services

Global Technical Services provides services for lubricating plant machinery in a scientifically appropriate manner. The company serves as a single window for the total lubrication management needs of a cement plant.

Acting as consultant and service provider, the company makes trained manpower and modern lubrication equipments available to its clients.

All activities related to lubrication, right from storage and handling up to dispensing of lubricants are done by the GTS team. Several industries have benefited by achieving reduction in oil consumption and reduction in maintenance and energy costs, apart from being environment friendly.

"At present, GTS is partnering with major cement manufacturers such as Lafarge, ACC, Ultratech, Ambuja Cement, Dalmia Cement and several other cement plants and mining industries. Gaurav Krishna, Senior Vice-President for GTS shares insights on brand building that helped company grow to these levels." says Gaurav Krishna, Senior Vice-President, Global Technical Services. Excerpts from the interview.

What is the consumer insight that drives your campaigns?

We are technical service providers who have to be completely aware of all the vital facts about customer’s equipments and their needs. All our campaigns are centered on the basic requirements of our customers and how we can reach out to fulfill their needs. Our campaigns are basically inclined towards showcasing how we can help them to run their plant and machinery reliably. Most of the time, campaigns are more like knowledge sharing rather than advertising.

What is the thought process behind the preparation of your media plan?

A media plan is more like a curriculum; information and knowledge to be shared with the customer is segregated into modules, keeping the target audiences in focus. We have both long- term and short- term media plans.

What according to you, are the new marketing trends in the industry?

Customer focus is the new mantra. Marketers are now focusing on the customer, rather than on themselves or on their product and services.

What is your forecast on the growth and demand in your sector?

The market is set to grow. The lubrication needs of equipment and machinery are often ignored and poorly understood in most of the plants.

A seemingly small act of lubricating a system has a significant impact on its performance and consequently, on production efficiency. Lubricants need to properly selected, they must be added in just the right amount and in the right manner by trained experts.

There is huge scope for total lubrication management service providers and for lube oil analysis service providers. By implementing Total Lubrication Management (TLM), the industry can bring down production costs and enhance profitability.

As the industry is becoming more competitive, it is realising the benefits of such services.

What are the challenges that you foresee in the market and have you factored them in your marketing strategy?

We are an independent service provider. This gives us the advantage of not being biased toward any lube oil brand. If the service provider is also involved in the sales of lubes, then the focus shifts from adding just the required amount of lubricants to increasing lube oil consumption. More lubricant is just as damaging as less lubricant is. In the end, the customer loses, both on account of extra cost for the unnecessary lubricant and damage to the equipment. Hence, as a strategy, we have decided not to be part of any oil marketing company.

How are you different from the competition?

We have been able to get business (oil analysis) that was a part of global accounts with multinational global players. We won the accounts when customers realised that we are a part of their enterprise and are not out just to make money from them. We are not here to make profits, we are here to provide services and for us, every customer is a key customer. Our dedication to fulfill the needs of our customer and our ethical business practices have earned us a special place in the market.

What are your current marketing plans / initiatives for promoting your products?

We are focusing on various media channels to reach the target directly. We prefer direct communication via print media.

Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers about effective brand-building practices?

Brand-building takes significant efforts. It takes consistent performance without any scope for errors. Building a brand is like painting a pristine white wall. Even a tiny black speck on the wall becomes the focus of attention. The rest of the wall then loses its charm. Similarly, in the service industry, one unpleasant experience of the customer becomes the black dot on the white wall. Our team works hard to ensure that the black dot is not there. We are paid to deliver the white wall.