Xerox streamlines its channel claims process

Xerox India has identified that the one area most partners are dissatisfied
with is the long processing period for sales claims. Currently, this process
takes 30 to 60 days with most vendors. Xerox is working on reducing this time
frame to 15 days by taking the whole process online.

The company is also working with software developers to introduce an
interactive channel management module to its partner portal. Access to this will
be given to authorized partners who can then put in their claims online and
within 15 days, will get the disbursement of their dues. "We are trying to
make our channel functioning as transparent as possible, to ensure that they are
happy. Since we got into the channel business just a few months ago, we have
realized that it is imperative to keep partners happy to fulfill our sales
targets," said Natesh Mani, Executive Director-New Office, Xerox India Ltd.

Xerox had almost selected the channel management application designed by
Yamaha Infotech, an offshoot of the famous bike manufacturing company. But as
the application was based on the Lotus Domino platform, which meant a widespread
migration of Xerox's existing infrastructure, the idea was dropped.

Xerox is also putting in a lot of additional information of channel relevance
on its web portals. This includes formats for proposals, which the partners can
simply download, fill in the blanks and forward it to their customer. "Our
partners are savvy business people, but lack some soft skill sets like drafting
proposals or having the know-how on how to apply for tenders. We have put a
checklist of the documents required for the tendering process, for those
partners who want to sell our products to government agencies," added Mani.

Warranty is another issue that Xerox wants to tackle head-on. It has
appointed a third party company which will collect the first tier of information
from partners related to products which require warranty support.

The company is also in the process of appointing an employee who will then
sift through these claims and sanction them. A budget of around Rs 2 crore has
been set aside, just to resolve warranty issues. "The idea is to cut the
paperwork in the process and our employee will have the authority to sanction
any claims where warranty support is required, up to the level of Rs 2 lakh,
without approval from me," stated Mani.

Vinita Bhatia

Mumbai