Home Customer Relations - A Mantra for Success   A Message from Brijmohan Lall, Chairman, Hero Honda Motors Ltd I am very grateful to Deshinidhi Kasliwal for inviting me to put down my thoughts for the FADA Journal. It's good medium to interact with dealer friends like you. Beginning with the Wright Brothers' invention of the airplane in 1903, the 20th century was an age of extraordinary technological development. The world rushed forward, and at the forefront of that race was the automobile, leading the era's progress and supporting it. Indeed, the 20th century is often referred to as "the century of the Automobile". As many of you may know, we started manufacturing cycles in the early 50s. We were driven by the need to provide our customers with a value for money product. The formative years helped me to imbibe a down - to - earth personal approach towards business. One possible reason for this could be that we started small. Interacting with cycle dealers was a very humbling experience and I gained a very deep insight into psyche of the Indian customer. Naturally, there have been obstacles in our journey. I have never forgotten, and will never forget early years. If anything, each obstacle inspired me to work even harder and this has been one of the reasons why we have come this far. Although I have been more involved with the manufacturing side of business, but still over the years, I managed to soak up knowledge from my colleagues and dealer friends. In fact, it has been my constant endeavor to share the learning because I firmly believe that the benefits of sharing knowledge are immense. Looking back I can tell you that we have benefited a lot from this practice. A strong relationship with all stakeholders has been the corner stone of our business philosophy. By God's grace, we have a very deep and enduring relationship with our stakeholders, be it our JV partners, Honda Motor Co., Japan, our ancillaries, vendors, dealers, shareholder, bankers or customers. We have always endeavored to develop enduring relationships. I truly believe that in business as also in life, "one must lead by example ". At a dealership, the working culture of the organization is determined by the approach of the dealer owner towards the customer. How can the staff at the showroom of workshop be sensitive to the need and aspirations of the customer if the dealer owner is not. I have always subscribed to the thought that sale of an automobile to a customer marks the beginning of a relationship. The entire process of developing a relationship starts from the time a vehicle is delivered to the customer and there are ample opportunities to develop the relationship. It is entirely up to dealer - how long and how effectively he would like to continue this relationship. Customer Relationship Management is term that we are hearing more often in the automotive retailing today - and for good reason. CRM offers one of the best opportunities to increase profitability and competitiveness of dealership. The correct perspective in this regard is to look at the lifetime ownership value of a customer. As per an estimate by Deloitte & Touch Auditing Firm - A 5% increase in the customer retention could generate a 25% improvement in operating profit. CRM should be seen as an enterprise wide approach to understand and influence customer behavior through consistent, relevant communications and actions. One must always remember to take the customers along by being sensitive to his needs and aspirations. I am reminded of what Mahatma Gandhi said - who was neither a businessman nor a big consumer - and he said this years before the architects of modern market driven Indian economy were born. It is a classic and needs to be internalised by all who have to deal with people. A customer is the most important visitors on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not and interruptions in our work; he is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business, he is part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving; He is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so. I have always considered dealership as true windows to the world. It is a place where a customer experiences truth, wherein he has opportunity to see, fell and know about the product. Dealerships have been responsible for growth and diversify of automobile and associated industry. The Indian economy is the second fastest growing economy in the world. The rapidly increasing households incomes are prompting a dramatic shift in lifestyle and corresponding change in the market place. There is demand for better products and improved quality. Customers today are more knowledgeable, discerning and demanding. They know the nuances of technology and additional features. They are challenging the price competitiveness of he manufacturers. After all, there is abundant choice - more than 84 models of cars and 77 models of two - wheeler to choose from. The organisations are alive to these challenges and are working out strategies depending upon their products and demand patterns. In this scenario, the role o the dealership is more important than ever before. Customers needs are not the only that is changing over time. Company employees also need attention and enterprise that are not competitive will ultimately lose their best employees. Today, a company's growth and development are intrinsically linked to how the company attracts the people and motivates them to create value. I would like all of you to pay attention on this important aspect at your dealerships. The dealer fraternity has enjoyed the support of Government policies for long time. They have not been a part of the indirect tax system. However, the fact that the vehicle population has become very substantial in India and is contributing a grate deal to the growth of the service sector, the Government is imposed a service tax. However, I am sure that in the years to come, VAT will improve the tax system and address the anomalies so as to ensure overall growth of business. In Conclusion, I would like to say that India is a grate country with a huge potential for stable long term growth o the automobiles industry, due to several reasons including favourable age-demographics, increasing of road network, etc, given our geographical diversify, I do not think that any one selling strategy will work in the entire country. This is where you, my dealer friends being local entities, will have a bigger role to play. Under the aegis of FADA, I ad sure the Indian automobile dealers community will continue to proper and grow. I send my compliments to FADA team and wish them all the success for all future endeavors. Thank You.