Mahindra scripts new rural drive mantra

For a company that offers a host of mobility solutions from pickups and SUVs to two-wheelers and tractors, you may perhaps wonder if Mahindra & Mahindra has way too much on its plate.

From Vijay Nakra’s point of view, though, this is an ideal menu which translates into tremendous synergies at the retail end. More specifically, this is the best way forward in tapping rural India’s vast potential.

Nakra, who is Senior Vice-President, Sales & Customer Care of the Automotive Division, has already kicked off a project in which an interesting synergy drive is being explored. In blocks and villages where a tractor dealer is present, the company is working out an arrangement with its automotive dealers.

“The idea is to forge an understanding where they leverage technology by putting up touch screen kiosks at tractor outlets. Also present will be a consultant from the auto dealership parked at the tractor outlet,” says Nakra. This person will be ready for any enquiry for automotive products from the tractor customer. When this is then converted into a sale, the margins will be shared between the two dealers. The tractor dealer offers seating space for one person as well as wall space for a technology-based tool. Here, automotive products and their features and price are detailed, doing away with the need to park the product physically at the dealership.

As Nakra says, tractors and Mahindra Finance are the best leveraging brand points for rural India. Mahindra Finance, for instance, has 600 branches across India and works closely with the auto and tractor divisions. Dates are blocked each month where products are displayed in village fairs and interested buyers have easy access to finance.

Like other automakers, M&M has its eyes firmly set on rural India and it is here that Nakra is pulling out all stops to ensure that a strong retail connect is put in place. This drive is also happening at a time when agriculture is facing its worst crisis in recent times thanks to erratic weather patterns playing havoc with farmers’ crops.

“Rural India will see a challenge as a result especially Tier 3 regions which are largely dependent on agriculture,” says Nakra. To M&M’s auto division, ‘rural’ means villages and towns with populations between 10,000 and one lakh people. Coverage, therefore, becomes critical and buyers typically seek proximity when it comes to a decision on a product.

The auto division has 1,700 touch points across the country and plans to increase this to 2,300 in the next 12-18 months. About 36 per cent of volumes come from 3,000 tehsils it focuses on and the target is to take this to 45 per cent in the same timeframe. “There are challenges with agriculture right now but I do believe we can rise to the occasion. So long as there is a range of products at reasonable price points, there will always be demand,” says Nakra. As part of the sales drive, the company has appointed 350 sub-dealers or Gramveers (sons of the soil). Where it becomes difficult for M&M dealers to set up infrastructure in small villages, these sub-dealers set up small outlets which are frugal in nature. “We create these son-of-the-soil entrepreneurs who become the face of our brand,” adds Nakra.

There are about 350 Gramveers right now and the goal is to double this in the coming months. The pilot project kicked off in Bihar and covered 50 such outlets right up to neighbouring Jharkhand. It has been well received by the locals who perceive this drive as creating a spirit of entrepreneurship. The dealers take care of the training and there are teams of people who learn basic sales and service. These include supply of parts and oil but not any major repair which is brought to dealerships.

In addition, M&M has set in process an initiative called DTTs (dealer trained technicians) where it has appointed over 3,000 local mechanics at the village level. Customers, who live in blocks/talukas, now have their Mahindra vehicles handled by local mechanics. “On the subject of reach, you need to operate from the market and not into the market. DTTs are from the market as also Gramveers,” elaborates Nakra. M&M has also employed about 700 rural sales consultants who are on the payroll of a rural dealership. They live in a village and report to the dealer every week.

“People in rural India have similar aspirations and deserve the same purchasing experience as their urban counterparts,” says Nakra. This is borne by the fact that there was recently a tweet in Hindi from a customer to M&M Chairman, Anand Mahindra, where he congratulated him for launching a pickup in his village.

The company is focusing on technology to drive its message with nearly 8,000 tablets in the hands of sales consultants in villages, that have information on products, customer testimonials, payment details and more.

“If you want to provide a consistent sales story, you must cut costs and improve efficiency. With an aid in his hand, the sales consultant can find the information on the tablet instead of memorising it all,” adds Nakra. When a product is launched, relevant information can be uploaded on the tablets almost immediately.