Infrastructure

Rural Infrastructure
Transport and communication
Road connectivity
Good connectivity, particularly in rural areas, between sub-divisional towns and districts headquarters is often the primary means of supplementing public efforts directed at providing basic health and educational services, as well as infrastructural support for production and trade and commerce at the local village level. 70% of the population continues to live in rural areas and where over 50% of villages with population of less than 1,000 have yet to be connected by roads. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna Launched in Dec 2000 with the objective of providing connectivity through good all weather roads to all unconnected habitations with a population of more than 500 persons.

Post offices
India with its 1,55,279 post offices as on 31 march 2002 (1,38,756) post offices are in rural areas) has a postal network that is largest in the world. On an average, a post office serves an area of 21.17 sq km. and a population of 6,614 persons

Radio
Six radio stations at the time of independence. All India Radio today has 208 radio stations. 123 FM channels Provide coverage to a population of 98.8%% spread over 90% of the country.

Television
Doordarshan (DD), the national television of India, is one of the largest terestrial networks in the world. Reaches over 87% of the population. Community television sets have been introduced under various schemes operated by central and state governments. Doordarshan has a maximum viewership of 90%, the lowest cost per thousand audience. Advent of DTH services

Press and Print Media

As per the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI), the total number of newspapers and periodicals published in India in the year 2000 was 49,145, appearing in 101 languages and dialects. The reach of newspapers in rural areas is very poor; only15% of the copies of newspapers (regional languages) reach rural.

Telecom Services
By 2004, over 80% of all villages had been connected through 5.4 lakh Village Public Telephones (VPTs). 1.42 crore telephone connections had been given in rural areas. 84% villages are now covered by VPTs. PCOs licences where there is no VPTs

Mobile Services
Out of 3.6 crore current mobile phone users, nearly 15% are in rural areas Faced with the prospect that the growth in the mobile phone user base would hit a saturation point in big cities, Indian cellular service providers are gearing up to delve deeper into under-penetrated rural areas. Mobile Postman Scheme- A scheme by GOI

Social Infrastructure
Rural Health services
Sub-Centres Primary Health Services Community Health services

Public Distribution System

PDS means the distribution of essential commodities to a large number of through a network of FPS ( Fair Prices shops) on a regular basis ( often referred to as ration shops). The commodities distributed are wheat, rice sugar, edible oil and kerosene. PDS with network of about 4.76 lakh FPSs is perhaps the largest distribution network of its kind in the world. Of the total number of FPSs, 80 percent (i.e 3.8 lakh) are in rural areas. As per the norms prescribed by the Government, one FPS caters to 1000 population in rural areas

Agri Infrastructure Mandis

Mandis are agricultural markets set up by state governments to procure agricultural produce directly from farmers. Located in high production centres of different crops, these markets may be categorized as grain mandis, cotton mandis, soya mandis and so on. Most agricultural areas with a population of more than 10,000 have mandis and each mandi on an average caters to 1 36,000 population.

Marketing Infrastructure Haats

Despite rapid urbanization and the establishment of permanent shops in villages, haats (Periodic markets) still play an important role in the rural economy as well as in the social life of villagers.

A first-point contact for villagers with the market

A means of distributing local products and exchanging rural surplus. An opportunity for buying daily necessities as well as farm supplies and equipment A place for political, social, and cultural contact.

Marketing Infrastructure Melas

Melas are gatherings of people away from their residences for entertainment and for the sale and purchase of goods and services at a particular time.
Melas may be classified on the following basis:

Religious, cultural, or commercial ( commodity, cattle, exhibition)

Local, regional, and national One day, short duration (2-7) days), or long duration ( more than a week)

Marketing Infrastructure Shops

As per the 2001 census, out of the 1.33 crore shops in India , 55 lakh are in rural areas. The types of outlets found in villages include the grocery store, paan shops, flour mills and tailor, barber and cycle repair shops.

Rural Segmentation

Being a heterogeneous mass of population on all the demographic variables, it is necessary to segment rural market. Unlike the socio-economic classification of the urban market, rural markets require other variables like culture, infrastructure etc.

Segmentation

Any marketer can target a market with two broad strategies:

Mass Market Strategy Market Segmentation Strategy

Segmentation Variables

Geographic:

Region, state, district, village

Age, gender, occupation, buying power Social Class, lifestyle, personality Type of usage, amount of usage

Demographic:

Psychographic:

Product Related

Conditions

Measurable Accessible Profitable Data Availability

Approaches for segmenting Rural Markets

Population

Based on size of Village population: Determines overall potential demand

No. of villages

% of total villages

< 200
200-499 500-999 1000-1999 2000-4999

114,267
155,123 159,400 125,758 69,135

17.9*
24.3* 25.0 19.7 10.8** 1.8** 0.5**

*Hardly any shop **50% of pop and 60% of wealth

5,000-9999 11,618 10,000 & above 3,064

ORG-MARG has suggested the classification of the rural belt in 3 categories: Class I- pop over 5000 Class II- pop between 1000-5000 Class III- pop less than 1000

Based on size of Farmland

Income is also an important factor which determines consumption. With nearly 55% income in rural areas coming from agriculture, land holding pattern can be a basis for segmentation. Following classification is used:

Marginal farmer: holding upto 1.0 hectares Small farmer: holding 1.0-2.0 hectares Semi-medium farmer: holding 2.0-4.0 hectares Medium farmer: holding 4.0-10.0 hectares Large farmer: holding 10.0 hectares and above

Based on Sociological Characteristics

Proprietors of land Rich Farmers Small Peasants or Marginal Farmers Tenant Farmers Agricultural Labourers Artisans & others

Based on Income

Rural Rich Consumers:

Concentrated Rich Consumers Scattered Rich Consumers

Rural consumers around urban areas Rural consumers above poverty line Rural consumers below poverty line

Sales Management
planning, direction and control of personal selling, including recruiting, selecting, equipping, assigning, routing, supervising, paying and motivating as these tasks apply to the personal sales force.
American Marketing Association

Firm

Sales Manager

Sales Reps

Customer

Value

Sales Management Process

Formulation of Strategic Sales Management Programme

Implementation of Strategic Sales Management Programme

Evaluation and Control of Sales Force Performance

Sales Process
Prospecting & qualifying
Identify qualified potential customers

Preapproach
Learn as much as possible about customer

Approach

Make a relationship

Closing
Ask for an order

Handling objections
Overcome customer objections To ensure customer satisfaction & repeat business

Presentation & demonstration

Tell the product story & focus on customer benefits

Follow-up

Sales Organization

Organization structure defines relationship among jobs and amongst people in an organization. The aim is to make sure that the group of individuals strive jointly to reach qualitative and quantitative objectives.

Types of Sales Organization

Line Line and Staff Functional By Specialization

Line Organization

Advantages

Disadvantages

Clear authority and responsibility Simple to understand Quick Decision making Low Cost

Lack of specialization Dependency on the head. Time consuming for the head. Deviation from planning and analysis function.

Line and Staff Organization

Advantages

Disadvantages

Better decisions due to assistance of specialized staff. Focus on planning by top level. Better sales performance.

Higher cost. Comparatively slow decision making. Possibility of conflict between line and staff personnel.

Functional Organization

Advantages

Disadvantages

High degree of specialization Qualified specialist guiding the sales force.

Confusion among sales people. Problem in co-ordination. Very Expensive

By Specialization

Geographic Product Market/Customer

Setting Sales Organization

Defining the objectives Determining the necessary activities

Grouping activities into jobs

Assigning personnel to positions Coordination & Control

Quotas

Goals set by a company for its sales team for a certain period of time. It may be for a region, a branch, or an individual sales person. Can be set on sales volume, expenses, profit margins or combination.

Setting Sales Quota

Can be set based on

Territory Potential Past Sales Experience Total Market Estimates Executive Judgement Sales Persons estimates Compensation Plan