Slowdown Strategies : Investing In Branding, Slowdown Notwithstanding

At a time when most companies have put the brakes on marketing activities,
Mumbai-based Orient Technologies has decided to do otherwise. The company has
ear marked Rs 10 lakh for marke­ting-related activities and has also changed its
logo. It also held selective customer events recently to coincide with its 10th
anniversary celebrations.

“We want to send out positive vibes to our customers as well as our people
high­lighting that the slowdown is just a phase and there is no need for an
organization to completely stop investing in areas which are important to it,”
said Ajay Sawant, Director, Orient Technologies.

Besides, the company has made several strategic changes within to be able to
tap the right clientele. It has identified certain verticals which have not been
significantly affected by the slowdown. Within these verticals, there are some
clients who are agreeable to invest in IT, provided it adds some value to their
existing business.

Ajay Sawant, Director, Orient Technologies

The company, which had won the award in Best Credit Management category from
Ingram Micro India last year, has decided to tighten the nut bolts on its
finances and payments. Rather than approaching the Chief Information Officers (CIOs)
for business, the company first works with Chief Finance Officers (CFOs) to see
if the company has the bandwidth to invest in the project under discussion. Only
after getting a green signal from the CFO of a company, it works with the CIO to
design the project.

“Often, CIOs consent projects, though the company might not have the
financial pipeline to pay us on time. By working with CIOs before, we sign a
contract with the client, to have a clearer idea on when we can expect payments
and can base our purchase decisions from distributors accordingly,” Sawant
added.

This policy helps in creating a funnel so that Orient can place purchase
orders with its distributors only when the client sanctions the first round of
funds. This way, Orient does not have to invest into the project on its own and
can thereby manage its funds better. Besides this, the company can also predict
for when the payments are to be scheduled and can make provisions for other
investments accordingly.

The company has also started taking upfront payments for projects valued over
Rs 40 lakh. “This is to ensure that we stay fiscally healthy and do not have to
later invest in the projects on our own, because the client is unable to make
payments on time,” Sawant further stated.

Orient hopes to survive the current slowdown through its branding activities

The company hopes that these and some other initiatives it has undertaken
will help it amidst the current slowdown. The company posted a turnover of Rs 77
crore in 2007-08, which is a 38 percent growth over the previous year's revenues
of Rs 48 crore. Its QoQ business has not dipped as yet and it is confident that
the next few quarters will be the same, helping it achieve the growth target it
had planned for this year.

VINITA BHATIA

vinitavs@cybermedia.co.in