Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
1
A PROJECT REPORT ON “BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IN
POTENTIAL FOOD-TECH MARKETS, INCLUDING
IMPLEMENTATION OF PRODUCT AND PROCESS
IMPROVEMENTS”
A Project Report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of
Post Graduate Diploma in Management”
Under the guidance
Of
Ms Suman Mondal, Business Development Manager
&
Dr. Ravi K.R. , Mentor
Submitted by
Samrendra Shrimukhum
Roll No: 24129
PGDM Batch 24
(2018-2020)
2
DECLARATION
Signature Signature
3
CERTIFICATE
4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I hereby admit that my summer internship project with HungerBox has been one of the most
rewarding experiences that I have come across till date. I take this opportunity to express my
acknowledgement and deep sense of gratitude to the individuals for rendering valuable
assistance and support to me. Their input has played a vital role in success of this project. I am
sure that the learning that I have had interacting with people during the course of my summer
project would definitely add value in my future endeavours.
I would like to thank my Project guide and mentor Ms Suman Mondal, Sales Manager,
HungerBox, for being a constant source of guidance and support and showing me the direction
of approach for the project. Without his support and encouragement, the successful completion
of this project would not have been possible.
I would like to express my deep gratitude to Dr. Ravi K.R., my project guide, XIME, for her
patient guidance, enthusiastic encouragement and useful critiques of this project.
I would like to express my deep appreciation to Prof. J. Philip, President, Xavier Institute of
Management and Entrepreneurship (XIME) for offering us this opportunity to gain first-hand
experience of working in an organization which allowed us to participate and learn about
practical work situations in the work environment.
Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my parents, friends and the entire Sales
& Marketing team for their help and guidance for the successful completion of this project.
5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................................... 7
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................... 9
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 11
1.1 INDUSTRY OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................. 11
Business - To - Business in F&B Market Overview of India ................................................... 11
1.2 SALES PROCESS ........................................................................................................................... 12
1.3 Major Trends in B2B Market in the Digital Era ........................................................................... 16
1.4 ABOUT THE COMPANY- .............................................................................................................. 17
MARKETING MIX- HUNGERBOX ............................................................................................ 23
CHAPTER 2- RESEARCH DESIGN ............................................................................................................ 26
2.1 OBJECTIVES & PROJECT DELIVERABLES: ..................................................................................... 26
2.2 Methodology:.............................................................................................................................. 27
SWOT analysis ....................................................................................................................... 27
SALES PROCESS ...................................................................................................................... 28
Operations support and branding at existing client sites: .................................................... 32
Creating launch plan:............................................................................................................. 35
Competitive analysis.............................................................................................................. 38
SURVEY .................................................................................................................................. 41
CHAPTER 3: LIMITATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION ................................................. 48
Limitations ................................................................................................................................. 48
Recommendations and Conclusion ........................................................................................... 49
6
LIST OF FIGURES
Fig 18- Survey result of most faced issues with HungerBox ....................................... 44
7
LIST OF TABLES
8
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The primary purpose of the summer project is to give students a first-hand experience of
working in an organization while testing their theoretical knowledge against practical
situations. This helps us to put the theory we learnt in the first year into practice and get an
insight into how an organization functions. With this purpose in mind, I did my summer
internship project at HUNGERBOX for a period of two months from May 10th 2019 to June
30th 2019.
HungerBox is a full stack B2B F&B technology company delivering food solutions for the
corporates in India. The vision is to enhance the productivity of corporate employees by
providing them a technology driven food experience which is safe, healthy and evolving
constantly.
CONCLUSION
Hungerbox has great potential in the B2B F&B sector because of the fast growth in the
corporate sector. Even with stiff competition from competitors like Zeta and Goodbox,
HungerBox has been successful in securing the top spot in the market. From the business
development perspective, Hungerbox has tapped the potential in the corporate sector but the
foothold in industrial sector has not been up to the mark.
The product offered is far advanced than that of competitors and this has proved to be the USP
for HungerBox. From the survey conducted, key areas of customer satisfaction and product
improvement has been identified which will further strengthen the client base. HungerBox is
focussing on the digitalization aspect by providing a complete transformation of corporate
cafeterias rather than being just a cafeteria vendor aggregator.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Players like Zeta and GoodBox are grabbing customers who are not familiar with the players
in the market by creating a good brand awareness/ sense among them. HungerBox should
create this brand sense by strategic marketing and advertising promotions. There is a need to
increase mapping and approaching clients to make the target market aware of HungerBox and
its products and services. More client visits should be conducted by the product and operations
team to attend to grievances and issues at the earliest thereby creating a sense of confidence
9
and trust among the customers. There should be an incentive system in place for the client site
supervisors for more efficient performance and customer support. Product level changes should
be given more attention in client level and the more customized it is, the more satisfaction and
efficiency it creates. There is a huge potential in the industrial sector- this opportunity should
be utilised diligently. A better brand sense can be created by organising more food fests,
corporate events etc and increase the visibility of HungerBox.
10
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
Business-to-business (B2B) sales are a sales model that involves one business selling products
or services to another business. B2B sales differ from B2C sales in that B2B offerings usually
have a higher price point, a longer sales cycle, require multiple touch points to close deals. Due
to the price points, B2B deals often require buy-in from multiple decision makers within an
organization. As such, B2B sales tend to be more strategic than B2C sales. While B2C selling
tactics tend to appeal to buyers’ emotions, B2B selling tactics are often appeal to a buyer’s
rationality. A sales strategy is not just about closing deals, it is about defining a sales process
that accurately reflects an organization, its customers, and the products or solutions that it sells.
While India is poised to emerge as one of the largest economies of the world, the B2B Industry
plays a significant growth driver with its relevance to the e-commerce industry. The B2B food
and beverage industry is fast growing due to this same reason. The industry empowered by
digitalization and e-commerce is said to grow 2.5 times.
Food vendors- ever growing corporate sector means demand for F&B requirements grow in
the same proportion. With this level of demand and changing trends in the industry,
digitalisation is an important factor. Not many food providers adopted the digitalised process
like easy ordering, one touch payment, transparent accounting, high quality auditing standards
etc. The potential for technological integration in this sector can boost their sales and customer
satisfaction. Feedback mechanism done digitally has changed the customer service aspect as
more precise and real time data can be acquired which helps make changes implemented easily.
B2B marketing is upgraded after its expansion on the digital world. Innovative techniques are
being used by the marketers to generate leads online. From SEO to Social Media, businesses
throughout the world are using unique ways to find, attract, connect and engage their valuable
prospects. The emergence of B2B portals, online business directories, digital marketing service
11
providers and other B2B websites have created a huge impact on the process of online
prospecting.
Businesses are focusing on bringing a large amount of traffic on their websites in order to
generate leads through conversion. This involves effective strategies to carry out the
conversion of target audiences. The most crucial factor is to drive qualified leads which require
a specific monitoring of metrics and optimization.
Digitalization has paved a new way for the Indian B2B Industry as emerging trends have
opened floodgates for B2B marketers to strategize their prospection with innovative
techniques. Let’s discuss the top digital trends in B2B sales to ensure business growth,
expansion and profitability.
The first step in building a sales process is to understand the demands of customers. A customer
demand is comprised of two elements:
Verifying both elements of customer demand accomplishes the first two steps in building a
sales process. By talking to potential customers, a company can find out what they really need
and whether they have the ability to pay. Their ability to pay depends on their budget, of course,
but it is also affected by the timeframe within which they could sign off on a deal. It is not
inappropriate to ask a potential customer if they have the budget, who would sign off on the
deal, and in what timeframe a deal could be closed. These questions allow a company to
prioritize potential customers and identify those most willing and likely to buy the company’s
offering. It is worth knowing which customers have the need, but not the ability to pay, but the
initial focus will be on those customers that have both elements of demand.
12
Developing a Solution
Once the customer’s demands are understood, the next two steps in the process are to develop a solution that
will meet these demands and then propose it to the customer. In some cases, these steps may be reversed so
that the proposal is made to the customer before the solution is developed. In other cases, it may be preferable
to present a proposal based on an incomplete solution that will be refined based on feedback from the
customers
Proposing the solution requires input from the potential customer. This step verifies that the proposed
solution fits the customer’s requirements. Also, it reconfirms that they have the ability to pay for it. If they
cannot reconfirm this, then it is better to move on to a customer that can. By focusing on a customer that has
the ability to pay for the solution, the probability of a successful deal increases.
The next step is to evaluate the solution with the customer. If the customer is enthusiastic and initiates contact
without prompting, this is a good sign. If constant hounding is required to get a technical or business response
to a solution, the sale is likely going nowhere.
Assuming the proposal meets the customer’s needs and the price point matches the customer’s value point,
then this step in the sales process should be limited to a few small areas of refinement. The key is to act
decisively on customer feedback. Changes should be implemented (or dismissed with explanation) as quickly
as possible to close this step. One effective strategy to close the step is for the supplier company to agree to
a set of product changes, but in return, the customer agrees to buy the solution “as is,” with or without a
discount. This guarantees the sale early in the process, gets the customer using the solution as soon as
possible, and provides the opportunity for further feedback and updates in the next version of the solution.
Typically, this is one of the steps where there is a high risk of the customer withdrawing their interest. The
main reasons for losing the customer at this step in the process are:
2. The customer no longer sees the fit between the solution and their needs.
3. The supplying company is not able to introduce the required changes to the solution in a timely or
cost-effective manner.
13
Negotiation and Contracts
If the previous steps in the sales process have been completed successfully, there is typically not a lot left
to negotiate. The key points to focus on in the negotiation process are:
2. Release date
The goal of the negotiation step is to resolve all of the business issues, not the legal issues, which are covered
in the contract step. Introducing legal departments too early will stall the negotiation and jeopardize the sales
process. The negotiation team should include the signing authority, a finance representative, and a business
line manager.
Once agreement has been reached, the negotiation step is formally closed by issuing a letter of intent
outlining all of the business issues. This letter is then forwarded to the legal team and becomes the main
content of a formal contract.
Note that sales can be lost even in the contract phase, for example if a legal department finds an issue relating
to intellectual property. The contract step in the process does not necessarily represent a won sale and it
might initiate a further round of negotiations or even a lost sale.
Failing to pass any step in the process means the sale is lost. If the customer does come back at some point
in the future, then the sales process should start again from the beginning because the conditions of the sale
are likely to have changed. Although losing a sale is undesirable, it is critical to learn from the loss. If the
potential sale was in response to a
request for proposal (RFP), an official debrief can be requested, especially if the RFP was issued by a
government organization. In any case, it is important to follow up with the customer and find out why they
did not purchase the solution. From this feedback, the supplier can determine what changes to the solution
or process could be made so that the sale will be won if the opportunity presents itself again.
14
Closing a Deal
This step is a milestone rather than a specific task. When the contract is signed by both parties, this marks
the end of the sales process and the beginning of a customer relationship management process. Hopefully, it
is also the beginning of a long-term relationship. The supplier should work hard to keep the new customer,
since it typically costs 10 times more to attract a new customer than to sell to an existing one.
The sales process represents the natural evolution of a deal and it is straightforward to follow one deal
through the process. In reality, many deals may be in progress at the same time and at different steps. A sales
funnel is a way to track potential customers through the sales process.
It helps assess the health and balance of projected sales by providing information on the following:
The funnel metaphor for a sales process is based on the gradual narrowing of potential deals into actual deals.
Figure 1 shows a graphical representation of the properties of a sales funnel.
As customers progress from one step in the sales process to another, some potential deals fall through, but
the company’s confidence in the remaining deals increases.
Developing a relevant and workable sales process is perhaps the most important aspect of a successful sales
strategy. Organizations usually develop their sales strategy through trial and error, which involves a lot of
wasted time and energy. A well-defined sales process, supported by a sales funnel, forces a company to be
realistic about how well their sales tactics work and helps to focus on the areas that require improvement.
15
1.3 Major Trends in B2B Market in the Digital Era
In the flourishing Indian e-commerce landscape, the B2B industry is slated to grow 2.5 times. The immense
opportunities further beget stiff competition, making it paramount for the market players to gauge the latest
trends and technology, and adapt to them proactively. Without further ado, let’s discuss the emerging trends
in B2B sales to adapt further and ensure growth, expansion and profitability.
GOING MOBILE
Any business which is not readily available on its customer’s fingertips cannot be expected to remain relevant
for long. Mobile phones are the current sales channels that have reshaped the global economy. Mobile
applications are perpetually the need of the hour for both buyers as well as sellers, regardless of the nature
of the business. It is all how conveniently accessible the business is. Giving your customers a 24×7 on-the-
fly access, going mobile is the edge you need in the competitive dynamics of today. While a mobile-
optimized website or app is simply the starting point, one needs to think outside the box and disrupt the status
quo. Paying close attention to the feedback, optimizing the content for mobile, investing in podcasts, stealth
geo-marketing, and enterprise messaging, amongst other alternatives are some of the ways B2B sellers can
close more deals.
QUALIFYING IS A COST-CUTTER
As many as 61% of the marketers surveyed by the ‘B2B Technology Marketing Community’ admitted that
generating high-quality leads is their biggest challenge. In B2B sales, given the higher ticket sizes, time is
money, and therefore, it is vital for the players to generate the most qualified leads. The interaction that goes
into exploring interests and business potential is time-consuming and blocks the pipeline for the quality
prospects. Strategically crafted content has emerged as one of the key ways for companies to solicit qualified
leads. Social selling (elaborated later in this list), further opens new grounds for businesses to general well-
16
prospected leads. There is only one rule of thumb in this pursuit – ascertain what your prospects think about
the product/service, and analyze their needs and motives to pitch your offerings in the best way.
DIY TREND
The DIY feature enables you to create your website, giving your customers direct access to your products
and offerings. In less than three minutes, you have your cloud-based marketplace. The B2B e-commerce
platforms providing this service ensure a ready CRM, along with other digital marketing assistance tools,
and more. DIY platforms have enabled thousands of SMEs in creating their marketplaces and succeeding
after that. Given the boom in B2B marketplaces, one
should anticipate further growth of DIY e-commerce platforms.
GETTING SOCIAL
B2B businesses can create a buzz on various social networking sites and can leverage the same momentum
for driving in more sales. Confirming the same, salesforce.com further revealed that 73% of the sales people
that have utilized social-selling, ended up outperforming their peers. While Facebook helped 43%
salespeople secure new clients and leads, LinkedIn topped the charts with 65%.
With social media platforms becoming an integral part of our lives, B2B sellers can understand the unique
personality traits, interests and motives of their prospects, and accordingly fine-tune their pitch to close the
deal. The interactions further provide them with real-time feedback which is important in upgrading the
service quality or value proposition. Owing to the same, leading social networking sites like Instagram,
Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are all expecting more involvement of B2B sellers. The DIY
platforms of today further allow businesses to direct social media users to their website page seamlessly
HUNGERBOX
Hunger box is a full stack B2B F&B technology company delivering food solutions for corporates. It’s a
SAAS based company which digitalises corporate cafeteria thereby providing employees and the
organisation with variety of benefits.
They are revolutionizing office food and cafeteria management along with the best caterers in the city with
the use of best in class technology and infrastructure and robust operational processes without compromising
on food quality and food Safety.
17
We are backed and advised by K Ganesh’s GrowthStory, a leading investor in ventures like BigBasket,
Portea, BlueStone,etc. The team is led by Sandipan Mitra, who was a co-founder of Justeat.in, which was
later acquired by FoodPanda.
18
Their vision is to enhance the productivity of corporate employees by providing them a technology driven
food experience which is safe, healthy and evolving constantly
E- Cafeteria -
Fig 4: E-cafeteria
19
Employees are provided with a customised application which has the menu of all vendors in their cafeteria.
Employees can pre order the food and collect it at the time of eating therby saving the time taken to order
and collect. All payments are made electronically and through a single channel.
E- Food court-
In this model, along with the vendors in the cafeteria, employees can order food from selected
restaurants nearby the company. For companies which reimburse food and beverages expenses for
employees, this model is very beneficial as there’s an effective control and audit mechanism.
E- Events-
HungerBox provides food solutions for corporate food requirements for large events, meetings,
parties, etc. These events would be fulfilled with the best caterers in town
E- catering-
In the model, unlike other models, HungerBox provides the food requirements for the employees
along with the technology.
VENDORS:
HungerBox has a pool of partner vendors (200+ in Bangalore) whom they strategically allocate to corporates
depending on the requirements of the firm. With the efficient feedback mechanism in place where employees
give real time data regarding food quality and hygiene, curating the vendors becomes easy. The vendors are
changed according to the feedback.
As the entire cafeteria becomes tech enabled, Caterers will not be required to manage any cash and
hence not perform any cash reconciliations
Caterers will have visibility on each of their cafeterias through daily reports which would provide
important information as required by the caterer (like Orders placed, Transaction value, etc.)
20
Caterers will have access to stock reports, data dashboards and selling history which would help them
in food preparation according to the fluctuating demands of the cafeteria
Order management, menu updates, etc. will be done online which empowers the caterer to share
information with the employees and hence provide a better food experience
HungerBox’s feedback module will help caterers to improve food and service quality based on
employee feedback.
CLIENTS –
HungerBox is providing food tech solutions for 70+ companies across 5 states in India.
21
BENEFITS TO THE CLIENT:-
Employers will have an expert in the Food-tech industry, who would bring in best in class technology
to manage food caterers and employee ordering, keeping food safety standards in mind
Employers will have more visibility on the entire process of ordering through the real time data that
the HungerBox admin console provides
Employers will have access to the feedback that the employees provide for their daily food
experience. Based on the feedback data, employers can gather actionable insights and act on it
Employers can track performance of all caterers through the HungerBox admin console and take
actions based on that
Employers have a 24x7 Helpline for their issues to be resolved
Employers will have a Technology enabled cafeteria which saves a lot of employee time and hence
increases employee productivity
The marketing mix is fundamentally about putting the correct item or a mix thereof in the place, at the
opportune time, and at the correct cost. The difficult part is doing this well, as you have to know each part
of your strategy and business plan for success. Examining the mix of HungerBox as a firm we can concoct
not only the 4P's but rather a mix of all 7P's of the marketing mix being applied in the firm. With its offerings
being item based as well as has a solid after deal benefit end which is the entity's prime earner . As the
proceeded with benefit with its customer empowers HungerBox to produce its incomes. How about we
investigate the different marketing mix as for the Marketing techniques of HungerBox:
1. Product - An item that is manufactured or delivered to fulfil the necessities of a specific group of
individuals. The item can be intangible or tangible as it can be as services or products. To guarantee
to have the correct sort of product that is sought after for the market, marketing comes in this kind of
promoting system. HungerBox has mainly 4 items on offering. The four principle offered items by
HungerBox are essentially (i) E-Cafeteria (ii) E-Food Court (iii) E-Events and (iv) E-Catering.
2. Price - The cost of the item is essentially the sum that a client pays for to It is likewise a critical part
of a marketing plan as it decides your firms benefit and survival. The value factor in the firm depends
for the most part the sort of agreement that HungerBox is getting into with the customer party and
22
was for the most part powerful in nature. By and large the prime costs that are included with the firm
are given below:
Tab /w Stand as rental fee: 10,000 /- per month.
5-10% sales share from the vendor sales of the Cafeteria.
3.5% Annual Fee from each employee registered for service fee.
3. Place - Placement or distribution is a very important part of the product mix definition. You have to
position and distribute the product in a place that is accessible to potential buyers. This comes with a
deep understanding of your target market.
Understand them inside out and you will discover the most efficient positioning and distribution
channels that directly speak with your market. HungerBox focusses on selective distribution and
promotion strategies as well to cut down on extra costs as well. As the firm is a B2B entity focusing
mostly on IT or other corporate firms with a catering requirement only. The place factor defines
HungerBox’ requirement in mostly Corporate Cafeteria’s or Event requirements based on a corporate
food catering services.
4. Promotion - Promotion is very important component of marketing as it can boost brand recognition
and sales. Promotion is comprised of various elements like:
Sales Organization
Public Relations
Advertising
Sales Promotion
Advertising commonly covers specialized techniques that are paid for like TV ads, radio ads, print
media, and web commercials. In contemporary circumstances, there is by all accounts a move in shift
from offline to the online world. Advertising, then again, are typically not paid for. This includes
official statements, presentations, sponsorship deals, courses, meetings, and events. Informal
exchange is likewise a sort of item advancement. Verbal exchange/word of mouth is a casual
communication about the benefits of the item by fulfilled clients and ordinary people. The business
staffs assume an essential part in advertising and informal exchange.
HungerBox focuses mostly on its Sales Promotion & Sales Organization department itself to generate
hot leads and trying to convert them into prospect able clients. The other wing of HungerBox’
promotion could be marked as its PR end as HungerBox does not invest at all on its Advertising end
at all.
23
5. People - Of both target market and individuals specifically identified with the business. Intensive
research is essential to find whether there are sufficient individuals in your target market that is sought
after for specific types of products and services. The organization's employees are instrumental in
advertising since they are the ones who deliver the services. It is vital to train and prepare the ideal
individuals to convey
better administration than the customers, regardless of whether they run a support desk, customer
service, publicists and software engineers and so on.
At the point when a business discovers individuals who really have confidence in the products or
services that the specific business makes, it's is very likely that the representatives will play out as
well as can be expected. Furthermore, they'll be more open to fair criticism about the business and
information their own considerations and interests which can scale and develop the business.
It's essential for HungerBox to enlist the correct staff with the client adjusting substance implanted
inside similar to an service firm HungerBox needs its operations and deals division to be richly useful
and compassionate to the client needs and inquiries at customer area to show a positive photo of the
company's offerings in the customers mind.
6. .Process - The frameworks and procedures of the firm affects the execution of the services. Along these
lines, you need to ensure that you have an all around customized process set up to limit costs. It could be
your entire sales funnel, a compensation framework, distribution framework and other efficient strategies
and ventures to guarantee a working business that is running successfully. Tweaking and upgrades can
come later to "take care of" a business to limit costs and augment benefits.
HungerBox' offerings in every one of the four arrangements of its administrations has adaptability of
customization in light of the customer's necessities. Be it redoing the business rate/pay framework or
the whole deals channel as we have seen in the different deals display followed in the distinctive
customer areas went to. The distribution channel as discussed in the In-Mobi launch experiences was
completely different from the ones followed in the E-Cafeteria Services given by HungerBox.
7. Physical Evidences - In the service businesses, there ought to be physical proof that the service was
conveyed. Moreover, physical proof relates likewise to how a business and its items are seen in the
marketplace. It is the physical proof of a business' quality and foundation. An idea of this is marking.
24
How about we investigate the different physical confirmations of HungerBox' administrations that
were apparent:
•The Food-Cards that were distributed to individual were one type of physical proof of the administration
gave to the end purchasers.
•The Café-Tab's/w Stands were another type of the physical confirmation of the services being given.
•Last, The core of the whole operation the P-O-S (Point of Sale) Machines that were given to sellers and to
registration purpose for existing were another strong physical proof of HungerBox' administrations being
there at the customer area.
25
CHAPTER 2- RESEARCH DESIGN
1. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT:
Pursue strategic opportunities for hunger box , for example by cultivating partnerships or other
commercial relationships, or identifying new markets for its products or services. Also , to understand
the sales and distribution channels of the B2b industry
For achieving this objective, the work done included the following
Area mapping-
Area mapping included collecting information from target market areas and creating a database of
potential customers and analysing and differentiating the same.
The areas i mapped were –
1. Jigani (Off electronic city)
2. Prestige tech poark (bellandur)
3. Divyasree technopolis (bellandur)
4. RMZ Ecospace (bellandur)
5. Nelamangla
6. Yesvantpur
Lead generation – generating potential leads from the mapped areas by scrutinising the information
collected. To qualify as a lead, the potential client should meet with certain conditions like no. Of
employees, cafeteria model, scope for improvementetc.
To get a total understanding of the product and thereby assist in product launch in client sites.
3. COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS:
HungerBox faces stiff competition from companies like Zeta, Goodbox etc. The objective was to compare
and analyse the competition and suggest improvements and changes.
2.2 Methodology:
SWOT analysis
The primary step before going on field for area mapping and lead generation was to conduct a Swot analysis
for Hungerbox to understand the strengths and weaknesses. this enabled us to have a proper understanding
before interacting with the clients.
27
SALES PROCESS
Product knowledge-
Knowing the product is out most important in sales field. At HungerBox, product knowledge came in
different ways. We visited 2 client sites- (First Source and Qualcomm) initially and understood the process
followed there. Since the model is similar in most of the client locations, we had set the base for further
activities.
We visited the vendor kitchen where our food safety officer examined the quality of the kitchen and
procedures there.
It helped me to explain the product better to the clients and also link features to the benefits. What mattered
were not the features of the product itself but how the customer will benefit from the features.
We were allotted different tech parks and industrial areas for area mapping and lead generation. Equipped
with full product knowledge we covered 4 tech parks/industrial area. The tasks involved were-
Information digging
Filter out non-potential clients
Barging-in and collecting information
After the area has been mapped, the findings were analysed and filtering of the clients was done.
Prospecting and qualifying were done on the basis of-
Presence of cafeteria
Employee strength- min of 300 employees required to qualify. In certain cases, if the client
reimburses a good amount for food to the employees, we consider smaller companies too
Absence of an existing digitalised model
28
Micro Labs 300 Cash n carry
Tata Advanced Materials Ltd 1350 Company provided
Mylan Labs Ltd 550 Cash n carry
The Times Of India 150 Company provided
Yazaki 1100 Company provided
Carl Zeiss 450 Company provided
TaeguTec Ltd 400 Company provided
Ansell ltd 800 Cash n carry
Aashirvad pipes 650 Company paid
HCL technologies 1350 Cash n carry/company paid
Hikal ltd 440 Company paid
29
Company Name No.of employees cafeteria model
Deloitte 5000 cash n carry/company paid
CGI 3000 cash n carry/company paid
Sprinkler 250 subsidized
Urban Ladder 250 cash n carry
Titan 800-900 cash n carry/company paid
Landmark group 1800 cash n carry
SDL 75 NA
Medtronic 200 cash n carry/company paid
Azuga 250 cash n carry/company paid
Fujitsu 1000 cash n carry/company paid
Thomson Reuters NA
Table 3: lead list
RMZ Ecoworld/Ecospace
30
Cold calling:
After obtaining the prospects, we were asked to cold call them and fix up appointments where we can give
a complete product demo. In most cases i was successful in going past the reception and getting a task to
speak to the facilities/admin in charge. The leads were classified on the basis of hot , moderate and cold
leads. Pitching the product to facility managers gave me the confidence to communicate efficiently and got
a better knowledge in the B2B F&B area. We kept following up with the leads to get appointments and other
leads.
Approach:
I was successful in converting 4 leads to the next stage of meeting. I was accompanied by a sales manager
and pitched our product to the facility heads. The meeting gave me an insight into product demos, technical
aspects of F&B industry and good persuading and convincing
skills. Since the conversion rate is 2% and takes a min of 3 months for on boarding, my leads didn’t get
converted in the 2 months of my work with HungerBox.
Product demos were done during the meetings which highlighted the benefits for the employer and employee
and the valuable feedbacks of the facility head allowed us to customize and tweak our product according to
the requirement. A consultant like relationship was built with the facility managers and strategic changes in
the products were made to cater to their requirement. The comparative study done was instrumental in giving
presentations and helped in giving a better understanding about the market and players to the facility head.
Till I left the organization, effective follow-ups were done by working closely with the sales managers.
Capgemini- BPO with strength 2000+ located at Whitefield. The cafeteria had 7 vendors and vendors
found it interesting and easy to adapt. Since its a BPO, the employees are relatively young crowd and
implementation was easy as they readily accepted the technology
31
UTC Aero systems – The company manufactures aircraft parts for exporting and being a
manufacturing unit with production lines, the time allotted for breaks were strict and there was huge
volume of employees coming in a very short span of time. This proved challenging for us as the tech
system at times could not handle the heavy
load. With efficient training of employees and vendors and quick action at times of crisis, the
functioning became smooth after a week’s time.
Northern Trust- This location proved to be the toughest of them all due to excessive resistance from
the employees to adapt to hungerbox’s system. Customer service skills were put into much use in
convincing employees to register and use the application. Highlighting the pros and explaining briefly
the whole process to employees helped better the process a lot.
The product launch was one of the final stages of the sales process and it was during this period of 2-3 weeks,
product customisation takes place. Frequent changes were made in the product depending on the issues faced
during the trial runs. Along with ensuring smooth functioning of the process, we were asked to promote
HungerBox and create maximum brand awareness among the employees. Handling the process turned out
to be a heavy task since there was too much resistance to change by the employees and the vendors
During this time, I interacted with almost 1000 employees’ thereby addressing their concerns and problems
regarding the product.
Being a B2B company, interacting with our clients’ customers proved to be a great help for bettering our
product and customizing it to ensure maximum satisfaction.
Giving them support and help in the smooth on boarding- interaction with the employees on a
constant basis to persuade them to switch to our model by explaining the benefits of the system was
one major task. Boosting the number of registrations to at least 75% of the employee population
and boosting the number of app orders to a c onsiderable amount was primary task. Network issues
being a common sight, convincing and calming irate employees were also of out most importance.
32
2) Hardware and resource management
Main hardware of HungerBox includes POS Machines, Cafe tabs, internet connection and recharge
points. The hardware should be constantly monitored to reduce issues and improve efficiency.
Educating the vendors and employees about usage and maintaining the hardware was also done.
Constant interaction with employees and monitoring process flow gave me insights into process
and product improvement ideas and successfully implement it.
Registration of employees saw a huge increase in all 3 locations due to the efficient customer support
given by us. Employees were educated on the functioning of the system and usages and their
grievances were attended quickly and diligently.
5) Conducting a product and process related survey on the employees to suggest improvements.
A survey was conducted on 950 employees belonging to 3 client locations for process, product and
service improvement.
During the launch assist, the findings which can improve the product were-
1. The application and NFC card can be used only within the company and not in nearby cafes
including the common cafeterias at tech parks
Eg- the app cannot be used at “The Bay” at prestige
2. There is no cash back option for our app. Since customer satisfaction and retention is of outmost
importance, there should be cash back options available for the employees
3. Connectivity issues- the most major issue faced by HungerBox is internet at client locations. Since
the entire operations of HungerBox happen online, any connectivity issue can result in major errors.
33
4. Server hang- when there are too many orders coming up, there is server errors as the huge amount
of load cannot be handled efficiently by the servers.
5. Proper education of the vendors- the vendors should be properly educated and given an idea about
the entire functioning and not just whats needed for them. This can help them solve small issues
themselves rather than approaching the hungerbox representative
6. Many a times, employees after making an order don’t show up on time. The vendor prepares the
food and it either goes cold or takes up too much space inside the shop.
7. Employees who order just a tea or biscuit also has to go through the whole process of ordering through
the app rather than paying on the spot. This create irate customers who gets a negative impression of
hungerbox
Recommendations-
Cash back – HungerBox should work on a cash back model for the customers which will help
retain the confidence of many employees
Since network is a major issue, HungerBox should make it mandatory for the client to provide
internet connectivity for the smooth functioning.
Proper training- there should be proper training given to both vendors and employees regarding the
functioning of the product. Most of the issues at client sites happen due to the lack of knowledge of
both parties.
There should be a single tap mechanism for items like tea and biscuits to reduce the waiting time
during peak hours.
The first week or the launch week is the most crucial time as the first impression is out most
important. A launch plan includes the initial process of setting up activity in client location in
the most efficient manner. A variety of factors comes into play here namely educating the
vendors and employees, setting up hardware, app launch, employee registration etc. Creating
an efficient launch plan keeping these into consideration helped overcome certain barriers and
help in better process flow.
34
The launch plan was created for VMware which was going live the second week of June
36
Competitive analysis
HungerBox faces stiff competition from companies like ZETA, GoodBox etc. A competitive
analysis helps in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of current and potential customers.
This analysis provides both an offensive and defensive strategic context to identify
opportunities and threats in the market and formulate strategies to turn the weaknesses to
strengths.
A comparison was made between HungerBox and its main competitors in different aspects like
Payments, Digital Cafe, Food safety, Vendor Management etc. This analysis helped during the
meetings and discussions with the client during my time at HungerBox.
37
Fig 8: Comparison with respect to digitalized cafe
38
Fig 10:Comparison in terms of vendor management
39
SURVEY
Employees were surveyed on different aspects of features and facilities of HungerBox. The
purpose of the survey was to identify problem areas and product improvements.
Since there was constant interaction with employees for registering and educating about the
product, the sample was chosen randomly.
Since there was a total of 5000+ employees combined in all 3 locations ie. Capgemini,
UTC Aerosystems and Northern Trust and not every employee wanted to answer to questions,
random sampling was used. Minimum knowledge of the sample was required in this method.
Limitations
The main limitations faced were employee resistance. Due to the lack of time for the
employees, they were hesitant to answer the questions. The questionnaire had to be filled
manually by the interviewer as there was no means to send the questionnaire to all employees.
Sample size
40
RESULTS AND FINDINGS.
1.
Study showed the most employees like the time aspect more in Hungerbox. Even though single
mode of payment is helpful for the vendors and employers for easy auditing , employees prefer
multiple modes of payment.
1.
89
41
The research shows employees prefer the previous system compared to Hungerbox. This
can be because digitalisation of cafeterias is a new concept and takes time to adapt. The
study also shows employees of UTC Aerosystems prefer the new method as they found it
interesting and adaptable
2.
310
mobile application
Desktop(URL)
560 Café tabs
80
Majority of employees find ordering through mobile application better and convenient.
Migrating the remaining employees to mobile application platform can reduce the cost of
operations and increase efficiency. Even with the option of ordering through mobile phone,
many order through the cafe tabs resulting in crowding around the tabs. This doesn’t serve
the purpose as time is still wasted ordering food.
42
3.
HungerBox rep being helpful
304
yes
no
646
Almost 70% employees find the Hungerbox supervisor service helpful and satisfactory.To
bring the gap down further, proper training should be given to the supervisor in customer
service and a sense of accountability should be instilled..
4.
219
counter
mobile application
731
Reducing the dependency on supervisor for recharges should be given importance as self
reliant employees can bring down cost of operations of hungerbox.
6.
43
changes employees wants to
see in hungerbox
29 Option to order food
from outside
restaurents
294
361 quicker process to
order small items
offers on purchases
266
With most of the F&B providers giving offers on food orders, hungerbox should start providing
offers for customer stickiness and satisfaction. Hungerbox can provide offers on recharges of
big amounts.
7.
lack of attention by
199 vendors
recharge issues
655
nothing in particular
A proper internet connection is required for the smooth functioning. Since almost all cafeterias
are inside the office space, network connectivity and speed turns out to be slow. Hungerbox
should ensure the client provides wired network connection for better functioning.
44
Another issue addressed is the vendor paying less attention to the orders as they are not used
to such a system. Educating the vendors properly can ensure this issue is taken care of.
8.
86 yes
361 no
Maybe
503
9.
paytm
1
409 PhonepE
Payzapp
Freecharge
124 76
10.
76 NFC card
199 QR code
4 Digit pin
655
all of the above
Fig 20:survey 10
Survey shows NFC card as the most common method of authenticating orders at a counter.
Integrating with the employee ID’s will be beneficial for the employees.
46
CHAPTER 3: LIMITATIONS,
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
Limitations
Business development-
Most of the cases, getting past the reception to meet facility heads’ proved to be quite
tough.
Company policy did not let anyone without an appointment meet the facility/admin
head
HungerBox faces stiff competition from Goodbox. Many of the companies we approach
were already approached by goodbox. Because of this facility managers were hesitant
to speak
The launch of product in a client location is the most important phase for hungerbox.
Without efficient customer support, launch cannot be done in full potential and the first
impression with the employees would not be upto the mark
The application and NFC card can be used only within the company and not in nearby
cafes including the common cafeterias at tech parks
Eg- the app cannot be used at “The Bay” at prestige
There is no cash back option for our app. Since customer satisfaction and retention is
of outmost importance, there should be cash back options available for the employees
Connectivity issues- the most major issue faced by HungerBox is internet at client
locations. Since the entire operations of HungerBox happen online, any connectivity
issue can result in major errors.
Server hang- when there are too many orders coming up, there is server errors as the
huge amount of load cannot be handled efficiently by the servers.
47
Proper education of the vendors- the vendors should be properly educated and given an
idea about the entire functioning and not just whats needed for them. This can help
them solve small issues themselves rather than approaching the hungerbox
representative
Many a times, employees after making an order don’t show up on time. The vendor
prepares the food and it either goes cold or takes up too much space inside the shop.
Employees who order just a tea or biscuit also has to go through the whole process of
ordering through the app rather than paying on the spot. This create irate customers
who gets a negative impression of HungerBox
Comparative analysis-
There were not much limitations as the data was readily available online
Business development-
A sense of awareness should be created in the target market. Players like Zeta and Good
box has better reach and visibility in the corporate F&B section. Better advertisement
and promotion should be done to boost the visibility of Hunger box
There is a huge potential in the industrial sector. Hunger box should tap this potential
before the competitors reach them.
Hunger box should organize food fests, seminars for facility managers and corporate
events to gain more visibility.
Operations-
Product launch or Initial week is the most crucial time for HungerBox and there should
be efficient operations support given to on board all employees by giving dedicated
customer support and educating the employees and vendors
Cash back – hunger box should work on a cash back model for the customers which
will help retain the confidence of many employees
Since network is a major issue, hunger box should make it mandatory for the client to
provide internet connectivity for the smooth functioning.
48
Proper training- there should be proper training given to both vendors and employees
regarding the functioning of the product. Most of the issues at client sites happen due
to the lack of knowledge of both parties.
There should be a single tap mechanism for items like tea and biscuits to reduce the
waiting time during peak hours.
49
APPENDICES
Questionnaire
50
51
52
Admin Dashboard- Order chart
53
REFERENCES:
1. www.hungerbox.com
2. www.Admin.hungerbox.com
3. http://in.kompass.com/e/en/article/b2b-sales-industry-india-rapidly-evolving-digital-
trends/
4. https://timreview.ca/article/386
5. http://www.ringdna.com/inside-sales-glossary/inside-sales-glossaryinside-sales-
glossarywhat-is-b2b-sales
6. http://www.dqindia.com/top-5-trends-of-b2b-sales-industry-in-the-digital-era-2/
54