We focus on spare parts and service of equipment.
oday, the customer is looking at the dealer whether he has the technical capability to support the machine. Jasmeet Bhasin, Proprietor, Kesar Earth Solutions, speaking with Sudheer Vathiyath, says that commitment of the dealer is necessary for the success of business. Excerpts of the interview.

How long have you been a dealer? Which brands do you offer?
We have been dealers for LiuGong for the past three-and-a-half years. We are currently focusing only on Chhattisgarh.

In which category of equipment do you witness more sales?
Wheel loaders have more demand among the equipment categories. We sell LiuGong loaders and motor graders, and a few excavators. We focus on road construction and mining segments. With many plants in the coal and iron ore belts in the Chhattisgarh region, there is a lot of mining activities happening including the development of new roads. So, overall it is a mix of mining and road segments. We sell to crusher units, plants, and mining organisations that do deep mining.

What is your monthly sales figure? How many machines do you stock?
On an average, we keep around 1-2 machines in stock. Our average sales figure is 3-4 machines per month.

What kind of support do you get from the OEMs in sales and service?
We get a good support from LiuGong. Despite being a Chinese company, LiuGong has opened a plant in India. This means they have a long-term vision. No other Chinese company has such a facility in India. Also, spare parts support is amazing. Since Chhattisgarh is close to LiuGong's plant in Indore, we order the parts and get it in a day.

What services do you provide to your customers?
Our focus is mainly on our customers. If the customer's machine is running, then our business is also running. If we get a call from a customer of machine breakdown, immediately we depute our engineers to attend the case and make sure that his machine is running within 24 hours. We try to understand the problems, and if possible try to provide solution on the phone itself.

Has the slowdown in the mining industry affected your business?
There is definitely a slowdown in the mining segment due to ban and other policy-related issues. But at the same time, we have seen many upcoming projects in the road sector. When we talk about the road projects, there is a requirement for crushers for mining aggregates. So there is a demand for crusher units for aggregate production and this in turn has improved the demand for more loaders to fill the trucks. Thus, we have a good average in sales. So, if one segment is down, we can focus on the other segment.

What strategies have you adopted to sustain in this volatile market?
First, we are mainly focusing on the spare parts and service of equipment. One advantage is that spare parts of LiuGong are value for money. The price of spare parts is high for our competitors. So we have good sales of spares. Customers will buy from genuine dealers like us. This has helped us to maintain our sustainability factor. Second, we get a good revenue support in attending customer service calls. We have a one-stop source of providing the machine and spare parts. Thus, we provide complete solution to the customer.

What are the challenges you have faced in business? What needs to be done to overcome those challenges?
The major challenge we face is the shortage of skilled manpower. With new technologies coming in and the market growing, a lot of training has to be done. Also, a lot of work is happening in extreme conditions and we need more people come upfront and work under these conditions. The second challenge is the government, because much of our work depends on mining and government work. Policy-related issues are another challenge. There needs to be good policy initiatives that can help mining and development work, which will be good for us.

What are the changes you have experienced in working with dealership model over the years?
The major change is the involvement of the dealer in business-related activities. This is a demanding industry and you need to support your customer. Nowadays, the customer is looking at the dealer whether he has the technical capability to support the machine or not. Commitment of the dealer is necessary for the success of business.