A

PROJECT REPORT
ON
EFFICACY OF PAINTER CRM PROGRAM vs COMPETITION

SHALIMAR PAINTS
Internship Undertaken At Shalimar Paints Ltd.
(New Delhi)
Submitted To- Submitted By-
Mr.Amit Gupta Zeeshan Junaid
(Zonal Manager North-1) (Intern)

Department of Business Administration

Faculty of Management Studies and Research
Aligarh Muslim University Centre
Malappuram, Kerala
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The internship opportunity I had with Shalimar Paints Limited was a great
chance for learning and professional development. Therefore, I consider
myself as a very lucky individual as I was provided with an opportunity to be a
part of it. I am also grateful for having a chance to meet so many wonderful
people and professionals who led me though this internship period.
Bearing in mind previous I am using this opportunity to express my deepest
gratitude and special thanks to the Mr. Amit Gupta Sir who inspite of being
extraordinarily busy with his duties, took time out to hear, guide and keep me
on the correct path and allowing me to carry out my project at their esteemed
organization and extending during the Internship.
I express my deepest thanks to Mr. Amit Gupta Sir and Shalimar Paints
Ltd.,Neb Sarai Depo.,New Delhi employees for taking part in useful decision &
giving necessary advices and guidance and arranged all facilities to make life
easier. I choose this moment to acknowledge their contribution gratefully.
I perceive as this opportunity as a big milestone in my career development. I
will strive to use gained skills and knowledge in the best possible way, and I will
continue to work on their improvement, in order to attain desired career
objectives. Hope to continue cooperation with all of you in the future
However,I accept he sole responsibility for any possible error and would be
extremely grateful to the readers of this project report if they bring such
mistakes to my notice.
Sincerely,

Zeeshan Junaid
 PREFACE

This report is prepared to fulfil the requirement of the MBA program of Aligarh
Muslim University, Malappuram Centre, Kerala on “Research on EFFICACY OF
PAINTER CRM PROGRAM vs COMPETITION”. I have chosen SHALIMAR
PAINTS Ltd. because it is one of the renowned and pioneering organization in
India, it has a great influence over the country and also one of the oldest in
paint industry.
The company is engaged in manufacturing and marketing of decorative paints
and industrial coatings. Some of India’s buildings and structures such as the
Howrah Bridge, Rashtrapati Bhawan, Salt Lake Stadium, All India Institute of
Medical Sciences, and many others continue to be painted with Shalimar
Paints. They are one of the India’s leading manufacturer of paint.
The prime focus of this study is to highlight and analyse the efficacy of the
painter CRM program run by the company vs that of the competition. Here I
tried my best to focus the overall scenario of Shalimar’s CRM program keeping
in my mind that of the competition. The main source of data is primary as well
as secondary. This study is divided into several sections. The introductory part,
Problem, Objectives of the study, Research methodology, Limitation and
Coverage of the study. The relevant data and analyzation, suggestions to
overcome the problems, conclusion and some recommendation to overcome
the problems.
Chapter-1
1.1 Background:
In paint industry there is always neck to neck fight of branded companies. This
project which was undertaken as a part of the MBA curriculum was aimed at
analysing the effectiveness of CRM program run by Shalimar Paints with the
existing company contractor and also competitor contractor.

1.2 Purpose:
The purpose of this project is to provide suggestions and
recommendations to the company Shalimar Paints to groom its strategy for
existing and competitor contractors.

1.3 Scope:
The various scope of the study is listed below:
 It gives us information about the various categories of the competitor
contractors on the basis of their total purchase.
 It gives us information about the proportion of dedicated Shalimar Paints
contractors.
 It gives the information regarding the preference and choices of the
different contractors.
 It gives the information regarding the simplicity and easy accessibility loyalty
program.
 It gives us information that how much effective the loyalty scheme of
Shalimar Paints are as a promotional strategy to retain their existing
contractors as well as gain new contractors.
 It gives us an idea about why competitor contractors do not want to use
Shalimar Paints.

1.4 SalientContributions:
 Increase the awareness or necessary information to gain the competitive
advantage over the competitor brands.
 Increase the sales volume due to effective loyalty program execution.
 Improve the Customer Relationship Management program of the company.
Theoretical Framework

Customer Relationship Management (or CRM) is a phrase that describes how

your business interacts with your customers. CRM is about what you do with
that information to better meet the needs of your existing customers and
identify new customers, resulting in higher profits for you. CRM is often
thought of as a business strategy that enables businesses to:
 Understand the customer.
 Retain customers through better customer experience.
 Attract new customer.
 Win new clients and contracts.
 Increase profitably.
 Decrease customer management costs.

Don Peppers and Martha Rogers outlined a four step framework for one to one
marketing that can be adopted to CRM as follows:

1. Identify your prospects.

2. Differentiate customers in terms of their needs and their value to your
company.
3. Interact with individual customers to improve your knowledge about their
individual
needs and build a stronger relationship.
4. Customize products, services, and messages to each customer.

Customer satisfaction can be greatly achieved by imparting Customer

Relationship Management (CRM) in the company.
Customer Satisfaction- “Customer Satisfaction, business term of how the
products and the
services supplied by the company meet or surpass the customer expectation. It
is the key performance indicator within the business.” By Berlin Asong

Business Techniques of Customer Satisfaction-

 One of the key customer satisfaction techniques is the need to provide

front line employees with the ability to respond to customer situations
quickly without the need to ‘ask for permission’.
 Innovation drives customers satisfaction. As customers needs keep
changing, an innovation driven company is capacitated to exceed
customers expectations.
 To provide after sale services.
 Listen actively and carefully.
 Anticipate that the customer will be asking questions. They may be easy,
they be hard. But encourage them anyway. If you cannot provide an
answer, promise to find out the answer from someone who can.
 Be patient, look from the customers point of view and work from there.
This point of view will always give you the best outlook on the situation.
 Always keep a smile on your face when dealing with customers which can
lead to customer satisfaction. This positive attitude can rub off and turn a
potentially negative situation into a positive experience.

CRM at Shalimar Paints:

In the paint industry, painter, contractors, dealers are the key influencers in
decision making, if any brand adds on extra value then they would follow that
brand. Shalimar Paints runs schemes for the painters and contractors which
they pass on to them through dealers.

Majorly, the paint professional community does not understand the

technology much; hence the company could only connect and pass benefits to
the painters through their Sales team and dealers, so the gap between
Shalimar Paints and painters remained.

So,in order to bridge this existing gap Shalimar Paints took various steps which
are as follows-
 The main focus of the company is to retain its existing contractors and also
to attract new contractors. So, they have launched schemes exclusively for
Painters and Contractors.

 Launched a loyalty reward program known as Shalimar Paints EXPERT

program App powered by PAYBACK.

 Companies CRM program revolves around the EXPERT program.

 Shalimar Paints appointed a Business Development Associate to look after

the EXPERT program of the company.

 Registration of its contractors on the App.

 Regular meetings with the contractors and understanding there problems.

 Contractors feedback.
Chapter-2
2.1 Brief Description
The Indian Paint Industry currently valued at around Rs. 50,000 Crores is
poised to grow at a healthy rate and is expected to reach around Rs.70, 000
Crores by 2021-22.The organized players of the industry cater to about 65% of
the overall demand, where as the unorganized players take care of the
remaining 35%, in value terms. The unorganized players mainly dominate the
distemper segment.

The industry consists of two segments, namely-

Decorative segment–caters to the housing sector and
Industrial segment-consists of powder coatings, floor coatings and other
protective coatings catering to the automobile, marine and other industries.
In the domestic market, Decorative segment accounts for 70% of the total
demand for paints where as the industrial segment accounts for the remaining
30%. Globally, the demand for paints is almost equally distributed, where both
the segments account for close to 50% of demand.

Foundation for paint was laid in the year 1902 with the setting up of Shalimar
Paints in Calcutta. It was during the and after the World War II. That large
number of paint manufacturing units was set up in India. Since then the Indian
paint industry has made substantial progress. The paint industry has come to
the recognition as an important sector in the national economy in producing
industrial coating and decorative paints.
The Indian paint industry is at the crossroads. All most all-major paint
companies have expanded or are expanding its capacity substantially. With
demand rising slowly competition is becoming increasingly intense. The
decreasing growth rate has made the paint companies to woo customers
aggressively. The customer is being offered 10% rebate in most products is
unheard in the industry so far. Most companies have increased their discounts
to their dealers to unimaginable level dealers are offered higher credit levels,
flexibility in payment, foreign trips for selling even low value products and the
like. The increasing competition to offer solutions through technology has
made all the paint make as offer a large number of shades through
computerised.
Importance-
Generally paints and coatings are applied to products to protect them from:
 Environmental Corrosion.
 Protection of Food and Beverages in metal cans.
 Improve aesthetic appeal.
2.2 Understanding Paints and Type of Paints:

Basically, Paint is a mixture of the following elements which give a paint its
flow, and enable it to be brushed on a surface.
 Solvents- Solvent is the liquid in paint that suspends the pigment and resins
and transports them from the paint brush to the wall. The solvent then
evaporates and leaves the paint film behind. Solvents in paint can be water
(for latex paint) or mineral spirits (for oil based alkyd paint). The less solvent
in the paint the higher the quality and the better the coverage.

 Binders- Which hold the paint together, as well bind it to the surface that is
painted, thus giving its property of durability.

 Pigments- Which give paint its colour and opacity.

 Additives- Which give paint special properties such as resistance to fungus,

rust ..etc.

Paints can be distinguished as:

1. Emulsions: These are water based paints Acrylic Emulsions are extremely
durable and give wall silky and smooth finish. They are washable and easy to
maintain.
Eg: Asian Paints offers three brands to choose.
Premium –Shalimar’s Signature Luxury Emulsion.
Medium- Shalimar’s Superlac Stay Clean Emulsion.
Economical- Shalimar’s Silk Emulsion.
2. Distempers: These are also water based paints but their binders may be very
natural or synthetic. Distempers are economically priced, they offer good value
for money as they are durable.
Eg: Shalimar Paints has Premium Acrylic Distemper.
3. Luster And Matt Finishes: These are solvent based paints are extremely
durable. The former gives a gloss egg shell finish while matt finishes have a
dead matt finish.
Eg: Shalimar Paints has Master Acrylic.
4. Exterior Finishes: For exterior cement paint is mainly used as it is
economical. It also has a reasonable life if in areas where monsoon is not too
heavy.
Eg: Shalimar’s cemkote plus.
5. Enamels: It provide the best coating for metals they are tough, durable,
glossy in finish. The smooth shiny look lasts for years. Enamels protect from
corrosioin.
Eg: Shalimar’s Superlac Premium hi-gloss enamel.
6. Primers: Primers are usually the first coat applied on a surface it is meant to
prepare the surface for painting. It offers protection to the paint.
Eg: Metal Primer.
Wood Primer
7. Fillers/Puttis: It is used to fill up the crises or any unevenness to ensure that
the finish coat gives a smooth surface.
8. Autoacquer: It is NITRO CELLULOSE paint for auto finishing.
Paints and the market share:

2.3DriverstothegrowthofthePaintIndustry

1. Increasing level of income and education

2. Increasing Urbanization

3. Increasing share of organized sector

4. Development of the Realty, Automobile and Infrastructure sector

5. Availability of financing options

6. Increasing Penetration in the Rural Markets

2.4Main Concerns of the Paint Industry:

•Cost of raw materials.

•MNC’s entering the indian paint market.

2.5 Top Paint Brands in India:

 Kansai Nerolac:

The history of Nerolac Paints dates back to 1920 . Nerolac Paints was
established as Gahagan Paints and Varnish Co. Ltd . in Mumbai. In 1933,
it was renamed to Goodlass Wall India Ltd. and later became Goodlass
Nerolac Paints Pvt. Ltd in 1957. And recently in 2006, it acquired the
present name Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd. Kansai Nerolac Paints is a
subsidiary of Japan based Kansai Paint Company Limited that is one of
the top ten coating companies in the world. Nerolac is the second
largest in India with a leading position in industrial and automotive
paints and also in powder coatings.

 BergerPaints:

Berger Paints was the creation of Mr.Lewis Berger, who in 1760, through
his shades had offered people a chance to transform their homes
through the power of imagination. Berger Paints India Limited has been
 in India since 1923.In 1991,the stake of the Company was purchased, by
Mr.KS Dhingra, Mr.GS Dhingra and their associates.

 ICI(Dulux):

ICI is a major paints, adhesive and specialty products business with

products and ingredients developed for a wide range of markets. ICI is
present in Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas. However,in the
beginning of 2008 ICI became a part of Akzo Nobel, the world’s largest
coatings manufacturer, the number one in decorative paints and
performance coatings, and a leading supplier of specialty chemicals.
 AsianPaints:

Asian Paints Ltd. Was established in 1942. More than half a century
down the lane, Asian Paints is India’s largest and Asia’s third largest
paint company today. Asian Paints operates in 22 countries and has 29
paint manufacturing facilities in the World. Besides Asian Paints ,the
group operates a round the world through its subsidiaries,
BergerInternationalLimited, ApcoCoatings, SCIB Paints and Taubmans.
Asian Paints along with PPG Inc, USA is one of the leading manufacturers
of automotive coatings in the world. Asian Paints Industrial Coatings
Limited caters to the Industrial coatings market and has tied-up with
Protech Chemicals, a world leader in powder coatings.