Questionnaire filled with responses

Companies Visited 165

Companies successful 38
Review Interviews 12

Organization

1. How big is your organization in terms of sales? Revenues?

Options Responses
Not revealing 13
Last year company profit 10%-30% 5
1 Crore 5 Crores 4
5 Crores 50 Crores 3
50 Crores 100 Crores 2
100 Crores and above 1
5 lakhs -10 lakhs (estimated sales) 1
2. How do you find your buyer or customer? What problems do you face in finding buyers
or customers?
Options Responses
Customers directly approach 12
Through B2B Site( IndiaMart and Just Dail) 7
Local reference (word of mouth) 6
Online, website reference (family, friends, etc.) 4
Marketing Team 3
Phone or email 3
40 % customer come by themselves & 60 % through 1
marketing
Head Office knows 1
New customer directly come and existing calls 1
No Response

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3. How do you approach the buyer or purchaser?
Phone ,email, any website

Options Responses
Both(Phone and Email) 15
Phone 10
Phone, Email and Website 9
Customers approach directly face to face 6
Others whatsapp 1
Email
Any website
Not disclosed

4. What are the ways of lead generation i. e. finding new buyers and converting them into
orders?
Options Responses
Directly approaches face to face 10
Through Website 5
Marketing Team 3
Phones 3
References from Existing Customers 2
Directly call or come to the shop 1
Head office have the information 1
Not disclosed 1
Different strategy according to the 1
situation
5. How many people do you have for sales in your organization?

Options Responses
Sales People (3-5) 15
Sales people (1-2) 6
Sales people (2-3) 5
Sales People (5-10) 3
Sales People (10-15) 2
Head Office have the information 1
6. How many total employees are there in the organization?

Options Responses
Employee (1-5) 17
Employee (5-10) 10
Employee (20-50) 6
Employee (10-15) 2
Employee (15-20) 2
Others (450 approx) 2
Employee (100-200) 1
Employee (200-300) 1
Employee (300-400)

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 7. How many locations in India do you deliver? Any problems regarding locations i.e. do
you want to deliver to more locations?
Options Responses
Bangalore 12

Export 11
All over India 9
Tamilnadu 8

Andhra Pradesh 7

Maharashtra 5

No Delivery 2
8. Do you stock items for your customers or directly ship from manufacturer to their
location? Any problems in stocking the items?
Options Responses
Direct shipping 11
Yes 17
No 1
According to the customer demand 1
Sometimes 1
problems are in packaging, shortage in warehouse 1
and defect in material
Material Stock in their own warehouse 3
Third party stock items for company 2
9. Do you have warehouses in different parts of the city/ country? Any problems regarding
stocking?
Options Responses
Yes 11
No 19
Only one warehouse 4
All over India 1
2-5 warehouse 1
10. If you could share your sample customer details, we can go to them, do a survey, and
give your feedback?
Options Responses
Yes
No 14
Not possible 12

Inquiries
Questions

3
 1. How many Inquiries do you receive in a Day, Week, Month ? Problems if any:

Options Responses
Days 1-10 9
Days 10-50 7
No Idea 7
Days 50-100 5
2. How do you approach the buyer or purchaser?
Phones, Email, Both, Any website
Problems if any:
Options Responses
Phones 13
Others Customers directly approach 10
themselves
Both (phone & email) 6
All 5
Email 4
Any website
3. How many of these inquiries actually convert to a sale? Does it differ by Products?

Options Responses
Depends on the Customer Requirement 9
0-10% 5
50%-100% 3
25%-50% 2
Not many 1
Don't know 1
10% -25% 1
4. Do you receive any future order planning from your corporate buyers?

Options Responses
Yes 23
No 7
Based on customer demand currently the company plans its future order
Based on target sales

5. How do you provide quote? On phone or email?

Options Responses
E-mail 18
both 5
paper based quotation (f2f) 5
Phone 3
Email, Phone & WhatsApp 3
No quotation is provided 3

Negotiation

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1. How are the negotiations for final price done?
Phones,Email,Any website, Problems if any:

Options RD1 RD2 RD3 RD4 Total

Both (Phone and Email) 4 5 3 12
Phone 4 1 3 3 11
Email 1 1 5 7
No Negotiations 1 6 7
Face to Face 1 2 3
Website (IndiaMart) 1 1

2. Do you have long term contracts with customers:

Options RD1 RD2 RD3 RD4 Total

Yes 10 6 3 5 24
No 2 1 5 3 11

If yes, duration of the contract:

Duration RD1 RD2 RD3 RD4 Total
6months - 1 year 3 3 6
1 year and above 1 1 3 1 6
4-6 months 3 2 5
0-3 months 3 3
What challenges do you face with long-term customers?
Dynamic Pricing
3. How many rounds of negotiations do you typically encounter before a price is finalised and
order is placed?

Options RD1 RD2 RD3 RD4 Total

More than two rounds 5 6 3 2 16
No Negotiations 2 1 4 7
1 round 5 3 7
2 rounds

Based on the customer

4. Who is responsible for negotiations in your organization?

Options RD1 RD2 RD3 RD4 Total

Owner/Proprietor/Chairman 10 4 5 3 22
Sales Manager 2 1 2 5
Sales Executives 3 3
Depends on the amount 3 3

5. Who has the authority of finalizing the price?

Options RD1 RD2 RD3 RD4 Total

Owner/Proprietor/Chairman 3 4 2 3 12

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 No idea 9 9
Sales Manager 1 3 4
Depends on the amount 3 3
Sales Executives
Sales Order Confirmation
1. How do you check the availability of goods after receiving the order? Do you confirm orders
without the stocks being available? Any problems you face in this?
Options Responses
Yes
No ( based on availability) 22
Problems:
After receiving the order , company starts manufacturing
stock availability is checked manually & we confirm order only if stock is available(4)

2. How do you manage the products with short shelf life and what are the challenges in
inventory?

Options Responses
No short shelf life products 22
Sold on discount or exchanged 2
Fast moving goods 1
After taking order its made available 1
to the customer
3. What is the medium of order confirmation to customers and problems you face in this?

Options RD1 RD2 RD3 RD4 Total

Both (Phone and Email) 4 2 4 5 15
Phone 4 1 3 1 9
Both (Phone and Email & SMS) 1 3 2 6
If others please specify 2 2
Email 1 1
SMS, Whatsapp 1 1
No
Transport

1. What is the lead-time i.e. after how much time of order confirmation do you dispatch
goods? Any problems in this?

Options Responses

Immediate (1hour - 10 hours) 9

Days (1 - 15) 9
Days (15 - 30) 3
More than 30 days 2
Problems:
If better logistics facility is available, then most of the problem can be resolved
If we have our own logistics facility then it would help us reducing cost
2. Can this be improved? What is required for you to be able to reduce the cycle time to a
minimum?

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 Options Responses

Yes 12

No 8

Requirements:
Better Logistics would help
Better transportation facilities would help us saving time
We have almost achieved the customers demands, related to early delivery for bulk
orders

3. Are products readily available for dispatch at your warehouse/storage location? Any
problems in this

Options Responses
Yes its readily available 18

Not Always 4

Sometimes products are 4

readily available for dispatch
Problems:
Sometimes when stock is not available, then company asks for some extra duration from
customer.
Goods are dispatched, as early as its possible if available

4. What are the various options you provide to ship to your customers? What modes of
transportation is used? Any problems in transport?

Options Responses
Roadways 21
Railways 3
Airways 2
Ship 1
Modes
Others:No delivery(customers directly contact and receive the goods)

5. Is there any third party involved in maintaining & distributing the stock on your behalf??
Any problem in the same?

Options Responses
No 19
Yes 8

Problems:
Third party is only involved in logistics.

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 6. Do you provide any real-time updates on tracking the items ordered by your customers?
Options RD1 RD2 RD3 RD4 Total
No 2 2 8 12
Both (Phone and Email) 2 7 2 11
Phone SMS, Whatsapp 7 3 10
Email 1 1
If others please specify

7. How can customer track the shipping details and arrival date? Any problems in the
same?

Options RD1 RD2 RD3 RD4 Total

Phone 8 1 2 11
Others -Tracking ID, Website, [Link] 1 5 5 11
No 3 3
Email
Both (Phone and Email and SMS) 1 1 2
Payments

1. What are the modes of payment supported by you? Any problems you face in this

Options RD1 RD2 RD3 RD4 Total

Online 1 7 7 15
Cash 2 2 5 9
Cheque 2 2 7 11
All 6 2 8
Any other please specify- 2 2
COD and Bank (NEFT)
2. Do you provide credit period to your customers? What is that duration?

Duration RD1 RD2 RD3 RD4 Total

0-3 months 5 6 3 5 19
4-6 months 2 2
6 months - 1 year 2 2
1 year and above 1 1
No Credit 6 1 5 0 12

3. Is it different for different customers?

Options Responses
Yes 19
No 12
Not sure 2
Problems:
It differs on the basis of credit period
It also differs according to the customers (old or new)
4. What are the various modes of payment?

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 Options RD1 RD2 RD3 RD4 Total
Bank 3 7 4 14
Credit Card 6 6
COD 4 4
Both (COD & Bank) 4 4
All (COD, Bank, CC) 3 1 4
Online 1 1
Cheque 1 1
5. Is there any scope for Rate contract based on material requirement for a particular
period i.e. fixed rate of material for six months or a year?

Options Responses
No 14
Depends upon market 4
conditions
Yes 3
Fixed Rate 2

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Returns
Questions
1. What is the return policy for excess/defected products? Do you face any problems in
this?

Options Responses
Returns accepted only if the product is defective 7
Checking of the product by Seller's QA 4
team/Engineer, replaced if found faulty
No Return 4
If there is defected product, then its returned to 3
the Manufacturer
Returns are allowed within a time frame (two 3
days to one month
products are exchanged & no cashback policy 2
Organisation is not involved, customer can claim 1
for insurance
2. What percentage of goods are returned? Who transports the returns? Any problems in the
same?

Options Responses
Very rare 11
Sometimes (1% to 2%) 4
Frequently (10% to 50%) 2
Varies according to buyers & seller transports returns 1

3. By when do you initiate the credit to the customers? And in what mode of payment? Any
problem in the same?

Options Responses
Mode
Cheque 8
Online 2
Credit
No credit allowed 8
Credit is allowed within a specific 5
timeline (one week to two weeks)
As early as possible payment is initiated 3

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