The change agent

INTERVIEW: VIJAY KUMAR SAMA

'We are largest agent for Reliance in the south'

The biggest challenge for Vijay Kumar Sama, proprietor, K N Petrochemicals, is pricing. He deals with the highly volatile plastic market. However, he's stayed on top as the No.1 supplier in the south and credits Reliance for teaching him the fine art of pro-active customer service and marketing.

You seem to have a long connection with Reliance, how has it worked?

Our connection spans over three decades, my father was also associated with Reliance Industries and that's how I got into the business in 1992 as delcrede agents for Reliance and IPCL. This relationship has worked extremely well and today we are largest agent for Reliance in the south. I operate and supply PVC, polyethylene and polypropylene to customers in Andhra Pradesh. We service around 70 customers. The significant thing is that over time competition has increased and today you also have imported raw material coming into the markets. However, I am proud to say that we have maintained our position as the largest supplier and, in fact, Andhra Pradesh has the lowest level of imported products as we cater to the needs of our customers very well.

Reliance and IPCL are very proactive in their after-sales service. They completely trust us and impart all the market information to us, which we share with our customers. Hence, we are able to help them with their inventory management. For instance, they can build their stock when prices are low and how they should not stock when prices are hardening. We also finance our customer by offering them credit facility, all this has helped us to retain customer base. All other domestic player are not in a position to do the same. In fact, we also handle Reliance's yarn division etc., and feel highly privileged that we have maintained the trust of the company.

Have imports impacted your growth?

Not really. We are very aggressive about servicing clients and, in fact, Reliance has its technical and marketing team based in Hyderabad. Hence, customers like the quality of service as the company is able to involve itself with their issues and help them. We have witnessed a consistent growth of 10-15 per cent every year. We achieved a sale of 60,000 tonnes pa and this year we are again looking at 10 per cent growth.

So how are you doing your business differently today compared to your family in the past?

We have learnt a lot about innovation and service from Reliance, for whom 'customer is king.' Also, Reliance works a great deal on product innovation with industries and actually develops end use of raw material so that companies use plastic in many ways. For instance, it has worked a lot with sugar and rice industry on packaging. Earlier, rice used to be packed in jute bags. Now, thanks to the efforts, they have started using plastic (to the level allowed by the government) and this halved their costs. Similarly, the sugar industry has also opted for plastic bags. It also helps customers streamline their production. We have innovated as we learn new ways of dealing with people.

Is it a good idea for SMEs to join hands with large companies?

Yes, it is a very good option. Today, good SMEs get support from banks for their finance needs and joining hands with a big company opens your eyes many ways of doing business. We have learnt how businesses are set up and what their needs are, as we cater to their raw material needs.