Appco Group India helps Sightsavers to tackle avoidable blindness

Appco Group India has entered into a partnership with leading global development organisation Sightsavers. The objective of the partnership is to help eradicate avoidable blindness by speaking to potential donors and spreading the message across the country. 

Fundraisers working with Appco Group India have signed up more than 2,000 regular-giving donors in just six months, which is a major accomplishment both for Sightsavers and for Appco. 

Acknowledging Appco’s contribution, a leading spokesperson from Sightsavers said the charity is impressed with Appco’s accomplishment to date and is looking forward to continuing a healthy and prosperous relationship with the company.

Sightsavers has been working in India since 1966 to eliminate avoidable blindness and to ensure that people who are irreversibly blind are adequately supported to lead lives of independence and dignity.

Appco India helps SOS increase regular-giving donors by 60%

Donors signed up to SOS Children’s Villages have increased by almost 60% each month thanks to fundraisers working with Appco Group India.

Appco’s proactive decision to expand SOS’s latest campaign to more cities in India and to increase the number of fundraisers working on the campaign has led to the charity experiencing a dramatic increase in the number of donor sign-ups.

The success was celebrated with an Appco-sponsored event for SOS, which recognised the fundraisers’ achievements.

Appco Group India has been working with SOS Children’s Villages since 2012, helping to raise funds for child welfare.

Appco India provides emergency aid to thousands of Kashmir flood victims

Appco Group India’s Charity division has helped secure more than US$45,000 in donations in a month from 10 September 2014 for the flood victims in Jammu and Kashmir.

Face-to-face fundraisers working with Appco Group India and Save The Children have signed up over 800 regular-giving donors while raising awareness of the cause in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Coimbatore
and Hyderabad. 

The donations raised will help Save The Children provide emergency relief for the victims of the Jammu and Kashmir floods, which devastated the region, claiming more than 250 lives.

Appco Group India helps double Tata Sky's customer database

Appco Group India’s Entertainment division has significantly increased its sales for client Tata Sky, almost doubling the monthly number of customers signing up for the client’s services.

Since January 2014, the number of sales representatives working with Appco Group India has also increased from 100 to 220, reflecting the dramatic rise in sales.

Dhananjay Uppoor, National Head, Tata Sky said: “Since January 2014, we have witnessed almost a 50% increase in customer acquisitions across 10 locations in India, which is a huge jump on all fronts.

"We are confident that we will double the customers acquired by December 2014 with Appco’s help. The quality of customers signed up to our services has been excellent.”

Sales representatives promote the different services Tata Sky has to offer and they have also been raising awareness for a new karaoke service, which has a library of Bollywood tracks.

Appco India secures thousands of new donors for children’s charity CRY

Appco Group India is working with charity Child Rights and You (CRY) to protect the basic human rights of underprivileged children across India.

Fundraisers working with Appco Group India have signed up more than 60,000 donors between 2013 and 2014 for the client.

The support from Appco-recruited donors means CRY has reached out to thousands of children and addressed a number of child rights issues, which include health, malnutrition, education, child labour and abuse.

Appco’s partnership with the charity over the past 12 years, has helped CRY extend its work to 11 cities across India.

“Appco has, over the years, not only raised substantial funds for us but has also helped us to bring in more and more donors to participate in the CRY movement in India,” said Puja Marwaha, CEO, CRY.

Anita Sharad, Director of Resource Mobilisation at CRY added: “We have experienced the partnership grow from strength to strength.

“As a result, CRY has been able to strengthen its focus on the different issues that deprive children of their rights – child labour, access to education, provision of health facilities and protection from abuse and exploitation – and therefore achieve our common goal of a happy and healthy childhood for India’s children.”

Appco praised for seven years of success with HelpAge India

Appco Group India’s seven-year relationship with HelpAge India has helped millions of elderly people get
the care they need.

Fundraisers working with Appco Group India have secured millions of regular-giving donors from across
the country.

The donations will support close to 1.5 million elderly people and have helped fund a number of
cataract operations.

Mathew Cherian, CEO of HelpAge praised the fundraisers’ hard work. He said: “Appco has very generously been communicating the message of HelpAge to thousands of people across the country. 

“We value the relationship and hope it will allow us to help more and more elderly people.”

HelpAge India also picked up the NGO Leadership & Excellence Award at the Global CSR Excellence and Leadership Awards in February to commemorate World CSR Day.

Appco Group India helps government hit digital TV targets

Appco Group India’s Entertainment division is helping the government reach its target of providing 88 million households with a direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV service by December 2014.(source)

The division, which works with major DTH service providers including Tata Sky,has already helped more than 250,000 households switch from cable to DTH since 2012.

Appco Group India has also helped reduce costs for DTH customers with aone-time installation fee and customised TV packages. Customers can also save as much as 10% a year on their bills with a ‘pay what you watch’ service.

Harit Nagpal, CEO at Tata Sky said: “Since we started working with Appco, we have seen customer sign ups for DTH double and we are hoping that the numbers will increase by five or 10 times in the future.”

Direct marketing listed as the top most effective mode for selling business

A recent market survey has prominently listed the mode of direct marketing as the most effortless and cost effective way of promoting services & products to the customers. The big news is, among the emerging economies, India is among the biggest markets for direct marketing with scope for other traditional & upscale marketing tools.

The economy is such that now since its flourishing & expanding, customers at home are looking for & demanding products & services at their doorstep. That’s one of the reasons online shopping has found its place in the economy. But the impact that face to face marketing creates is beyond reach. Many such factors have made the country one of the most sought after markets for direct selling business.

Traditionally with many businesses that thrive on the direct marketing mode, the plus point is that every day, the representatives promote the products to customers at their homes, offices, shopping areas and other places of contact. There is huge number of direct respondents in a direct marketing mode which makes it a sought after model. Additionally, it is a very cost effective model which doesn’t fall prey to the increasing demand for advertising and the expenses associated with it. While there are some disadvantages associated with direct selling, however, it scores more with the advantages associated with it. The biggest plus point is that you create a bigger connection or impact to persuade the customer into buying where as in the other modes, the buying process is slower & the impact created takes times to show results. Direct selling, with an organized approach can create impactful results & no matter what product or service, the direct approach will continue to enjoy the luxury due to its on-the-ground approach to customers.

Not surprising enough, direct selling has indeed been rewarded as the top most selling method as compared to other modes of selling.

Bringing Glamour & Glitz at the 16th Appco Indian Rally 2014

The dates were blocked & the stage was set for the most important event of the year for Appco Group India. The 16th Annual Indian Rally 2014 commenced on the 6th of May at the North capital city Delhi; moving to the new venue city in the south Chennai on 8th May & finally reaching to the West zone metropolitan, Mumbai on 12th May 2014. The Rally, being the most coveted event for the Appco Group, was nothing short of being glamorous & noteworthy. This time of the year, when every professional associated with the Appco Group rejoices & celebrates the spirit of victory, success and oneness will go down in our history.

Tony Fernandez, the respectful Vice President & Country Head, India brought in the Rally at the all venues with much elan & welcomed more than 2000 Appco professionals from across all regions. He was accompanied by the key people in the Group to compeer the Rally, notably, Sai Prakash Kuckian, Vice President, Appco Group; Sukesh Khanna, Organizational Head, Nirvana; Amit Baid, Organizational Head, Velocity Org; and Kishore Tarachandani, Organizational Head, Phoenix Org. Attendees at the venues made their way to a day of celebrations, recognitions & awards. We saw hoards of our established Owners, upcoming leaders, existing professionals & also the new swamp of joinees who were ready to witness the grandeur of the Rally.

The event started with a grand opening ceremony followed by the key awards for the day presented by Tony & Sai, some of which included ‘Best New Office’, ‘Rising Star Awards’ and Admin awards. The winners & the teams receiving the awards was surely a proud & momentous sight for everyone present at the Rally.  As the day progressed, the music got louder with the dance competitions where different teams including Owners, crew leaders & admins, all dancing & competing as one. The dance & music surely enticed many from the audience to take spins in the auditorium. Such was the glitz at the Rally!

What followed these fun moments were many more crucial awards for the day which included quality awards, excellence awards, promotions & likewise. The Appco Advantage video, an inspiring testimonial video shot with our professionals also became the key highlight for the day.

The Appco Indian Rally 2014 received an overwhelming response from the audience. Although the winners took it all but the Appco celebratory spirit was exuded by everyone present in the auditorium! And just as gracefully the Rally 2014 would go down in history, we gear up to another year of a celebrations & success across all the regions. Cheers to the spirit!

Appco Group India: Launching the message of Appco Advantage

 Appco Group India has been an epitome of innovation & successes & as an Organization; we thrive on the people who define us, the products we represent & our practices we adopt. As we are expanding ahead, we seek to bring together every professional who joins us & all our stakeholders on a brand platform where we can convey our message to one & all. The message that we launched at our annual RnR meeting with our delegates is the platform of opportunities- the ‘Appco Advantage’

We at Appco, as an Organization foster a culture where we build the budding minds who join us in our business and are committed to empower them with a host of benefits and opportunities in their journey to success. Every professional who joins us enjoys a platform of opportunities where we seek to empower the careers & provide them a unique chance at excelling & advancing in this fast pace economy.

The Message to everyone associated with our initiative is to BUILD.EMPOWER.ENHANCE.

With this new brand entity, we will highlight the plus points of working with us, the upper hand in their careers & the support system that we provide to our people. This is designed with an aim to bring in a pride of oneness among all our teams from different zones on a message that is clear all across to everyone.

With a message that is highlighted by our key leaders with much pride & spirit, we aim to highlight our teams & educate them on Appco Advantage & bring in their valued support collectively from different geographies. 

Appco Group India: Brand equity Or Product attribute??

An era of advertising, which we live in, has opened the doors to brand building as never before. Today a particular product is better known with its brand image or brand element more than the actual product’s attribute itself. In a market situation like this, brand equities of different products will soar and fall in a flash. What remains is the brand awareness that the consumers have in their minds which is responsible for forming its equity.

However as the brand equity increases (classic/big brands), does the real attribute of a product get sidelined due to the marketing gimmicks, image and other advertising gimmicks! As a brand matures in the market, consumers start associating the product with its brand value or brand image. It’s no surprise that a food product gets identified with prefixes like ‘instant-meal’ or catchy phrases. The whole image of the product gets in the background and what survives is the brand association- all the factors that are associated with the brand like consumer’s perception, brand image, brand loyalty to name a few. The rise and fall of many brands have been a result of these factors.  We also come across many levels of a brand’s life cycle which is quite contradicting to that product life cycle. An age old or consumer favorite brand prevails irrespective of its market-age or even competition.

However many a brands falter in their lifecycle owing to many factors like competition, newer trends, market value etc and what impacts the brand equity more than anything else is the failed perception of the brand in the eyes of the consumer. Because it is the consumer ultimately who builds and collapses the brand equity in the market. In the long run, as far as the hype surrounding brand equity is concerned, it is up to the strategists to turn the tide towards the consumers and associate the product to their perceptions and preferences.

It can be fairly concluded that firms should revolve their strategies and focus around the brand and its association with the consumer for it serve as an effective medium to capture the consumer’s mind by recognizing the necessities and demands and recalling of the brand through various initiatives.

“A brand is as mature in the market as it is in the consumer’s mind”

Appco Group India: Strategize your Brand Awareness

A brand is what holds the most important aspect when it comes to advertising a particular product. All that the product advertises culminates as the brand image. Hence it becomes extremely important to form the brand’s pathway in the market and amidst many strategies that work and those that don’t, one thing is clear, companies would need to create an aggressive brand building atmosphere putting consumer as the king and the various strategies as the pawn.

Some of the leading ways to form brand strategies are as below:

·        Know your product well before understanding its brand value:

o   Always understand the positives of the product, the attributes which can form the foundation for its brand image

·        Know your consumers well:

o   You cannot sell a product to the wrong audience. That’s a kill-situation for a brand. Understand the audience well and closely. Segregate them and understand the current buying patterns of the target audience. This is one of the areas where firms lose the focus.

·        Choose the right marketing channels and tools:

o   Decide on the budget and choose the marketing mode which will directly link your product to the target consumer and your awareness could be more appealing and visible to the target.

o   Rely on the current marketing tools to provide a good reach to the target consumers.

·        Engage the audience:

o   Engage your audience through the various marketing initiatives that can build a positive outcome for your brand.

·        Keep a tab on the competition:

o   Always keep an eye on the competition and the competitors activities. There may be an opportunity you can pounce on.

All in all, we can conclude by understanding the fact that a through product, consumer, market and advertising analysis would ensure a brands stands upto its promise.

Appco Group India: Role of Strategy in Business

For large and small business, Strategic innovation is the need of the hour! The pressures on the strategic front has off late increased and expanded to an extent that growth is being associated with the outcomes of planning. Earlier companies put emphasis on the short term goals and objectives to meet the business targets. This ideology, in today’s demanding ecosystem, doesn’t fit enough and why? The reason behind many business failures today has been a lack of vision and the proper direction to execute the same.

Take the example of product launches. The automobile sector in India is the perfect example of businesses struggling to make a blockbuster impact on the consumer. In India, on an average, 3 different models of the same company are launched in a year. Yet how many of them succeed in registering sales. The lack of vision and future sustainability is the result of such poor strategic direction. The real essence of Strategic planning comes with a blend of innovation, operational planning, directional planning, growth forecast and risk/crisis management. Many a times, due to growing market competition and change in market trends, some of the aspects of traditional strategic planning gets lost. In the wake of budding entrepreneurial environment and unplanned acquisitions and mergers, the company objectives fail to get conveyed to the expanded team. This creates a huge gap in understanding the real motive of having a strategy in business planning. FMCG/consumer goods industry has been a classic example where the throat-cut competition has generated some great products and equally led to the failure of the classic age-old brands.

The mantra for successful strategic planning comes from having a clear understanding of the business plan and defining the objective clearly to the managers and the consumers. And a clear and crisp understanding of the objectives comes from strong research and analysis. And it is no surprise that companies are now investing in research and business intelligence to tap the potentials the market has to offer.

Positively the downside of the current falling economy is the advent of many opportunities that companies can tap into and create long lasting impact on the market.

‘Real strategy comes from an insightful research that has tapped the untamed potentials of the market’

Appco Group India: Leading ways to form Sales Strategies

While there are many definitions, strategy usually refers to organizational processes involving the determination of goals and the means to attain those goals. This entails the marriage of two factors- external factors relating to the environment and industry, as well as internal factors, such as capabilities, values, motivation and trust.

The most effective sales strategy opens the door in a direction where the professionals achieve their targets with minimum risks. Industry leaders have listed out many such approaches to sales strategies which can be the ultimate solution to trigger hard hitting sales.

1.   Determine your target: Never underestimate the potential of target audience especially in sales. Analyze the demographics and be always clear about the target. Once you have determined your target, create a list of the same and calculate the potential of the target group. This will form the basis of your research.
2. Determine your mode: Once you are clear of your target, now is the time to determine the mode of approaching the target; be it cold calling, direct marketing, networking, promotions or a mix of approaches.
3. Know your questions: Always prepare yourselves for the sales appointment/meeting with the client or prospects. Always pre determine what would be the winning questions that you can question the prospects so that they are attracted or triggered to buy. Always understand- Preparation is the key.
4. Build relationships: Once you engage with the prospect, try to build a relationship with them. Don’t go overboard yet try to mingle more with an interesting conversation and make your product/service the centre of your conversation. Be a pitch initiator.
5. Monitor your sales performance: This is one of the critical steps that the professionals miss out. Always self monitor and correct yourself from each failure and analyze an alternative solution. Take a look at the previous month’s sales and measure your growth. This will help as a motivating factor too.
6. Small motivations: Always motivate yourself and your team through the general small motivational factor that you may come across in daily life. Seek motivation in the one deal that worked rather than the 5 pitches that didn’t. Ultimately your hard work will be defined by the number of deals acquired, not the deals that didn’t work.

And the most important point is REPEAT. Repeat this process and cultivate it in your strategizing activities. Adopting it over and over again will not only bring in good numbers but will also enhance the strategic abilities in an individual.

Appco Group India: Surpassing targets, yet maintaining performance

Business targets are an essential part of the whole business terminology where the emphasis on achieving the targets surpasses the other management essentials. Experts have claimed that performance is many a time linked to achieving targets but the questions lies in the very fact that in a situation where good performance guarantees target achievement, do such targets guarantee a good performance? 

The whole essence of targets and achievements gives rise to a competitive environment where the sheer pleasure of performing well and consistently disappears in thin air. There is a matter of discrepancy when determining an over performer and an accurate performer which further more creates a gap in employee development. Target achievement is equally important for an employee as it is to have a consistent performance over time. Performance on the other hand is defined as an amalgamation of various elements like targets, averages, good conduct, development ratio and alike. Targets are one of the significant steps in having a benchmark performance which an average employee substitutes as performance. In sales, at the start of the career, an ambitious employee gets drawn towards factors which will lead to achievements of targets rather than developing his skills and learning and development. In the short run, his objectives become target based while in the long run, this creates a lag wherein his development takes a setback. This can disrupt the learning phase in an employee’s career to a considerable extent. The beauty of learning and developing the skills get secondary due to which a new employee gets branded as average and can have a hard time for development due to change in priorities and job responsibilities later in his career. The strategic and management ability in an employee remains undeveloped due to which he can experience problems in other responsibilities like leadership, team building etc. 

In a business environment where achieving targets become an extreme necessity, there should be a hint of skill development practices where apart from achieving targets, an employee gets exposed to the other functions of management. This can provide assistance in the long run for both the employee and the organization in terms of better career prospects and organizational growth alike.

Appco Group India: Impact of Business on the Society

Gone are the days businesses and society as a whole had nothing to speak in unison. Today the social elements are not hidden from the corporate world and business as an entity has evident direct and indirect ties with the society. Businesses today have realized the advantages of having a positive social impact and are coming forth to incorporate this into their core business strategies.

Business decisions and its outcomes have a huge impact to its internal and external stake holders. It influences the employees, customers, vendors, competitors and changes with different business outcomes. In various countries abroad, the society as a whole expects businesses and organizations to have a positive impact with their outcomes. The most crucial impact an Organization has on the society is on the economy through various factors like the salary an employee gets, the prices charged to customers, the expenses that get incurred in the supply chain, distribution etc. An example of having a positive impact on the customers is through the companies giving them a good value for the price they pay for their products or services.

Effective corporate governance practiced in an Organization can ensure a moral and ethical impact on the society. Effectively monitoring and auditing the operations of an Organization can reduce corruption within and can curb the malpractices which may directly or indirectly affect the external environment. Additionally companies work upon huge data transactions and information which is easily accessible to the masses. Jeopardy in such situations can cause a loss of trust among employees and the customers alike. Businesses can be affected if there is a lack of trust and a negative image is created in the eyes of the people due to bad business practices.

Apart from the social, moral and ethical factors, a significant area of impact a business has is on the environment. Companies are directly responsible for the environmental hazards that are caused on a daily basis in terms of the energy consumption, waste etc. Companies that undertake measures to manage the waste, implement policies which can reduce the energy consumption and develop a sense of responsibility within the employees to contribute, will have  a very favorable impact and contribution to the society.

Best practices adopted as a part of the business thinking will directly guarantee a positive image for the company and corporations need to incorporate these healthy activities to maintain their status and manage crisis.

Appco Group India: CSR as a Corporate Strategy

In the recent history, corporate social responsibility is the new added element in the company’s goals and vision. Unknown to many a companies until the recent times, today, it has emerged in every businesses and the approach towards CSR has seen an upliftment within the organizations. And to put it up more officially, the new Companies ACT makes it mandatory for certain businesses to spend profits on the various social welfare activities.

CSR, as defined by the general industry standards, are the voluntary activities undertaken by a company to operate in an economic, social and environmentally sustainable manner. The value of CSR can be estimated as huge and has notable effects on the various functions of the Organization namely; human resources, reputation management to name a few. Ironically, CSR has been highly criticized to be a PR mock activity while only some part of it helps in managing the company image and brand. Now-a-days, companies have been coming forth in supporting and promoting initiatives which have had a considerable positive impact on the society. Various initiatives would include associating and sponsoring the events which are in some way giving back to the society and the stakeholders.

India, as it is, is a developing nation and more than half part of the country is rural. Education has been the top CSR activity that various organizations have taken up with an aim to provide cost free education to the masses. Women empowerment initiatives have been another big issue which many organizations support. Charity for underprivileged children, homeless children, education for children, initiatives for the old aged, improving human health, eradication of hunger and poverty etc form an essential part of the corporate social strategies. Apart from the social responsibilities, companies are coming forth to join hands for supporting the environmental issues and many big Organizations are taking part in research activities, environmental cleanliness activities and many other initiatives ensuring environmental sustainability so as to initiate a 360^o CSR plan within the Organization.

The logical explanation of CSR moves way beyond philanthropy and sponsorships. The society, as a stakeholder to the Organizations, views this as a responsibility to be taken up by companies for ensuring a seamless company reputation. In this process, the Companies get the leverage when it comes to a positive and healthy brand name, which further more helps in retaining employees and developing a good working culture to the internal people as well as o the external entities. Although Government has very recently put down the complete structure for companies to follow, it is still a long way to adopt the various CSR activities and to merge it with the corporate vision and objectives.

The future of business has evolved and Organizations will now have to adopt strategies which will help them sustain the business in the ever changing environment.

Appco Group India: Motivation from different views

Individuals in companies work for different reasons. An encouraging work culture, favorable company policies, liberal work atmosphere, approachable colleagues and many such reasons are the driving factors for people to stay in an organization for a longer tenure. But these are the general external factors that vary from place to place.

For some, indeed, monetary benefits are an essential driving factor. Unlike for people who want to perform, the passion to excel is what drives them. Individuals have learned to think beyond the money factor; but definitely not overlooking it. But for the newer generation who is setting foot in the business, the desire to succeed and perform has been on the forefront. And this is where their motivation lies in. People who share this very passion seek opportunities and events which challenge them to perform. Motivation then forms itself as a discipline which these professionals follow to the core. From discipline, comes to them, is a sense of satisfaction that their hard work provides. It is through the outcome of the work, their motivation can be realized. Such professionals regard money/financial factors as secondary factors.

But for people driven by monetary benefits, their goals and ambitions are based hugely on the way they perceive opportunities for the monetary value it holds. What drives them is probably the quicker they make money out of their jobs, the more successful they are in their careers. Many would say its money; some would look out for stability, while others would look for the challenges.

However, at the end of the day, when it comes to reviewing one’s own self, regardless of what drives you to attain success, everything must be balanced; be it monetary benefits or seeking out opportunities.

‘Every motivation you need is already within you’