Channel Champion Series | TelecomDrive.com
Whether it is pushing devices from Apple, Jio or Motorola – Mumbai’s KGR Enterprises is enabling great customer experiences while pushing telecom distribution business towards greater heights
Mumbai based KGR Enterprises is a very special name in the telecom domain – whether it is selling telecom services or new age smart devices like smartphones – it is one of those organizations which is engaged in pioneering work when it comes to infusing innovation in the distribution side of telecom business – powering the telecom revolution.
Kailash Karamchandani, Director, KGR Enterprises interacts with Zia Askari from TelecomDrive.com on the journey of KGR Enterprises and how the organization is now looking ahead.
Please tell us a bit about your journey as a telecom channel player..?
Just to summarize my journey I am 39 year old and selling mobile phones and smart gadgets for the last 21 years. So, you can say that I have been into this business for more than half of my life and engaged with selling gadgets.
Over these many years, we have seen so many technologies – from the days of BlackBerry to Android, Windows. And of course, the consistency of Apple – I am glad to have always been selling the best the industry has to offer to my end customers.
All these years, we have always kept innovation and customer delight very close to our heart and this is perhaps the biggest reason that we are able to create a great customer base not only in India but outside the country as well.
On a personal note, my passion for new technology and gadgets and desire to own the best in everything in life keeps me running and on my toes all the time.
I started my carrier with distribution of Maxtouch simcards ( Now called Vodafone ) way back in the year 1996. We quickly moved towards distribution of globally revered brands like Samsung, Blackberry and Huawei over the years in Telecom space. It has been a great journey for us.
As an organisation we have grown from 3 employees to strength of 150 employees with foot-print through-out Western India and an overseas operation in Dubai. We have been a formidable player dealing with global brands successfully in both online and offline space.
What are your big priorities today..?
Our priorities have always been to keep innovating and delivering unique value propositions to our business communities and customers.
Today our priority is to establish a strong distribution channel ecosystem of distributors and retailers across West India and we are also looking forward to expand into retail with Brand Stores and Mall Kiosks.
What are some of the smartphone brands that you are selling today..?
Today we are focusing our efforts towards selling Apple, Jio, Motorola and ZTE products. We have 4 dedicated stores of Apple in Mumbai, and we bill across 500 retailers in West India. We are the biggest partner for Apple in West India.
As far as Jio is concerned, we are zonal distributors for Goa and provide end to end solutions for all connectivity and devices. We are a national import partner for ZTE in India. We are also managing 6 Moto kiosks in Mumbai for Motorola wherein we provide entire range of online as well as offline product offerings for consumers.
How has selling smart gadgets changed over the past many years?
Things have changed quite rapidly in this space. Earlier it was feature phones and now it is all about smart phones – it was keyboard before and now it is touch screens. So, change is the only thing that is constant in this field – earlier it was earphones and now it is Air Pods, earlier it was box selling and now it is all about Value added Distribution. Earlier it was conventional watches, and now it is smart watches. On the channel front – it was offline before and now it is all about online and how to get the best of both the online as well as offline channel ecosystems. In the near future, companies will be more inclined towards Direct to Retail approach.
How do you ensure that customer loyalty remains with you..?
When it comes to our customer relationships – it is very simple. It is all about fair and ethical dealings, transparency, delivering the right products at the right time and keeping pace with progress in technological world and providing added value to the channel partners we work with. All this has always helped us gain better customer loyalty.
As far as our mantra to maintain customer loyalty is concerned – it has always been to provide best products at best prices to consumers at retail stores and also to make online products available to consumers in offline space at online price points.
Please mention your favorite smartphone brands and why..,?
When it comes to my favorite brand- it has to be Apple. Needless to say why as it is the ‘Numero Uno’ brand globally too.
What’s your mantra to succeed today…?
We have always believed in developing and nurturing relationships. Our mantra to succeed in the market is our relationship with the channel partners and our colleagues in the industry who have helped us grow, as we never shy away from taking risks and venturing into new markets.
This has been a key factor for us to establish a strong footprint across West India. This apart, as an organization, we strongly believe in innovation and brand identification being the key mantra to success today.
KGR Enterprises has got a great legacy. How do you look at the future now? Please share your future plans?
We want to be a strong and more formidable player in the online space and look forward to being one of the biggest aggregator for online players like Amazon and Paytm.
As we were one of the early players to start on market place during the initial boom of online, we also plan to expand distribution in other states other than West India and other third world countries. In the past as we had tasted success with distributing brands like Karbonn and Micromax internationally in countries like Georgia, UAE and USA.
On the distribution front we want to bring value added distribution for brands with complete solution under one roof from marketing, hiring of ISD / manpower and sales with the capability to do D2R business for top 500 accounts in West India.
