A SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT ON

“IMPACT OF HOME SERVICE OF EXIDE HOME UPS BATTERY ON

BRAND PERCEPTION”

BY

BIKRAM SHAW

Roll No:11202247 & Reg. No:11341920891

MBA(2011-2013)
11202247@ksom.ac.in

Under the Supervision of Under the guidance of

Prof. Kaushik Sahu(Senior Professor) Mr. Kanad Sanyal

Project mentor Regional Sales Manager(Industrial East)

KiiT school of management, Bhubaneswar Exide Industries Limited.

kaushik@ksom.ac.in sanyalK@exide.co.in

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, KIIT UNIVERSITY

BHUBANESWAR – 751024

06.28.2012

1
 DECLARATION
I confirm that the project work that is undertaken by me is an original and authenticate in
work done by me. This project is being submitted in partial fulfilment for award of Post
Graduate Degree in management from KIIT School of management.

The content of this report based on the information collected by me during my tenure at
Exide Industries ltd. in Kolkata during Two months of training from 1 st may to 30th June
2012.

Signature:

Date:

Place: Bikram Shaw

Enrolment no: 11202247

2
 Acknowledgements
“It is not enough to take steps which may someday lead to a goal; each step must be itself a
goal and a step otherwise.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

First of all, I would like express my deep sense of gratitude and special thanks to Exide
Industries for giving me the opportunity to spend Eight week at the company on fulfilment of
requirement of my Summer Internship Program in the esteemed company.

This work begins the imprints of many persons whose valuable assistance and insightful
suggestion have made this project worthy.

I am thankful to my Project guide Mr. Kanad Sanyal, Chief- Industrial (East), Exide
Industries Limited, whose able guidance helped me to give the present shape of the project,

I take this opportunity to thank our faculty in charge Prof. Kausik Sahu (Technology &
Operations management), Kiit School of management, for encouraging with his kind
words of knowledge and wisdom and also co-operating with us.

It is immense pleasure to extend my gratitude and I would also like to thank my institute
KIIT School of Management, Bhubaneswar and other staff members for the knowledge
gained that helped me to sharpen my skills.

Lastly my Very Special thanks to Mr. Raja Roy Chowdhury (Regional Service Head,
Exide industries, Kolkata) and Mr J.N Singh for helping me from very first day in each &
every aspect of the project.

Bikram Shaw
(11202247)
School of management
KIIT University.

3
 Table of Content

Page no
Serial No Particulars

Executive summary
1.

2. Introduction

3. Objective and scope

4. Literature Review

SWOT analysis
5.

Service Process & Flowchart

6.

7. Methodology

8. Analysis of data

9. Findings

10. Conclusion

11. Recommendation

12. Limitations

13. Annexure

14. References

4
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Today’s competitive environment of Exide industries created a complicated situation for the
entire relevant firm. This tough competition forced the supplier to have serious attention to
service and made to apply it as an effective marketing tool. After sales service is one type of
above mention services that is going to be discussed in this thesis.

As a part of the Summer Internship Programme, I was made to work with the marketing
department of Exide Industries Ltd, where the project was allotted. The project was spread
over a span of 8-weeks and was divided in two parts. The first part was to analyze brand
perception of Exide home UPS battery Customers during the Summer by directly
communicating with the customers at the Customer’s house Whereas, the second part was
concentrated on service process given by dealers and what service they are getting from
company and to suggest effective and feasible, cost effective Service procedure to boost
sales.

After sales service is integral part of sales and marketing. The Summary report includes
suggestions on increasing their Customer Service level. The observation includes the analysis
on Customer loyalty program and brand awareness. The observation also includes the areas
where the company would like to see improvement.

The project summarizes the work and experience gained at Exide industries and a brief
overview of its service process provided by Exide. Finally our finding in this project will
show that,there are many advantages for after sales service, which encourage companies to
provide it.We also explain few potential advantages,which have not been properly used by
most of the firms yet and can be useful.Last part of our finding will show that selecting the
proper method and strategy are two main factors that are essential for creating an effective
after sales service centre.

5
 Introduction
Growth of Exide battery continues to come in strong but the basis nature of the industry and
force driving it high and changed it dramatically.
This project was carried out to essentially find out the impact of home service and after sale
service of battery on brand perception in home ups battery segment. So, the aim is to find out
how much people influenced by the service of Exide. An exclusively designed questionnaire
was prepared for this purpose which focused on getting a thorough data about service given
by dealer and the service needed by them from company by all the respondents. The second
part of questionnaire focused on customers of Exide battery. There is certain parameter. The
respondents were asked to rate these parameters to get an overall idea about their perception.
The respondents are all existing major customers of Exide and were scattered all over
mentioned states.
Second part gives a brief overview on battery market in India i.e. major and minor players
and their market share. It also throws some light on the Government of India active interest in
recent years to the recycle of the used battery.
The next parts give an outlook on Exide industrial batteries and the different types of Exide
batteries according to their application. This is followed by a SWOT analysis of Exide
industrial batteries and competitor analysis. Since Exide does not have any major competitor
as of now competitor analysis includes only the names of a couple of emerging competitors.
All the subsequent part show the target audience for data collection, how the data was
collected, how it was analyzed manually the service process of Exide. Chapter nine highlights
the market share of Exide and its competitors. Chapter ten shows how the different
parameters were ranked and chapters eleven and twelve show different graphs which were
made on the basis of consolidated responses for all the parameters and also different factors
obtained after doing factor analysis.
In the next two parts the finding and recommendation of the entire survey has been
Incorporated. The findings give an indication about the status of Exide against its
Competitor in terms of market share and mind share (which was calculated using primary
data obtained from the survey) in home ups segment. Based on the findings and also on
personal discussion with the respondents some recommendations were made. These
recommendations focused mainly on how to improve on some the vital parameters and
factors which are highly rated by the respondents and where Exide lacks behind.

BATTERY MARKET IN INDIA

Indian battery market is a high market in the world. In India there has been quite a
Significant growth in market in the last year and it as expected that it will grow over
The next few years. So as the pace of development increases, India is seen as potentially one
of the fastest growing market in the future. This monolith controlled 90% of the market. At
present Exide is the only major player in industrial batteries segment in India.
A few emerging players in this segment are:-
 Luminous
 Tata green.
 Amaron.
 Base.
 AMCO
 Amron

6
Gone are those days when end users relied in the judgment of the dealer or the contractor for
choosing batteries for its use. After marked improvement in the raw
Material and processing, buyers today and rest assured that the quality of batteries
Available has undergone a dramatic change. Hopefully the emerging competition will
Give them greater choice in the same lot of extra effort to continue to lead the market in
future.
Even the Government of India has taken an active interest in recent years to the recycle of the
used battery. A company now has to adhere to the norms of the ISO-14001. Exide is one such
company in the Indian market which diligently takes the used batteries from the customer to
obliterate it in the smoulder and give the customer absolutely new battery in the place of the
old battery.

Exide- An Overview
Exide industries are one of the largest storage battery manufacturing companies in India. It is
also the largest power storage company in the whole of the south-east Asian region. It is also
a manufacturer of automotive lead-acid batteries. It has plants in India and Sri Lanka.It is a
public company which was incorporated as associated battery maker in 1947.The head
quarter of Exide industries is in Kolkata, west Bengal and the Chairman of this branded
company is R.G kapadia. The name of the Company was Chloride Industries Ltd but later in
1995 the company’s name was changed to Exide industries. The Company manufactures the
widest range of storage batteries in the world from 2.5 Ah to 20,400 Ah capacities, covering
the broadest spectrum of applications. The Company has six factories strategically located
across the country – two in Maharashtra, one in West Bengal, two in Tamil Nadu and one in
Haryana. The Company’s predecessor carried on their operations as import house from 1916
under the name Chloride Electrical Storage Company. Thereafter, the Company started
manufacturing storage batteries in the country and have grown to become one of the largest
manufacturer and exporter of batteries in the sub-continent today.

Exide separated from its UK-based parent, Chloride Group Plc in1989. The company has
grown steadily, modernised its manufacturing processes and taken initiatives on the service
front. Constant innovations have helped the company to produce the world’s largest range of
industrial batteries extending from 2.5 Ah to 15000 Ah and covering various technology
configurations.

Exide’s subsidiary companies are Associated Battery Manufacturers (Ceylon) Limited, Espex
Batteries Limited, Chloride Batteries S E Asia Pte Limited, Leadage Alloys India Limited,
Tandon Metals Ltd., Cal dyne Automatics Limited, Chloride International Limited etc.

On the marketing front, with an objective to get a global platform to expand its business the
Company acquired a 100% stake in Cal dyne Automatics Ltd in July 2007 and 100% stake in
Chloride Batteries S E Asia Pte Ltd., Singapore and 49% stake in Associated Battery
Manufacturers (Ceylon) Limited, Sri Lanka in the year 2001. The stake in Associated Battery
Manufacturers (Ceylon) Limited, Sri Lanka was increased to 61.5% by acquiring additional
12.5% stake in 2004.

Brands under Exide industries are Exide automotive, Exide Industrial, and SF sonic.

7
The various product of Exide industries are-

1. Automotive Batteries: The Company supplies batteries to almost all the car and two-
wheeler manufacturers in the country.
2. Industrial Batteries: The Company designs and manufacture its industrial batteries
in a wide range from 2.5 Ah to 20,600 Ah in conventional flooded and Valve
Regulated Lead Acid (VRLA) design. Industrial batteries are of three types,
Conventional lead acid batteries, VRLA (Valve regulated lead acid batteries) batteries
and Nickel-Cadmium batteries.
Both organized and unorganized players compete in the OEM and retail industrial
battery markets. Industrial batteries cater mostly to the infrastructure sector such as
railways, telecom, power plants, solar cells and other industrial segments such as
uninterrupted power supply, inverters and traction batteries
3. Submarine Batteries: The Company also manufactures high-end submarine batteries
(Type 1, 2 & 3). The Company manufactures two to three submarine batteries a year
to meet the country’s defence requirements. The Company is one of the five
companies in the World which has the capability to make submarine batteries for both
Russian and German types

Exide had got many award, certification and recognition.

1) Exide Industries Limited awarded the Frost & Sullivan 2010 Market Leadership
Award in the Industrial Battery Segment
2) Exide wins CFO of the year award in automotive and auto-ancillary category
from CNBC-TV18
3) "Exide, Haldia factory gets TPM award for Category A, 2008, from Japan
Institute of Plant Maintenance"
4) Exide Haldia had a rich haul at the CII awards ceremony in Kolkata for 08-09
winning five awards in different categories.
5) At the CII (Eastern Region) awards ceremony in Kolkata for 08-09 Exide
Shyamnagar won.

Milestones

1916 Chloride Electric Storage Co. (CESCO) UK sets up trading operations in India as an
Import house.
1946 First factory set up in Shamnagar, West Bengal.
1947 Incorporated as Associated Battery Makers (Eastern) Limited on 31 January 1947
Under the Companies Act.
1947 Incorporated Chloride International Limited (previously Exide Products Limited)
1969 Second factory at Chinchwad, Pune
1972 The name of the Company was changed to Chloride India Limited
1976 R&D Centre established at Kolkata
1981 Third factory at Haldia, West Bengal
1988 The name of the Company was changed to Chloride Industries Limited
1994 Technical collaboration with Shin Kobe Electric Machinery Co. Ltd. of Japan, a
Subsidiary of the Hitachi Group.

8
1995 Chloride Industries Limited renamed Exide Industries Limited
1997 Fourth factory at Hosur, Tamil Nadu
1998 Acquisition of industrial/ manufacturing units of Standard Batteries Ltd located at
Taloja & Kanjurmarg (Maharashtra), Guindy (Tamilnadu) and plant at Ahmednagar
(Maharashtra) from Cosepa Fiscal Industries Limited as a going concern.
1999 Acquired 51% Shareholding in Caldyne Automatics Ltd
2000 Acquisition of 100% stake in Chloride Batteries S E Asia Pte Ltd., Singapore and
49% stake in Associated Battery Manufacturers (Ceylon) Limited, Sri Lanka.
2003 Commissioned plant at Bawal, Haryana
2003 New joint venture in UK, ESPEX, with 51% holding.
2004 Associated Battery Manufacturers (Ceylon) Limited, Sri Lanka became a subsidiary
Consequent to acquiring further 12.50% Equity holding.
2005 Investment in 50% shareholding of ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Limited
2007 Caldyne Automatics Ltd becomes 100% subsidiary consequent to acquiring the
Balance 49% shareholding.
2007 Investment with 26% shareholding. In CEIL Motive Power Pty Ltd. A Joint Venture
In Australia.
2007 Acquired 100% stake in Tandon Metals Ltd.
2008 Acquired 51% stake in Lead Age Alloys India Ltd
Exide Industries Limited, India’s flagship of the storage battery industry- is also the
Largest power Storage Solutions Company in South and South East Asia
Capital Rs.712 Million (US$15.8 Million)
Turnover Rs.12182 Million in 2003-04(USD$271
Millions)
Employees Over 4000
Market Share in Automotive OE. Industrial
Battery Market Share 50%.

MISSION:
To carefully the interest of all stakeholders; strive to fulfil aspirations of the employees and
pursue excellence with passion, without deviating from our core values.

VISION:
Simultaneous to providing credible value addition to customers, employees and shareholders;
being recognized by society as a responsible corporate citizen. In addition achieving
operational excellence along with caring for environment protection.

COLLABORATION

Exide has entered into long-term strategic and technical collaboration with some of the other
leading manufacturers in the world: Shin-Kobe Electrical Machinery CO. Ltd., of Japan a
subsidiary of Hitachi group for automotive and VRLA battery. The Furukawa Battery CO.
Ltd., Japan for production of automotive batteries at Talofa
Factory. Oldham PLC for Miner’s Cap lamp batteries.

9
QUALITY POGRAM AT EXIDE

Quality has always been the hallmark of Exide , so it was no wonder that Exide India has
received ISO 9001 certification followed by ISO 14001. ISO 9001 recognizes high level of
customer satisfaction in terms of product quality and service by continuous interaction with
customers. ISO 14001 certification is recognition of its eco-friendly production process.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

 Ensure consideration of all environmental aspects in the manufacturing and other

related areas minimise the adverse impacts of our activities, products or services
And communicate with interested parties, as when necessary.
 Continually improve our environmental performance through waste minimisation,
Conservation of energy and efficient utilization of natural resources.
 Company with applicable national environment standards / statutory
Requirements.
 Train concerned personnel at all levels to mitigate environmental impacts.

Exide Product detail

In many critical sectors batteries are an essential requirement to start electrically operated
equipments and keep it going in absence of main power. Exide has a range of secondary or
rechargeable batteries, spanning capacities of 2.5 Amphr to 20,200 Amphr. The company
offers batteries for nearly every conceivable application – from golf carts and motorcycles to
submarines and inverters. Its
Technology options range from maintenance free batteries to standard service batteries and
from fully charged, off-the-shelf batteries to dry charged varieties. Exide also powers the
nation’s lifeline – the Indian Railways – with products for lighting, signalling, air
conditioning, locomotive starters and pantographs.
Exide has now forayed into the area of non-conventional energy sources like solar and wind
power, backed by low maintenance batteries Exide has different segment of battery and
they are-

1. Home UPS.

2. Institutional UPS.

3. Motive Power.

4. Power & Project

5. Solar photovoltaic.

6. Railways

7. Telecommunication.

Under Home ups segment there are several kind of battery and they are-

A) Inva Gold 500:- INVA GOLD is a product of ISO 9001 AND ISO 14001 certified factories. It
has 54 month of warranty.

10
 B) Inva tubular: It is an ultimate inverter battery. It is the next generation tubular
batteries designed specially to withstand long and frequent powercuts.It has the tagline
“Challega Dungna”.It has various sub division or category. It has 48 moth warranties. Sub
categories are-

i) IT 500,ii) IT 400,iii)IT 550,iv) IT650,v)IT 500i,vi)IT 500 super.

C) INVARED: It also next generation Tubular battery designed especially for long and
frequent power cut, requiring very low maintenance.

It has different category –Invared 500+,invared 400,invared 300.

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D)INVA QUEEN: The inva queen is maintenance free battery which is designed for
demanding home UPS application has the distinctive advantage of requiring no topping up
before 24 month from date of sale. The unique feature of INVAQUEEN 500+ maintenance
free batteries is that the user is set free from any maintained worries at least for the
warrant period of 24 month. Sub categories are-

i)inva queen 500+,ii)inva queen 450,iii)inva queen 350 and inva queen 300.

E)Inva flat:

Inva flat 1800 and 2000 with extra heavy duty thicker plates inside for withstanding
frequent and long power cut. The battery have got lug type terminals and electrolyte level
indicator, making INVAFLAT truly user friendly inverter battery.

F)Inva SAFE: It is the next generation VRLA(valve regulated Lead acid battery).VRLA
batteries have been preferred in many applications for almost 40 years because they are
sealed safe and maintenance free.

12
 Title of the Project
In today‘s world customer is the key of the success of any business. So, Customer behaviour
and its satisfaction level play very key role to sale of the product. That‘s why we decide to
keep the project title related this key factor called “Impact of home service of Exide battery
on Brand perception”.

Objective of the study

 To determine the customer satisfaction level about home service and after sales
service.
 To know consumer behaviour for purchase of UPS battery.
 To identify the factor which influence on consumer’s decision.
 To identify the loopholes in service process.
 To know which service process play important role in providing after sales service.
 To know the possible area of improvement.

SCOPE OF STUDY

 The main scope of the study is restricted to West Bengal only.

 This study has been made to find the level of satisfaction the customer has regarding the
service provider by Exide industries in West.

13
 Literature Review
This part will consist of theories regarding the two research questions we have constructed
for this thesis where first and second part implies theories about Brand, Customer service
support and after-sales service advantages which make it important for any company. Next
part focuses on after sales service key elements. In part four we will explain about after sales
service strategy and finally discuss different offering model of after sales service which any
company may use.

Brand

A brand is a product, service, or concept that is publicly distinguished from other products,
Services or concepts so that it can be easily communicated and frequently marketed.
Moreover, a brand name is the name of the distinctive product, service, or concept. Branding
is the process of creating and disseminating the brand name. Branding can be applied to the
entire corporate identity as well as to individual product and service names.
Brands are usually protected from use by others by securing a trademark or service mark
from an authorized agency, usually a government agency. Before applying for a trademark or
service mark, people need to establish that someone else has not already obtained one for the
name the company has proposed. Once the company found that no one else is using it, the
company can begin to use this brand name as a trademark simply by stating that, it is a
trademark using the "TM" symbol where it first appears in a publication or Web site. After
the company receives the trademark then it can use the registered symbol after the trademark.
Brands are often expressed in the form of logos, graphic representations of the brand. In
Computers, a recent example of widespread brand application was the "Intel Inside" label
Provided to manufacturers that use Intel's microchips.
A company's brands and the public's awareness of them are often used as a factor in
Evaluating a company. Corporations sometimes appoint market research firms to study public
Recognition of brand names as well as attitudes toward the brands. However, today brand is
what they do for people that matters much more, how they reflect and engage them, how they
define their aspiration and enable them to do more. Powerful brands can drive success in
competitive and financial markets, and indeed become the organization's most valuable
assets.

Service:

After sales service should be an integral part of any companies’ sales strategy. A good After
Sales service can with its excellence help you gain market share, reduce after-sales related
overheads on products and services sold and most important of all key to customer retention.
Most customers will not make a repeat purchase or continue with a company’s services in
case of a bad experience.

Many companies underestimate the potential After Sales has for giving you a competitive
advantage. Customers expect a high-quality customer service, especially as they focus on
getting good value for their money and are willing to spend more with those that deliver the
best.

14
According to American Express Customer Service Barometer “buying decisions of 89 per
cent of consumers are influenced by convenience and 90 per cent of them attach importance
to value-for-money propositions, almost 90% of consumers make their purchases based on
the quality of after sales customer service.”

The process of managing products after they have been sold has many names, such as After
Sales, Reverse Logistics, Returns/Service Management, After Sales Service, and Customer
Care.

Some Facts About After Sales Service:

1. 6% of all items sold are returned (Returns Logistics, 2009).

2. 68% of returns have no technical fault (Accenture report, 2007).
3. The average loss related to a return is E19 (Newgistics, 2007)
4. Processing returns costs four times as much as processing the original order
5. An average of one consumer phone call is made per return
Today many companies operate in complex value networks, but they lack the end-to-end
control and visibility to effectively manage the discrete activities that make up the process,
and they do not know how well these activities are being performed.

A number of solutions are now available for the after sales process using Cloud processes.
Service providers using this technology are able to provide effective management of their
after sales business process network with the help of automated procedures. Other benefits
are continuous visibility of entire operation in real time and quick access to all important data
pertaining to after sales management. The cloud process confers entire control in your hands
and improves efficiency while saving cost, with les human involvement for administration
purposes as the processes are streamlined.

The cloud process facilitates better planning of assets and displays excellent forecasting
capabilities with efficient inventory management and finance management roles. The process
is easily accessible through mobile and web interfaces which is a great advantage to the
mobile customer.

In today’s highly competitive world the cloud process has the power to make your after sales
process a huge success. With its flexible qualities and intelligent features it enables company
better detailing and increased customer retention.

15
The value chain analysis

Michael porter of Harvard has proposed the value chain as a tool for identifying ways to
create more customer value. According to this model every firm is a synthesis of activities
performed to design, produce, and market, deliver and support its product. The value chain
identifies nine strategically relevant activities –Five primaries and four support activity. It has
been noticed that service is the primary activity.
Key elements of After-sales service

But Goffin (1999) explanation may be more complete, that states seven elements of after-sales service
which must be provided to customers over the working lifetime of products as follows:
 Installation
 User training
 Documentation
 Maintenance and repair
 Online support
 Warranty
 Upgrades
From this analysis it appears that there are at least four important components to Customer
support strategies:
 Indentifying customer’s support requirement
 Design for supportability
 Choosing/managing distribution channels
 Promoting support for competitive advantage.

16
SWOT Analysis of Exide:
S-Strength:

 Strong Brand Image.

 Most trusted Brand in battery industry in India.
 Very high degree of customer loyalty.
 Good quality and less maintenance of battery.
 Prime locations of dealer.
 Home service facility and on-time support system.
 Widely spread all over the India and spreading foreign too.
 World class Research & Development centre.

W-Weakness:

 No fast replacement.
 Lower level of
 No incentive for repeat purchase.

O-Opportunities:

 People become brand conscious

 Growing domestic market.
 Improved living standard of people.
 Increased demand of quality product.

T-Thread:

 Increased competitors
 Cheaper import
 Lower price level of competitor.

17
 Flow chart of Service process of Exide UPS battery

Process 1:

Customer

Call centre

Call lock/register

Tele caller assign field

Technician to check battery

Field Technician Check the

battery F

NO YES
Problem
found

Tele caller informed to end user

Report sent to as well as CSC/Dealer to replace
call centre the same

Faulty battery sent to

CSC/dealer.

Problem closed
Dealer or CSC replaces the
battery with faulty battery

Delivery van collects the faulty

battery and replaced with new
battery
18
After sales service process 1:

After sales service is an integral part of sales of battery and also Existence of Brand name.
Exide industries has follows some certain process for giving service to the valuable customer.

Firstly, Customer or dealer on behalf of customer makes a call to call centre of Exide to
register the complaint. This call log or registration can be done by two ways-i) Through toll
free no:-1800 103 5454 ii) Through email: exideindlcare@vishnusolutions.com. Call centre
locked the complaint or register the compliant which in turn generate a unique complaint
code and number is sent to various concern person like branch engineer, regional coordinator,
end user and caller person thorough sms or e-mail.Now, telle caller communicate with
customer and assign field technician to check the battery. Field technician goes to the
customer’s house and check the battery if the problem is solved at that point then a report is
sent to call centre then call centre send a message to customer that the his/her complaint is
closed. If the problem is not solved at that point and found faulty in battery then technician
suggest to customer to submit his/her battery to nearest CSC (channel service centre) or to
authorized dealer and simultaneously telle caller informed to end user as well as CSC/dealer
to replace the same. The faulty battery is sent to dealer .the csc or dealer replaces the faulty
battery with new battery.

Finally delivery van of Exide collect the faulty battery from csc or dealer point and replace it
with new battery.

19
Flow chart of Service process of Exide UPS battery

Process 2: Customer

Lodge the complaint

CSC technician attain the call

Customer delivery battery at

CSC place

CSC Test the battery

If
No faulty
Yes

Returned to Replace with new

customer battery

Delivery van collects

the faulty Battery and
replaced it with new
A report sent to battery
call centre for
updating.

Complaint update to
call centre.

20
After sales service process 2:

There is another process to provide service to customer and that is through CSC (channel
service centre).

Customer lodges a complaint to nearest CSC via telephone or directly informed to CSC. CSC
attains the call and asked to submit the battery to csc centre. Customer submit his/her battery
to csc centre.CSC check the battery if no problem found or the problem is solved then battery
is sent back to customer’s house. If battery is found faulty then csc replaces it with new one.

Finally delivery van collects the faulty battery and replaces it with new battery and complaint
report is sent to call centre for updating.

21
METHODOLOGY ADOPTED

 RESEARCH DESIGN
We have chosen descriptive study because in this project our objective are clearly defined
and we have to gather details about all the aspects of problems.

 SAMPLING PLAN
Sampling plan for current and potential customers and dealers were as follows:
Customers of Exide Dealers of Exide Total
50 35 85

Sample size of the potential customers was amounted to about 50 so that we can understand
what were the problem in delivering the service and How much they are satisfied. what was
the general perception and Psychology of the potential customers and also tracking their
buying behaviour regarding the battery.
Sample size of dealers was 35 so that we can understand what are services provided by them
and what services they are getting from company ,what are the loopholes in service process.
What are their feedbacks and what have they experienced after they have purchased from
Exide.
They know exactly the strength and weakness of each and every brand and will be easily able
to say which brand performs the best on what factor.

 TARGET RESPONDENTS
Target respondents for the research includes
i. Current customers of the Company ( who have purchased Company A products in the
last 2 years) .
ii. Potential customers.(who have purchased in the last 2 years or are in process of
purchasing houses worth of INR 50 lakh to INR 1.5 crores ).
iii. Dealers.

 AREA COVERED
Pilot study was done in the company itself to know what problems I can face in my
Questionnaire. Then I targeted a premium segment respondent through my own personal
source which was in Kolkata and a part of the study was done in the company itself. When
the real operation started I covered near about each and every area of the Kolkata and other
part of west Bengal. The Area includes:
i. Howrah
ii. Kolkata
iii. North 24 pargana
iv. Burdwan
v. Birbhum
vi. Midnapur
vii. Hoogly
viii. Nadia

22
  TIME FRAME
Total time for Market survey and Data Analysis Comprised of 8 weeks which was started on
the 2nd may 2012 and ended at 30th of June 2012.

Sources of Data

Secondary Source
In this study the secondary data is collected from the following sources.
1. Company‘s website

2. Reports of Company

3. Discussion with marketing and sales staff

4. Books on Marketing and Research methodology

Primary Source
The Primary source of collecting data for research is:
Questionnaire filled by the customers of Exide.

Primary Data of Collection

Research Technique
In this study the ―survey method‖ is used as a research technique. This method helps to
obtain right information from respondents.

Contact Method
In this study ―Personal Exit interview‖ it is taken as a tool for the contact method. In which
the personal interview is conducted with customers of Westside.

23
OPERATIONAL EXECUTION OF THE PROJECT

Objective
defined

Secondary search

Questionnair
e design

Pilot study

Data collection

Data
verification

Data entry

Data
validation

Analysis

24
 OPERATIONAL SCHEDULE OF THE PROJECT
Time in week

Activity 5th 9th 16th 23th 30th 8th 15th 30th

nd
2 may may may may may june june june
may
Research
design
Tool design
Pilot testing
Investigator
training
Primary data
collection
Data
validation
Data Entry
and coding
analysis
Preparation
of report

25
 Analysis of data
Age:

Age
5%

15%
15-20
20%
20-25
25-30
above 30
60%

Interpretation:

It has been observed that maximum respondent are between age of 25 to 30.20% respondent
are under 20 to 25 age group and 15%,5% respondent are under 20-25 and 15-20 age group
respectively.

Gender:

Gender
15
60%

10 40%

5 Gender

0
Male Female

Interpretation:

It is clearly seen that 60% respondent are male while 40% respondent are female.

26
Type of home ups used by customer:

Type of battery Used By

customer
5% 5%
Inva RED
10%
Inva Tubular
15%
Inva Tubular Super
Inva Gold
65%
Inva queen

Interpretation:

As per the survey conveyed it is observed that maximum (about 65%) customer are using
Inva tubular battery which indicate that Inva tubular is the most selling ups battery by Exide.
Again it is shown that 15%,10%,5%,5% customer are using inva tubular super ,inva
RED,Inva gold,Inva queen respectively.

Media of awareness of Exide home ups battery

Media of awareness of Exide home

ups battery

15% Friends
30% Showroom
Exhibition
35% Newspaper
15%
Sales person

5%

27
Interpretation:

We first tried to find out what was the awareness level of potential customers for Exide. The
reason behind we asked this question is because if they are aware of the company, then they
will have some perception or thinking about the company which can be easily tracked down
but if they are not aware how can we track down their suggestions and their thinking which in
logical sense does not feel right.

We tried to track down through different channels we gave them as options and came up with
a pie chart with data labelled in %age format to know from which channel they are getting
information about Exide Home UPS battery. We gave them many options such as: Friends,
Showroom, Exhibition, Newspaper, Sales person. It is also seen that most customer are came
to know about Exide ups battery through showroom and dealers.

Main attributes for purchasing Exide battery

Main attributes for purchasing Exide

battery
75%
16 60%
14
12 45%
10 30%
8 25%
6 1% 1%
4
2 Main attributes for
0
purchasing Exide battery

Interpretation:

We tend to find out the purchasing behaviour of Consumers by giving them various reasons
for which they purchase the Exide home ups battery. We divided various factors on which a
common man uses its intuition to purchase the Exide home ups battery. We asked the
respondent to tick one of them and give out their reasons. We divided these factors in terms
of proportion and try to build an overview which is the biggest factor that influences them to
purchase the Exide home ups battery. We build a bar chart for that and gave out the results in
%age format. We did the same thing for both of the Potential Customer and Current Users.
The reasons we put down in mapping that behaviour are as follows: Durability, Functionality,
After Sales Service, Latest Modern Design, Brand Name, Price of the Product, Safety
features.

28
Rating of Exide battery over other batteries as per contain parameter:

Parameter poor Average Excellent

Quality 0 7 13
Brand image 1 5 14
After sale service 5 10 5

Interpretation:
It has been shown that out 20 respondents 13 Customer gave his/her satisfaction in Quality is
Excellent and 7 of them gave it as average quality. In respect of Brand image it is seen that
Exide brand image is excellent as the 14 respondent given his/her Rate for excellent brand
image. Regarding After sales servicing which is essential part of our project it has been
observed that most response gave his/her choice as average service provided by Exide.

Overall satisfaction level:

Overall Satisfaction level

0%

15%
Very good
35%
Good
15%
Neutral
Bad
Very bad

35%

Interpretation:
As per survey conveyed it has been shown that 70% respondent gave his/her overall
satisfaction level towards Exide is good. And 15% respondent gave their overall satisfaction
towards neutral and 15%respondent express their overall satisfaction towards Exide as bad
and no one express satisfaction level as very bad which is good point for Exide industries.

29
Quality of work performed during servicing of battery by service engineer:

Quality of work performed

during servicing of battery
by service engineer:
5%

25% Excellent
50% Fair
20% Satisfactory
Not good

Interpretation:
It has been observed that quality of work performed during servicing of battery by service
engineer is excellent by most of the respondent. Few of them express their satisfaction as
25% fair,20% as satisfactory and 5% as not good.

Complaint registered to call centre:

Complaint registered to call

centre
15 14

10
6
Complaint registered
5 to call centre

0
Yes No

Interpretation:

It has been observed that 70% of customer registers their complaint through Exide call centre.
They lodge their complaint through toll free number and email service provided by Exide and
30% customer did not lodge their complaint though call centre. In that case either they send it
to dealer or directly to service centre.

30
Whether Service carried out within promise date:

whether service carried out

within promise date

10%

yes
25%
no

65% not sure

Interpretation:

The punctuality of service provided by Exide industries is good enough. As per the response
got from customer 65% of them told that service is carried out in time and only 25% of them
that service of not carried out in time and 10% of them not sure about timing.

Resolution time after lodging the complaint:

Resolution time after lodging the

complaint

15%
45%
less than 3 days
within 7 days
40%
greater than 7 days

Interpretation:

It has been clearly shown from above pie chart that maximum complaint is solved within
three days.40% complaint is resolved within 7days and few complaint take time greater than
7 days.

31
In future will you recommend Exide battery to someone else?

We mapped down this question in terms of 1.Definitely recommend 2.Probably recommend

3.can’t say 3.probably won’t recommend 4. Definitely won’t recommend.

In future will you recommend Exide

battery to someone else?
Definitely recommend
5% 10%
Probably recommend
5%
5% can’t say

probably won’t
75% recommend
Definitely won’t
recommend

Interpretation:

We tried to find out the answer in a %age format and through this objective we tried to find
out how much the current users have goodwill and satisfaction level for the Exide industries
because it is only possible that if you have a goodwill for the company, one would surely
recommend to someone else. Through this question we tried to find out will the customers
recommend someone in the future.
Then we tried to find out the reasons for recommending to others in terms of subjective
format and gave various factors on which they will recommend in the future. Here it is
observed that 75% customer surely recommend for use of Exide home ups battery.

Way of registering complaint:

Way of registering complaint

20%

At Exide Call centre

To your organisation

80%

32
Interpretation:

It is shown from above pie chart that 80% of the Exide customer lodges their complaint to the
dealer end and only 20% of the customer directly calls to Exide call centre.

Do you send your Technician to all complaints?

Do you send your Technician to all

complaints?

24%
Yes
NO

76%

Interpretation:

From the above graph it is vividly shown that 76% of the dealer sends their technician to their
customer’s house in case of battery complaint and only in 24% case dealer does not sent
technician to the customer’s house. The reason behind this is remote area of customers
address and not availability of technician in all time.

How do you collect the battery at your premises?

How do you collect the battery

at your premises?

18%
Dealer's tech. collect
battery
Customer deposit
battrery
82%

33
Interpretation:

As per survey conveyed it has been clear that in maximum case dealer’s technician collect
battery from customer’s house. Only 18% customer deposits his/her battery to dealers shop.

Who bear the cost of transportation?

Who bear the cost of transportation?

36%
Dealer
Customer
64%

Interpretation:

It has been seen that 64% in case of battery complaint, dealer itself bear the cost of
transportation of battery. Only 36% customer bear the transportation cost by themselves.

Do you charge the complaint battery at customer premises?

Do you charge the complaint battery

at customer premises?

12%

Yes
No

88%

34
Interpretation:

It has been shown that dealer’s technician use charger for charge the battery and they charge
the complaint battery at customer premise. It has also been noticed that they use Constant
current charger and flexi charger for charging purpose.

Do you replace the battery from own stock?

Do you replace the battery from own

stock?

24%

Yes

76% No

Interpretation:

It has been found that majority of dealer replace the battery in case of complaint from their
own stock whereas only 24% dealer do not replace the battery from own stock.

How do you send the battery to Exide?

How do you send the battery to

Exide?

12%

21%
Exide service van

67% Transport
Own vehicle

35
Interpretation:

The pie chart shows that 67% dealer send the complaint battery through Exide service van
and 21% of dealer send complaint battery though Transport and only 12% customer send the
complaint battery by their own vehicle.

Total time required for replacement?

Total time required for replacement?

30% within 7 days

37%
within 7-10 days
within 10-15 days
within 15-20 days
9% more than 20 days
9%
15%

Interpretation:

The pie chart shows that total time taken by Exide for replacement is 7 days (37%).and 30%
dealer got the replace battery within 7-10 days, 15% dealer got battery from Exide within 10-
15 days, 9% dealer got replaced battery within 15-20 days and again 9% dealer got replaced
battery more than 20 days.

How frequently Exide service van touches you?

How frequently Exide service van

touches you?

18%
1 time in a month
35%
9% 2 time in a month
3 time in a month
Not a single time
38%

36
Interpretation:

The above pie chart shows that Exide service van touches dealers point only once in a month
is 35%. It has also seen that Exide service van touches dealer’s shop two times in a month is
38% and Exide service van touches 3 times in some dealers end. Unfortunately it is also
noticed that in 18% case Exide service van did not reach to dealer’s End.

Do you provide service battery?

Do you provide service battery?

6%

Yes
No

94%

Interpretation:

From the above pie chat it is clear that maximum dealer provide service battery to customer
in case of fault in home UPS battery.

Are you aware of Exide Home service?

Are you aware of Exide Home

service?

21%

Yes
No

79%

Interpretation:

37
It has been found that 79% dealer knows about Exide home service and they consider it as a
good service process.

How do you rate Exide service support?

How do you rate Exide service

support?
0%

15% 24%
Very Good
Good
27%
Average
34% Poor
Very Bad

Interpretation:

The above pie chart shows that 34% respondent consider Exide service support as very good
and 24% respondent consider Exide service support as only good while 27% dealer thought it
as average service support and 15% dealer consider it as bad service by Exide.

Among Competitors who is the best in service?

Among Competitors who is the best

in service?

12%
Luminous
30%
Sukam
Base
34%
Amron
15% Others
9%

Interpretation:

It has been found that among competitors 34% respondent consider that amron’s service is
best while 30% respondent thought that Luminous battery has good service process. Apart
from that some respondent consider that Base, sukam, tata green has also good service
support.

38
 Findings

 In current market scenario, respondents give maximum no. of weight age to after sales
service of product than price.

 The study shows that Most of the Respondent of metro city is satisfied with service
provided by Exide while in urban and semi-urban area respondent were not enough
satisfied with service of Exide.

 Exide Home UPS battery is most popular battery in Eastern area.

 The study show that 15 respondents are come to know from showroom and dealer and
17 respondents are come to know from ―friends about Exide home UPS battery.

 Frequency of Service van is lower than Expected by dealer.

 Most of the complaint Registered to Exide through dealer rather than direct from Toll
free number to call centre.

 It is found that Amron is the best competitor of Exide in term of service.

 Exide Home service facility is good process but not enough to satisfy all customers.

 Maximum dealer replace battery from their own stock if the battery has any
complaint.

 Inva tubular is the most selling Home UPS battery as most respondent are using Inva
tubular battery.

 Overall customer satisfaction is high and many of them are loyal to Exide.

39
 Conclusion
As we know that Exide is very big organization and market leader in Battery products in
India. Its close competitors are Amron and Luminous are not able to bear the competition
from Exide. It is able to retain the market share. Exide with a loyal brand name can easily
enter into the market. People are ready to accept their brand and retailers are waiting for
Exide to grab the market in Home UPS battery so that quality battery will be available at
reasonable rates. The margins being huge in battery industry Exide should now plan for
improvement of after sales service. The service should be more fast and quick replacement.
To conclude Exide industry is on top of consumer’s mind and largest market share so, Exide
as a Battery Brand is best in India and no one is close competitor of Exide.

As we know after sale service is an integral part of marketing so as long as service process is
strong sales of product and customer satisfaction would be definitely higher. Exide has well
after sales service process yet need a lot of improvement in some area of service process. If
Exide overcome this situation then no one compete Exide brand as it is already stays top of
the mind of customer

It can be said that though the findings of this survey does not have much for Exide to cheer
about but not all is lost yet. Situation can again turn back to Exide’s favour if the company
takes certain steps. Some of those steps are mentioned in recommendations. Exide had the
biggest advantage of its brand and it can turn all its weaknesses into strengths if it takes
certain precautions. Emerging competition it seems, will give a tough competition to Exide in
future but if the company improves on its service it can no challenge would be worth worry.
Here are some important outcomes, limitations and some major recommendations once again.

To conclude it can be said that the road ahead is tough for Exide. The company was a virtual
monopolist until now but with emerging competition Exide will have to focus
Very hard on winning the hearts of its existing customers and also attract new
Customers by improving tremendously on Pro-activeness and After Sales Service

40
 Limitations

Despite having taken all the care in the process of research project it is very necessary to
know the limitations of the study.
The following are the limitations of this research project.

 Research work was carried out in west Bengal only the finding may not be applicable
to the other parts of the country because of social and cultural differences.

 The sample was collected using connivance-sampling techniques. As such result may
not give an exact representation of the population
 Shortage of time is also reason for incomprehensiveness.

 The sample size taken was small.

 The views of the people are biased therefore it may not be reflecting true picture.

 There might have been some concurrent inaccuracies. Whereby the respondents might
have given wrong information in order to safe guard against invasion of privacy.

 The respondents might have resorted to quick and abrupt answers to terminate the
quickly.

 Time, money and manpower affect the study to a great extent.

41
 Recommendation and suggestions
The project has wonderful experience for me. Following are the suggestion based on
experience that I have gained and understand the requirement of area for further increase in
sale and customer satisfaction.

1) Need home service everywhere in west Bengal, especially in rural and semi-urban area.

2) Exide should provide home pick up facility for complaint battery.

3) Complaint should be solved within 48 hour.

4) Online service and telephony solution.

5) Quick instruction to dealer for solving the major/minor problem.

6) Display screen in UPS which show every reading (e.g. voltage, current supply, storage
capacity, overflow, discharge, liquid condition, error message etc)

7) Battery health checks up during warranty period at regular interval.

8) Provide battery care instruction book along with CD which contain (video guide for caring
battery)

9) Good behaviour and support to customer from Technician and call centre.

10) Online tracking of condition of battery for customer while given for repair or
replacement. (By sending a code no. To customer’s mobile)

11) More CSC and service centre @huge selling area of UPS battery.

12) Provide birthday cards and gifts to loyal and premium customer.

13) A subscription or offer which provides special care and service at anytime anywhere.

14) Increase Van car for dealer.

42
 ANNEXURE
I-Questionnaire (Customer)
Questionnaire on Brand perception of home service of Exide battery.

I am the management trainee of Exide industries, Kolkata conducting a survey on impact of

home service of Exide battery on brand perception which is the part of our summer
internship programme. Here as a user you are suppose to give some feedback relating to
“Brand perception in home service of battery”. We hope you will cooperate with us and
spare your valuable time to make our summer project success.

Personal detail:

Name:

Age:

Gender:

Address:

Contact number:

Mail_id:

Questionnaire:

 Have you ever used home ups battery? If yes which one?

 How do you come to know about Exide ups battery?

1. Friends/relative
2. Showroom.
3. Exhibition.
4. Newspaper/ Magazine
5. Sales person.

 What are the main attribute do you look after while purchasing Exide
battery?
1. Durability
2. Functionality.
3. after sales service.
4. Brand name.
5. Latest design.
6. Price of the battery.
7. Safety feature.
8. If others please mention______________.

43
  According to you which battery provides best after sales service?
1. Exide
2. Luminous
3. Microtek
4. Sukam
5. Amaron
6. Tata green
7. If other please mention.______________________

 Based on service provided to you what was your overall level of

satisfaction?(put a tick)

1. Very good

2. Good.

3. Neutral

4. Bad

5. Very bad

 How was the Quality of Work performed in servicing the battery?

1. Excellent.
2. Fair
3. Satisfactory
4. Not good

 What is the resolution time after “complaint” log date?

1. Less than 7 days
2. within 15 days
3.15-30 days
4. More than 30 days
5. Not defied.
 Was the service carried out within the promised date?
1. Yes
2. No
3. Not defied.

 How many times do you faced problem in battery during warranty period
1. Never
2. Once
3. Twice
4. Thrice
5. several times.

44
  Which service channel provides you with quick and best solution?
1. Deale and sub dealer.
2. CSC (channel service centre)
3. Call centre.
4. Service centre.
5. If others mention______________.

 Have your problem solved after field technician gave service at your door step?
1. Yes
2. No
3. Still exist.

 Will online and tele service beneficial for you?

1. Yes
2. No.
3. Can’t say.
 How do you rate after-sales service of Exide home ups?

1. Fully satisfied

2. Satisfied

3. Satisfied with reservations

4. Not satisfied

 Will you in the future recommend Exide battery brand to someone else?

1. Definitely recommend

2. Probably Recommend

3. Can’t say

4. Probably won’t recommend

5. Definitely won’t recommend

 What do you expect from us after purchasing the battery? Any suggestion.

__________________________________________________________

Thank you!

45
 II.Questinnaire (Dealer)

Questionnaire for dealer:

Date:

Organisation:

Name of respondent:

Designation:

Contact number:

1. How do Exide customers register complaints?

a. At Exide call centre.
B.To your organisation.
2. What will be the % of above two?

In case Customer registers complaint to the dealer

3. Do you have field Technician? YES/NO

4. Do you send your Technician to all complaint? Yes/No

5. Do you charge the complaint battery at your premises? Yes/no

6. How do you collect the battery the battery at your premises?

a. Your tech. Collect the battery.

b. You request customer to deposit the battery.

7. Who bear the cost of transportation?

a. You.
b. Customer.

8. Do you test the battery at your premises? Yes/ no

9. If yes, then through what type of chargers?

A.
B.

10. If the battery fails, do you replace the same from your own? Yes /no
Fortnight Report

11. How do you send the battery to Exide?

a. Exide service van.
b.Transport.
c.Others__________________________________

12. If transport, then how many days it takes to reach Exide?

__________________________________________________________________

46
13. After sending the battery to Exide, do you get feedback from service centre? Yes/no

14. If yes then:

a. Does Exide request you to replace the fail battery from your stock? Yes/no
b. Do you replace the battery from your own stock? Yes/no
c. Within how many days, you get the replacement?

15. Total time of replace?

a. within 7 days.
b. Within 7-10 days.
c. Within 10 to 15 days.
d. Within 15 to 20 days.
e. Specify:_____________

16. How frequently the Exide service van touches your customer? Yes/no

17. is it sufficient? Yes/no

18. Do you provide service battery? Yes/no

19. Are you aware of Exide of home service? Yes/no

20. Is it good service? Yes/no

21. Do you have any feedback about that service of Exide?

___________________________________________________________________________
_______
___________________________________________________________________________
______

22. How do you rate Exide service support?

a. Very good
B. Good.
c. Average.
d.Poor
E.Very bad.

23. Top Three area of concern in service process?

a.__________________________________________
b.___________________________________________
c.____________________________________________

24. Who is the best competitor of Exide?

__________________________________________________________________________

25. How they provide service?

___________________________________________________________________________

26. Do they have?

a. Field technician.
B.Service van.
c. Specify

47
 References
I. Marketing Research- Nargundkar

II. Business Research Methods- William G Zikmund

III. Marketing Management- Philip Kotler

IV. Marketing research: Text and cases by Bruce Wrenn

V. www.Exide4u.com

VI. http://www.exideindustries.com/

VII. www.amron.com

VIII. http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/westbengal/kolkata-city-map.htm

IX. http://www.scribd.com/doc/37422288/Exide-Final-Report-2

X. http://www.scribd.com/doc/62092350/A-Project-Report-on-Exide

XI. managementstudyguide.com/after-sales-service.htm

48