‘A STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SELLING

STRATEGY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SPA CAPITAL’

Acknowledgment

Learning and acquiring knowledge has no leaps and bounds. It is

one resource that never gets exhausted, the more you preach, the

better it gets and the more it lives down through ages. From the

day since man set has feet on earth learning process had begun

and is still evolving making life happier and memorable. One can

only lead a person to things he needs to know. Experience through

failures and hardships makes a man perfect.

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Executive Summary

The financial sector is growing at a very rapid rate. Thus it poses a great opportunity for

all the Banking and Non-Banking Financial Corporations (NBFCs) to operate in an

efficient manner to boost their growth level. In today’s cut-throat competition era, no

company can survive with out paying due attention to the constantly changing

consumer’s demands, be it the demand for physical goods or for intangible and

inseparable services.

Marketing of intangible services is far more difficult than the marketing of physical

goods.

Moreover, the marketing of financial services is even tougher as many people are still

unaware about the things. They take these things as just the wastage of money.

Though the awareness among people is increasing but at a very slow rate.

Thus the strategies adopted by the companies to sell their financial products should be

such that the people themselves should come forward to demand these products.

SPA is no exception to this reality. SPA offer its customers the ITR filing services, which

is must for every individual and thus forming a very well planned tool to attract more and

more customers.

The customers so created directly or indirectly help the company to increase its business.

SPA used to cross-sell its services to the clients according to their interest.

My project is to study the effectiveness of this selling strategy of SPA by getting the

feedback of its clients.

Chapter 1 includes the industry profile consisting financial sector, financial services,

selling strategy and Customer Relationship Management in financial sector.

Chapter 2 includes the research objectives and the methodology i.e. how the sample is

chosen, ways to collect the data etc.

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Chapter-3 consists of the company profile of SPA Capital Services Ltd, which includes

its milestones, mission, the group companies.

Chapter-4 includes the findings and analysis part of the survey done to check the

effectiveness of selling strategy of SPA.

Chapter-5 includes the suggestions, which if implemented, would help the organization to

improve itself.

Chapter-6 concludes the research along with the limitations from the research suffers.

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Table of Contents

Student declaration i

Certificate from Company ii

Certificate from Guide iii Acknowledgement iv

Executive Summary v

Page no.

CHAPTER 1: INDUSTRY PROFILE 1

1.1 Indian Financial Sector 2

1.2 Selling Strategies 10

1.3 Customer Relationship Management 13

CHAPTER 2: OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY 18

2.1 Purpose of the study. 19

2.2 Research Objectives of the study 19

2.3 Research Methodology of the study 19

2.3.1 Research Design 20 2.3.2 Data Collection 20

2.3.3 Research design 20

2.3.4 Method of data collection 22

2.3.5 Limitation 23

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CHAPTER -3: Company Profile 23-38

3.1 About SPA 25

3.2 Promoters 26

3.3 Management Team 26

3.4 Group Companies 27

3.4.1 SPA Capital Services Ltd. 28

3.4.2 SPA Merchant Bankers Ltd. 29

3.4.3 SPA Securities Ltd. 31

3.4.4 SPA Insurance Broking Services Ltd. 32

3.4.5 SPA Com Pvt. Ltd. 32

3.5 Financial Management Services 32

3.6 Group presence and strength 33

3.7 Vision 34

3.8 Core Values 34

3.9 Milestones 35

3.10 Clients 37

CHAPTER -4: Findings and Analysis 39-50

4.1 Findings 40 4.2 Analysis 49 CHAPTER -5: Suggestions 51-53

CHAPTER -6: Conclusion and Limitation 54-56

Bibliography 57-58

Annexure 59-61

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Indian Financial Sector

Selling Strategies

Customer Relationship Management

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Indian Financial Sector

1.1 Financial Sector

A category of stocks containing firms that provide financial services to commercial and

retail customers. This sector includes banks, investment funds, insurance companies and

real estate.

Financial services perform best in low interest rate environments. A large portion of this

sector generates revenue from mortgages and loans, which gain value as interest rates

drop. Furthermore, when the business cycle is in an upswing, the financial sector benefits

from additional investments. Improved economic conditions usually lead to more capital

projects and increased personal investing. New projects require financing, which usually

leads to a larger number of loans.

Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance

industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of

money. Among these organizations are banks, credit

card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies, stock

brokerages, investment funds and some government sponsored enterprises.

Financial Sector of India is intrinsically strong, operationally sundry and exhibits

competence and flexibility besides being sensitive to India’s economic aims of

developing a market oriented, industrious and viable economy. An established financial

sector assists greater standards of endowments and endorses expansion in the economy

with its intensity and exposure. The fiscal sector in India entails banks, financial

organization, markets and services. The sector is classified as organized and conventional

sector that is also recognized as unofficial finance market.

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1.1.1 Major Financial Services

1.1.1.1 Banking Sector

A bank is a financial intermediary that accepts deposits and channels those deposits

into lending activities, either directly or through capital markets. A bank connects

customers with capital deficits to customers with capital surpluses.

Banking is generally a highly regulated industry, and government restrictions on financial

activities by banks have varied over time and location. The current set of global bank

capital standards is called Basel II. 

Channels

Banks offer many different channels to access their banking and other services:

ATM is a machine that dispenses cash and sometimes takes deposits without the need

for a human bank teller. Some ATMs provide additional services.

A branch is a retail location

Call center

Mail: most banks accept check deposits via mail and use mail to communicate to their

customers, eg by sending out statements

Mobile banking is a method of using one's mobile phone to conduct banking

transactions

Online banking is a term used for performing transactions, payments etc. over the

Internet

Relationship Managers, mostly for private banking or business banking, often visiting

customers at their homes or businesses

Telephone banking is a service which allows its customers to perform transactions

over the telephone without speaking to a human

Video banking is a term used for performing banking transactions or professional

banking consultations via a remote video and audio connection. Video banking can be

performed via purpose built banking transaction machines (similar to an Automated

teller machine), or via a videoconference enabled bank branch.

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1.1.1.2 Capital Market

A capital market is a market for securities (debt or equity), where business enterprises

(companies) and governments can raise long-term funds. It is defined as a market in

which money is provided for periods longer than a year[1], as the raising of short-term

funds takes place on other markets (e.g., the money market). The capital market includes

the stock market (equity securities) and the bond market (debt). Financial regulators,

oversee the capital markets in their designated jurisdictions to ensure that investors are

protected against fraud, among other duties.

Capital markets may be classified as primary markets and secondary markets. In primary

markets, new stock or bond issues are sold to investors via a mechanism known

as underwriting. In the secondary markets, existing securities are sold and bought among

investors or traders, usually on a securities exchange, over-the-counter, or elsewhere.

Money market

The money market is a component of the financial markets for assets involved in short-

term borrowing and lending with original maturities of one year or shorter time frames.

Trading in the money markets involves Treasury bills, commercial paper, bankers'

acceptances, certificates of deposit, federal funds, and short-lived mortgage- and asset-

backed securities.[1] It provides liquidity funding for the global financial system.

The core of the money market consists of banks borrowing and lending to each other,

using commercial paper, repurchase agreements and similar instruments. These

instruments are often benchmarked to (i.e. priced by reference to) the London Interbank

Offered Rate (LIBOR) for the appropriate term and currency.

Common money market instruments

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Certificate of deposit - Time deposits, commonly offered to consumers by banks,

thrift institutions, and credit unions.

Repurchase agreements - Short-term loans—normally for less than two weeks and

frequently for one day—arranged by selling securities to an investor with an

agreement to repurchase them at a fixed price on a fixed date.

Commercial paper - Unsecured promissory notes with a fixed maturity of one to 270

days; usually sold at a discount from face value.

Eurodollar deposit - Deposits made in U.S. dollars at a bank or bank branch located

outside the United States.

Federal agency short-term securities - (in the U.S.). Short-term securities issued

by government sponsored enterprises such as theFarm Credit System, the Federal

Home Loan Banks and the Federal National Mortgage Association.

Federal funds - (in the U.S.). Interest-bearing deposits held by banks and other

depository institutions at the Federal Reserve; these are immediately available funds

that institutions borrow or lend, usually on an overnight basis. They are lent for

the federal funds rate.

Municipal notes - (in the U.S.). Short-term notes issued by municipalities in

anticipation of tax receipts or other revenues.

Treasury bills - Short-term debt obligations of a national government that are issued

to mature in three to twelve months. For the U.S., see Treasury bills.

Money funds - Pooled short maturity, high quality investments which buy money

market securities on behalf of retail or institutional investors.

Foreign Exchange Swaps - Exchanging a set of currencies in spot date and the

reversal of the exchange of currencies at a predetermined time in the future.

Short-lived mortgage- and asset-backed securities

1.1.1.4 Insurance Sector

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In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used

to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the

equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for

payment. An insurer is a company selling the insurance; an insured or policyholder is

the person or entity buying the insurance policy. The insurance rate is a factor used to

determine the amount to be charged for a certain amount of insurance coverage, called

the premium. Risk management, the practice of appraising and controlling risk, has

evolved as a discrete field of study and practice.

The transaction involves the insured assuming a guaranteed and known relatively small

loss in the form of payment to the insurer in exchange for the insurer's promise to

compensate (indemnify) the insured in the case of a large, possibly devastating loss. The

insured receives a contract called the insurance policy which details the conditions and

circumstances under which the insured will be compensated.

1.1.1.5 Merchant Banking

In banking, a merchant bank is a financial institution primarily engaged in offering

financial services and advice to corporations and to wealthy individuals. The term can

also be used to describe the private equity activities of banking.[1] The chief distinction

between an investment bank and a merchant bank is that a merchant bank invests its own

capital in a client company whereas an investment bank purely distributes (and trades)

the securities of that company in its capital raising role. Both merchant banks and

investment banks provide fee based corporate advisory services, including in relation to

mergers and acquisitions.

1.1.1.6 Investment Banking

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An investment bank is a financial institution that assists corporations and governments

in raising capital by underwriting and acting as the agent in the issuance of securities. An

investment bank also assists companies involved in mergers and acquisitions, derivatives,

etc. Further it provides ancillary services such as market making and the trading

of derivatives, fixed income instruments, foreign exchange, commodity, and equity

securities.

Unlike commercial banks and retail banks, investment banks do not take deposits.

Investment banks offer services to both corporations issuing securities and investors

buying securities. For corporations, investment bankers offer information on when and

how to place their securities in the market. To the investor, the responsible investment

banker offers protection against unsafe securities. The offering of a few bad issues can

cause serious loss to its reputation, and hence loss of business. Therefore, investment

bankers play a very important role in issuing new security offerings.

1.1.1.7 Mutual funds

A mutual fund is a professionally managed type of collective investment scheme that

pools money from many investors and invests typically in

investment securities (stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, other mutual

funds, other securities, and/or commodities such as precious metals).[1] The mutual fund

will have a fund manager that trades (buys and sells) the fund's investments in accordance

with the fund's investment objective

1.1.1.8 Venture Capital Market

Venture capital (also known as VC or Venture) is provided as seed funding to early-

stage, high-potential, growth companies and more often after the seed funding round

as growth funding round (also referred as series A round) in the interest of generating a

return through an eventual realization event such as an IPO or trade sale of the company.

To put it simply, an investment firm will give money to a growing company. The

growing company will then use this money to advertise, do research, build infrastructure,

develop products etc. The investment firm is called a venture capital firm, and the money

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that it gives is called venture capital. The venture capital firm makes money by owning a

stake in the firm it invests in. The firms that a venture capital firm will invest in usually

have a novel technology or business model. Venture capital investments are generally

made in cash in exchange for shares in the invested company. It is typical for venture

capital investors to identify and back companies in high technology industries, such

as biotechnology and IT (Information Technology).

Venture capital typically comes from institutional investors and high net worth

individuals, and is pooled together by dedicated investment firms.

Venture capital firms typically comprise small teams with technology backgrounds

(scientists, researchers) or those with business training or deep industry experience.

A core skill within VC is the ability to identify novel technologies that have the potential

to generate high commercial returns at an early stage. By definition, VCs also take a role

in managing entrepreneurial companies at an early stage, thus adding skills as well as

capital (thereby differentiating VC from buy-out private equity, which typically invest in

companies with proven revenue), and thereby potentially realizing much higher rates of

returns. Inherent in realizing abnormally high rates of returns is the risk of losing all of

one's investment in a given startup company. As a consequence, most venture capital

investments are done in a pool format, where several investors combine their investments

into one large fund that invests in many different startup companies. By investing in the

pool format, the investors are spreading out their risk to many different investments

versus taking the chance of putting all of their money in one start up firm.

A venture capitalist (also known as a VC) is a person or investment firm that makes

venture investments, and these venture capitalists are expected to bring managerial and

technical expertise as well as capital to their investments. A venture capital fund refers

to a pooled investment vehicle (often an LP or LLC) that primarily invests the financial

capital of third-party investors in enterprises that are too risky for the standard capital

markets or bank loans.

Venture capital is also associated with job creation, the knowledge economy, and used as

a proxy measure of innovation within an economic sector or geography.

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1.2 Selling Strategy

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Selling consists of two main functions: tactics and strategy. Sales strategy is the planning

of sales activities: methods of reaching clients, competitive differences and resources

available. Tactics involves the day-to-day selling: prospecting, sales process, and follow-

up.

The tactics of selling are very important but equally vital is the strategy of sales. The

advantages are too compelling to ignore.

1.2.1 Competitive Advantages of Strategic Sales Planning

Increased closing ratio by knowing clients hot buttons

Improved client loyalty by understanding needs

Shorten the sales cycle with outside recommendations

Outsell competitors by offering the best solution

1.2.2 Selling Financial Services I different

Financial services are different from other products because of their special

characteristics

Abstract - Banking and financial products: cannot be touched

Complex - Products like derivatives, different matter. That is why our courses

typically documentary credits, or loan facilities require detailed explanation to

corporate or institutional clients

Lengthy decision-process - Banking and financial products are not bought

lightly, or on impulse, and so they need to be sold in a special way

1.2.3 Selling Strategies cover:

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Marketing Strategy Positioning of products Analyzing the product range Launching new financial offerings Marketing channels

Cold-Calling for Financial Services Targeting clients Preparing to cold-call Writing pre-call letters Handling the initial call Overcoming call resistance

Managing Sales Teams Motivating salespeople Performance management Agreeing targets

Identifying Client Needs Listening to your client Non-verbal communication Need Reinforcement Questions The Questioning Structure Uncovering sales opportunities

Relationship Management Getting the appointment Building the relationship The face to face meeting Gaining commitment When and how often to follow up Measuring the stability of the relationship

Closing the Deal Handling client resistance Objection-handling Appropriate closing techniques

Negotiating in the Financial Sector Negotiating basis points Negotiating fees and rates Key rules of negotiation

Presenting Financial Solutions Pitch-book presentations

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Effective presentation techniques Presenting at the highest level

1.3 Customer Relationship Management

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a broadly recognized, widely-

implemented strategy for managing a company’s interactions with customers, clients and

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sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize

business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing, customer

service, and technical support. The overall goals are to find, attract, and win new clients,

nurture and retain those the company already has, entice former clients back into the fold,

and reduce the costs of marketing and client service.[1] Customer relationship

management denotes a company-wide business strategy embracing all client-facing

departments and even beyond. When an implementation is effective, people, processes,

and technology work together to increase profitability, and reduce operational costs.[2]

1.3.1 Challenges

Tools and workflows can be complex to implement, especially for large enterprises.

Previously these tools were generally limited to contact management: monitoring and

recording interactions and communications. Software solutions then expanded to embrace

deal tracking, territories, opportunities, and at the sales pipeline itself. Next came the

advent of tools for other client-facing business functions, as described below. These

technologies have been, and still are, offered as on-premises software that companies

purchase and run on their own IT infrastructure.

Often, implementations are fragmented; isolated initiatives by individual departments to

address their own needs. Systems that start disunited usually stay that way: siloed

thinking and decision processes frequently lead to separate and incompatible systems,

and dysfunctional processes.

1.3.2 6 Steps from Customer Service

One of the ongoing challenges successful businesses face is in optimizing customer

satisfaction and developing Customer Relationship Management. So many companies

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"jump on the bandwagon" of improving customer service in order to impact customer

retention levels. Yet, since 1994, customer satisfaction has dropped in nearly every sector

of the economy according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index compiled by the

University of Michigan.

1. Setting A Clear Customer Experience Strategy

Often organizations confuse defining a customer experience strategy with creating a

"slogan". How many companies create a slogan without any supporting initiatives,

thereby disillusioning employees and creating a "flavour of the month?"

To establish a good strategy certain key practices are required:

Understand the overall organizational vision and mission

Define the organization’s customer service direction, slogan and values

Ensure customer service is defined as a key responsibility for the

business/department

Share the customer experience strategy via a comprehensive communications

program

Ensure that this strategy does not conflict with other business strategies. As

consultants, it is amazing how often we hear organizations say, "Improving

Customer Service is a priority, and we are also introducing stringent cost-cutting

measures." This can present a tough dichotomy.

2. Selecting the Correct People

It's really hard to teach an elephant to dance!

When recruiting employees to provide customer service, the process often tends to

concentrate more on functional expertise, technical competence and knowledge rather

than interpersonal skills. However, lack of the right attitude can drastically impact client

satisfaction levels. Research has in fact shown that attitude is the most important

requirement: skills and functional expertise can be taught.

Therefore in selecting the right people:

Define the critical job requirements

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Develop scenario-based interviews/assessment centres to screen and select

candidates

Involve multiple team members in the hiring process

Ensure evaluation is based on objective, not the subjective "Be Like Me" criteria

3. Developing, Motivating And Managing Your People

Even though you have hired the right people, there is still a need to orient them into the

organization’s customer relationship culture and define key communication skills. In Call

Centers and Technical Support departments, there is a tendency to rely on

technical/functional skills and neglect interpersonal skills development. This can result in

providing acceptable material service, the more tangible aspect, yet unacceptable

personal service, the competitive differentiator.

Therefore to build a customer relationship culture, it is important to:

Provide training in key areas required to deliver exceptional personal service

Reinforce these skills using ongoing coaching and feedback

Measure current performance levels

Reward performance using a combination of monetary awards and non-monetary

recognition

4. Establishing Effective Service Delivery Processes

Effective processes and procedures provide the foundation for smoothing or inhibiting

the material service element of the customer interaction. Efficient service delivery

systems appear transparent to the customer. Poor systems create those 'speed bumps' that

necessitate personal intervention in order to satisfy the customer requirements.

The critical elements in ensuring a positive material customer experience are:

Mapping the service delivery processes

Evaluating critical success points in the process

Defining service standards and objectives for these essential points

Establishing service delivery procedures to optimize material service

Creating service level agreements to smooth internal service delivery

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5. Building In Continuous Improvement

No matter how effective the service delivery processes, or well-trained the service

deliverers, things go wrong. Products have faults. Customers get frustrated. Things slip

through the cracks. The organizations that are built around managing the customer

experience are able to resolve these issues effectively. This process known as "recovery"

is an important differentiator in building customer loyalty.

In order to recover effectively, it is necessary to:

Actively seek customer feedback and complaints: you cannot improve if you don't

know what went wrong in the first place.

Train staff how to handle customer complaints effectively using the correct mix of

empathizing, apologizing and resolution.

Make sure that the real problem is solved, not just the symptoms.

Focus on proactive (prevention) as well as reactive (cure) problem solving.

6. Ensuring Managers Are The Key Change-Agents

As consultants, we observe that senior management often has the vision, intention and

commitment to introduce a comprehensive customer relationship management system.

The "make or break" element is in involving middle management in the change process,

and empowering them to be the key change-agents.

To do this, it is important to:

Engage the management team early and often in the process

Involve management members in articulating the customer experience strategy

Teach managers coaching skills so that they are able to articulate and reinforce

the key personal service skills

Use managers as facilitators when rolling out interpersonal skills training

Reward managers on establishing, monitoring and updating service delivery

processes

Ensure managers are able to act as an example to their teams.

Conclusion

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As you can see, in order to deliver outstanding service, it is essential to build a customer

relationship focused culture. This can take up to two years and can involve changing the

way the company operates in all aspects of service delivery. The time investment can be

high, but the pay-off can be enormous building long-term customer loyalty and helping to

ensure business profitability.

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Purpose of the study

Research Objectives of the study

Research Methodology

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2.1 Purpose of the study:

Various objectives which are guiding force for conducting the study are as follows :-

To understand why customers buy a particular product.

To know about customer acceptance of the product

To forecast the probable volume of the future sales

To assess competitive strengths and policies.

2.2 Research Objectives of the Study:

No research is useful if it does not have any research objective. Research objective tells

the researcher as for what kind of information or results, the research has to be carried

out. Without the research objective the researcher will not be able to carry out research

and if he performs the research objective it will not be of any use.

The purpose of my study is to measure the effectiveness of taxation services as a selling

strategy at SPA Capital i.e. how the services provided by SPA help it to build clients for

its other financial services.

2.3 Research Methodology:

Research is a careful critical inquiry in seeking facts and diligent investigation in order to

ascertain something. For formulating a significant research problem, the researcher

should try to acquire as much knowledge, of the area in which research is to be done, as

possible. The research must be fully aware of the environment to which the difficulty

pertains.

It refers to the method adopted to collect the relevant data and other information, which

forms the basis of the research writing. So, for the effective writing of this report, the data

must be quality oriented.

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Research methods which are adopted are as follows:-

Identifying the marketing problem

Developing Marketing Research plan

Designing Marketing Research plan

Designing marketing research strategy

Collection of Data

Analysis of Collected Data

Preparation of Research Report

2.3.1 Research Design:

Research design or model indicates a plan of action to be carried out in connection with a

proposed research work.

Descriptive research design has been used for conducting the study as to know the clients

acceptance to the SPA’s services.

2.3.2 Data Collection:

Data is collected through surveys by questioning people in person and by telephone about

their purchase preferences and likings.

SAMPLE ENUMERATION is the method adopted for data collection. It saves time &

reduces the cost of survey. Sampling enumeration sometimes is the only possible method

just as in cost of infinite universe, e.g. tossing of coin infinite times.

2.3.3 Research Design

2.3.3.1 Population:

Population for the purpose of this study consists of all the corporate employees who have

filed their ITR through SPA Capital.

Elements: Corporate employees

Extent: Delhi and NCR areas.

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Frame:

The frame is the source from which the data has been collected. e.g. company’s database,

telephone directory etc.

The frame for the purpose of my study is the SPA’s database.

2.3.3.2 Sample size:

A sample is a part of a population or a subset from a set of units taken with the object of

investigating the properties of parent population or set.

As it is very difficult to get the feedback of each and every client of SPA because of time

and resource constraint, a sample size of 100 clients is taken.

An optimum sample size in a survey is which represent the population very well and

reliable and flexible. The sample should be small enough to avoid unnecessary expenses

and large enough to avoid intolerable sampling error.”

Sampling unit:

The sampling unit of my study is the corporate employees.

2.3.3.3 Sampling Technique:

Sampling is simply the process of learning about the population on the basis of a sample

drawn from it. Thus in the sampling technique instead of every unit of the universe only a

part of the universe is studied and the conclusions are drawn on that basis for the entire

universe.

Convenience Sampling and the Judgement Sampling method are used to select the

sample as to ensure that the sample should represent the whole population and at the

same time to save the time.

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2.3.4 Method of data collection:

The data has been collected using following instruments:

Secondary Data

Primary data

2.3.4.1 Instruments of data collection:

o Questionnaire

Structured questionnaire

Telephonic survey

o Internal records of SPA

Types of questions:

Questions in the questionnaire are:

Open-ended questions

Dichotomous questions

Multiple questions.

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2.3.5 Limitation

The research suffers from the following limitations:

1. The findings of the sample may not be the accurate representation of the

population.

2. The study may suffer with the Nom-response error i.e. the responses were not

given by some sampling units.

3. The primary data used in the study may also suffer from some defects like

human biasness, inconsistency or ambiguity in the answers, wrong

interpretation of the questions by respondents, measurement error, and data

analysis error.

4. As the secondary sources are used. These may be biased.

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3.1 About SPA

SPA Group was promoted by a team of finance professionals in 1995 with an objective

to provide value added financial services. Initially, the Group focused as a niche financial

solutions provider in corporate finance and wealth management to Indian companies and

high net worth individuals. In January 2000, the Group expanded its operations and the

range of services. Today, SPA provides services for securities broking, merchant

banking, wealth management, financial advisory, corporate finance, risk management and

insurance broking.

SPA is being managed by its promoters along with a young and dynamic team of over

1000+ professionals with rich experience, in their respective fields. The Group has

established itself as one of India’s leading financial advisory house, offering various

financial solutions to its Institutional, corporate and individual clients.

Customer centric approach of SPA’s dedicated professional team has helped carve a

niche for itself in financial services arena and won confidence of its clients. Clients of

SPA are from a wide spectrum and comprise of Banks and other financial institutions,

Mutual funds, Insurance companies, foreign institutional investors, public sector

undertakings and government departments, private corporates, trusts and individuals.

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3.2 Promoters

Mr. Kamal Somani, FCA, is a senior finance professional with over 30 years of

experience in investment banking, securities broking and corporate finance. His vast

experience and vision has enabled the Group to establish itself as a respected financial

services provider in the country. He looks after the overall group strategies and leads

securities broking, investment advisory and investment banking activities of the Group.

Mr. Sandeep Parwal, B.Com (Hons), FCA, has over 20 years of experience in various

aspects of financial services. He handles investment advisory, insurance broking and

merchant banking activities of the Group. His expertise in providing customized

innovative solutions with unmatched speed provides a distinctive edge to the Group's

capability.

3.3 Management Team

The Core management team of SPA consists of persons having a rich experience in

Corporate Finance and Advisory, Investment Banking, Risk Management, Securities

Banking and Wealth Management.

Mr. Sanjay Joon, President MBA, having more than 21 years of experience in

marketing of financial products and has a vast experience in information technology and

administration. His forte lies in his abilities of accurately assessing his customers’ need,

meeting them and leading an ever enthusiastic team. He heads Mutual Fund Division of

the Group since its inception.

Mr. Sanjay Gupta, Associate Director (Investment Banking) ACA, B.Com(H),

having 10 years of experience in merchant banking and investments. Based at Delhi, he

skillfully delivers customized for debt structuring and placement need of PSU’s and

SLU’s.

31

Mr. V K Khattar, Principal Officer He has to his credit 42 years of rich experience of

working with Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. and retired as the Regional Manager. He is

associated with our Group as the Principal Officer of the Insurance arm.

Mr. Vivek Gautam, Associate Director He is having 30 years of experience in the field

of Banking & Merchant Banking including 16 years of exclusive experience in

Investment Banking. He has worked for 14 years in PNB till mid 1991 in Managerial

positions. Thereafter he was deputed to PNB Capital Services Limited as Senior Vice

President and worked as Head Merchant Banking during 1991 - 1996 and was associated

in lead managing more than 60 public and rights issues for well known Corporates and

Financial Institutions. He was also Head Investment Department dealing in securities for

one year. Thereafter he worked as Director - Bajaj Capital Limited and President

Merchant Banking for 7 years and also as Head Merchant Banking and Executive

Director with Allianz Securities Limited for 1 year. He has wide experience in issue

management, private placement of equity and debt, corporate advisory & finance,

mergers & takeovers & distribution of financial products. He is with SPA Group since

October 2006 and looking after Merchant Banking.

32

3.4 Group Companies

3.4.1 SPA Capital Services Limited

SPA Capital Services Limited is the flagship Company of the Group and is engaged in

providing Wealth Management and Financial Advisory services to institutions,

corporates, and individuals since 1995. The Company is a leading distributor of Mutual

Funds in the country and presently has assets over Rs. 20,000 crore under its

management. The Company has successfully positioned itself as a strategic advisor to its

customers for wealth management with its customer centric approach and innovative

solutions.

The Company is registered with Reserve Bank of India as a Non Banking Financial

Company. Presently the shares of the Company are listed on the Delhi Stock Exchange.

Investments in Mutual Funds, Insurance, Corporate Bonds, private equity

Arranger to various Debt instruments including PSU, SLU Bonds, NCDs, CPs, ,

etc.

Institutional Broking for Fixed Income Securities and Equity

Project Finance,

SPA Group ofCompanies

SPA Capital Services Ltd.

SPA Insurance Broking Services Ltd.

SPA Merchant Bankers Ltd.

SPA Securities Ltd.

33

Business Valuation

Tax Planning

3.4.2 SPA Merchant Bankers Limited

SPA Merchant Bankers Limited offers comprehensive investment banking solutions

and highest quality independent financial advice to corporate sector and entrepreneurs.

Our service offering covers private placement of debt instruments and debt syndication

for both public and private sector corporate, Capital raising services through private

placement of equity, managing capital issues (IPO, FPO and Right Issues). Besides They

also cater to the entire spectrum of capital market needs through other services such as

Corporate and Infrastructure advisory, Valuations, Managing Takeovers, Buy Back and

Delisting. They have team comprising of multi-disciplinary professionals with a vast

financial advisory and investment banking experience, who structure various financial

products as per the requirements of the clients.

They have the Category –I Merchant Banking license from Securities and Exchange

Board of India (SEBI), the Indian Securities Market Regulator.

The Company has made notable and considerable progress in a short span in the debt

merchant banking activities successful various debt primary issues. This is also reflected

through the ranking by Prime Database, which has ranked the Group amongst the top 10

service providers in this segment. The Company was able to achieve above ranks on the

basis of its performance in just two financial years since it commenced investment &

merchant banking activities.

Since the commencement of merchant banking services, the Company has syndicated

funds for various Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), Designated Financial

Institutions(DFIs), Banks and several State Level Undertakings (SLUs).

The Company for its Merchant & Investment Banking activities has found patronage as

an Arranger with various central public sector undertakings like HUDCO, NTC, ITI,

34

MECON, IISCO SAIL, REC, KRCL, public sector banks and financial institutions. Also

the Company has had privilege to provide its services to various state level undertakings

of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Punjab, Haryana,

Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan. In the

private sector, the Company has provided its services to various domestic and MNC

corporates.

The achievements corroborate our untiring and sincere efforts towards building and

preserving mutually rewarding and sustainable relationships with our clients and giving

them our value added services with meaningful performance.

They have started providing equity capital market related services in the beginning of

2007 and advise Corporates, Banks and Businesses which are seeking to mobilize capital

from Investor. They offer following opportunities to clients to raise funds through the

following:

Private Equity Advisory

Initial Public Offering (IPOs)

Follow on Public Offering (FPOs)

Qualified Institutional Placements (QIPs)

Right Issues

Preferential Allotments and

Foreign Currency convertible bonds (FCCBs).

Our team as Lead Manager/ BRLM has successfully managed/ are managing transactions

for client across various industry sectors including

i. Information technology

ii. Telecommunication

iii. Infrastructure

iv. Power equipments

v. Steel

vi. Sugar

35

vii. Textiles

They, for execution of a transaction, combine our various strengths including in depth

knowledge of regulatory environment, understanding of industry and market dynamics,

distribution capabilities and networking with institution investors of our associate

concerns. They built our business on strong relationships, innovative ideas and ethical

standards.

3.4.3 SPA Securities Limited

SPA Securities Limited is a SEBI registered securities broking Company. The Company

is a member of Wholesale Debt Market, Capital Market and Futures and Options

Segment of the National Stock Exchange of India Limited. The Company is also a

registered member of the Over the Counter Exchange of India.

The Company is focused primarily on providing securities broking services to

institutional clients and is empanelled as an approved securities broker with all the major

Nationalized, Private and Co-operative banks, corporate houses, Insurance Companies,

Financial Institutions, Asset Management Companies and Provident Fund Trusts. The

Company had a turnover of Rs. 25000 crores at NSE-WDM for the financial year ended

March 2005.

Equity broking for institutions was commenced in 2004 end. In its first full year of the

operations, the Company achieved a turnover of over Rs.1500 crores in calendar year

2005.

3.4.4 SPA Insurance Broking Services Limited

36

SPA Insurance Broking Services Limited is the arm of the SPA Group providing entire

range of insurance service in insurance right from meeting insurance need of clients to

cover its risk spectrum, advisory, claim settlement and also meet requirement of clients if

they wish to outsource entire gamut of insurances related functions. The Company is

registered with Insurance Regulatory Development Authority as approved Broker. The

Company is empanelled with almost all the life and general insurance companies as a

Direct Broker. The Company is functioning as life and general insurance direct broker

and risk assessors.

3.4.5 SPA Com Trade Pvt. Ltd.

Recently Commenced, SPA Com Trade Pvt. Ltd. caters to existing clients of the Group

by providing research based commodity broking services.

3.5 Financial Management Services

Financial Management Services (FMS) is one of the niche services offered by the group

by setting up Corporate Help Desk in large corporate with employees strength of

preferably 500+.

Corporate employees Get Investment, Tax Advisory and Insurance services in their

offices itself.

These services helps in building long-term relations with corporate employees with the

proposal to file PAN and IT Return.

3.6 Group Presence and Strength

37

Customer centric approach

50 Branches covering all major cities in the Country

1000+ regular employees besides having associates risk inspection agencies,

valuers, surveyors available on call

Established since last 15 years

Association with SPA can enable clients to avail a variety of financial services

from a single source

3.7 Vision

38

“To be ‘the’ trusted advisor to customers by providing customized and personalized

investment solutions that create unparalleled value”

SPA believes in attaining customer satisfaction, on continuing basis, by providing highest

standard of financial services in India. The philosophy at SPA is to provide services to

clients after assessment of their profile, needs and risk-appetite. The basic work theme at

SPA is:

- Dedicated, competent and honest team of professionals

- Customer centric work environment

- Insight of customers’ perspectives

- Strong research base

- Clear understanding of applicable laws

- Consistency and passion to excel

- Technology savvy

3.8 Core Values

3.9 Milestones

Humility & Respect

Rationality

Neutrality

Integrity & Trust

Value Relationships

39

Since 1994, with the coming into existence of the SPA Group, They have diversified into

a complete financial solution providing house, catering varied needs of our clients

ranging from investment advisory services to investment banking, corporate re-

structuring, distribution and broking services, risk management and insurance advisory.

Within a short span of time, the Group has made a place for itself in the midst of the top

financial solutions provider in the country.

• 1995: Started Corporate Finance and Loan Syndication Services.

• 2000: Commenced Mutual Funds distribution, and now one of the largest

distribution houses in India.

• 2001: Started Debt Market Broking as member of NSE and became one of the

top broking houses within a span of 3 years. Approved broker for more then 125

domestic institutions (Banks, MFs, Insurance Cos & Corporates).

• 2002: Setup NON-SLR and PF Desk for Banks, MFs, Insurance Cos,

Corporates & Provident Fund Trusts, Pension Fund Trusts.

• 2003: Started services under FMS by establishing Regular Help Desk at Large

Corporates. Ventured into Risk Management & Insurance Advisory Services.

• 2004: Commenced Equity Broking exclusively for Institutions. Approved broker

for more then 75 domestic institutions.

• 2005: Started F&O desk, to provide more Investment & hedging opportunities

to clients.

• 2006 : Acquired Membership of BSE for equity and debt

• 2008. Became Authorized Participant of NSE for Securities Lending and

Borrowing

• 2008: Started retailed life insurance business as a new business initiative by

opening new branches with focus on telesales.

• 2008: Acquired Client Division of BLB Limited to start retail equity broking

40

• 2009: Depository Participant of CSDL and NSDL. Registered with SEBI for

trading in Current Derivative and also for offering PMS

3.10 Clients

41

42

43

4.1 Findings:

44

The findings of the project are derived from the questionnaires which are used for

collecting primary data to study the effectiveness of selling strategy of SPA Capital with

100 clients of SPA and these are well analyzed in the light of present circumstances and

external environment. Standardized editing procedure is followed.

Which services you are using?

45

Users of SPA services

100

30

10

50

40

18

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Taxation Services

Financial Planning

Merchant Banking

Insurace Broking

Securities Broking

Commodities Broking

Financial sercies

%age of clients

Hardly 50% clients are using their Insurance Broking services whereas for other services

this ratio is even lower.

The company is required to concentrate on these aspects. It should try to create awareness

among the clients and convince them to purchase them.

How long have you been associated with SPA?

46

Association period of clients with SPA

>1 year71%

1-3 Years17%

3-5 Years8%

5 Years <4%

Around 71% clients have recently join the SPA. This shows that the awareness level

among the people is increasing.

Do you feel the services offered by SPA are suitable for you?

47

Suitability of services offered

Yes95%

No5%

95% of SPA’s clients think that the services offered to them are well suited to their

requirements.

But still 5% clients do not find the services suitable to them. The company has to work

upon this aspect.

What is your satisfaction level with respect to SPA?

48

Satisfaction level of clients

Satisfied95%

Highly Satisfied0%

Highly Dissatisfied

0%Dissatisfied

5%

Out of 100 clients 5 clients are not satisfied with the service level of SPA.

The company has to put effort to minimize this ratio as far as possible.

Would you like to continue our services in future?

49

Future plans regarding SPA seervices

Yes55%

Can't say42%

Not at all3%

5% clients would continue our services whereas 42% clients say that this would depend

upon their future requirement and circumstances.

Would you recommend the services of SPA to your acquaintances?

50

Recommendation to others

Depends90%

Definitely7%

Not at all3%

As far as the recommendation is concerned 90% clients say that this would depend upon

their needs and situations while 3% say that they would not recommend to any person.

Do you want SPA to offer you more services?

51

More services required

Yes90%

No10%

90% clients want more services from SPA to fulfill their financial needs.

If yes, then please specify.

52

Clients want SPA to come with more services as

Customized services

Diversification in their taxation services.

Portfolio Management

Investment Banking

4.2 Analysis

53

Regarding the effectiveness of selling strategy of SPA following analysis could be done

The overall the selling strategy is effective but still there are some problems which can be

solved thorough better performance and taking some corrective measures.

Most of the clients are from the income group of Rs 3-5 Lakhs which can be extended

to other levels effectively.

Many few people are there who are using the commodities broking services,

merchant banking and financial planning etc. which shows a very poor result.

About 70% clients are new i.e. they have joined SPA last year. This is a good

indicator that people are now moving towards the financial services.

The services that SPA offers to its clients are well suited to their needs. Only 55

people are there who say that the services do not fulfill their requirements.

The satisfaction level of SPA’s clients is high which is a good indicator. This would

help it to create further long term relationships with its clients.

But still a very less number of clients are there who would continue with SPA. Most

of them depend upon the circumstances or their financial needs. So SPA should work

more to build long-term relations by introducing them with more customized services.

Similarly, 90% clients are of the opinion that their recommendation to others will

depend upon the latter’s requirement. The ‘word-of-mouth’ marketing can help the

company for sustainable growth. The existing clients should be so much influenced

that they can help in bringing new clients.

The most important thing is that the company should diversify its services to satisfy

its existing clients as well as the future clients. Many clients need that some more

services should be added like Investment Banking, Portfolio Management etc. so that

they can have one stop solution for all their financial needs.

And also the awareness level among people about SPA is very low. The company

should do effective promotional activities. It can use advertisement medias (print

and electronic).

54

SPA lacks in customized services which has a direct impact on services offered

and customer’s satisfaction.

Clients need more commitment from the employee’s side and timely services.

55

5.1 Suggestions:

No body is perfect in this world. Though the gap can be minimized to the possible level.

56

SPA Capital Services Ltd. is no exception to this,

SPA can also reduce the gap by taking care of certain things as have been analyzed from

the research.

Various suggestions are there which helps in improving the customer satisfaction are as

follows:.

The intensity of worldwide competition is increasing to all the areas of operations.

Therefore, there must be an improvement in product development and product design.

Company needs long-term global business strategies to survive in the market place.

Vertically integrated partnerships will be needed to strengthen competitive position.

A new type of alliance based on cooperative specialization within industries may

become a necessity. This will require extensive background research.

An increased variety of products and services are needed to be offered to the

consumers. Customization for the individual must be increased. This means that

expected life of products in the market will continue to decrease. Therefore, products

and services based on market research will hit the market at an increasing rate.

The quality of products and services needs continuous improvement as customer’s

expectations of quality are growing day by day. This requires more emphasis on

product research, social research, packaging research, distribution research etc.

Technology will continue to advance at a rapid rate. This will lead to more emphasis

on inter-disciplinary research and more importance to experimental designs.

To increase the market share by identifying more market segments, the impetus has

shifted to customer response requirements leading to more concentration on market

research.

For increasing profitability and reputation in the present market conditions , increase

in its workforce and professional competence is required.

To assessing the client’s requirement timely survey should be conducted. This would

help the clients to be with the company for a longer period.

Also, in the existing services only, the penetration is very low. The company should

improve upon this aspect by offering customized services.

57

Though the awareness level among people about the solution of their financial needs

has been increasing but at a very low rate. This could be done by giving

advertisements, word of mouth marketing etc.

Some clients are not satisfied with the services of SPA. The company should try to

find out the reason of this dissatisfaction and overcome them.

Before offering services company should first access the needs of them. This will

improve the acceptability rate and help in building long-term relations.

The company should increase its promotion activities as very less people know about

the company.

Clients require the timely services so SPA should focus more on this aspect. As

ultimately it relates to the satisfaction level of clients and relationships with them.

It should work upon its responsiveness to clients. The clients should be provided with

the information whenever they demand the same.

Moreover, more commitment is required from the employee’s side so that the clients

feel that they are being served with due attention and care and their needs are

properly fulfilled.

After all, Customer is the King.

58

6.1 Conclusion:

59

From the study it can be concluded that

SPA Capital is a growing organization which has through its corporate clients, grown at a

considerable pace, which is quite appreciable.

One of the selling strategies adopted by SPA is assisting the corporate employees in their

ITR filing. This has, for sure proven to be a successful strategy in building long-term

relationship with their clients and thus grows in this competitive era.

As Income Tax Return filing is a mandatory procedure for every citizen of India who is

earning money from any source, most of the people approach to such type of companies

who file their ITR at a nominal rate and thus saving their time.

So this is a great opportunity for SPA and to boost its business level.

Though there are some deficiencies in the working of SPA yet this can be removed by

working on them and by proper handling of queries of clients.

SPA is an emerging organization which helps the people to fulfill their almost every

financial need at one stop. It is serving to various corporate employees such as Wipro,

TCS, Aricent Technologies etc. and generating a good amount of business.

6.2 Limitations:

60

Every study has its own advantages and disadvantages. No study is perfect as there is

always a room for improvement.

In this study though every effort has made to bring it into perfection and no stone is left

unturned, there are still certain limitations, which need to be highlighted without which

the study can become biased.

Such limitations are:

The data has been generated from the secondary source thus any error in the

information would have got replicated in the report.

Time constraint was another limitation. As no efficient research can be done in

this short period of time.

Also the information available was insufficient which has also been reflected in

the report. The resources were also not much available.

The biasness of the sample units may also cause the wrong results.

Some of the information about the research sample is collected through their past

record available with the company

The results drawn from the sample has been applied to the population which may

give incomplete response.

61

Bibliography:

62

http://www.spacapital.com

Gupta S.L., Market Research, Excel books, First Edition, 2003

Beri G.C., Marketing Research, Tata McGraw Hill, III Edition

Brookes William T., Sales Technique, Tata McGraw Hill

Dyche Jill, The CRM Handbook- A Business Guide To Customer Relationship

Management, April. 2004

Foss Bryan, Stone Merlin CRM in financial services: a practical guide to making

customer relationship, Kogan Page Ltd, 2003

63

Questionnaire

64

Name: _________ ___________________________

Age: __________

Gender: M F

Occupation: _____________________________________________________

Organization: _____________________________________________________

Income Group:

> Rs 1 Lakh Rs 1-3 Lakhs

Rs 3-5 Lakhs Rs 5-10 Lakhs

Rs 10 Lakhs <

1. Are you using SPA services?

Yes No

2. Which services you are using?

Yes No

Taxation Services

Financial Planning Services

Merchant Banking

Insurance Services

Securities Broking

Commodities Broking

3. How long have you been associated with SPA? ____________________11111__

4. Do you feel the services offered by SPA are suitable for you?

Yes No

5. What is your satisfaction level with respect to SPA?

Highly Satisfied Satisfied

65

Dissatisfied Highly Dissatisfied

6. Would you like to use our services in future?

Yes Can’t say No

7. Would you recommend the services of SPA to your acquaintances?

Definitely Depends

Not at all

8. Do you want SPA to offer you more services?

Yes No

9. If yes, then please specify.

__________________________________________________________________

10. How would you rate SPA?

1 2 3 4 5

Any Suggestions:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Signature

66