Dealer Reference Attitude for Berger Paints Bangladesh

Factors influencing the customers for not availing illusions of Berger Paints Bangladesh

Berger is one of the oldest names in the world paint industry with a heritage of more than 249 years of paint business. In 1970, Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited (BPBL), erstwhile Jenson & Nicholson, had set up its first factory in Chittagong to manufacture products locally for Bangladesh market. Over the decades, BPBL has become the leading paint solutions provider in Bangladesh. Berger has invested more than any other manufacturer in this industry in terms of research & development and advanced technologies like establishment of powder coating plant and emulsion plant. It sources raw materials from some of the best suppliers in the world.

OBJECTIVE OF THE REPORT

General Objective:

• Mind-mapping of visiting/lapsed customers: To find the factors due to which the customers are not availing illusions service from Home Décor.
• Dealer reference attitude: To explore to what extent the dealers are spontaneously referring illusions and Home Décor to the customers.

Specific Objective:

The specific objectives of this report are as follow:

• To find the various factors and their relations that will state the logics behind the behavior of the consumers towards the overall service of the home décor.
• To explore the insights of its clients and find out the customer service gap and help to attempt necessary service recovery.
• To understand the ongoing customer preferences and tastes on designer paint services.
• To recognize the efficiency & level of commitment of the dealers operating at different major points of the city.
• To find out the alternative services and service providers that customer are choosing instead of availing similar service.
• To identify the perception that customer holds towards the different parameters associated with the overall service delivery mechanisms.
• To accomplish long term relationship with the potential customers.

METHODOLOGY:

Initially, the three Home Décor Offices in Dhaka were visited. Observations were made during visits by customers, focusing on their requirements and interaction with color consultants.

A semi-structured questionnaire has been developed to collect information from the selected respondents. Respondents are contacted over phone to get appointment for face to face interviews. If the respondents are not interested to give time for face to face interviews then telephone interview are attempted. If the respondent is not found interested, then questionnaires were sent to respondents by e-mail for response.

Non-Probability sampling method was used. From the list maintained by Home Décor offices in Dhaka, at least 60 respondents were initially targeted to be covered. The respondents were selected according to geographic and month-wise ratio of turnout.

A discussion guide was developed to conduct mystery shopping in the dealer visits. The top ten dealers from the Dhaka zone were selected to gain a practical insight on how the dealers are approaching and serving the customers based on different aspects like attitude, accuracy of information and interest to refer Home Décor for illusion service. The discussion guide is attached in the appendix.

MYSTERY SHOPPING FOR DETERMINING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DEALERS

Mystery Shopping is the art of evaluating customer services discreetly and professionally by disguising as customers. The technique is used is used to observe the actual customer service and sales staff behavior in a service or retail location. The top ten dealers from the Dhaka zone were selected to gain a practical insight on how the dealers are approaching and serving the customers based on different aspects like attitude, accuracy of information, and interest to refer Home Décor for illusion service. A discussion guide was developed to conduct mystery shopping in the dealer visits .The report below is based on the mystery shopping conducted in 10 different dealer shops in Dhaka city.

• The dealer has the option to avail designer paint service.
• The dealer recommended Berger Illusions for designer paint but no sample designs were found in the shop for display.
• The entire shop was only occupied with Berger products
• The shopkeeper also provided the small Illusions catalogue and gave a detailed briefing of how the work is performed and said that the designs can be done in any other color options as well.
• The dealer has certain level of idea about the price, color designs, shades of He said depending on the design; the price varies from 55-120 taka per square feet.
• According to the dealer Illusions is the best designer paint in the market, he gave estimation of the time required to complete the Illusions work.
• The dealer was very informative and showed actual interest in customer problems. The dealer noted the customers (mystery shopper) name and address and contacted the Uttara home décor consultants instantly to share his concern. He referred him to visit the Uttara home décor office.
• It can be suggested that the dealer has adequate, proper knowledge about the Illusions work and has good sense about customer service. He seemed to be a sincere and keen dealer.

MUNTA HARDWARE, PURANA PALTAN

• Munta hardware has the option to avail designer paint service.
• The dealer recommended Asian paints first and later on Illusions for designer paint service but no sample designs of Berger Illusions were found in the shop for display apart from that of Asian’s Royale Play.
• The entire shop was only surrounded with Asian Paint’s products, designs and promotional banners.
• The dealer couldn’t demonstrate the Illusions catalogue since it was not available at that time and said that the designs can be done in any desired color options.
• The dealer said that they can perform the designer paint of both Berger and Asian Paints by the help of their expert painter.
• The dealer insisted to provide the customer’s name (mystery shopper), contact number & home address so that they can send the painter with the designer paint’s catalogue.
• The dealer expressed mixed perception towards both the designer paint brands by conveying positive messages.
• The dealer failed to provide the proper estimation of the time required to complete the designer work.
• The dealer didn’t retain adequate idea about designer paint price, designs, length of They need to be more accurate, knowledgeable about Illusions services and maintain loyalty in the distributorship business.

SHAGOR PAINTS, SENPARA PARBATA, MIRPUR-10

• Shagor paints have the option to avail designer paint service.
• The dealer recommended both Royale Play and Illusions for designer paint service but no sample designs of Berger Illusions were found in the wall or ceiling for display apart from two small circular samples attached on a board.
• The shop was occupied with both Berger & Asian Paint’s products, but one side of the shop was completely occupied with Asian’s products and promotional banners.
• The dealer can get the customer with both the designer paint services of Berger and Asian Paints by the help of their trained official painter who works for both the companies.
• The dealer asked for the customer’s name (mystery shopper), contact number & home address so that they can send the painter with the designer paint’s catalogue.
• They demonstrated the Royale Play’s catalogue first and then later that of Illusions upon request.
• The dealer suggested that the Illusions work would last at least 5 years after the completion of the work.
• The dealer has inadequate level of knowledge about designer paint; they should be properly trained and informed about the various product & services offerings to the customers.

SHOBKICHU, AMIR COMPLEX, SECTOR-3, UTTARA

• The dealer has the option to avail designer paint service.
• The dealer recommended Berger Illusions for designer paint but no sample designs were found in the shop for display.
• The shop was mostly occupied with hardware products and a handful number of Berger paint products were in display.
• The shopkeeper also demonstrated the small Illusions catalogue and gave a very brief description of how the work is performed and said that the designs can be done in any other color options as well.
• The dealer failed to provide the proper estimation of the price range of the Illusions
• The dealer was not informative about the designer paint service and didn’t seem interested in handling customer inquiries.
• The shop representative referred Uttara home décor several times for detailed information and better demonstration of designs.
• The dealer should be properly informed about designer paint services and must retain good sense about customer service.

SHARIATPUR HARDWARE, BNS TOWER, UTTARA

• The dealer has the option to avail designer paint service.
• The dealer recommended Illusions for designer paint service but no sample designs of Berger Illusions were found in the shop for display.
• The dealer shop lacks in the number of sales representative to handle the ongoing customers.
• The entire shop was occupied with Berger Paint’s products.
• The dealer couldn’t demonstrate the Illusions catalogue since it was not available at that time and also didn’t seem interested in handling customer inquiries.
• The dealer was not at all informative and helpful; he just seemed to cut the conversation and provided the customer (mystery shopper) with a painter’s visiting card for further inquiry.
• The dealer failed to provide the proper estimation of time & price required to complete the designer work.
• The dealer must be trained to handle customer’s inquiries and retain adequate idea about designer paint price, designs, length of time & others.

 JANATA HARDWARE, AZAMPUR RAILGATE, UTTARA

• The dealer has the option to avail designer paint service.
• The dealer recommended Berger Illusions for designer paint but no sample designs were found in the shop for display.
• The entire shop was quite occupied with Berger Paints products.
• The shopkeeper also demonstrated the small Illusions catalogue and said that the designs can be done in any other color options as well.
• The dealer holds inappropriate idea about the price Illusions. He said that depending on the design; the price varies from 70-200 taka per square feet.
• According to the dealer Illusions is the best designer paint in the market, he gave an approximate idea of the time required to complete the Illusions work.
• The dealer was very informative and showed actual interest in customer problems. He referred the customer to visit Uttara home décor office for in depth information.
• The dealer has inadequate level of knowledge about designer paint; he should be properly trained and informed about the various product & services offerings to the customers.

JELANI COLOR BANK, DHAKESHWARI ROAD, LALBAGH

• The dealer has the option to avail designer paint service.
• The dealer recommended Berger Illusions for designer paint but there was no sample display painted in the ceiling for demonstration.
• The salesman described the small Illusions catalogue and also offered the designs in any other color options as well.
• The entire shop was occupied with only Berger Paint’s products and promotional
• The dealer has inadequate level of idea about the price, color designs, shades of He suggested that the price varies from 80-150 taka per square feet depending on the Illusions design.
• The salesman didn’t offer to avail the Illusion design by their personal painter even after the customer’s request.
• According to the dealer, Illusions is the best designer paint in the market, the estimated time required to complete an Illusions work ranges from three to five days depending on the nature of the surface.
• The dealer didn’t give any reference of Home décor to know more about the service.

To conclude, it can be suggested that the dealer need to be more accurate, knowledgeable about Illusions services and its premium products but they were loyal and helpful to the customers.

AMAZONOUS HARDWARE, GULSHAN-2 CIRCLE, GULSHAN

• Amazonous hardware has the option to avail designer paint service.
• The dealer recommended Royale Play for designer paint service and presented their catalogue for better idea and later showed the Illusions catalogue on request. They were found to recommend Asian paints to other customers for interior home paintings.
• No sample designs of Berger Illusions were found in the wall or ceiling for display.
• The shop was mostly occupied with Asian Paint’s products and less number of Berger Paint’s products.
• The salesman suggested that the price varies from roughly 80-120 taka per square feet depending on the Illusions design.
• The dealer can get the customer with both the designer paint services of Berger and Asian Paints by the help of their trained official painter who works for both the companies.
• The dealer asked for the customer’s name (mystery shopper), contact number & home address so that they can send the painter for measurement and estimation.
• The dealer has certain level of knowledge about designer paint services. They should be properly trained, informed and also maintain loyalty in the distributorship business and attempt to keep its commitment.

COLORS & COLORS, BANASREE, RAMPURA

• The dealer has the option to avail designer paint service.
• The dealer recommended only Berger Illusions for designer paint service and there were a number of sample designs found in the ceiling and wall for display. The sample display looked bright and vibrant.
• The entire shop was only occupied with only Berger products.
• In one side of the shop, there was a small space for handling inquiries regarding Illusions.
• The shopkeeper demonstrated the Illusions catalogue and gave an accurate briefing of how the work is performed and said that the designs can be done in any other color options as well.
• The dealer has vast idea about the price, color designs, shades of Illusions. He said, depending on the design; the price varies from 55-120 taka per square feet.
• According to the dealer, Illusions is the best designer paint in the market, he gave correct estimation of the time required to complete the Illusions work.
• The dealer’s overall service is highly appreciable and demonstrated excellent sense about customer service. The dealer noted the customers (mystery shopper) name and address for maintaining customer profile.

ASMA TRADING, MOGHBAZAR CIRCLE, DHAKA

• The dealer has the option to avail designer paint service.
• The dealer recommended Berger Illusions for designer paint and demonstrated the sample display painted in the ceiling. The Illusions display seemed old and gloomy.
• He described the small Illusions catalogue and gave a short briefing of how the work is performed and said that the designs can be done in any other color options as well.
• The dealer has inadequate level of idea about the price, color designs, shades of He suggested that the price varies from 80-100 taka per square feet but if there is budget constraint, then it is feasible to avail the similar service unofficially from the painters of Berger at a cost of 40-60 taka per square feet.
• The salesman also offered to avail the displayed Illusion design by their personal painter which would fit within the customer’s budget.
• According to the dealer Illusions is the best designer paint in the market, he couldn’t give any appropriate estimation of the time required to complete the Illusions work.
• The dealer didn’t give any reference of Home décor to know more about the service.

To conclude, it can be suggested that the dealers need to be more accurate, knowledgeable about Illusions services and maintain loyalty in the distributorship business and attempt to keep its commitment

MAJOR FINDINGS FROM THE MYSTERY SHOPPING

Out of ten, only 2 dealers have shown significant presence in all parameters. Thus the overall effectiveness of the dealer is a serious concern for Berger Paints Bangladesh Ltd. These 2 dealers are actually serving the company perfectly.

Only three dealers, have the sample designs painted in their shop for customer display. 8 of the dealers don’t have accurate idea about the price designs, length of time required for the completion of the work. 5 of the respondent hold positive perception towards Berger paints, while the rest have either negative or mixed perception. 4 out of 10 respondents have demonstrated genuine interest to serve the customer problems, while 4 have average and the remaining 2 didn’t show interest at all.

The number of dealers who have displayed the Illusions design book to the customers is 7.

A quarter of the dealers maintain a high level of commitment towards the company while the rest maintains moderate or low level of commitment.

Critical Analysis on the reasons for not availing the illusions from Home Décor

Berger’s Home Decor services acts as an intermediary between the company and all its clients. It provides all kinds of color related solutions to its customers and most importantly it offers the premium service of BPBL, Illusions. BPBL has already invested huge amount of money for product development, innovation & research on market and consumers to identify the underlying facts and reasons. After conducting the surveys on the respondents, a lot of interesting and important facts came up which actually explains the customers are not availing the illusions from home décor. The key reasons that influenced the consumers purchase decision for illusions are:

• PRICE
• DESIGN
• WORK ELIGIBILITY
• INCOMPLETION OF THE RESPONDENT’S CONSTRUCTION WORK
• PROFESSIONALISM OF THE CONSULTANTS

PRICE

The survey was conducted on two categories of respondents. First category is those respondents who didn’t avail the Illusions & the second one is the category of customers who did avail the services from Home Décor office. Among those who didn’t avail the illusions, one of the major reasons is the service charge of Illusions. More than majority of the client were concerned about the service charge of illusions. They think that Home Décor’s services are priced out of their range. However it must be kept in mind that ‘Service charge’ is not their top most priority for services such as this. People who are interested in availing illusions for their home interiors well are usually willing to consider the budget range, for a good product or service. In fact, respondents who have said that the service charge is very high also hold positive perception towards the worthiness of the designer service. Still the price factor cannot be avoided since a huge number of respondents have shown concern regarding this issue. Likely reason for the respondents to make this kind of comment is that other competitors like Asian, Roxy, and Aqua are offering similar services at a competitive price. Therefore some clients might decide to avail the services for the large price difference, because it would mean that they would be able to get illusions in more rooms in the same budget.

DESIGN

The illusions design book contains a total of 75 designs from 7 different categories. Yet a large number of respondents have marked the designs to be a key factor for not availing the service. Respondent’s think that there should be more diversity in the designs because the design lacks proper variation and uniqueness. In fact, after conducting the survey some respondents said that designs aren’t impressive enough to be painted in their house. There should be innovation in terms of designs that could resemble with the client’s taste.

WORK ELIGIBILITY

After conducting the survey, one of the major factors that have been revealed is the problem with the minimum requirement in terms of size of the wall for illusions design which is 100 square feet. A lot of customers anticipate flexibility in this case. Sometimes the wall is smaller in size than the assigned size, but the respondent still want their wall to be painted with illusions.

INCOMPLETION OF THE RESPONDENT’S CONSTRUCTION WORK

One of the major reasons behind not availing the illusions is the fulfillment of the construction work. The respondents couldn’t avail the services because of either their apartment was not yet ready to be handed over or the respondent’s house is not suitable for applying illusions. These respondents have shown interest to avail the service from Home Décor in the future. So this is not actually a drawback for the company, it’s rather an opportunity for the company to persuade such types of respondents to avail the service from illusions.

PROFESSIONALISM OF THE CONSULTANTS

Selling a service is far more complicated than selling a product because service is intangible and it requires an extensive presentation, demonstration of the company’s service to the targeted customers. On that note, the color consultants of Home Décor have a big role to play in communicating, presenting the service to the respondents. But a large number of respondents are not quite contempt with the standard of service provided by the color consultants. According to them, the consultants are not active and enthusiastic enough to guide the customers about colors, shades and designs. The salesman attitude in the consultants was missing. In addition, a huge number of respondents felt that the respondents were not being imaginative about colors, lacks in-depth knowledge about colors & designs. In numerous cases, the customers said that they were not persuaded with the way consultants presented the designer service to them and in some cases they were being too inconsiderate towards the respondent’s concern which eventually made them switch to other options instead of illusions.

OTHER REASONS

HOME DÉCOR OFFICE

The only source by which the customers get to interact directly with the organization is the Home Décor, a premium brand of Berger Paints Bd. Ltd that is involved in generating business for the company. The three Home Décor offices somehow has a number of flaws in terms of different aspects. The arrangement of the office space especially that of Uttara and Banani branch looks like a maze to a lot of respondents. It’s not properly structured. The office also doesn’t look vibrant, bright and colorful to a number of respondents who went to visit the offices. The illusions catalogue shown for demonstration doesn’t contain adequate designs to meet up the expectation level of majority of the respondents. The most interesting concern about Home Décor office environment is the gap in the method of delivering service.

CUSTOMIZABILITY

Some respondents anticipated the customization option to be included while availing the illusions service from Home Décor. The respondents wanted to get their own imagination reflected in their walls through illusions but since BPBL doesn’t have the option to do customized design, some respondents had to go for other options.

PAYMENT SYSTEM

Flexibility in the payment system plays a vital role in the overall service delivery mechanism for the customers in any service. A majority of the respondents have issues with the full advance payment system. Respondents want the system to be made more flexible in terms of payment. A partial or half advance payment of the total would be more convenient for the respondents since according to them it would let them retain the bargaining power till the completion of the designer work.

BRAND PRESENCE

A large pool of respondents have complained about the branding of illusions stating that they didn’t come to know much about the illusions service through the mainstream marketing channels, promotional activities or any other possible sources like television commercial or print media sources or other above the line marketing activities. The more frequent the advertisements of a brand, the more familiarity the brand gains. Familiarity creates an impression that everybody knows about the paint and the paint has high demand in the market

RECOMMENDATIONS

PRICE

As a solution to the price problem, Berger could apply different pricing techniques such as occasional discount coupons and programs which give discounts to regular clients, to give their sales a lift. Alternative pricing for regular clients would also encourage those clients who come for repeat service. Another probable solution to this problem could be the demonstrating the transparency in the pricing of illusions. This would make it make it more meaningful and acceptable to the potential clients, I.e.-breakdown of price: Cost of paint, Service charge Cost of painting tools, Materials used in the painting process.

DESIGN

From the data analysis section of the report, if is found that majority of the respondents holds average perception towards the variation in the illusions designs which visibly suggests that they are not contempt with the existing designs being offered by Home Decor.

There is a significant scope to introduce new designs in the catalogue. According to the respondents the existing designs lacks innovation, attractiveness and therefore new designs based on unique themes, concepts should be introduced to meet the expectations of the client segment base that remained unexplored.

PROFESSIONALISM OF THE CONSULTANTS:

The color consultancy service of Homed Décor must be enriched to retain the existing clients and also attract the new clients. The consultants should be extensively trained before starting with the job to provide them with in-depth knowledge about colors which would enable them to solve any sort of color related problems. The consultants need to be more enthusiastic and passionate about solving the clients’ inquiries. They should have the ability to understand customer’s individual preferences and suggest appropriate designs, shades. It is suggested that the consultants lacks motivation to present the Home Décor services to the customers. In all the consultants are required to have adequate ideas about customer service, time management, professionalism and keen to show genuine interest in customer problems.

WORKMANSHIP OF PAINTER’S

The outcome of the face to face interviews with the respondent’s and discussion about the overall experience is a number of underlying factors have come up in the process. According to the respondents, the painters of the company are offering the customers of Home Décor to perform the same illusions work unofficially at an economic package. Such act is hampering the goodwill of the company and results in losing potential clients. Therefore performance of the painters should be strictly monitored and measurable actions need to be taken to avoid such disruptions. The painters plays a very crucial role in the overall service delivery mechanism. A state-of-art service provided by the painter’s results to customer satisfaction whereas an inappropriate service can lead to customer dissatisfaction creating a negative impact on the overall brand. Among those respondents who have already availed the illusions are concerned with the proper finishing of the illusions work.

Others have also complaint about the cleanliness, time management and quality of work performed by the painter’s. Hence, Berger Paints Bd. Ltd has the scope to bring a lot of positive changes to their painter’s.

HOME DÉCOR OFFICE

Respondents think that the consultants can make the best use of advanced digital tools like 3D animation, use of projectors to give the customers more enhanced, clear demonstration of the designs available in the Home Décor offices. The entire office can be restructured to give it a new look which would be more convenient for the clients to easily access the different services offered by Home Décor. If necessary new furniture’s can be also be used instead of the old ones to make it look more presentable and enhance the sitting area for the clients to give them a cozy atmosphere.

INCREASE BRAND PRESENCE

It is suggested that advertisements for Illusions are to be telecasted more often in the popular local channels. These advertisements indirectly influence the buyers to perceive the brand as a quality product. The promotional and marketing activities of illusions are far lacked behind.

Third party marketing

Berger Illusions can carry out co-marketing arrangements with other companies such as Real Estate Developers, Interior designer firms through which they can co-brand Illusions or Home Décor. Both companies will promote a joint offer, which will be mutually beneficial. If required Berger Paints could provide incentives or special benefits to the third parties to influence them in promoting and branding illusions to the potential clients.

Brand Development in Key Locations

Illusions stations, booths can be placed in different mega shopping malls like Bashundhara City, Jamuna Future Park, Pink city, Mascot Plaza, Shimanto Square where interested clients would have access to free illusions or color consultancy services from trained color consultants. Free design catalogue, leaflets, fliers can also be handed over to the clients for better exposure of home Décor services. Illusions samples can be conducted for interior walls of key locations, where the target customers of Berger Illusions are likely to visit frequently. A few suggested places, where Illusions designs can be carried out are:

• ATM booths
• Waiting areas of English Medium Schools
• Popular superstores such as Almas, Agora, Meena Bazar and Swapno
• Reception area and lobby of major hotels
• Tile and sanitary ware shops
• Reception areas of major developers

REDESIGNING THE WEBSITE:

At present, the website is very basic and the information on Home Décor is provided in a detailed manner. The website just has a very brief and vague description of Home Décor and the address is provided. More information & visual elements can be added in the website for enhanced demonstration of the illusions designs available. There is no mention of Illusions or the details of any other Home Décor services. The current Home Décor page should be redesigned, giving an idea about Home Décor, its services and the addresses of Home Décor in the different cities.