Bob Edwards (A.L. Wilson Chemical)
December 3 began with an early morning 100 mile drive to South India’s Madurai Airport, to catch a domestic Indian airline flight to New Delhi. My vacation in South India had ended, and the second half of my trip would be working with Wotek India, our Wilson Chemical distributor in India.
Wotek is headquartered in Dubai, UAE. They service the laundry and dry cleaning industry in many countries in the Middle East and now handle all of India as well. Wotek conducts much of their Indian business by utilizing sub-contractors to warehouse, sell and distribute products which are imported by Wotek. These products are then sold to end users in the laundry and drycleaning market in India. Two of Wotek’s key players in India are Vishal Dewan, Director, and Shashi Srivastava, National Sales Manager. Both of these gentlemen are headquartered in New Delhi. When I landed in New Delhi, I was met by Vishal and his Sales Coordinator, Ms. Deepika.
It had been 4 years since I was in any major city in India, so it was with a little trepidation when I got into Vishal’s car and he headed into traffic. The highway lanes are well marked. But practically, lines in the road are only a suggestion. Any lane can be occupied by three or more vehicles simultaneously, plus or minus an extra motorcycle or scooter. It is quite commonplace to occasionally slightly nick the next car’s side view mirror, without creating a disturbance in the flow of traffic. I saw that happen at least three times when using Uber cars in Indian cities. It took about an hour for us to reach the Courtyard Marriott. Vishal assured me that India was working on developing its infrastructure (roads and elevated train projects) to keep up with the pace of industrial development.
I invited Vishal and Deepika to lunch at the Courtyard. After lunch we found a table in the lounge where Vishal asked me to give him and Deepika an introduction to Wilson Chemicals. I gave them my detailed presentation, including pictures of problem garments, and solutions for trouble shooting. Then we reviewed Vishal’s objectives for our proposed six days together. We were to meet up with Shashi Srivastava, National Sales Manager, work 2 days in New Delhi, then travel together to Mumbai for one day, then to Bangaluru for 3 days to make presentations and work with Wotek’s sub-contractors and end users. This was going to be a VERY busy six days, which included late flights and early meetings.
I was immensely impressed how thoroughly Vishal and Shashi had thought out and planned our itinerary. Some meetings were in hotels where we were staying, where different vendors met us for coffee or for lunch, and we did presentations. Other sales calls were to hotel laundries and dry cleaners and commercial laundries. One major presentation took place in a rented hotel banquet room in Bangaluru, where Wotek personnel also joined our meeting. I was impressed with Shashi’s knowledge of his customers as well as his technical acumen. Shashi and Vishal were very quick to pick up on Wilson Chemical product knowledge as well as in field applications. The three of us felt that our 6 days together was time well spent, which would translate into end user problem solving. The net result is to generate orders with end users, which equals more sales for the Wotek and its sub-contractors.
So, one might ask, “Why India?” The answers lie in the push by Mr. Modi, India’s Prime Minister, to bring India into the modern world to compete with countries that were once considered “more developed.” This push is highly visible as one enters the beautiful, new Indian airports … a huge change from when I was in India 4 years ago. Secondly, as I traveled, I was shocked to see the sight of incredibly large manufacturing and warehousing facilities as well as corporate headquarters and offices in very tall, new buildings. It made me feel to a degree that this looked just like business in the United States. India is experiencing a huge increase in industrial production and trade. As a consequence of this growth in industry, we also see tremendous growth in the institutional market: MANY new and modern hotels, new hospitals, new commercial laundries, new huge drycleaning chains, as well as new schools, etc. have been created. The Indian government has also prioritized development of tourism, creating world class airports, and encouraging hotel development. Demand is high; Vishal tried to get us a hotel in Mumbai. He told me that the best ones were sold out, so we took a 2 star rated hotel instead.
This rapid growth actually has had a dynamic impact on the laundry and drycleaning industry of India, and substantial investments have been made in these industries. All of the following “new markets in India,” provide a reasonable incentive for manufacturers to consider India as the next new frontier: OPL (on premise laundry) in hospitals and hotels, linen rental facilities, retail laundry franchising with government help to new business, environmentally friendly guidelines for laundry, dry cleaning and wet cleaning.
I finished my six days with Vishal and Shashi with the certainty that we had accomplished an enormously important trip for Wotek India, and for Wilson Chemical. There was a hunger for new information in the people we visited, and as we progressed, Shashi was able to take multiple Wilson product orders. All in all, this would not have been as successful were it not for the knowledge of industry players by Shashi and Vishal, and their ability to draw people in for an in depth presentation. My thanks go to Mr. Naresh Verma, President and CEO of Wotek for supporting our venture, and to Shashi and Vishal for their excellent organization and participation.
