Rajagiri College of Management and Applied Sciences

INDUSTRIAL PROFILE ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY IN INDIA India is the fifth largest economy in the world and has the second largest gross domestic product among the emerging economies. Owing to its large population, the potential consumer demand is ever increasing and consequently under appropriate conditions, strong growth performance can be expected. The liberalization of the Indian economy that began in 1991 has started changing regulatory, financial, and monetary policies leading to a higher pace of growth. The software industry in India is already a world leader. The electronics industry is likely to follow. Following rapid development in the 1990s growth of 30% per annum driven by consumer electronics growth in the Indian electronics industry slowed in the 1990s with low single digit growth in real terms (excluding inflation) in the later part of the decade. After holding up well in 2001 whilst most other countries experienced a serious downturn, electronics output increased by 15%, 17%, 7.8%, 7.4% and 22.4% in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, respectively. Growth is forecast to be 16.8% in 2007 and 13.6% in 2008. More importantly the country is setting itself for a period of rapid growth driven by a large, fast growing domestic market, significant foreign investment and an improving regulatory environment. Indias consumer electronics industry, which has grown on the back of a massive and expanding market, still dominates the electronics sector, accounting for just under 27% of electronics output in 2006. The sector however continues to lose overall share of production as output of computing and in 2006 communications ramps up. INDIAN ELECTRONICS AND IT INDUSTRY PRODUCTION PROFILE: 2007 The export driven software and services industry continues to be the dominating factor in the overall growth of the Indian Electronics and IT industry. In 2006-07, the Indian software and services industry exports witnessed a healthy growth, its total exports

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reaching Rs. 141,000 crore (US$ 31.4 billion), an increase of 34.8 per cent in rupee terms and 33.0 per cent in dollar terms over the previous financial year. In 2007-08, the total value of software and services export is estimated at Rs. 1,63,000 crore (US$ 40.3 billion), an increase of 15.6 per cent in rupee terms and 28.3 per cent indollar terms. The production and growth trend of the Indian Electronics and IT/ITeS industry since 2002-03 has been as follows: Year 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Production (Rs. Crore) 97000 118290 152420 190300 244000 291100 21.1 21.9 28.9 24.9 28.3 19.3 Growth (%)

PRODUCTION OF ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS The total production of electronic components was Rs.8,800 crore during 2006-07, which is expected to grow to Rs.9,500 crore during 2007-08, a growth of 8.0 per cent. The components with major share in production were CD-R, Colour Picture Tubes (CPT), PCBs, DVD-R, connectors, semiconductor devices, ferrites, and resistors. The developments in components industry have been driven mainly by growth in consumer electronics sector. The share of 14" CPT has increased due to procurement of 2.5 million 14"CTV sets by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The share of 20" & 21" conventional CPTs have been declining whereas the share of full flat 21" tubes has been on the rise.

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Further, 15" flat, 21" & 29" slim CPTs have been introduced by the domestic manufacturers. In view of introduction of Flat Panel colour TVs, the market for LCD/PDP panels has been rising fast. The prices of CPTs are on the decline. Following the trends in CPTs, the colour glass parts manufacturer has taken steps to keep pace with the market requirements. One of the manufacturers has introduced new range of Single Mode Optical Fibers that meet and exceed the newly introduced ITU-T G.655 D & E International Standards. The manufacturer has announced plans to double its optical fibre manufacturing capacity. The serviceable market for professional grade components such as PCBs, semiconductor devices, connectors, wound components, antennas, etc. is likely to go up due to indigenous manufacture of mobile phones, set top boxes, DVD players, etc. Most of the top global semiconductor companies have set up their chip design centres in India. With the introduction of SIPS, it is expected that chip manufacturing may start in the near future. This would lead to the establishment of complete eco system in this area in the country. STRATEGIC ELECTRONICS It has become one of the important areas today because of the criticality of the technology development targeting two aspects, the technology applicable to the strategic sector for Defence purposes and the emerging state-of-the-art technology, which is not available off-the-shelf, and which is denied due to its critical applications. The technology which is denied has both civilian as well as Defence applications. Henceforth, it is desirable to develop technology in this sector catering to the critical applications as well as it is important to productionize the technology. The technology can payback much faster because of its critical nature and needs to be commercialized after appropriately safeguarding in terms of patents.

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At the national level, various research institutions are developing strategic systems and the public sector undertaking and some of the private agencies are mainly contributing the production. There has been consistent growth in production annually. However, it is difficult to make an estimation but during the year 2007-08, production is expected to be about Rs.6,100 crore, showing a dip in the growth rate, from 40.6 per cent (Rs. 4,500 crore) in 2006-07 to 35.6 per cent now.

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ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE History O/E/N was initiated in the year 1968. It is a company ownership Public Limited which has a share capital of 1,00,00,000 equity shares of Rs. 10/- each. O/E/N India Limited was formed as joint venture with OAK Electro / Netics Corporation, USA under the leadership of founder MD, Late Mr. K. A. Mathew. At the inception, 45% of the equity shares were held by OAK Industries Inc., USA and 25% by Kerala State industrial Development Corporation and the balance primarily by directors and their associates. The abbreviation O/E/N was derived out of the name of the collaborator. The Company was born out of the desire and ambition of the founder MD to be an entrepreneur in the field of precision products such as manufacture of electronic components, measuring instruments etc. He was senior executive in a company located at the suburbs of Cochin before establishing the Company. The OAK group was a pioneer in the field of professional grade rotary switches, keyboards and push button switches; miniature and power relays; miniature trimmer potentiometers; controls and control systems etc., serving many segments of electronics industries appliances manufacturing, industrial, aerospace, military and other related fields. Until O/E/N India went into production, the entire requirements of the country for these products were being imported a substantial portion from the collaborating companys plants in USA and UK. The major customers for these products were Indian PSUs like Bharat Electronics Umited, 1-lindustan Aeronautics Limited, Indian Telephone Industries, Electronics Corporation of India, Defense Laboratories, Indian Space Research Organizations and Hindustan Machine Tools Limited etc. The Company started with OAK designs and in due course the Company has incorporated many changes in these designs to suit the Indian conditions. The Company was built on Quality,

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Dependability and Long Life. The Company had reached the break even point just in two years after inception in 1970 and declared its first dividend in 1973. The Company crossed an annual turn over of Rs.10 million in 1974. The Company had added a captive tool room in 1976 and a separate R&D building in 1977. Inspired by experience and driven by excellence the Company had developed rocker switches, reed relays, linear solenoid, snipe switch and toggle switches. In 1980, the Company had launched a new sister company by name, O/E/N Micro Systems to take up manufacture of computer peripherals. The Company had developed computer peripherals like Alpha numeric, Hexadecimal keyboards, video terminals, from dummy to intelligent versions and prom programmer. In 1984, the Company had launched another sister concern by name O/E/N Connectors India Limited in collaboration with FCI Connectors, France. The Company was diversifying its activities into similar arenas by launching these two new ventures. By 1985, the Company established a new manufacturing plant at Peenya, Bangalore, Karnataka for manufacturing relays. Till 1990s the Company was enjoying a monopoly in the market with meager or no competition from the local business establishments. The company truly enjoyed the status of a leader and innovator with comfortable financial gains. However, with the liberalization policy in 90s, the Company was forced to face severe competition from the global brands. It took some time for the Company to react and change itself from a slow pace culture generated by the monopolistic leadership to that of a flexible innovative leadership culture needed in the midst of a competitive market. The growth of the Company was dampened to a very low levels though the Company managed to avoid any losses.

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Since the Company was unable to respond swiftly to a fast changing domain of computer peripherals, O/E/N Microsystems miserably failed to find its existence after an enviable growth exhibited during the initial years. The technology was changing from dump terminals to PCs and networking. O/E/N Microsystems was not able to compete in the changed environment. The company was closed in the year 2001 and was subsequently merged to parent Company in the year 2003. With a changed environment, FCI had increased its stake in O/E/N Connectors India Limited to 51% in 1993 and subsequently to 65% in 1996. The Company realized the faults and could reinstate its position as a market leader by the late 90s and early years of 21 Century. Over those turbulent years, the Company had acquired enough skills and capability to face the competition in a better way. The Company had entered into technical tie-ups and technology transfer agreement with major global players to bridge the technological gap. The Company had worked hard to acquire and adapt to all the major quality systems in the industry. In the year 2002, O/E/N India Limited became the first Company in India in its segment to get ISO 9001:2000 certification. In the year 2003, the company has secured approval under ISO/TS 16949 quality management system certification for its automotive products. In the succeeding year the Company had obtained approval to ISO 14001 for the environmental management system and for occupational health and safety management system. The Company implemented ERP (enterprise resource planning) system by the end of year 2003. Vision To be a centre of technological excellence for electro-mechanical components. To be the market leader for electro-mechanical components in India.

Mission

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Attain leadership position. Create wealth. Be the best in the business. Quality Policy Quality is their technology to attain most preferred manufacturer and supplier status through strong commitment and continual improvement. Quality Objective

To pursue a respectable organizational presence in the market. To improve upon existing process, procedures and performance. To make our products more reliable and cost effective. They have manufacturing plants such as: Electrogiry, Mulanthuruthy, Cochin Peenya, Bangalore Poonithura, Thripunithura, Cochin

Their quality standards are: ISO 9001: 2000 (Quality Management System) ISO/TS 16949 (Quality Management System for Automotive Products) ISO 14001 (Environmental management System) OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health and safety management system) Types of products manufactured The current manufacturing range consists of electro-mechanical relays, rotary wafer switches and trimmer potentiometers.

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Electro-mechanical relays Relays are electromagnetically operated switches. An actuating current on a coil operates one or more galvanically separated contacts or load circuits. Typical applications of relays include telecommunication systems, air conditioning and heating, automotive electronics, traffic control, lighting control, automation and industrial panel controls etc. Rotary wafer switches Rotary wafer switches are mechanically operated on-oft devices. A rotary switch is often used as a selector switch having one common input and a number of alternative outputs. It is a custom made part designed against the requirement of the customer. Typical applications of rotary wafer switches are in measuring instruments, medical equipments, CNC machines, communication devices, control panels etc. Trimmer potentiometers: Potentiometer is a variable resister. Trimmer potentiometers are used in electronic circuits for adjusting the current and voltage.

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MAJOR MARKET SEGMENTS

Figure showing O/E/N Market Segments

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DEPARTMENTS

Figure showing O/E/N Departments

Regional offices The regional offices are located at: Bangalore Chennai Hyderabad Bombay Pune New Delhi

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TURN OVER IN LAST YEARS

Figure showing O/E/N Sales Trend

Strength of the Company 12

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The strength of this company is the brand name O/E/N. They have more than three decades of experience and expertise in designing, manufacturing and marketing electromechanical components. They have a Market leadership in domestic markets and extensive data and knowledge on Indian market trends. The global outlook of the management is with a vision to be a global player. They have skilled and specialized work force. The manufacturing and infrastructure with in-house tool room, fabrication and molding facilities are excellent. They have a good employee employer relationship and a very low overall employee turn over. It is cheap labor compared to global standards and hence has an edge over global competitors. It is a global monopoly in few products (due to cessation of production of these products by other competitors. The main market is replacement markets). They have a loyal employee culture with long years of service. Their strategic location is at Cochin and so it is easy access to air port and sea port. The implementation and extensive usage of IT for functional activities is used. But they have their own limitations also as the out dated technology in production and process depends too much on manual labor with very old machines. There is lack of innovative products where a number of new products introduced per year are very low. They have a very long product development time. They depend more on import sources for raw material leading to a very fluctuating raw material cots. They have a highly functional departmental organizational structure with limited horizontal integration. They have a limited scalability due to over dependence on manual labor and meager automation. No lateral entry to induct skilled and specialists to top slots. The top posts are filled by promotion only. Very high raw material cost leading to meager profits. The product range is insufficient and is incomprehensive. They have not entered into the highly growing next-GEN technology Relay market (like SSR). They have a very high and alarming attrition rates among younger generations in the low and middle level management.

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Opportunities: The present economic vigor in the market opens an opportunity for O/E/N to expand and diversify. A highly growing market for the core product - relays. The emergence of India as a technological hub for design and development offers immense scope for O/E/N to enter into these arenas for electro-mechanical components and sub- assemblies. The lower labor costs in comparison to western and US competitors provides an opportunity for O/E/N as a subcontractor for assembly of relays. The opportunity gives the Company to get acquainted with latest global manufacturing and management practices. O/E/N can utilize its extensive knowledge about Indian market and its highly networked distribution network to enter into technological tie-up with global brands manufacturing products of similar kind to fetch new customers and additional revenue. Experience and expertise in core competency of design, manufacturing and marketing of electro-mechanical components can be used for indigenization of custom built electromechanical sub-assemblies. With a competitive pricing, the Company can enter into focused export markets. O/E/N has the potential to attract any major global players for a take over. The synergy will help O/E/N to get a wider global market reach in addition to changing the culture to adapt to global practices and standards of manufacturing and management. O/E/N can increase scalability and production efficiency by introducing partial automation in key production lines for significant operations. The next-SEN relays will be using Solid State Relay technology. O/E/N can gradually enter into this market since Indian markets and technology is matured to accept this technology. The possibility to enter into value added products and services rather than concentrating only on component business. The Company can enter to panel building and wiring harness by acquiring competent talents from external sources.

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O/E/N is a tier supplier to almost all the major automotive O/E/Ns in India. All the nextO/E/N passenger vehicles will be having a variety of automotive sensors for various applications. The opportunity is immense if the Company can tap these markets either through technical collaboration or through representation. Threats Rapid change and obsolesce of product and process technology. Drain in market share in sensitive segments with the entry of Chinese brands with highly competitive and cheap pricing strategies. Change in relay technology from electro-mechanical to solid state relays. Stiff competition from imported relays available through grey markets in lower segments. Direct entry of competing global brands into the domestic market through synergies, market channels and manufacturing facilities. Steep rise in raw material costs leading to a vertical cost increase. Overall economic progress and salary hikes declared by Government and other agencies leading to an unavoidable salary hike to Company employees. Entry of more and more local players with specialized products and market focus. Their limited product line gives them an upper hand in quality levels and the small size offers lower over heads, making their price highly competitive. Quality level standards insisted by major customer segment, automotive, is adding to high over heads. Highly competitive market with quality conscious customers and eroding product prices. Loosing the leadership position due to lack of innovation and new products.

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Repositioning in the global market The Company repositioned itself as a market follower in the global market, retaining its position as a market leader in the domestic market. More attention was diverted on reengineering the technologically upgraded products as and when the domestic market matures to absorb the technology. The Company had invested in enriching its core competency in electro-mechanical subsystem development and had entered into contract manufacturing. The policy changes reflected more emphasis on value addition and value creation. The company could achieve a turn over of Rs.59.00 crores in the last fiscal (2007 08) and targets to be a Rs.100 crore company by 2011. The initial collaborator OAK Electro / Netics Corporation was subsequently renamed as OAK Industries Inc. The Company had subsequently diversified into communications field and had undergone many mergers and acquisitions. The brand OAK is no more under manufacturing. The equity held by OAK was bought back by the Company in a phased manner

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Customer satisfaction Customer satisfaction refers to the extent to which customers are happy with the products and services provided by a business. Customer satisfaction levels can be measured using survey techniques and questionnaires. Gaining high levels of customer satisfaction is very important to a business because satisfied customers are most likely to be loyal and to make repeat orders and to use a wide range of services offered by a business. Customer- focused Knowing what your customer wants makes it possible to tailor everything you do to please the customers, e.g. providing the goods that customers want, in the package that they want, in retail outlets which are convenient to use and well placed. There are many factors which lead to high levels of customer satisfaction including: Products and services, which are customer focused and hence provide high levels of value for money. Customer service giving personal attention to the needs of individual customers. After sales service - following up the original purchase with after sales support such as maintenance and updating (for example, in the updating of computer packages). What is clear about customer satisfaction is that customers are most likely to appreciate the goods and services that they buy if they are made to feel special. This occurs when they feel that the goods and services that they buy have been specially produced for them or for people like them. This relates to a wide range of products such as razors that are designed for ease of use and good quality finish, petrol products that are environmentally friendly and customized to meet the needs of particular types of engines, etc.

Why Measure Customer Satisfaction? 17

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Organizations are increasingly interested in retaining existing customers while targeting non-customers; measuring customer satisfaction provides an indication of how successful the organization is at providing products and/or services to the marketplace. Customer satisfaction is an ambiguous and abstract concept and the actual manifestation of the state of satisfaction will vary from person to person and product/service to product/service. The state of satisfaction depends on a number of both psychological and physical variables which correlate with satisfaction behaviors such as return and recommend rate. The level of satisfaction can also vary depending on other options the customer may have and other products against which the customer can compare the organization's products. Because satisfaction is basically a psychological state, care should be taken in the effort of quantitative measurement, although a large quantity of research in this area has recently been developed. Customer satisfaction is tied directly to profitability. If your customers are happy, they tend to be loyal. And if theyre loyal they not only buy more, they refer other customers. Well-established research by Bain & Company found that, for many companies, an increase of 5% in customer retention could increase profits by 25% to 95%. The same study found that it costs six to seven times more to gain a new customer than to keep an existing one. Moreover, one bad experience can outweigh a whole lot of good experiences. Because of e-mail and instant messaging, that bad experience can quickly be broadcast to dozens, hundreds, or thousands of other customers, magnifying its impact. So if your business is doing something that frustrates customers, you need to know right away. It is critical to

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give customers the opportunity to provide feedback about their overall satisfaction level and specific likes and dislikes. It is equally important to consistently measure and monitor that input. Without an effective customer satisfaction research program in place, your company will be losing business, missing opportunities, and putting itself at a competitive disadvantage. Why is customer satisfaction so important today? Satisfying customers is the only way to stay competitive in todays market. Customers have an expectation of service and product performance that must be met. The balancing act between what customer want and what your company can provide must be optimized in order to maximize the firms long-term profits. This occurs in two ways. With precise information, companies can focus on issues that truly drive customer satisfaction. And a directed focus leads to cost reductions because companies can emphasize improvements in areas of customer concern and de-emphasize focus in other areas. Focusing on motivators of customer satisfaction leads to more loyal customers, who tend to be the most profitable customers (i.e., repeat business is usually the most profitable). Customer satisfaction is becoming an important area of competition. A high level of satisfaction can deliver many benefits, including: Loyalty: a highly satisfied customer is a loyal customer. Repeat purchase: a highly satisfied customer buys more products. Referrals: a highly satisfied customer tells their family and friends about the product or service. Retention: a highly satisfied customer is less likely to switch brands. Reduced costs: a highly satisfied customer costs less to serve than a new customer. Premium prices: a highly satisfied customer is willing to pay more for the product or service.

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Quite often the difference between those that simply survive in business and those that thrive is keeping abreast of, and adjusting to, the ever-changing attitudes and expectations of the market place. One such change has been the significant change in attitudes of customers over the last 10 years. There was a time when customers were less critical and vocal if not totally satisfied when dealing with a business. This is not the case today. Today, customers are becoming increasingly more demanding, less tolerant and very critical when not having their expectations met. There was a time when the choices available on where and who to deal with was limited. The power belonged to the business owner, customers had nowhere else to go and therefore customer satisfaction was not so important. Today, customers have lots of choice on where and who to deal with. As a result the power has now shifted to the customer. If they feel you cannot satisfy their expectations they will simply vote with their feet and deal with someone who will. Customer satisfaction can help your business achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. It is about understanding the way a customer feels after purchasing a product or service and, in particular, whether or not that product or service met the customer's expectations. Customers primarily form their expectations through past purchasing experiences, word-of-mouth from family, friends and colleagues and information delivered through marketing activities, such as advertising or public relations. If the customer's expectation is not met, they will be dissatisfied and it is very likely that they will tell others about their experience. The Importance of Customer Service and Satisfaction Business has always been about competing for markets, territories and most of all, customers. Today, customers expectations are higher than ever before, and the range of choices open to them is wider than ever before (Brown, 1991, PI). Companies should provide better customer service and satisfaction, to give buyers a reason to use their

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product over their competitors. Organizations also use service differentiation techniques to tailor to various customers needs and expectations. This makes customers feel valued and leads to mass customization. This is a great way for companies to increase demand of their products or service and gain more market share. In short, lucrative corporations use different principles and techniques to provide better customer service and satisfaction, in order to run a healthy and successful organization. Customer satisfaction- A Critical Component of Profitability Exceptional customer service results in greater customer retention, which in turn results in higher profitability. Customer loyalty is a major contributor to sustainable profit growth. To achieve success, you must make superior service second nature of your organization. A seamless integration of all components in the service-profit chain employee satisfaction, value creation, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and profit and growth links all the critical dynamics of top customer service. Sadly, mature companies often forget or forsake the thing that made them successful in the first place: a customer-centric business model. They lose focus on the customer and start focusing on the bottom line and quarterly results. They look for ways to cut costs or increase revenues, often at the expense of the customer. They forget that satisfying customer needs and continuous value innovation is the only path to sustainable growth. This creates opportunities for new, smaller companies to emulate and improve upon what made their bigger competitors successful in the first place and steal their customers. To execute a successful client satisfaction survey, build one that the customers have the time and inclination to respond to, and that delves into the types of information that will truly help enhance your performance. By carefully constructing a brief, yet strong, survey, you can discover what your customers believe your strengths and weaknesses are and what makes the customers loyal to the company.

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What do Customers Want? Customer is defined as anyone who receives that which is produced by the individual or organization, which has value. Customer expectations are continuously increasing. Customers seek out products and producers that are best able to satisfy their requirements. A product does not need to be rated highest by customers on all dimensions, only on those they think are important. Before beginning to create tools to measure the level of satisfaction, it is important to develop a clear understanding of what exactly the customer wants. We need to know what our customers expect from the products and services we provide. Customer expectations are the customer-defined attributes of your product or service you must meet or exceed to achieve customer satisfaction. Customer Expectations are of two types:

Expressed Customer Expectations- They are those requirements that are written down in the contract and agreed upon by both parties, for example, product specifications and delivery requirements. Supplier's performance against these requirements is most of the times directly measurable.

Implied Customer Expectations are not written or spoken but are the ones the

customer would 'expect' the supplier to meet nevertheless. For example, a customer would expect the service representative who calls on him to be knowledgeable and competent to solve a problem on the spot. There are many reasons why customer expectations are likely to change over time. Process improvements, advent of new technology, changes in customer's priorities, improved quality of service provided by competitors are just a few examples.

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The customer is always right. Supplier's job is to provide the Customer what he wants, when he wants it. Customer Satisfaction is customers' perception that a supplier has met or exceeded their expectations. It is therefore important to periodically update our knowledge of customer expectations. Six Tips to Build Customer Loyalty As your customer base grows it is imperative that you maintain the same level of service that you provided when you first earned your customer's business. You have to anticipate their needs before they announce them, and put those actions in place. Meeting these expectations will cement your relationships, increase their satisfaction, and retain their business. Here are six customer expectations that are the basis of outstanding service and increased sales: 1. Customers Expect Solid Information Providing your customers with tangible information lets them know that you value them and respect their ability to make sound decisions. When they feel that they are respected, they are more open and willing to do more business with your company. One way to ensure they receive beneficial information is to ask interesting questions during your conversations to uncover needs they may not have voiced. For instance, ask about the objectives they have set for their company, and the problems associated with attaining them. 2. Customers Expect Options Customers don't want to be told that there is only one way or one solution. They will respond positively when they are given options. Options are essential because they create dialogue and discussion. Open dialogue can lead to more sales. 3. Customers Expect Single Source Service Customers do not want to be transferred to every unit of your business to have their

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problems solved. They want to be able to do business with you with the slightest amount of discomfort. You must be easy to do business with. This means taking ownership of your customers requests, problem, etc., and ensuring that their needs are met to their satisfaction. 4. Customers Expect Superior Communication They may not be the best communicators, but they expect communication excellence from you. So, if you tell them that you will call them back at a certain time, make sure that you do. Your responsiveness will create a bond of trust, and a communication comfort level. 5. Customers Expect Consultancy As the expert on your business' products and services, your customers expect to be contacted in determining how to use the product or service to get the best return on investment (ROI). You must take the time to ask relevant questions aimed at finding how your customer is using your product and/or service. This will demonstrate your ability and knowledge as well as your intent to spend the necessary time with them to meet their specific needs. 6. Customers Expect a Faultless Relationship The best businesses are those that believe in going the extra mile for their customers. They know that they have to reinforce why it's in the customers best interest to continue doing business with them. Building a relationship with your customers built on mutual trust and respect, takes time and effort, but retention is the best method of building profit. Stay in touch with your customers by keeping them informed of new events, product updates, passing on information that may be of interest, calling to say hello, etc Meeting these six customer expectations will help you gain customer loyalty, and customer loyalty will keep you in business.

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The Link between Customer Service and Customer Loyalty It seems natural that customer loyalty would follow good service. If you get what you want and you are treated right, why would you not return to a business? But sometimes it's useful to have more than an instinctive argument. There is a clear link connecting customer service and customer loyalty. What constitutes Satisfaction? We cannot create customer satisfaction just by meeting customer's requirements fully because these have to be met in any case. However falling short is certain to create dissatisfaction. Major attributes of customer satisfaction can be summarized as: Product Quality Product Packaging Keeping delivery commitments Price Responsiveness and ability to resolve complaints and reject reports Overall communication, accessibility and attitude

It may be easier to track supplier's performance against stated requirements of quality and timeliness because there is documentary evidence. Some indication of whether a supplier is meeting the requirements can also be obtained from data on scrap rates, complaints database, sales improvements, repeat orders, customer audit reports etc. It is far more difficult to measure the level of performance and satisfaction when it comes to the intangible expectations. What are the Tools? Customer expectations can be identified using various methods such as :

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Periodic Contract Reviews Market research Telephonic Interviews Personal visits Warranty records Informal discussions Satisfaction Surveys

Depending upon the customer base and available resources, we can choose a method that is most effective in measuring the customers' perceptions. The purpose of the exercise is to identify priorities for improvement. We must develop a method or combination of methods that helps to continually improve service. TO SATISFY CUSTOMERS To win customers hearts, a service business needs engaged employees who actively transmit their enthusiasm to customers. The assertion that happy workers equal happy customers pops up in the marketing and mission statements of a lot of service providers, from big government agencies to small start-ups. It has been advocated by high-profile chief executives, including Gordon Bethune, the former CEO of Continental, an airline that has won numerous bestemployer awards. Many managers they have interviewed believe in the causal link or feel obliged by their bosses to accept it. But they have not seen any hard data supporting the idea. Their own surveys of the customers and staffs of 49 business units of 13 service organizations in the UK, in fields ranging from financial services to retailing, failed to confirm that service businesses with more-contented staff also have more-satisfied customers. In fact, they found a positive

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correlation between the two at only one firm, where the business units with happier customers had higher employee satisfaction. At two other firms, they found a negative correlation that factors that increased customer satisfaction decreased employee happiness. Satisfying customers is crucial to a businesstheres a great deal of evidence for a causal link between happy customers and higher profits. And satisfying employees is a worthwhile aim in itself for many reasons. To link the two, engage employees by giving them both reasons and ways to please customers; then acknowledge and reward appropriate behavior. Simply being served by a satisfied employee isnt enough to win customers loyalty.

Customer Satisfaction Research Satisfaction surveys are an important method for collecting information about how your customers think and feel about your brand, product or service. A satisfaction survey can help you to understand the expectations of your customers, determine whether your customers believe you are meeting those expectations, identify new customer requirements or trends in the market and determine what areas of your business need investment. A good customer satisfaction survey will also help you to understand the causes of dissatisfaction among your customers. Once you've identified these issues, you'll be able to implement new practices to improve customer satisfaction. Many businesses systematically measure customer satisfaction through independent surveys, feedback forms, mystery shopping and focus groups. Some third party surveys also compare the customer satisfaction of major competitors, which allows companies to benchmark themselves in their relevant sector.

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Measuring customer satisfaction doesn't have to be expensive. It can be as simple as preparing a short feedback form or conducting a brief telephone interview that asks the customer to rate the product or service on a number of criteria. Customer Satisfaction Surveys: Measuring and Tracking Customer Satisfaction: The first steps in establishing a customer satisfaction program are determining when to distribute the survey, how many customers will be invited to respond, and how to deliver the survey to them. 1. When to Conduct Customer Satisfaction Research Many managers wonder how frequently they should conduct customer satisfaction surveys. The answer depends on the size of the customer base and the purpose of the research. There are two key types of surveys, and they serve very different purposes:

Transactional surveys- Solicit feedback directly from the product or service user about that particular encounter. They are conducted immediately after each customer transaction. For example, a survey may be administered after a call center experience.

Relationship surveys- Collect input from people who have an ongoing relationship with the company and have had multiple transactions. They are regularly scheduled surveys often quarterly. The respondents typically are responsible for deciding whether to continue the working relationship.

Transactional surveys are sent out at the discretion of whoever has contact with customers but the data should be collected immediately after the interaction while the

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experience is still fresh in the customers mind. Relationship surveys should be spread out over the course of a year. Here are a couple of points to keep in mind: If there is only one data point for each year, a single event could have a large impact on results. Research in the industry reveals that satisfaction ratings are consistently higher in the spring than in the fall. For companies with a sufficiently large customer base at least 10,000 relationship surveys can be conducted on a continuous basis but reported on a monthly basis to address the effects of seasonality or single events. In many cases conducting both transactional and relationship surveys may be appropriate. For example, a company may conduct transactional research for customer service purposes and relationship research for routine checkups on the health of the business. 2. How Many Customers to Survey For companies with a small customer base for example, 2,000 or fewer interview as many customers as possible. If the budget allows it, offer an incentive such as company merchandise or a small gift certificate to compensate respondents for their time. If the company has more than 2,000 customers and it is not economically feasible to survey all of them, a subset is surveyed . In this case there is need to consider the following concepts relating to sample selection and accuracy of results: Random selection- First, it is essential that a random selection of customers

be contacted to avoid introducing bias into how the customers were selected and to help ensure that the sample of customers is representative of the entire customer base. For example, if a company surveyed only customers who contacted customer

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service, those individuals may be very different from customers who have not contacted customer service.

Margin of error- Next there is a need to establish the level of precision you want to have in the accuracy of the results. The margin of error (also known as a confidence interval) is an indicator of sample accuracy for random samples. It is the plus-orminus figure that is commonly reported with news polls, such as plus or minus four points.

Confidence level- Then you need to determine how certain you want to be that the survey results are within the margin of error. The confidence level indicates the level of certainty that the survey results are within the confidence interval for random samples. Typically, researchers use the 95% confidence level.

3. How to Distribute Your Survey The best means of distributing a survey depends on whether it is a transactional or relationship survey. A transactional survey is conducted at the point of customer contact. Depending on the nature of the customer contact, an in-person, telephone, or online survey may be appropriate. Relationship surveys, on the other hand, are most costeffectively conducted online. Online data collection offers significant advantages over other modes of interviewing customers, and you should use it whenever possible. The advantages include: Speed. The Internet offers instantaneous distribution of survey and real-time

accumulation and tabulation of results. This allows for immediate data analysis, even while the survey is still in progress. Because customer satisfaction results are used to identify problems and fix them, the faster responses arrive, the faster they can be addressed. In contrast, mail surveys suffer from long lag times and low response rates, as low as 5%. Telephone surveys take longer because of declining response rates. Refusal

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rates for phone interviews have reached 60% (AC Nielsen, 2004). With the ease of answering online surveys, they can be completed faster and

a broader segment of the customer base can be reached. Depending on a number of variablesthe relationship with the survey recipients, the length of the survey, whether a reminder is sent, and whether an incentive is offeredresponse rates for online surveys can be upward of 35%. Indicators of customer satisfaction An important indicator of customer satisfaction is the customer retention rate. To calculate your customer retention rate, you will need to capture data about the total number of customers and the number of customers switching brands. If you track this information over time, you will be able to see whether you are improving your customer retention and satisfaction. Another tool that has been introduced in Australia is the Net Promoter Scores, which provide a new metric for measuring customer loyalty. The Net Promoter Scores ask one simple question about whether a customer would recommend a product or service to a friend or colleague. This question has been identified as the ultimate determinant of customer satisfaction or loyalty. Research in the UK and the US has found a clear correlation between the Net Promoter Scores and revenue growth, illustrating the importance of customer satisfaction to future growth potential. Customers for Life The purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer. If a business successfully creates and keeps customers in a cost-effective way, it will make a profit while continuing to survive and thrive. If, for any reason, a business fails to attract or sustain a

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sufficient number of customers, it will experience losses. Too many losses will lead to the demise of the enterprise.

According to Dun and Bradstreet, the single, most important reason for the failure of businesses in America is lack of sales. And, of course, this refers to resales as well as initial sales. So the companys job is to create and keep a customer. Developing Marketing Strategies to Satisfy Customers Overview: Consumer behavior refers to the behavioral patterns displayed by the consumer in arriving at a purchase decision. The steps involved in the buyers decision process include need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, and purchase. It is imperative for an organization to develop its marketing strategy to complement the buyer behavior. The paper examines this issue. Buyer Behaviour - Decision-Making Process Overview: Research suggests that customers go through a five-stage decision-making process in any purchase, for this purpose the model diagram is given in this paper. This model is important for anyone making marketing decisions. It forces the marketer to consider the whole buying process rather than just the purchase decision (when it may be too late for a business to influence the choice.) Understanding And Influencing Organizational Buyer Behavior Overview: A buyer in the market goes through complex analysis and decision-making process before making a purchase. The organization needs to comprehensively understand and appreciate the subtle nuances of the buyer behavior to precisely target the prospects and hence increase the sales. The analysis of the buyer behavior begins with

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the communication of customized product message to the target audience. It is also imperative to identify the main decision-maker in the purchasing process. The target market approach calls for targeting different customers with different kinds of products.

This approach is based on the premise that different individuals have different tastes and preferences. The paper examines dynamics of buyer behavior. Understanding Buyer Behavior: Primary Demand vs. Selective Demand Overview: The article provides the information on primary demand and selective demand. If you are generating leads or interest in your business, but are struggling with making sales or deals happen, you may be mistaking the type of demand your prospects are showing. The solution is to know the detailed information about types of demands. Primary demand It is has identified a need for the first time, often using your help. To sell and market your solution use education, exploration of problems, and explain and demonstrate how you have the solution. Selective demand- It has identified the need or problem of their own and is already seeking a solution before you came along. To sell and market to someone with selective demand, first determine how you can better serve your prospect's needs and communicating this clearly to him, before he goes to someone else. Satisfy customer need- Keys to good customer service The demand of customer service is very important in our business. Customers or clients are an integral aspect of any business enterprise. The market forces of demand and supply is dependent on this tandem between the manufacturers' goods that are supplied and allocated in the market through appropriate channels in order to reach out to the consumers that demand them. When there is no demand, there will be no supply. Therefore, in order to balance a harmonious confluence of the two forces of demand and

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supply, the manufacturers believe that the customer is always right and cater them with extraordinary service skills which help them to further their business better. Hence, the importance of customer service has seen a phenomenal rise as the fiscal scales have escalated even before.

The very first step to good customer care is politeness on the part of the customer care executive. It may not be easy to deal in numerous customers all round the clock; however, as a service care provider, you must keep in mind that your customers do not know, and often do not care about the number of people you have catered to before him. As a customer he demands your full attention and service. Therefore, the golden rule to excellent customer care is to make your customer feel like the most important person when you interact with him. Most customer service providers make the costly mistake of not acknowledging their lack of knowledge about a particular aspect that the customer may want to know about. The importance of customer service lies in the honest and candid attitude of the executives so that the customers are satisfied with their service. So, if you get stuck with any customer query and feel that you may not be able to tackle it, ask around for help. As a service provider, if you do not enjoy your work, you may never be able to improve upon it. Therefore, when you meet customers, make sure you make the most out of your interactions. Enjoy talking to them, as these will add new color to your ways of providing customer service. This will not just improve your skills as a customer care executive, but also help you to become a better communicator. As an employer, when you hire customer service providers, make sure that your employees have an aptitude to serve people and are aware of the businesses customer service goals. If your employee enjoys his work, you will have to work less hard on him and concentrate better on the other facets of the business.

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As an employer it is also important to make sure that your communication skills and catering abilities are competent enough to inspire your employers to strive harder at achieving an optimal quality of customer service. If you think that your executives need to improve the ways of providing customer service you may help them do better by organizing interactive sessions or even making orientations. Your customers may be

right, but to help your service providers do better, you must have faith in the abilities of work force. The key to good customer service depend on the creation of an environment of excellence, which in turn needs immense patience and training of the staff. All of the customer service tips above are important, but the most basic tip is that as the service provider you will need not just tact, but a sense of empathy for your customers. If you think it is humanly not possible to cater to your customers even after implementing all good customer service training tips, remember that they are humans too, and with care and affection, every human can be won over.

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TITLE OF THE STUDY A study on satisfaction of the customers with reference to O/E/N Company. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Organizations are increasingly interested in retaining existing customers while targeting non-customers; measuring customer satisfaction provides an indication of how successful the organization is at providing products and/or services to the marketplace. O/E/N company is the manufacturer of quality assured electronic products marketed all throughout India. The aim of this project is to find out customers satisfaction level of the products sold. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The success of O/E/N will depend upon the satisfaction the customers get from its wide range of products and their quality. Recognizing the contemporary importance of customer satisfaction, the present study seeks to analyze the level of customer satisfaction with reference to O/E/N. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY GENERAL OBJECTIVE To evaluate the consumer satisfaction based on their responses. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES To analyze the range and quality of products.

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To make a comparison with the past services. To analyze the purchasing behaviour of customers. To analyze whether O/E/N is successful in meeting the customer needs

RESEARCH DESIGNS TYPE OF RESEARCH The research design is descriptive in nature. This design helps to describe characteristics of a particular population or phenomenon, and to study in depth the characteristics concerning individuals, groups and situations. Thus a descriptive research is concerned with the detailed description of certain functional variables and characteristics of a problem situation. Since it is concerned with the explanation of the problem situation and allied variables, it is rather called as explanatory research. The major purposes for which descriptive research designs are commonly used include the following: To disclose in detail the characteristics of target groups. To assess the proportionate behaviour of respondents within their identical or homogenous groups. To help in precise predictions. To determine the association of different variables.

METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION PRIMARY DATA Primary data refers to the first hand information that an investigator himself collects from the respondents. It is direct and original in nature. The different types of data that can be classified as primary data are attitudes and opinions, awareness and knowledge, 37

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motivation of the consumer, intention behaviour and tenacity and the demographic and social features like age, sex etc. Primary data can be collected by adopting one or more of the following methods: Observation method: Here the events are recorded as and when they occur. There is hardly any scope for biased or wrong data as the events per actions of the respondents are recorded on time. The different types may be Controlled and Uncontrolled, Disguised and Undisguised and Organized and Mechanical observations. Survey method: This method calls for gathering data by interviewing a number of people. This method also has the advantage of getting to the original source of information. The different methods of data collection under survey method are Personal interview method, including direct personal observation and indirect oral interview; the mail questionnaire method and the telephone survey.

SECONDARY DATA Secondary data is the information collected from those data which have already been obtained by some other researcher or author. It is the second hand information. Such data can be collected from the following sources: Internal accounting records and reports of the organization. Libraries both physical and virtual. Publications and institutions and research firm. Official reports of committees and commissions. Journals, magazines and newspapers.

Though secondary data are easily accessible, some precautions shall be taken before adopting the same for the research work. They are: Reliability of the information

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Adequacy of the information Suitability of the information

SAMPLING TECHNIQUE Different sampling methods are available from which the appropriate one needs to be selected based on the nature and relevance of the study, the information need to be dealt with and the purpose of the study. Convenience sampling technique has been chosen for the sampling and for the determination of sample size. POPULATION The population for this study consists of the customers of O/E/N.

SAMPLE SIZE The sample size taken is 30 respondents. TOOLS FOR DATA COLLECTION The major tools that are popular and widely used for primary data collection are: Questionnaire Schedule

The questionnaire is the medium for maintaining information by a list of well framed questions deemed to be answered by the respondents. The general qualities of a purpose serving questionnaire are brevity, simplicity, logical sequence of questions, ease of answering, use of proper language, attractiveness, supportive instructions shall be

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provided, unambiguous questions, accuracy and questions shall be confined to the project theme. An interview schedule is a structure list of questions prepared to retrieve desired information from the respondents. Here the investigator directly interviews the informant. He himself records the answers to the queries as expressed by the respondent. Questionnaire method is used to attain the required information from the inmates.

Simultaneously general details about the organization and its functioning are obtained from the officials and members concerned through interview method. STATISTICAL TOOLS USED FOR ANALYSIS Questionnaires yield data, facts and figures that need to be represented for easy understanding through Pie charts and Bar graphs, before which simple percentage method is used. LIMITATIONS: Time constraint. Behavioural constraints of people. Limited number of respondents.

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Table 3.1 showing whether O/E/N provides good quality products PARTICULARS Strongly Agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree TOTAL FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE 19 63 2 7 7 23 2 7 0 0 30 100

70 60 50 Percentage 40 30 20 10 0 Strongly Agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree

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Figure 3.1 showing whether O/E/N provides good quality products

Inference The above figure shows that 63% of the customers strongly agree that O/E/N provides good quality products, 7% agree to it, 23% neither agree nor disagrees and 7% disagree to it.

Table 3.2 showing whether the quality of most products has improved over the past years

PARTICULARS Strongly Agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree TOTAL

FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE 8 27 5 17 16 1 0 30 53 3 0 100

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3% 27%

Strongly Agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree

53% 17%

Disagree Strongly Disagree

Figure 3.2 showing whether the quality of most products has improved over the past years Inference The above figure shows that 27% of the customers strongly agree that quality of most products has improved over the past years, 17% agree to it, 53% neither agree nor disagree and 3% disagree to it.

Table 3.3 showing whether customers usually prefer improvement in the product quality to style change PARTICULARS Strongly Agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree 10% 10% Disagree Strongly Disagree 20% TOTAL FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE 3 10 18 60 6 20 Strongly Agree 3 10 Agree 0 0 30
Neither agree nor100 disagree Disagree 60% Strongly Disagree

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Figure 3.3 showing whether customers usually prefer improvement in the product quality to style change Inference The above figure shows that 10% of the customers strongly agree that customers usually prefer improvement in the product quality to style change, 60% agree to it, 20% neither agree nor disagree and 10% disagree to it.

Table 3.4 showing whether manufactures do not intentionally design products which wear out quickly

PARTICULARS Strongly Agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree TOTAL

FREQUENCY 2 22 4 1 1 30

PERCENTAGE 7 74 13 3 3 100

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Strongly Disagree 3 Disagree 3 Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly Agree 0 7 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 13 74

Percentage

Figure 3.4 showing whether manufactures do not intentionally design products which wear out quickly Inference The above figure shows that 7% of the customers strongly agree that manufactures do not deliberately design products which wear out quickly, 74% agree to it, 13% neither agree nor disagree, 3% disagree and 3% strongly disagree to it.

Table 3.5 showing whether differences among competing brands affect the O/E/N customers PARTICULARS FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE 45

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Strongly Agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree TOTAL

2 5 7 11 5 30

7 17 23 36 17 100

Strongly Disagree 17%

Strongly Agree 7% Agree 17%

Disagree 36%

Neither agree nor disagree 23%

Figure 3.5 showing whether differences among competing brands affect the O/E/N customers Inference The above figure shows that 7% of the customers strongly agree that differences among competing brands affect the O/E/N customers, 17% agree to it, 23% neither agree nor disagree, 36% disagree and 17% strongly disagree to it.

Table 3.6 showing whether the problems of customers are less serious now than in the past

PARTICULARS Strongly Agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree TOTAL

FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE 20 67 3 10 6 1 0 30 20 3 0 100 46

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70 60 50 Percentage 40 30 20 10 0

67

20 10 3

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neither Disagree Strongly agree nor Disagree disagree

Figure 3.6 showing whether the problems of customers are less serious now than in the past Inference The above figure shows that 67% of the customers strongly agree that the problems of customers are less serious now than in the past, 10% agree to it, 20% neither agree nor disagree and 3% disagree to it.

Table 3.7 showing whether manufacturers seem to be more sensitive to customer complaints now than they were in the past PARTICULARS FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

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Strongly Agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree TOTAL

1 20 8 1 0 30

3 67 27 3 0 100

Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly Agree

0 3 27 67 3
Percentage

Figure 3.7 showing whether manufacturers seem to be more sensitive to customer complaints now than they were in the past Inference The above figure shows that 3% of the customers strongly agree that manufacturers seem to be more sensitive to customer complaints now than they were in the past, 67% agree to it, 27% neither agree nor disagree and 3% disagree to it.

Table3.8 showing whether advertised products are sold more than unadvertised ones.

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PARTICULARS Strongly Agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree TOTAL

FREQUENCY 28 0 2 0 0 30

PERCENTAGE 93 0 7 0 0 100

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Percentage

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neither Disagree Strongly agree nor Disagree disagree

Figure 3.8 showing whether advertised products are sold more than unadvertised ones.

Inference

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The above figure shows that 93% of the customers strongly agree that advertised products are sold more than unadvertised ones and 7% neither agree nor disagree with it.

Table 3.9 showing whether the wide variety of competing products makes intelligent buying decisions more difficult.

PARTICULARS Strongly Agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree TOTAL

FREQUENCY 30 0 0 0 0 0

PERCENTAGE 100 0 0 0 0 100

100 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Percentage

0 Strongly Agree Agree

Neither Disagree Strongly agree nor Disagree disagree

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Figure 3.9 showing whether the wide variety of competing products makes intelligent buying decisions more difficult Inference The above figure shows that 100% of the customers strongly agree that the wide variety of competing products makes intelligent buying decisions more difficult.

Table 3.10 showing whether many of the mistakes made by customers while buying products are a result of their own carelessness or ignorance PARTICULARS Strongly Agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree TOTAL FREQUENCY 2 3 8 10 7 30 PERCENTAGE 7 10 27 33 23 100

Strongly Agree 23% 7% 10% Agree Neither agree nor disagree 27% 33% Strongly Disagree Disagree

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Figure 3.10 showing whether many of the mistakes made by customers while buying products are a result of their own carelessness or ignorance Inference The above figure shows that 7% of the customers strongly agree that many of the customers while buying products are a result of their own carelessness or ignorance, 10% agree to it, 27% neither agree nor disagree, 33% disagree and 23% strongly disagree to it.

Table 3.11 showing whether the service staff is very helpful. PARTICULARS Strongly Agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree TOTAL FREQUENCY 24 4 2 0 0 30 PERCENTAGE 80 13 7 0 0 100

80 80 70 60 Percentage 50 40 30 20 10 0 Strongly Agree Agree 13 7 0 0

Neither Disagree Strongly agree nor Disagree disagree

Figure 3.11 showing whether the service staff is very helpful.

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Inference The above figure shows that 80% of the customers strongly agree that the service staff is very helpful, 13% agree to it and 7% neither agree nor disagree with it.

Table 3.12 showing whether manufacturers make an effort to design the products to fit the needs of customers

PARTICULARS Strongly Agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree TOTAL

FREQUENCY 3 22 5 0 0 30

PERCENTAGE 10 73 17 0 0 100

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Figure 3.12 showing whether manufacturers make an effort to design the products to fit the needs of customers.

Inference The above figure shows that 10% of the customers strongly agree that manufacturers make an effort to design the products to fit the needs of customers, 73% agree to it and 17% neither agree nor disagree with it.

FINDINGS To a great extent, the customers agree that O/E/N provides good quality products. More than half of the customers usually prefer improvement in the product quality to style change. A greater part of the customers agree that manufactures do not intentionally design products which wear out quickly. Most of the customers did not have the opinion that the differences among competing brands affect them. More than 70% of the customers agree that the problems of customers are less serious now than in the past. A good number of the customers agree that the manufacturers seem to be more sensitive to customer complaints now than they were in the past. Almost every customer agrees that they prefer advertised products. 54

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All customers have the same opinion that the wide variety of competing products makes intelligent buying decisions more difficult. Most of the customers disagree that many of the mistakes made by customers while buying products are a result of their own carelessness or ignorance. Majority of the population strongly agree that the service staff is very helpful. To a great extent, the customers agree that manufacturers make an effort to design the products to fit the needs of customers.

SUGGESTIONS O/E/N could increase their sales if they improve the quality of their products to a certain extent. Since most of the customers prefer advertised products, O/E/N could advertise their products in a better way. All the customers strongly agree that wide variety of competing products makes their buying decisions more difficult, hence O/E/N could highlight their special features and quality. O/E/N could also make an effort to improve the working of their service staff.

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CONCLUSION The research was conducted in O/E/N India Ltd. situated at Vytilla to study the customer satisfaction level. It is found that they offer a wide variety of electronic products of different ranges. The study helped in analyzing the purchasing behavior of the customers. It was found that they prefer improvement in product quality to style changes. Hence, O/E/N may take necessary measures as mentioned earlier to increase their sales. Almost every customer refers advertised products and so O/E/N could take steps to improve their advertisements. To conclude, O/E/N always try their best to meet the needs of their customers to a great extent.

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