PROJECT REPORT

ON
APPLICATION OF
SALES AND DISTRIBUTION
MANAGEMENT

Company Berger Paints India Ltd

Name Suvadip Ghosal
Roll 15067
Batch 2015-17
SUVADIP GHOSAL

Acknowledgement
Before getting into thick of things, I would like to add few words of appreciation for the people who have been a
part of this project right from its inception. The writing of this project has been one of the most significant
academic challenges I have faced and without the support, patience and guidance of the people involved this
project would not have been completed. It is to them I owe my deepest gratitude. It gives an immense pleasure to
present the project report on the Application of Sales & Distribution management. I hereby take this opportunity
to add a special note of thanks to Dr. Suman Kumar Dawn who undertook to act as our mentor despite his many
other professional commitments. His wisdom, knowledge and commitment to the highest standards inspired and
motivated us. Without his insight and support this project would not have reached to its fruitfulness.

SUVADIP GHOSAL

Contents
Chapter No.

Topic

Page No.

Introduction

Company profile

Competitors

Distribution network

Organizational structure

11

Sales force management

12

Financial performance

15

Problems in sales force

16

Recommendations

16

10

Conclusion

17

11

Bibliography

18

SUVADIP GHOSAL

1. Introduction
Sales management is attainment of an organization's sales goals in an effective & efficient manner through
planning, staffing, training, leading & controlling organizational resources. Revenue, sales, and sources of funds
fuel organizations and the management of that process is the most important function.
Distribution management can be defined as the management of resources and processes used to deliver a product
from a production location to the point-of-sale, including storage at warehousing locations or delivery to retail
distribution points. Distribution management also includes determination of optimal quantities of a product for
delivery to particular warehouses or points-of-sale in order to achieve the most efficient delivery to customers.
Sales management facilitates the directions of activities and functions which are involved in the distribution of
goods and services. According to Philip Kotler, Marketing management is the analysis, planning implementation
and control of programs designed to bring about desired exchanges with target markets for the purpose of
achieving organizational objectives. It relies heavily on designing the organizations offering in terms of the target
markets needs and desires and using effective pricing, communication and distribution to inform, motivate and
service the market. Sales or marketing management is concerned with the chalking out of a definite program,
after careful analysis and forecasting of the market situations and the ultimate execution of these plans to achieve
the objectives of the organization. Further their sales plans to a greater extent rest upon the requirements and
motives of the consumers in the market aimed at. To achieve this objective, the organization has to give heed to
the right pricing, effective advertising and sales promotion, discerning distribution and stimulating the consumers
through the best services. To sum up, marketing management may be defined as the process of management of
marketing programs for accomplishing organizational goals and objectives. It involves planning, implementation
and control of marketing programs or campaigns.
Functions of sales & distribution management

Sales research and planning

Demand creation

Sales costs and budget

Price fixation

Development of products

Establishing sales territories

Co-ordination of sales

These functions differ from company to company according to their size and the nature of their products.
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Importance of sales & distribution management

Sales management has gained importance to meet increasing competition and the need for improved methods of
distribution to reduce cost and to increase profits. Sales management today is the most important function in a
commercial and business enterprise.

Introduction of new products in the market.

Increasing the production of existing products.

Reducing cost of sales and distribution.

Export market.

Development in the means and communication of transportation within and outside the country.

Rise in per capita income and demand for more goods by the consumers.

2. Company Profile
The foundations of the brand Berger was laid by Mr. Lewis Berger way back in 1760 in the United Kingdom.
With modest beginnings in India in 1923, today, Berger Paints India Limited is the second largest paint company
in the country with a consistent track record of being one of the fastest growing paint companies, quarter on
quarter, for the past few years. Undergoing a number of changes in ownership and nomenclature in its 88-yearold history in India, the company has come a long way. Starting out as Hadfield's (India) Limited, it had just one
factory in Howrah, West Bengal. By the close of 1947, Hadfield's was acquired by British Paints (Holdings)
Limited, UK and came to be known as British Paints (India) Limited. In 1983, the name of the Company was
changed to Berger Paints India Limited. Currently, the majority stake is with the Delhi based Dhingra brothers.
Berger Paints has established itself through a long course of time. From an annual sales turnover of INR 25 lakhs,
Business revenues today are in excess of INR 4500 Crores on a consolidated basis. Berger Paints India is
headquartered at Kolkata, with 10 strategically located manufacturing units and about 110 stock points. The
company also has an international presence in 4 countries (Nepal, Bangladesh, Poland and Russia). With
employee strength of above 2800 and a countrywide distribution network of 25,000+ dealers, Berger is acclaimed
as a game changer in the sector with a vibrant portfolio of paints and tailor-made customer services in every paint
segment.

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Vision
To be the most admired Indian paint and coating solutions company with globally recognized competencies.
Mission
To maximize shareholder value by developing and delivering innovative and best solutions for our customers,
consistently outperforming our peers and providing a dynamic and challenging work environment for our
employees.
Company philosophy

The company believes in continuous innovation and change. This belief helps to achieve the goals and
perform at high levels.

The guiding values are Performance, Customer First, Ethical Practices & Valuing People. These four core
values help in managing and meshing stakeholders expectations and provide integration of the efforts
that the company undertakes.

Products

Enamel

Interior wall coating

Exterior wall coating

Construction chemical

Primers

Putties

Exterior Texture

3. Competitors

Asian Paints

Dulux Paints (AkzoNobel)

Shalimar Paints

Kansai Nerolac Paints

Acro Paints Ltd

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Market Share

Berger Paints India Ltd is the 2nd largest paint manufacturer in India followed by Kansai Nerolac. The market
leader of this industrial segment is Asian Paints. Berger Paints India Ltd holds 17.8% of the total market share of
the Indian paint industry. The market leader, Asian Paints holds 53.8% of the total market share of India.

4. Distribution network
With Head Office in Kolkata the company manufactures and markets a range of decorative & industrial paint
products under various product brands and has it operations spread throughout the length & breath of the country;
with seven manufacturing facilities in India and more than 85 depots, several regional & area offices, besides four
facilities overseas. It has a workforce of over 2500 employees and a countrywide distribution network of 15000
plus dealers. The orders are collected by the sales executives and passed on to the nearest depot. The depots are
fed by regional warehouses. These depots maintain a minimum order quantity which is arrived at from the
monthly demand forecast. The material is dispatched from the depot in the name of the dealer. Generally, some
orders of the same region are clubbed together and dispatched in trucks. Finally, the truck is unloaded and the
small orders of the dealers are dispatched to them.

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Product

Feedback

BERGER

Customer

Retail

Customer

Wholesale

Product

Feedback

Depots

Feedback
Direct dealers

Feedback

As the development in technology and changing definition of market Lewis Berger also introduced BERGERs
hybrid marketing system.
Customer
Direct channel

BERGER

Indirect channel

Direct dealer

Customer

SUVADIP GHOSAL

An overview of the sales depot of Berger Paints India Ltd.

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SUVADIP GHOSAL

10

Retail Structure
The dealers in the retail structure of Berger Paints India Ltd are classified in following categories:

Stallion An annual turnover of minimum INR 25 lakhs.

Silver An annual turnover of minimum INR 50 lakhs.

Gold An annual turnover of minimum INR 1.5 crores.

Platinum An annual turnover of minimum INR 3 crores.

These dealers are under the supervision of area sales managers of each states. These dealers are managed by the
sales officers who are divided by their respective sales territories and sales quota given by their area sales
managers.

5. Organizational structure
Berger Paints India Ltd follows a line organizational hierarchy for the sales and distribution management. The
sales officers report to area sales managers of various sales territories who are under the divisional sales managers.
Sales territories are governed by the regional sales managers who are under the governance of General Sales
Manager. At the top of the organization there are the national business development managers and the managing
director of the company.
Managing Director

Vice President Sales

General Sales Manager

Regional Sales Manager

Divisional Sales Manager

Area Sales Manager
Sales Officer

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6. Sales force management

Sales force management mainly covers recruitment and selection of sales force. Training of sales force as well as
motivating and compensating the sales force.
Recruitment

Recruitment is done from various colleges, universities and B-schools across the country. The basic job
role given at the time of recruitment is management trainee or sales and service executives.

Students are hired as interns for the position of sales interns with the target of generating sales revenue.

Recruitment is also done through various consultancy agencies for the third party pay role executives to
strengthen the sales force.

If there are major vacancies, then it is displayed on the career section on the website. Job role and job
description are well defined with the required criteria of the applicants.

Recruitment is done through promotion, re-employment of former employees and also via companys
staffs.

A potential employees of a competing firms who are willing to switch from their respective organizations
are also recruited.

Selection

From the campus management trainees are selected after clearing the aptitude test, group discussion and
finally through personal interview session. Selection is done by a panel comprises of divisional sales
manager and heads of the other verticals of the company.

Selection through consultancy agencies are mainly done through the personal interview session only if the
required criteria for the job position is matched with those of the candidates. Mainly the area sales manager
selects the sales officers through consultancy agencies.

When the candidates apply through the websites then those resumes which match with the required criteria
of the job are short listed. Then a specific date and venue are given to the candidates for the personal
interview session. Finally, selection is done based on the respective personal interview session. Selection
is done by the higher authorities like General sales manager and divisional sales manager.

Employees from competing firms are selected based on the experience of the candidates and the amount
of sales that they can bring in with them for the benefit of the company. Generally, vice president sales,
general sales manager, divisional sales manager take part in the selection procedure.

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Training

For the new recruits training is given through an induction program to make them familiar to the company
culture and work environment. The details about the responsibilities of the new recruits are explained to
make them well aware about the methods of sales procedure and also about the specifications of the
products that are to be sold.

New recruits are trained by senior sales officers through an exposure in the market. This type of training
includes introducing to the potential customers of the company, the details about the approximate revenue
of a particular sales territories, a hands on experience on the sales technique like how to pitch the product,
highlighting the USP to differentiate from the competitors. These all are taught to the new recruits by
tagging them along with the senior sales officer to a sales call or client visit.

When a new product is launched then a short term training session is done to make the sales force aware
of the details of the new product and its USP.

Evaluation

Evaluation of the sales force is done once in every three months based on the ratio of the target given and
the target met after each quarter of the financial year.

Performance of each sales person is evaluated and based on that refresher training sessions are scheduled.

Motivation

Employee stock option scheme to provide motivation to the employees.

Incentives based on the completion and the partial completion of the monthly sales target.

Annual award function to provide recognition to the top performers.

Promotion of the sales person to a higher position.

Promotion to the direct pay scale of the company from the third party pay scale.

Compensation

Average salary of management trainee is from INR 4.75 lakhs/annum onwards.

Average salary of senior sales officer is from INR 5.03 lakhs/annum onwards.

Average salary of area sales manager is from INR 8.55 lakhs/annum onwards.

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Remuneration
Pursuant to the revised Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement, The Remuneration Committee is to recommend to
the Board a policy relating to the remuneration of the Directors, Key Management Personnel and other employees.
In determining the salaries of employees, including the Managing Director, Executive Directors and Key
Management Personnel, other than those who are unionized, the guiding principle will be retaining and rewarding
performers. Meritocracy and usefulness to the Company and comparable costs for obtaining similar services from
other sources will be given due consideration. A robust appraisal system will be in vogue for the purpose.
Remuneration will be fair and equitable and in accordance with applicable laws. Salary of the employees will
contain a suitable variable part. The overall impact of revision in salaries every year will be approved by the
Board as part of the year's budget. The salaries and periodicity of revision of Managers reporting to the Managing
Director will be determined by the Managing Director after consultation with the Head of HR and those of other
Managers and Executives, by the Head of HR, in consultation with the Managing Director, based on need of the
Company and performance, job responsibilities, qualification, experience and location of the employees. The
salary of Head of HR will be determined by the Managing Director based on the above criteria. Managers may
be granted ESOP and similar benefits, as are prevailing, by the Remuneration Committee.
Sales Promotion
Sales Promotion is an important component of marketing communications mix. It adds an extra value to the
product and hence prompts the dealer or consumer to buy the product. In a specific sense, sales promotion includes
those sales activities that supplement both personal selling and advertising, and coordinate them and make them
effective, such as displays, shows, demonstrations and other non-recurrent selling efforts not in the ordinary
routine.
Sales promotion can be used:

For facilitating introduction of new products

For overcoming unique competitive situation

For unloading accumulated inventory

For overcoming seasonal slumps

For getting new accounts

For retrieving lost accounts

As a support and supplement to the advertising effort

As a support and supplement to the salesmens effort

For persuading salesmen to sell the full line of product

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For persuading the dealer to buy more or increase the size of order

Commonly Used Tools and Techniques of Sales Promotion:

Demonstrations

Trade Fairs and Exhibition

Coupons, Premiums, Free offers, Price-offs, etc

Free samples

Joint promotion

Contests (consumer contests, dealer contests)

Merchandising or Display

Sales promotion on the internet

The company has been concentrating more on sales promotion than on advertising. On analyzing the customer
survey data, it becomes evident that since the customer is returning to the store after an average of about three
years it is better to concentrate more on the dealers who are in the business throughout the year. Keeping this in
mind the companys decision of doing more sales promotion than advertising stands justified. Sales promotion
can broadly be divided into two categories:

7. Financial performance
During the financial year ended 31st March, 2015, the Company achieved net consolidated revenue from
operations of INR 4,322.06 crores as against INR 3,869.72 crores in the previous year registering a growth of
11.69%. The profit before depreciation, interest and tax was 546.74 crores as against INR 467.32 crores in the
previous year, recording an improvement of 17%. The profit before tax was INR 404.10 crores (2013-14: INR
349.98 crores) and the profit after tax was INR 264.70 crores (2013-14: INR 249.39 crores), representing an
increase of 15.46% in profit before tax and 6.14% in profit after tax. On a standalone basis, the growth in sales
was 12.5% and that of profit after tax, 13.5%. The growth in EBIDTA was 21.26 %. The income tax holiday
period at two of the Companys units at Jammu expired on 31st March, 2014, leading to increase in effective tax
rate from about 28% to about 33%.

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Sales of last 5 years

8. Problems in sales force

Inefficiency in closing the generated leads for painting.

Irregular supply of products to the dealers.

Sloppy attitude in the sales personals.

Too much focus on big leads which leads to the negligence towards small leads those can be easily
converted.

9. Recommendation

Berger should also concentrate on rural markets.

It would be beneficial for the company if they can increase its sales and distribution in villages.

Decorative paints should also be targeted.

Sales force can be used to make more dealers.

Another alarming factor is that nowadays Berger Paints decorative segments products are giving less
coverage as compared to earlier times. So steps should be taken to make the quality of the paint better
and thicker to satisfy the existing customers.
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16

Shade cards should be made easily available to the contractors.

As far as the interior and exterior texture paints are concerned the versatility of the designs should be
increased and designs should be more attractive.

Booklets consisting of various wall designs as well as different shades should be made available to the
householders from where they can choose which category or quality or design will best suit their
personality.

Stalls should be given in front of the construction sites, so that when people come to see the flats they
have bought, they can be demonstrated with different kinds of wall paints and texture designs. These
prospects can be easily converted into successful sale.

Berger should be more efficient in closing the leads and in a much faster way.

Berger should focus more on the distemper and weather coat as market demand of these two product range
is high.

Berger should follow up with the consumers in an interval of 5 years as the frequency of painting is most
in this interval.

Berger should maintain the brand value as recommendation and previous experience are two influencing
factors for preference of paints.

10. Conclusion

In Paint Industry Berger Paints Plays a very Leading Role in terms of market Share specially in Eastern
Part of India.

In Kolkata and Surrounding Part of Kolkata in likes of Howrah People Largely have a demand on Berger
Products when it comes to Paints.

People Specially from urban and semi-urban sector have an high inclination towards variety of painting
products for their apartment or house.

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17

11. Bibliography

https://www.bergerpaints.com/about-us/company-profile.html

https://www.bergerpaints.com/about-us/remuneration-policy.html

http://careers.bergerpaints.com/

https://www.bergerpaints.com/investors/annual-reports.html

https://www.glassdoor.co.in/Salary/Berger-Paints-Salaries-E328160.htm

http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/sales-management/sales-management-functions-and-importance-ofsales-management-explained/25864/

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