CLIENT

Structural Waterproofing Company Pvt. Ltd., a leading construction and waterproofing chemicals company of the north.

PROBLEM

The CICO Project

Structural Waterproofing Company Pvt. Ltd. is the pioneer in Construction Chemicals in India for over 65 years now. Their CICO brand of waterproofers are probably the most famous waterproofing compounds not only in India but also in other Asian countries.

Traditionally, Cico, has been very powerful in projects. However, their presence in the developing retail market has been very low. The company asked Vriksh Consulting to work out a solution for increasing their retail presence across the country.

When the engineers were sent back, the project was delayed and project costs multiplied. Customer complaints also meant that the customer was dissatisfied and angry about the way project was being handled. Both the factors spelt doom for the bottom-line and the company was understandably upset.

SOLUTION

We developed and implemented a simple Retail development plan in Delhi. As a part of the plan we created 8 distributors in the NCR and 2000 retail outlets. We took security deposits from each distributor (roughly amounting to 110 percent of the projected monthly sales from his area). Each distributor was given stocks amounting to 90% of the security deposit on 30 days credit. For retail outlets, a bundle of Rs. 5000/- worth of products was made. The sales team would convince minimum 2 outlets per market to keep a bundle. Each outlet was given a glow sign and cutout display stand for the product. Movement of the material from the outlets was ensured through various promotional activities. Some of these activities were:

	Architect contact programme: Under this programme, a team of two engineers would visit local architects and builders and conduct a free 2 hours seminar on 'use of waterproofers and other chemicals' in various construction applications (like for terrace gardens, for repairs of seepage in concrete, for waterproofing of basements, etc.). After the seminar, the architect was given a list of retailers from whom he could source Cico material at a discounted rate.
	Mason/mistry training programmes: Local masons and mistrys were trained to apply Cico chemicals properly for day to day waterproofing and repairs of houses. Also gift schemes for masons and mistrys were launched through these programmes.
	Roadshows: In colony roadshows were organized for a year all over Delhi creating awareness of use of Cico chemicals for healthy living.

RESULT

In less than a year we were getting sales of more than Rs 30.00 Lakhs per month from Delhi alone. Later the same model was replicated all over India with tremendous success. The result was a network of more than 8000 retail outlets all over India, selling Cico products.