LG strives to become the no. 1 in all the channels

LG has emerged as the market leader and has a large geographical reach. As a brand it feels that it is important to remain the no. 1 in all the channels and to maintain that position, LG’s constant  endeavour is to improve on ‘Moment of Truth’ among partners across the channels.

Kulbhushan Bhardwaj, Business Head, Room Air Conditioners - LG Electronics in a chat with VARINDIA shares the company’s channel strategy for 2019, while also discussing the latest technologies in which he feels the channel is going to play a big role - 

How do you see the growth of Channel partners happening in 2019? How it is going to be different than the previous year?

The consumer has evolved a long way and so is its buying behaviour. He has endless options available to choose from and vast information across various platforms to learn about technology/products. In 2019, the game would revolve around providing best customer experience as product and other offerings are almost similar across. In my view Large Format Retail outlets have an edge as they have comparatively large product display and better trained staff.

What will be your channel strategy for 2019? What are the key strategies you have planned to empower the VARs / channel community for achieving the business objectives?

LG is the market leader and has a large geographical reach. As a brand it is very important for us to be no. 1 in all the channels. In order to maintain our leadership, our continuous endeavour is to improve on Moment of Truth among partners across the channels.

We empower our channel partners with best of trainings, thus making them in sync with a technology brand. These trainings are not just restricted to products, but these training also upgrades our partners on consumer buying behaviour.

What are the newer technologies that are going to disrupt the industry? What role will the channel play in it?

IoT is the technology that is expected to bring a tremendous change in the industry. It would not be limited to you interacting with an appliance via an app but would also go up to different appliances interacting and alter their mode of operation basis working of other appliance.

The Channel is the main point of contact between a brand and customer. It is very important that they are updated on the ever changing technology, which also includes a regular updation of store infrastructure as well.

What is the key message would you like to give to your partners to gear up for the year ahead?

The most important differentiating factor is the kind of experience being delivered to the customer. If it is good, it would really spread a positive WOM (word of mouth) and help them grow their business. But if a partner misses out here – this could be a big time issue. A customer experience can further be extended/improved by customer relationship management, eg. helping customers in getting installation done, assisting in case of repairs, periodic check on product performance, etc. All this only if we can safely assume that product display and knowledge are the basic hygiene.