Building Customer Focused Business
Sai Estate Consultants Chembur Pvt. Ltd. (SECCPL) was found by Bhagwan Wadhwani and now is spearheaded by the young and enterprising next generation. Vicky Bhagwan Wadhwani, Managing Director of the company, in an informal chat with Sapna Srivastava speaks about the new age broking business. Beginning the conversation with the brief background of Vicky gave an understanding of this young entrepreneur’s grit and determination who worked his way up to lead the budding broking firm of Sai Estate Consultants. A commerce graduate from Mumbai University and an MBA in marketing, he started his career at a young age of 18. “I worked with BPOs, lifestyle clubs and a mobile agency that I used to run during my college days. My brother Amit Wadhwani left his job at Jet Airways and joined the business in 2010 and a year later I decided to assist him in the business.” Talking about the changes that he has witnessed over the years in the business of broking, Vicky candidly states that the biggest change has been in the attitude of developers. “Earlier, the developers were quite uncompromising and would not want to bring down their prices or payment patterns. Now they understand that developers need to be consumer centric not only in terms of designing the projects but also in terms of customer relations and flexible payment options & discounts,” he explained. The home buyers, he feels are now much more educated and aware of the real-estate thanks to the easy access to the information available online. “The home buyers are in a wait and watch situation, expecting price corrections. But, the important consideration while purchasing a property is to have a professional outlook and get the best deal. We guide the client in terms of the suitable property as per their needs and assure them that of transparent negotiation on their behalf. On the other hand, we also advise the developers on the correct pricing of their projects as per market demands to find buyers.” Role of an Enabler Elaborating on the unique journey of the company, Vicky stated that his brother Amit’s hospitality background was the major differentiator for them. “Given his airlines professional training, Amit brought that aspect in client interaction that was a pleasant surprise for the real-estate buyer. He also got the business more organized and gave it a corporate structure. When I became part of the company, I assisted in getting clients and offer customer service post deal closure. Our market remained the Chembur suburbs of Mumbai. And the focus was on service delivery to clients.” From the way information is presented on the company website, the advertisements or the project configuration details, the emphasis is on consumer centric service and delivery. The feedback that we get from the clients is that they are happy dealing with us as we are professionals unlike many others in this trade.” At present, Vicky is instrumental in adding to the baseline of the organization by leveraging his marketing experience in various domains. He is also in charge of financial and legal advisory. “I am working hand in hand with the panel of reputed legal and financial consultants to manage asset liability and all the possible risks that the organisation could actually face.” A down to earth person, Vicky is modest of his achievements. Considering the not so good perception of broking business till few years back, Vicky is of the view that his professional approach and candid discussions with the clients helped him in not being perceived in a conventional way. “Our consistent effort is always to give clients a comfortable and pleasurable home buying experience.” Probably, one of the reasons the company is managing to sell consistently, even during the times of slow sales. We are not in competition with our peers. We look up to those, who we would like to be compared with and where we want to reach. Distinct Business Strategy Starting almost 7 years back, as an emerging broking firm, Vicky and Amit Wadhwani studied the successful channel partner’s business and service models and made all out efforts to do better than them to create their own mark. And the strategy paid well. Vicky summarizes their methodology, “We ensure that our services and practices are much better than the best channel partners of the given geographical region. Our strong after sales in-house support make sure the buyer experience remains seamless before and after the transaction are made.” The consumers are well read today and understand most technical, legal and civil aspects. To further increase awareness, RERA makes it mandatory for all development companies to post their building specifications and project status on website. SECCPL before listing a project, studies developer’s costs, inventory, any debts associated with the projects and current market reputation. Vicky further briefed, “We conduct a detailed market & typology analysis surrounding the project and understand developers expected profit margins. Most of the micro-market centric developers though doing good work don't have an in-house sales & marketing team. Our aggressive marketing brings to lime light these good quality projects and at the same time offer the buyers value for money homes.” Concluding the conversation on a positive note, Vicky feels this is the right time to buy property as the real-estate market is currently consumer favourable. At personal level, he is quite satisfied with his journey till now and is raring to achieve more. Expressing his enthusiasm, Vicky said, “I wake up every morning, pepped up to work with the team, to assist as many as possible in fulfilling their dream of owning a house and to take the company to newer heights of success.” And we say ‘Amen’ to that.
Tags : Interviews