Theories and strategies about selling are legion. Seminars and books promise to outline the secrets of turning a prospect into a customer. But top salesperson would tell you that it’s ultimately the sales that speak for itself. R A Gotur, Director, Hongfa Group, India, really knows the true secrets of sales. He is the legend who help invent and reinvent the sales style unparalleled of modern world of sales. R A Gotur is a guide unto himself and a philosophy of salesmanship. He a legacy of success and distinct lessons to offer to those who want to emulate themselves. Excerpts.
ELE Times: Tell us about Hongfa and the developments happening at the company’s end?
R A Gotur: Hongfa is global leading Electro mechanical relay manufacturing Co and is ranked NO.one in China and No.one in Power and Latching relays globally with a factory space of around 750000 Sqm and 250000 sqm new plant being set up. Hongfa has an annual production capacity of 1.5 billion relays of 180 series with around 50000 specifications. It has 40 wholly or partially owned subsidiaries. Hongfa relays are currently exported to more than 100 countries. Hongfa got full set of quality assurance systems including ISO9001, ISO/TS16949, ISO14001, OHSAS18001, GJB9001A and IECQ QC080000 with all international approvals.
Hongfa has got excellent Sales and Marketing, Logistics/Customer service team in India. Mr. Qian Wanpeng, Sales Manager has excellent support to achieve our targets.
ELE Times: How has been the growth of the Indian Relays market in 2017? What was the total size and growth rate of this market in 2017 over 2016?
R A Gotur: The growth of the Indian relay market is growing steadily due to the increased demand from power conversion, automotive and consumer Electronics sectors. It is an ever green market. Hongfa registered the growth of 15% in 2017 over the last year.
ELE Times: What are the growth drivers for this market in the year 2017? What are the possible reasons behind the growing Relays consumption in the Indian market?
R A Gotur: We can see an increased sale in this fiscal due to the growth of demand from Power and automotive market. The demand has gone up due to the advancement of smart metering and solar energy harvesting. Due to the frequent power failures the demand for inverters and UPS are growing which intern adds up the sale.
ELE Times: How has the Indian market for Relays evolved in the last one year?
R A Gotur: Apart from the steady growth of the traditional automotive, power conversion and consumer electronics segments, there is a technological advancement happening in the field of remote/smart metering. LED lighting is becoming more popular and the demand for stand alone and grid sync solar inverters is increasing that adds the volume.
ELE Times: What do you do for brand building in India?
R A Gotur: The customers are well aware of products and wide range and quality of Hongfa. Besides advertising to create brand awareness, we build credibility for our brand and wide range of products by sharing our knowledge and time. At Hongfa, we strongly believe in nurturing the future pillars of industry and in sharing our knowledge with the community. We actively share our technological knowhow by participating in exhibitions and through print publications.
ELE Times: How do you support your distributors?
R A Gotur: We support and communicate our distributors on a daily basis with regard to marketing, technical enquiry, logistics and sales support. We visit our distributors regularly and provide onsite technical and commercial support during their customer visits. Having a close relationship with our comrades and being in the battle field together, helps us to understand and identify the growth in the market and spot emerging sources of business. We ensure our distributors all help and support in our existing and new product information in advance.
As for the business concerned Hongfa distributors are doing good job – particularly Saboo Components LLP, Mumbai (Formerly known as Vikas Electro Sales) and Millennium Semiconductors, Pune. I would like to name Mr. Manoj kande, Sales Engineer in Millennium for his excellent support in 2016 and 2017 for business growth. All distributers are doing excellently well and providing good service and technical support to Hongfa customers.
