University of Mumbai

A project Report
On

MARKETING PRACTICES IN FINANCIAL SERVICES: A CASE STUDY ON

SNAPMINT CREDIT ADVISORY PVT. LTD.

Submitted by
Meghana Yadav
181025

In partial fulfillment for the award of the degree of

MASTERS OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES
SEMESTER – III
2019-2020

Under the guidance of

Dr. Satish Nair
Through

MAHATMA EDUCATION SOCIETY’S

PILLAI INSTITUE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES AND RESEARCH
SECTOR-16, PANVEL-410206
MARKETING PRACTICES IN FINANCIAL SERVICES: A CASE STUDY ON
SNAPMINT CREDIT ADVISORY PVT. LTD.
 DECLARATION

I, Meghana Yadav, studying in Pillai Institute Of Management Studies And

Research, hereby declare that at the presented report of internship title Marketing
Practices in Financial Services: A Case Study on Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd.is
uniquely prepared by me after completion of two months of internship in SnapmintCredit
Advisory Pvt. Ltd. under the able guidance of Mr.Mohammad Rahman, Snapmint Credit
Advisory Pvt. Ltd. No part of this report has been submitted for any degree, diploma, and
title of recognition before.

I also confirm that, the report is only prepared for my academic requirement not for any
other purpose.

Date: Signature:
Place: Name:
 CERTIFICATE FROM INSTITUTE

This is to certify that project title Marketing Practices in Financial Services: A Case Study on
Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd. has been successfully completed by Ms. Meghana Yadav
during the III Semester in partial fulfillment of the Masters of Management Studies by
University of Mumbai for the academic year 2018- 20 through Pillai Institute of Management
Studies and Research.

Name: Signature of the Guide

Date: Dr. Satish Nair

PROJECT COMPLETION CERTIFICATE FROM ORGANIZATION
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my mentor Dr. Satish Nair for providing his
invaluable guidance, comments and suggestions throughout the course of the project. I would
also like to thank Mr. Mohammad Rahman, Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd. for his kind
direction and proper guidance during my internship at Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd.
I also convey my thanks to the management of Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd. and the staff
for their friendly support.
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The purpose of this report is to give a brief overview on Marketing Practices in Financial
Services: A Case Study on Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd. It also outlines how the ORM and
CRM is given importance along with the digital metrics available which can be used in order to
increase the awareness of the company.

Based on the observations during the two months of the internship at Snapmint Credit Advisory
Pvt. Ltd, the intern determined that the marketing practices and campaigns was a success overall
and should be continued. Through the observations it can be understood that the company has
applied the basic components of marketing into the digital form in order to convey the message
of hassle-free financing by digital means. The company currently has hundreds of customers
being a start up in financial services where gaining the trust of the customer is very important as
the matter is financing.

The report encompasses financial services industry analysis and company analysis which gives
an overview of the external as well as the internal environment in which financial service
companies operate. The report also indicates the trends, patterns, and problem areas of their
practices.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Sr. No Topic Page No.

Part A
1. Introduction 01
2. Brief company profile
2.1 Organization history in brief 04
2.2 Brief details of the top management 04
2.3 Mission of the organization 05
3. Industry analysis
3.1 PESTEL 06
3.2 Porter’s five forces analysis 09
3.3 Porter’s Generic Strategies 10
4. Company analysis
4.1 SWOT analysis 13
4.2 7s framework 14
4.3 BCG matrix 15
4.4 Ansoff matrix 16
Part B
5. Introduction
5.1 Objectives of the study 18
5.2 Expected benefits 18
5.3 Limitations of the study 20
6. Methodology
6.1 Ethnographic Study 22
7. Observations
7.1 Classification of observations
7.1.1 About organizational training 31
7.1.2 About self-learning 33
7.2 Trends / Patterns 33
8. Identification of problem areas 35
9. Conclusion 37
Part C
1. Application of concepts, tools, techniques and skills at PiMSR 40
2. Augmentation of soft skills 40
3. Any directions for future learning or career path 40
References 43
 1

Part A
1. Introduction to the Project

Marketing is the process of creating awareness about your product or service to the
consumers as to why they should opt for your product over those of your competitors. The
key to it understanding your Unique Selling Proposition and the applying STP (Segmenting,
Targeting and Positioning) to your offerings by focusing on providing additional value-
added services in the mind of the consumers.

Definitions (according to the researchers and scholars):

1. The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines Marketing as “Marketing is
the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating,
delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients,
partners, and society at large. (Approved July 2013)
2. According to Philip Kotler marketing is "Satisfying needs and wants through an
exchange process"
3. The Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as "the management
process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer
requirements profitably."

The Four P’s of Marketing

The components of Marketing in the easiest form can be understood by The Four P’s of
Marketing. The P’s comprises of:

1. Product
 2

It is the stage where the idea of product or service is conceived, also the
manufacturing, procurement of it. Before the final product is made it goes through
phases like finalizing of raw materials, suppliers, packaging, designing and
manufacturing.
2. Price
This component requires setting the prices comparable to its competitors and
affordable to the consumers.
3. Promotion
This component involves generating awareness about the product or service and
trying to influence the consumers based on promotion activities like Brochures, Ads,
and Social Media etc.
4. Place
The place is where the product or service would be available for sale, for the
consumers via the distribution channel.

Marketing Practices refers to the actions the company or business does in order to generate
awareness or generate demand. India is one of the largest consumer markets in the world having
diverse and complex consumer market. Marketing is evolving now as compared to the earlier
times. Marketing has adapted compared to the earlier means to Digital in terms of Digitalization,
connectivity, customization and re-intermediation.

The common Marketing Practices used in India are:

 Celebrity Endorsements or Branding
The country’s population is crazy over two things i.e. Cricket and Bollywood. The most
common way to put forward a positive brand image and message is via the celebrities
due to the conditioned thinking of Indians that they believe whatever these celebrities
say. The most common way is by television advertisement, billboards etc.
 Digital Marketing
This is a new emerging way for the Marketers is putting forward their message across
the target audience with engaging content and visual representation via graphics,
animation or videos in digital form on various online platforms.
 3

 Print Media
One of the oldest methods is using Print Media by printing advertisements in newspapers
and magazine. Nowadays e-newspapers and magazines are available too as digital is the
new trendy practices. The Marketers are trying every possible move to make their
products or service remarkable and outstanding in the minds of their consumers in order
to keep the existing customers and keep on tapping the new ones.
 4

2. Brief company profile

2.1. Organization History

Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd. was co-founded by Rahul Agarwal, Nalin Agarwal and Anil
Gelra. They are IIT Bombay alumni’s and have been serial entrepreneurs since 2006 on various
ventures with 3 success stories – Holachef, Inrea and Sodel Solutions.
They started this company by analyzing the importance of Fintech as it is gaining in India and to
cater the people with easily available credit by associating with the renowned brands.

Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd. makes shopping a happy experience by revolutionizing retail
and ecommerce financial services in India by offering affordable, flexible purchase financing.
They believe in delivering a card-less, paper-less and hassle-free credit experience to the
customer. Underwriting 65 Crore of monthly demand Pan-India reach through extensive network
of online and offline merchants and lending partners. The company is based in Mumbai.

2.2. Brief details of the Top Management

Rahul Agarwal
Rahul is an IIT Bombay alumni, having 17 years of experience in the field of IT.His past
industrial experiences were at the firms Synechron and Sodel Solutions. He is one of the co-
founders of Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd. along with his graduation colleagues. He is
currently the Director at Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd. And is completing 2 years in the
company. He has worked with some of the largest digital media companies and ISVs design
service-oriented architectures and integrate systems that support a large number of transactions.
His specialty is working on Java, Android, iOS and many more platforms.
 5

Nalin Agarwal
Nalin is an IIT Bombay alumni, having 22 years of experience, out of which he has 10 years of
experience in the fields of Machine Learning and Big Data Analytics. His past industrial
experiences were at the firms ITC, ZS Associate, Inrea Research Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Netscribes
and Sodel Solutions. He is one of the co-founders of Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd. along
with his graduation colleagues. He is currently the Director at Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt.
Ltd. completed 3 years.

Anil Gelra
Anil is an IIT Bombay alumni, having 15 years of experience, has over 10 years of experience in
building internet and mobile scale applications, data mining and analytics systems. Anil is skilled
in mobile applications & enterprise applications. His past industrial experiences were at Maruti
Suzuki India Ltd, Sodel Solutions, Holachef Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. He is one of the co-founders of
Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd. along with his graduation colleagues. He is currently the
Director at Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd. completed 2 years.

2.3. Size of the organization

The size of employees is 70 currently. The company is based out in Ghansoli, Navi Mumbai but
provides financing in almost every part of India.

2.4. Vision and Mission of the organization.

Vision: The Company has not declared it yet.

Mission: Empowering Brands with seamless FINANCING
 6

3. Industry Analysis
3.1. PESTLE

Political

Legal Economic

PESTEL

Environment Social

Technology

Political:
Few initiatives by the Government are:
 Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in September 2018, asked for regulations
to toughen rules, suggesting which will boost the overall governance standards for
issuers, intermediaries or infrastructure providers in the financial market.
 SEBI also planned and proposed for direct overseas listing of Indian companies and
other regulatory changes. The companies which have a wider investor base, improved
valuation, increased awareness, analyst exposure and visibility.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) on financial services transactions like banking transactions,
mutual funds, insurance and the stock market has been increased from the current 15 per cent to
18 percent. This is done in order of the increasing market share of the financial service customer
base.
The Government of India is planning to introduce a two-percentage point discount in the Goods
and Services Tax (GST) on business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions made via digital payments,
this will be implemented to help the government initiative i.e. Digital India launched in 2015.
As now even the Government wants the citizen to leverage the tech era to the optimum level. As
restrictions from the Government leads to in cumbers in the growth of the financial sector which
in turn affects the economy

Economic:
 7

Economic factors play a very important role in the profitability of the company. Factors such as
GDP (Gross Domestic Product), inflation rate, repo rate, repurchase rate, growth rate of the
economy etc.
The Indian insurance industry is expected to grow to US$ 280 billion by the year 2020 with
drivers like increasing standard of living and increased knowledge about various financing
options available in the country.
The rising prices are driving the demand for financial services across income brackets. Financial
inclusion drive from RBI has also expanded the target market to semi-urban and rural areas, as
now even the rural people are keener in getting the finances done by verified and certified
authorities rather than borrowing the money from peers or money-lenders as know even they’re
getting educated about the presence of banking and financing. There are many schemes which
are specially designed to cater this segment of the country helping them to and trying to narrow
the level of income gap and standard of living. The Tier 1 and 2 cities are already well versed
about the presence and are opting for the credit. As, stated the nation is gradually moving
towards an EMI-oriented nation. The industry can help in improving the economy in terms of
providing funding which will can increasing the productivity for other firms, helping to achieve
the common goal.

Social:
Attitude and behavior of consumers keep on changing depending on the various influencers.
Lifestyle of consumers also play a very huge role in influencing a consumer’s buying behavior
such as people who switch brands while financing by getting influenced seeing the promotion
activities or lower interest rates.
Demand for a service also depends on the demographic social factors. A cultural behavior of a
consumer also affects the buying behavior. According to the reports, the number of Ultra High
Net Worth Individual(UHNWI) has been increased to 2,697 in the year 2018 and India’s
UHNWI is likely to expand in the next five years by 37 percent. India also has a favorable
demographic profile with a large segment of the population under 30 years, intending towards
more customer base for the financial services with the target audience as during this period the
individual are usually in the family starting or building phase which in turns requires more
 8

money to meet the needs. As more money is needed to meet the gap of the desired lifestyle is
when the individual opts for loans, adding to be a potential customer base.
Technology:
This is one of the most important factors in the sector of financial services, as everything is
getting digital from payments getaways, m-passbook, to instant balance enquiry/check and many
more services in fraction of minutes on a Smartphone device. Along with the boon there is also
lies bane like cyber scams, fraudulent withdrawals etc. In order to avoid such severe
circumstances latest, safe and upgraded technology needs to be used by financial services.
Having the best technology doesn’t ensure complete safety but having a skilled workforce which
can upgrade and adapt to the new technologies and implement it in the company’s software and
database to ensure no threat to the business and customers. So, in terms of technology the
industry is always updating and upgrading towards a more secure and better platform.

Legal:
Legal factors are those factors which determine the rules and regulation for the ethically
functioning of the industry which are needed to be adhered. India has well-built financial
regulatory system which is administered by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). To name a few
laws are Information Technology Act, 2000 Companies Act 2013, Insurance Laws Act 2015 etc.
The company also needs to have license for lending loan from regulatory like NBFC.

Environment:
Environmental factors are the ecological and environmental factors. It includes factors such as
Weather conditions, carbon footprints, climate change etc. Companies are getting more involved
in practices such as corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability.
A wide range of environmental problems are making the consumers conscious about the
purchase. The customers want to get associated with brands, ensure that while starting from
production to recycling of the product no damage was done in terms of environment. Like while
purchasing the electronic appliances a small segment of customers wants to know about the
production, materials used like how much plastic is involved, does the brand recycle the
products, involved in CSR activities. This affects the financial services as people want such
brands and would tend to take loan on such products more.
 9

3.2. Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

Threats of new entrants– Low

The threat of new entrants is low because of the big established companies in this industry, who
have been the key players for a long time. Along with that starting a financial service is not easy
as it requires acceptance from the RBI and other regulatory bodies depending on the type as well
as huge investments as it is a credit provider which has to emerge with new services at affordable
interest rates yet able to at least sustain in the business. Gaining new customers is also a difficult
task as trust factor comes into play, before investing their hard-earned money people always tend
to opt for firms which have been in existence for quite some time or suggested by their peers or
relatives. The very reason being new financial services or credit providers are looked upon as not
trust-worthy.

Threat of substitute goods - Low

In today’s world of business there is a substitute for each and every product or service that is
sold. But in the financial services the threat towards substitute is low. The reason being
borrowing money from money lenders is not ideal option, for the very same reason being now
even the rural segment is opting for organized financing understanding the benefits and
advantages of borrowing credit from trusted parties.

Bargaining power of suppliers - Low

The bargaining power of suppliers is low, as the industry is highly regulated by RBI. So, the
credit providers need to abide by the norms and regulation policies provided by RBI in order to
avoid any legal actions against them. As earlier mentioned, RBI have also expanded their reach
in terms of target audience in semi-urban and rural areas which in turn is generating revenues for
the industry.

Bargaining power of buyer - Medium

The bargaining power in this industry is medium. The companies in this industry need to provide
services which abide by the regulations released in the interest of customers and consumers,
 10

while generating revenues to sustain in this competitive environment and generate revenue.
Customers are the ones who create the demand in the economy, as they want to get the best
service available at the minimum possible rate. This puts a pressure on the profitability of the
industry in the long run. There are a lot of competitors’ services available in the market out there
and so it is very crucial to have customer enhancement, engagement and satisfaction that makes
the customer loyal towards a company and its services.

Competitive Rivalry within the Industry - High

India is highly populated and therefore contributes a lot to the success of the financial services
industry the reason being we require credit due to the financial gap and expenditures. There is
very stiff competition within the industry and so the customers have a wide range of services to
choose from. Financial services compete on the basis of offering low financing rates, high
deposit rates and investment services. One needs to be quite innovative and appealing with their
services to maintain its position in the market. Consumer research and analysis can help get great
understanding of the needs of the consumers which will help in customer retention and
acquisition. Especially post the economic reform policy of Liberalization, Privatization and
Globalization the competition has increased even more. As, competition is vicious in the industry
it serves as a greater benefit to the customers. Customers switch brands even for the smallest of
issues. At the same time there are companies that have maintained their service quality and doing
well even though with the presence of the competition. Other factor that needs to be considered
is the big and existing players who have been in the industry for quite a long time already
catering to the huge customer base.

Through this analysis it can be concluded that the forces are favorable for running a business in
the Indian Financial Services sector. Companies need to thrive to establish their position in such
a market. There is a need to implement strategies to expand competitive advantage. Strategies
such as cost leadership, product/service differentiation, and focus on the target market can be
implemented.
 11

3.3. Porter’s Generic Strategies

Porter developed three generic strategies to achieve a competitive advantage.

· Cost Leadership

· Differentiation

· Focus

Cost leadership strategy is to gain competitive advantage by incurring low cost of production.

It can be done by

● Increasing market share through charging lower prices, while still making a reasonable
amount on each sale.
● Strong and well-trained sales force to sell the services perceiving and gaining more
customers and looking after customer retention.

In Financial service industry, simply being amongst the lowest-cost service provider is not
enough and risky at the same time, people might think from a perspective that if it is at a lower
interest rate from fraudulent activity might take place and thereby stopping the increase in
market share.

The differentiation strategy means creating products that have unique or differentiated values/
features and makes it discrete from its competitors.

It can be done by

● Communicating regularly by surveys and receiving feedbacks and acting upon it.
● Provide services that are differentiated in nature with some add on benefits for the
customer.
● Understanding the core needs of the customers and then design the combo services,
which will also increase the sales.
 12

Single companies can have a variety of services to choose from a single service. For example: A
person taking credit loan for house can also be provided with a discounted credit on electrical
appliances as by doing so the company's front is projected as Customer’s oriented and the person
will act as a word of mouth advertising as he/she will always suggest the firm due to the extra
discount he/she received.

Focus strategy involves two strategies within. One being cost focus and other being
differentiation focus. Now focus strategy means to market within a focus market. For example:
Targeting the customers using the Data Analytics to the well earning sector for the luxury loans
on houses as the time and money would not be wasted in informing the customers who live on
rent basis as it is not possible for them to afford luxury flats.
 13

4. Company Analysis

4.1. SWOT

Strength
 Diversified product range: The company has credit options for not only electronic
appliances like Smartphone’s, laptops, TVs etc. but also on home decor like Furniture,
Dining tables and even personal grooming services like skin and hair treatments, apparels
and accessories.
 Strong merchant tie-ups: The company being a start-up has a list of very well renowned
merchants like Amazon, Flipkart, Samsung, Vijay Sales,Croma,Kaya skin clinic, Jabong,
Myntra,Urban Ladder and many more.
 Strengthen financial funding: The Company has tied up with the established and trusted
banks like InCred, Kotak and AU Bank.

Weakness
 Not well penetrated in the market: It is not well established in the market as it is still
penetrating in the market. There is a need to focus on successful selling of their services.
 Lack of skilled staff: The Company lacks in number of employees depending on the work
as well in the training of the employees. The employees are directly asked to do job with
the least training.

Opportunity
 Leverage Digital Marketing: The Company’s social media handles have a great
impression and reach which can be used to attract and increase the current customer base.
The company already has great customer reviews available which can be used on social
media platforms to build trust.
 Wide scope for expansion: There is many untapped markets and the scope for marketing
to the wider audience is very high. This can boost the sales resulting increase in
profitability. It can be done by determining the specific needs of consumers.
 14

Threats
 Competition: One of the threats is the increasing competition in the industry itself and the
challenges arising out from it. The entry of new rivals in the industry can impact the
profitability of the firm so it is very essential to keep on adapting to the changing needs
of consumers and building market tactics accordingly.
 Economic downturns: Economic factors such as Inflation, Recession and Government
regulations can adversely impact the business. Due to these factors the cost of the
services can go up and impact the profit factor of a business.
 15

4.2. The 7S framework

The framework consists of 7 interlinked factors that are known as hard and soft elements. The
hard elements are Strategy, Structure and systems which are easier to define and soft elements
are shared values, skills, staff and style.

Strategy
The company uses both organic and non-organic promotions in order to create brand awareness
of the brand i.e. it runs various advertisements on platform like Google and social media
campaigns on their platform leveraging their great reach to the audience. The company gets the
majority of the revenue by practicing this. In order to build and gain trust it also reposts the
social media posts of their renowned merchants like Flipkart, Amazon, Croma on their social
media.

Structure
As the company is still establishing itself, the structure is a very common one, it comprises of the
following teams:
● Marketing
● Sales
● Operations
● EMI Collection
● Technical
● HR

Systems
In today’s world of exposed market, it has become vitally important for companies to look for
new ways to make improvements in their easy and technologically friendly services. Snapmint
Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd. implements flexible and standardized technology to cater to their
customers in the most efficient way.

Shared Values
 16

The company has a shared value of catering the customers and giving them a happy shopping
experience by offering affordable, flexible purchase financing. Also, delivering a card-less,
paper-less and hassle-free credit experience to the customer

Skills
The company needs to invest in terms of training the employees by providing proper training in
order to achieve and excel. As employees are the faces or brand representatives to whom the
customers consult or talk to rather than the top management. The company has skilled teams in
Marketing and Technical but needs to work on the betterment of other teams to have a skillful
workforce.

Staff
The company has 70 employees as of now. The staff is a mix of skilled and average skilled
employees. If the staff was provided with proper training and development it would have help
them build skills and polish the existing ones. This will also help them in achieving their
required targets effectively and give me the motivation that it can be achieved. The company can
also have few corporate activities in order to encourage their employees.

Style
The style of leadership there is very rigid. The top management decides all the decisions which
are to be taken for the company. At times the employees are given a chance to provide their
suggestions.
 17

4.3. BCG Matrix

Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd. provide credit on various things like electronic gadgets,
home appliances and requirements and personal grooming services and products. The company’s
one of the unique services is it also provides personal grooming credit services collaborating
with well-known brand Kaya skin clinic like laser treatments, skin brightness, hair services etc.

Star
As everyone is getting more individualistic, understanding the importance of personal grooming
and their appearance and looks in the society, Kaya skin clinic and Credit on Smartphone
services have a potential market out there and is performing in favor of the company. There is
even a possibility of tapping more target audience based on their disposable incomes and social
status, demographics which will help in further increasing the sales and revenues. The very
reason being everyone wants to have the latest technology phone or best camera phone or
Acne-prone skin to getting a hair loss control treatment done in order to look young and
appealing.

Question mark
The firm also has a voucher credit services on various services one of them being buy apparels
on credit which is question mark services as very few people actually purchase clothes on credit
the reason maybe a wedding functions coming up so buying the apparels all together or maybe
someone who shops only twice or thrice a year. They have a very uncertain future compared to
star. However, the decision needs to be taken after a careful and proper analysis of the market
and situations as these products also have chances of becoming a burden for the company.
 18

4.4. Ansoff’s matrix

This is a well-known tool which was first published in the Harvard business review in an article
called “strategies for diversification’. It offers strategic choices to achieve the objectives.

Market Penetration
This involves an attempt to increase market share within the existing market which could be
done by selling the existing services to the existing customers or by finding new customers
within the same market. This is a very practical to implement as this requires to cater to the
existing customers and keep them engaged with the services. As we keep the customers’ needs
and wants fulfilled, they act as our word-mouth advocates whenever they interact with the
society due to the good experience they have\had with the service provider, which in turn helps
growth by increasing its market share.
 19

Part B
5 Introduction

The purpose of this study is to understand ORM (Online Reputation Management), CRM
(Customer Relationship Management) and Marketing Practices and their importance. The
information collected in the study is through observation. The intern was interning under the
Marketing department of Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd.

Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd. being a start up in a competitive industry like Financial
Services understands the importance of Online Reputation and Customer Relationship. In this
Digital era almost, every company is present on the various social media platforms available and
try their best to influence the customers by portraying a trusted front and charm them to buy their
products or services. The company also has Sales Representatives in retail stores like Croma,
Vijay Sales. The company also believes in providing their customers affordable and flexible
financing by purely online medium giving them a hassle-free experience as the process at the
convince of the user in terms on timing, e-KYC, friendly customer support available to them at
the ease of a Facebook, Instagram comment or message or company help mail to guide them in
any difficulties they face being as simple as copy pasting a URL or bank statements upload. The
company also focuses on providing wide range of notable and renowned brands as merchants to
choose from.

5.1 Objectives of the study

The objectives of the study are:

● To understand ORM (Online Reputation Management) and CRM (Customer Relationship
Management) at Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd.
● To understand Marketing Practices at Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd.

5.2 Expected benefits

 20

The study contributes towards understanding of ORM, CRM and different marketing practices
used by the company. The findings of the study are useful in designing campaigns and
importance of customer relationship. The study helps in providing insights on how to prepare an
effective marketing practices and how to improve work output.

5.3 Limitations of the study

During the two months’ internship period, few obstacles came in. Some of the limitations in
making the report are following

● The internship duration was of only two months. The time periods available to study the
subject’s observation, analysis and conclusion was limited.
● All the content collected is based on books, reports, internet articles, and observation.
● The nature of these statements is historic, and therefore can never be precise.
● Due to confidentiality clauses within the organization, it was not possible to gather some
more information that could make the report much greater from all aspects.
 21

6 Methodology

6.1 Ethnographic Study

Type of study
The type of research used is Qualitative Research (Descriptive Research)

Data Collection
The present study is done using both primary and secondary data sources. The method used for
data collection is Ethnographic study.

Primary Data
Primary Data was collected by interacting with the customers for a period of 2 months on
company’s social media platforms – Facebook and Instagram under the guidance of Marketing
Manager and Sales Team. Also, by observing the Sales team members interacting with
customers over telephonic conversation providing information about the company or by solving
the problems of customers.

Secondary Data
Secondary data was collected through company website and other secondary sources.

Online Reputation Management (ORM) is an ongoing task which serves to create, cultivate and
maintain your brand name and its upright standing online. Much like traditional reputation
management, it’s all about perception. As perception is one of the decision parameters
consumers think off while purchasing a product or service. The evolution of Smartphone’s as a
necessity and buying through e-commerce a common affair. This is another parameter why to
maintain a good reputation is important which can boost your sale. Another factor to consider is
the importance the third-party review website and reviews on company website are majorly
importance in order to build the trust while providing a social proof. The very reasons brands or
companies say we have thousands of satisfied customers, as few negative reviews can lead to a
negative impact on the company.
 22

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) a key tool to understand the requirements and needs
of the customers by building a relation with them instead of selling a product or service in return
of a monetary transaction. Now the companies are focusing on this, the reason being:

As stated by Pareto: “Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule) states that, for many events,
roughly 80% of the company sales come from 20% of the customers.”

This states that majority of the revenue of a company is earned by the 20% of loyal customers it
has. The reason for the same being, as when the company tries to build a relationship with the
customers it also gives a sense of importance to the customer and even, they actively take part in
being a potential and loyal customer for the company from whom the company can expect
frequent purchases of products or services. Also, as these loyal customers are satisfied with the
products or services, they act as advocates and influencers who promote the company on their
own level by telling about it to their acquaintances, friends, family etc. creating a positive image
for the company.
CRM also helps in providing better services as they try to understand the consumers which also
gives them a competitive advantage, customization in the product offering based on the
consumer reviews and finding which all give a competitive advantage to the company.

Marketing Practices are evolving at a huge scale, as the consumers have wide range of options to
choose from including the Domestic as well as International players it is very crucial to place
your position in the market. The Marketers are trying Guerrilla marketing spending a huge
amount of money to get the attraction of the consumers on it, celebrity endorsements, TV
commercials and Ads etc. The Marketers are keeping a eye on all the possible trending things
happening around, keeping in mind the customers wants and then coming with campaigns with
the allotted budgets for the same.
 23

7 Observations

7.1 Classification of observations

7.1.1 About organizational training

The intern was trained about the existing services catered by Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd.
such as:
 EMI/Credit services
Under that the intern gained knowledge about the range of products and services on which
the company provides credit. The category they cater to are Electronic Appliances -
Smartphone’s, Tablets, TVs etc. and Home Appliances – Fridge, ACs, Microwaves,
Furnitures etc. They also provide credit on Kaya Skin Clinic services, to name a few are
Laser and Hair treatments, Body Polishing etc. The company provides credit in 3 tenures i.e.
is 3, 6 and 9 months. Based on the tenure and Merchant selected the charges on the credit
vary (sometimes depending on the tenure and Merchant the interest rate provided is zero).
The intern was also given the comprehensive knowledge about how the customers can avail
or apply for the service with an introductory template for mails was provided. The template
provided was supposed to be sent to customers who enquired about the services on the
platforms like- Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and mails, using the companies mailing
platform Freshdesk. The basics of how to use Freshdesk software was taught. Freshdesk is
software which provides integration of mails and helps in addressing them in the form of
tickets and assigning the work in a simple and efficient manner. It has various other features
such as Customization, Collaborating, Reporting and Analytics and many more. The intern
was taught Freshdesk to send the customized Credit templates about how to apply on
Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd. with the necessary information and to assign mails to
the respective team leader and members.
A brief about the customer eligibility was given too, which comprised of a brief about the
CIBIL score to be maintained about the applicant, address proof, PAN card etc.
 24

 Vouchers
Under that the intern gained knowledge about the various vouchers they provide on
credit. The price of vouchers range from Rs 1,000-20,000. The company provides credit
on vouchers in 3 tenures i.e. is 3, 6 and 9 months. When the customer purchases a
voucher, he/she is eligible to buy any product from the merchant based on the worth of
voucher.
The vouchers are sent to the customers in the form of email on their registered email
address, which they can avail in a year’s time. The email has the voucher code which can
be easily be copied on the below listed merchants. The voucher is generated within the
24 hours span of time but the verification process takes about 3-4 business days. The
Merchants on which the vouchers are available are Flipkart, Myntra, Amazon, Jabong
and Lifestyle. The company is working on adding more Merchants for the vouchers.

 Online Reputation Management (ORM)

Under that the intern was taught how to handle the company’s social media profiles on
Facebookand Instagram and emails majorly, sometimes depending on the sales team
work load the intern was also given WhatsApp to handle occasionally. In the first week
of, the intern was asked to observe and analyze the previous customer conservations and
company’s social media platform posts to understand the tone and type of content and
graphic which is used by the brand. The intern was also taught how to address customer
queries on comments and move the conversation in Inbox in order to show a good
reputation of the brand in case there were any negative reviews and reply with gratitude
to all the positive comments on the various social media posts. This also required
crafting new campaign for the platforms by identifying which posts had the best
engagement or which did not and fixing it in the next campaign. Also, learn how to
tackle the negative comments.
Being a financial service it is very important to have a good reputation as people invest
their money only when they see the company is legit, trusted and numbers of customers
are high.
 25

 Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Under that the intern was taught how interact with customers and to understand their
problems and provide the solutions to them. For this the Manager explained, few
common scenarios which take place on the company’s social media platforms.
Other than that, the intern was also asked to observe the Sales team in order to learn
more about the CRM as they interacted with customers on calls for various purposes like
Tele verification, Order confirmation, in case of any issues etc. Observing them helped
me as the intern was providing a written response on company’s social media platforms
and mails it was a written proof which could be used against the company otherwise. So,
the intern had to be very particular while giving across solutions, current status, or any
kind of response for that matter.
The intern was also informed about the various department team members from whom
he/she was supposed to collect the response in the company’s database systems example
EMI team for the installment for the month was received or was there a payment failure,
Operation team to get the delivery links and other functional departments as being an
Intern, credentials were not provided.
Sometimes there were issues which were completely technical in terms for finance for
e.g. E-NATCH approval, double debits during such cases the intern was asked to simply
assign the query to the concern Team Leader and he/she would assign to their team and
get resolved.
Being a financial service, customer relationship management is a paramount because
although there are many customers who require financing but they don’t switch between
the brands or companies when it comes to financing they might take a financial helps if
the service is temporarily not available but later switch back to their loyal brands. The
marketing gimmicks work but they are just for a short duration of time, which would not
make the potential customers at the stage to the loyal ones.

 Digital Marketing
This was one of the paramount things which the intern got to learn as well implement in
on the organization’s social media platform. Digital Marketing involves advertising or
 26

promoting the company’s products/services on a digital platform like Facebook, Google,

Instagram, YouTube using Internet and electronic devices.
Over the course of 2 months, the Manager helped in brushing up skills in Digital
Marketing as the intern had completed another Internship. Apart from that, the intern had
a basic knowledge of Graphic designing and can design creative for campaigns to an
intermediate extent.
The Manager understood the potential in me after knowing everything I have learnt and
helped me guiding about how to leverage social media for a brand.
The following contains information about the few aspects of Digital Marketing the intern
countered during the time period allotted.
 Campaign Calendar
The very first thing which was allotted to the intern was to comprehend what a
Campaign Calendar is, how is it created and the importance of it. So, Campaign
Calendar helps in reminding what has to be posted on the various social media
platforms as well as to remind what creative are going to be needed in order to
get them ready before the scheduled post time. Another important thing to
remember while creating a calendar is to understand the Merchant’s current and
future campaigns in order to in sync with them as well.
E.g. Amazon had its FAB Phone Fest during 10-13th June 2019 during the same
time the Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd reposted and sent customized
creative in emails and text promotional messages to customers informing the
same as Amazon is one of the most imperative Merchant for the company.

 Competitor Analysis
In order to learn this, the Manager asked to the intern observed the content and
creative posted by the competitors on the various communication channels and
understand it.
The intern was initially asked to create a PPT in order to learn how to do the
practice this. This exercise was performed mostly after every week to keep a
track on them. While interpreting, it helped the Marketing team analyze what
kind of comment should be posted in order to leverage the enormous reach the
 27

company’s social media platform had by reading the reactions on comments of

the consumer or the number of likes and share parameters.
This not only including only the social media platforms but also the changes they
use to make on their own company’s website for example blogs, articles, notices
etc. Another way to do was to read the mailers sent by them to various customers
by subscribing to their newsletters in order to learn and interpret the next move
which might raise the expectation bar from our customers and in order to keep
them we also needed to alter the services provided.

 Collaborative Working
As already mentioned, the company has various ties up with brands it is
important to maintain good relations and depict them as well. For instance, there
are two merchants launching or having some sale going on both the creative
would be reposted on the company’s page and mailers would be sent. As
collaborative working helps in benefiting both the participants in the process.

 Campaign management and Execution

As the intern had an intermediate knowledge about Graphic Designing, the intern
was assigned the task of getting the desired creatives done from the company’s
Ad Agency. This required a lot of patience and regular follow up with the
designer as explaining a design by providing a brief and getting the creative copy
when it’s done doesn’t mean it will match to the idea you previously had and
look good. Also, at time there where sudden sales announcements for which
creative were needed and it created a pressure for the intern and the designer to
get things done in sort span of time. In order to help him the intern used to
provide a rough sketch as to what he/she was planning and the color palate he/she
was aiming for.
So, this required building a friendly relationship with the designer in order to get
the best out of the situation yielding fruitful results. Other than that, once the
campaigns were live, the intern’s task was to respond to the comments posted by
the viewers and followers and to address their concerns.
 28

 Content Marketing and Management

Content Marketing and Management required to analyze what type of content
should go on the platforms like company’s website and on various social media
channel. It is very important to understand the importance of content you put
across your customers as by reading those content they make up an image about
the brand. Similarly, the company has its own blog page on the website but it is
not updated due the lack of human source to do so. During the course of time, the
Manager asked the intern to write few blogs related to the company’s
background, which would be updated soon on the website on monthly basis.
Another important aspect of content was crating trending SMS and mailer
content to engage the crowd, this was a challenging task to fit the SMS in 160
conveying the message as well as the Bitly link, name or the contact number of
the customer which would take up to 10 characters.
On daily basis by analyzing the Merchant’s on-going promotional activities, current
events etc, a few SMS during the period are listed below:

 Hi Rahman, LAST 3 DAYS! Shop on No Cost EMI on Flipkart and get upto
60% OFF on ACs, Coolers, TVs & more. Shop Now: www.gs.im/n/B084Tiarh5i
 Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd.Mobile Mania! Buy Redmi, Oppo, Vivo,
Samsung phones at lowest price on Amazon/Flipkart @ Zero Down Payment &
No Cost EMI: http://bit.ly/MobileManiaSale
 Save your salary & make your big purchase using SnapmintCredit Advisory Pvt.
Ltd. Buy phones, TVs, appliances etc& pay later at NO DOWN PAYMENT &
NO COST EMI: http://bit.ly/2RZXRFn

In order to be more customers centric, the company is currently working on

adding Hindi as a mode of communication in terms or SMS’s and mailers. For
the same reason the company has tested it by changing the Facebook cover
in which the content is written in Hindi to see the engagement on the post.
 29

The intern and Manager worked on and translating theabove slogan and SMS’s
for the launch. To list a few SMS, the intern translated are:

 नमस्ते XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, आपकीअंतिम स्नैपमैन्टईएमआई

XXXXXXXXXX आर्डर XXXXXXXXXX, XXXXXXXXXX तिन ंक
परप्र प्ततकगयीथी।आपकीऔर 3 ईएमआईअपूर्डहैतिनक
मूल्य Rs.XXXX है।आपकी ईएमआई XXXXXXXXXX येतिनपे क टीि एगी
,आपके तिएहुएबैंकअक उं ट तिनके अंतिम४अंकये XXXX
है।कृ पय ब उं सशुल्कसेबचनेके तिएअपनेख िेमेंपय
डप्तनगि बन एरखें।

 नमस्ते XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, आपकी स्नैपमैन्टईएमआई

XXXXXXXXXX आर्डर XXXXXXXXXX तिन
ंक XXXXXXXXXX
र्ेतबटतकय ि एग आपके द्व र सबतमटतकएगएपोस्ट-

र्ेटेर्चेक केम ध्यमसेतिन ंक XXXXXXXXXX

को।कृ पय ब उं सशुल्कसेबचनेके तिएअपनेख िेमेंपय
डप्तसंिुिनबन एरखें।

 Practical knowledge about the Facebook and Instagram tools, Google

Analytics, Gupshup see diary
 30

This social media metric aspect helps in understand the Facebook, Instagram
and Google Analytics which helped in understanding the company’s reach,
number of impressions, content being shared by various followers or page
visitors, Page likes, page reviews, page followers, new followers added, video
reach, post engagement etc.
Although Google Analytics is paid one, the Manager explained few parameters and
helped the intern understand the same, one being bounce rate, session and new user
added.

o Bounce Rate is the digital marketing term used for the percentage of visitors who
enter the website but leave the website without checking out or going through
other pages.
o Session is the digital marketing term used for the number of activities the user
does within the time frame of the website.
o New User Add It means the new uniquely identified users who have visited the
page or have had sessions with the website.

As far as Instagram is concerned, the Analytics which is divided into three segments:
Content, Activity and Audience.
o Content is further divided into Stories, Promotions and Posts which gives insights
relating to a single post comprising of videos, images or stories and giving the
data about the most preferred content by the audience.
o Activity tab is further dividend into Interactions which means the
action/interaction people do with your post example liking, commenting or
sharing or even taking a screenshot or saving it in their collection and Discovery
means how the people came across your content and what is the reach. It also
consists of Profile visits giving a number as to how many people visited your
profile in the span of a week.
o Audience tab helps in understanding the Demographics i.e. – Top locations of the
followers, Age range, Gender and number of followers on hours and days basis.
 31

As far as Facebook Analytics is concerned it has broad parameters in terms of free and
paid ones. The few parameters the intern was asked to screen were:
o Actions on page it means the number of times the user has taken some action
such as like the post or reacted with the emoticons shown. An action as defined
by Facebook is something which happens after your ad is shown.
o Page views it means the number of times the page was viewed by the users who
are logged into Facebook as well those who aren’t.
o Post reach is the number of uniquely identified people who saw a specific post in
their news feed from you. Whereas Facebook reach is the number of uniquely
identified users who saw any of your content.
o Post engagement it means whenever someone performs an action or set of actions
on your post it can likes, comments, tagging etc.
o Page likes it means the number of users who have like your Facebook page.

 Email and SMS Marketing

Intern got the opportunity to understand a brief knowledge about this and even execute
few mailers and SMS’s to the Target Audience. The Target Audience was divided into
groups based on their purchasing history, new customers, potential customers, based on
the demographics etc. So, here the intern learnt about how the segregation is done and
how the mass emails and SMS are sent. For SMS the company has a tie up with
Gupshup which is a third-party, using their platform on the rental basis the SMS are
delivered. The platform also has Analytics part which helps in understanding how many
 32

SMS’s were open, not delivered, how many people interacted/engaged with it by liking
on the link provided. For mailers, another third-party platform was used named
SendGrid. It has few standard templates available with them which can be used or the
designed creative’s can be uploaded. For the platform an excel sheet has to be created
with the variables like Name, email address or contact number depending upon the
medium selected.

7.1.2 About self-learning

Working with Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd, the intern has realized that Fintech and
Intermediary sector is growing in great numbers. There is a wide range of customer base who
like to purchase products on EMI’s using desired tenure instead of directly buying it paying in
full amount all at once. The usual products bought on EMI are the electronic appliances, as it
increases the affordability of the product, does not hamper the monthly budget.

Other than that, following are the things the intern has learnt being there for the duration time
period are:
 Team Work
Since the intern daily task included Query Management and the intern wasn’t provided
with the credentials of company’s database the intern always had to interact with other
team members to get the updates related to the monthly installments, product delivery
status, bank approval etc.
Other than that, contacting the Graphic designer from the Ad agency for the creatives
also helped, as he was not physically present in the office so we had to communicate only
via mails and tele conversations, so this helped the intern learning how to work and
coordinate with team members without the physical presence. So, communicating with
them on daily basis helped in doing productive work together.

 Self-confidence on your career

This internship has helped the intern giving a clearer career path in the field of Digital
Marketing as the intern liked working in this field and the intern was productive in all the
 33

fields related to it, from planning the content to graphics, to analysis on Facebook and
Instagram, measures that could be taken to improve. The intern also had a chance to
interact with other Merchants or Communication Manager who would like associate with
the company and handover the further detailed communication to the Manager. The most
important thing which the intern realized in this Internship was as the intern was the sole
person handling Facebook, Instagram and company Gmail for customer queries well, the
intern would gel well in this digital marketing setup.

 Taking constructive criticism well

Being evaluated and corrected after every campaign or weekly meetings about how the
task was performed helped the intern in enhancing myself rather than taking the things
personally.

 Independence
The Manager made sure that he never spoon-fed things to the intern; he made sure the
intern was always on toes when it came to getting task done, although he was always
there to guide the intern. Eventually doing things from on own helped people in the
company recognize the intern while he/she use to suggest ideas or actions to be done in
the cross-functional meetings they had, which were appreciated and taken actions upon.
During the first cross functional meeting the intern was able to list the various problems
the company’s website had like few hyperlinks were not working, the graphics did not
match the content below, FAQs needed to be updated, office hours and days to added and
many more. Everyone was happy, as the intern was upbeat since no one asked him/her to
test the website but the intern did it on its own to help portray a good front to the
customers.

 Time Management
As the intern had to handle various social media platform and company’s query mail, the
very first thing the intern learned was to divide the time the intern use to work on each.
Before lunch time v would answer all the messages, comments, queries on Facebook and
Instagram and post lunch handle the mails received. While answering the mails, if they
 34

were any notification on Facebook and Instagram the intern would answer as they were
received. This was important as Facebook has a parameter which displays to the user how
responsive the company’s Facebook page is. When the intern joined the company the
response percentage was 92% while the intern completed the duration the percentage was
96%, showing an increase of 4%.

7.2 Trends / Patterns

 Sales, Promotions and discounts

There has been a rise in occurrence of discounts and promotions. Merchants have
increased the number of promotions and sales and in the current market sales are driven
by discounts. Sales, promotions and discounts are the key tool to compete. For e.g. A
Smartphone which available at the cost of Rs 20,000 and is one of the hottest selling
phones, as soon as the discounts are available on the product in the form of promotion or
discounts code the sale of the product increases further more. Another way is, knowing
the product is doing great in the market sending SMSs and mailers about the product
features gaining more attraction towards the product. This was actually practiced by the
firm during the launch on One Plus 7 Pro.

 Referral program
The company recently started Referral program, the existing customer can refer and earn
by providing potential customers to the company. The mechanism for the program is,
when someone purchases from the refer code and pays the first monthly installments both
the person referring and referee get some monetary amount in the form of digital cash
which would be reduced automatically when they pay the next month’s installments, by
the parameters stored in the database.
As the intern was already given the company’s customer replies template, the intern was
asked to curate the same for Customer replies related to referrals which was further
circulated to the Sales and Marketing team.

 Continuous upgradation in the company’s website

 35

The company is continuously working on their website, making it more customer

friendly. Initially the company changed the color palate to blue and white, while the
intern joined the organization. After that, new page for Merchants are added with basic
steps to apply for partnering with the company. Even the vouchers with the brand logo
are added so customer tend to remember the famous brands like Croma, Vijay Sales,
Jabong, Kaya Skin Clinic etc.
During the internship period the intern also worked on comprehensive content and
graphics for the landing page of Kaya Skin Clinicand Croma. The landing page had logos
of both the brands, what services could be availed, steps to avail them, benefits of
financing from Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd. This Page is currently under testing,
and for other Merchants as well pages are being created and tested.
The company is also working on Chatbot, as this will help the visitors in better
understanding and guide them if they

 Adding more Merchants to the company’s platform

 The company is working on getting more Merchants on its platform i.e. these brands
will accept payments from the Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd. being an intermediary.
The company has also adding a different landing page for Merchants to avail information
regarding how they can apply, eligibility criteria, benefits of being a Merchant and be on
board on the platform. There is also a Snapmint Credit Advisory Pvt. Ltd. Merchant App
for its Merchants to see the transactions, details of the person buying from them, legal
records etc.
 36

8 Identification of critical issues or problems

The company’s major problem currently is to maintain the current customers and customer
retention, amidst the competitors the company currently has. The few parameters which display
the same are increased in the bounce-back rate of the website, Facebook campaigns and insights,
and emails from various customers. The company’s contact number is handled by IVR service,
which means it lacks the human touch, which creates insecurity in the minds of the customers.

The information was collected by the intern during the 8 weeks periods, the Manager assigned
the intern a task- Issues faced by customers by analyzing messages from May 2018-2019. The
intern was asked to read all the Facebook messages received on the company's Facebook page
and understand the customer-centric problems.

The information collected was first analyzed by the intern and Manager, which was used
addressed to the various team managers and members in order to understand what was expected
from everyone.

Later, a few brainstorming sessions and cross-functional team meetings were held to draw
objectives and solutions to the same. A few segments were created in these meetings, which
were customer-facing platforms like
● Website
● TVR/EMI Calls/IVRS
● Official Email of the company (Care & Help)
● Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp
● Public forum - Google Reviews, Quora, Consumer complaints etc.

The solutions to these were provided during the meetings were where Pop-up displays on
website to attract customers like “Redmi 7 pro was bought. Implement Chatbot at its earliest.
Implement Up-selling and Cross-selling of the products on credit. Always try to understand the
 37

reason for cancellation rather than directly cancelling the order and initiating the refund. IVR
should have one more language added i.e. Hindi as it is easier to understand for the customers
observed during the tele-verifications by the Sales Team. The EMI plan chart should be
displayed after all the approval is done as before approval it leads to miscommunication from the
company’s end as they think their application is approved. Analyze the content posted on Public
forums in order to understand the gap why they do not like the service or like it, the aspect which
needs improvement further. Curate content for social media which engages the visitors.
 38

9 Conclusion

The company is continuously making efforts in order to sustain in this competitive advantage.
The company is updating the sales, promotions and discounts during the periods like Phone
sales, Seasonal sales like Summer Carnival, Monsoon sale etc. The company in order to tap new
customer started the most tried and tested method by various firms Referral program, it is
currently a new program implemented. The company is working in order to create awareness
about this new program.

As being a new company, it recognizes that in order to build trust that to in the field of finance
which is looked upon as new investment might be a risky situation with the existence of the well-
established competitors. To do so it is adding new Merchants which are already trusted by the
customers with big giants like Amazon, Flipkart, Croma, Lifestyle. Another thing observed is the
first-time customers are dealt and explained about each and every detail at length as well emails
are sent explaining the same to them. The organization also helps the customer if there is some
kind of failure from the Merchant end as being an intermediary it under takes this responsibility
seriously.

The company also understands other than the physical presence in the stores in Croma, Vijay
Sales and other understands the importance of digital as most of the purchases come from the
online medium as it is available to the users in the most convenient way as per their time and
easy financing charts with tenures explained in graphical formats and customer friendly support.

9.1 Summary of trends in organization

The intern has observed there is no time schedule and the work never getsdone. The reason
being, unlike the big companies there is no planned schedule designed for everyone, everyone is
expected to be on their toes as day to day tasks are to be implemented but the additional tasks
like a new sale or product launched means drafting new mailers, SMS, changes in landing page
of website to showcase the product, sales team needs to learn about the product in order to cater
to the questions etc. The dynamic culture is what helps in growing and helps in better decision
 39

making as being an observant you get to see if a particular campaign failed or what were the key
elements which leaded to a great outcome and the opportunity to analyze and implement the
same in the next plan right away.
The company recently launched their Referral program which is currently on test basis to see
how it works, a very common practice used by so many brands across the globe, tells about how
the company is slowly adding more to just than financing. The integration of chat bots and tool
tip which will be of great use for the company. Continuously working on the website and to
deliver the best to the company as the founders are from the technical backgrounds, they try to
element new technology as much as they can. Also, adding more brands on board to have a
stronger front.

9.2 Summary of the feedback given to the organization

The lists of the feedbacks given to the organization are as follow:

● The company needs to hire more people in order to function effectively and efficiently, as
the current Marketing, Sales and Collection team are few in number to meet the expected
targets.
● Have a company’s contact number and get it answered by a customer representative to
add the human element in order to build trust, instead of IVR service.
● Help the customers while they visit the website with the use of tooltip in order to reduce
the bounce-back rate and assist them right away.
● A detailed video representation or short video clips of how Snapmint Credit Advisory
Pvt. Ltd. works right from the beginning i.e. how to register or apply, product selection
and check availability, booking and tracking etc.
● In order to understand the in-depth of the problems or issues faced by customers start
conducting surveys every 6 months to improve and excel.

9.3 Summary of self-learning

It was a great learning opportunity for the intern. The organization has helped to implement the
learning’s and suggestions. It has aided the intern to be even a better team player, how to make
 40

better decisions, how to use various digital marketing tools, interact with customers over
platforms like Facebook and Instagram. The intern got the experience to work with great
professionals who helped a lot in this duration period also, corrected and explain to whenever the
intern could improve more. They also helped the intern understanding the about the company’s
process in terms of finance as the intern comes from a different background.

The intern felt it was a great opportunity to work in a start-up as the best thing about it is you get
to work with cross-functional teams, regardless of your specialization or the position you are
involved and exposed to every aspect of the firm. The growth opportunity is endless and along
the same road, there are so many things you learn on the process starting from how to work in
cross functional teams, build work relationships etc. The most important thing takeaway the
intern has is to get the most out of the limited resources available. As initially when the company
starts it has limited resources and workforce. The intern was involved in the meetings held for
various teams and given a chance to speak as to what the intern felt about it. The very reason
being as the intern was an outsider; the intern had a different perspective towards things which
might help in the formation of the decision.
 41

Part C
Learnings and Takeaways

1. Application of concepts, tools, techniques and skills learnt at PiMSR

The course which helped was Marketing Management, as the course explains the importance of
marketing, different iconic case studies done to understand how marketing failure can lead to
success or huge losses. The STP (Segmenting, Targeting and Positing) helped in analysing which
SMS or mailers to be send based on the segmentation done.

Another course which helped the intern was Business Research Methods, as the intern was asked
to curate questionnaire for the company for a survey they are planning to do in the year end The
course learning helped the intern phrasing the right questions, what type of questions were
needed, necessary demographics needed for survey, the options provided needed to understand
the Target Audience purchase behaviour, what they like about the company, how user friendly
they find the website to be etc. Another task allotted to be was reading the customer replies and
coming up with problems so the concepts of Research problem, identifying the problem and
comments helped me in performing efficiently.

2. Any augmentation of soft skills such as building interpersonal relationships

The skills which learnt at PiMSR during the course Effective and Management Communication
and Personal Grooming which helped while writing content in the professional manner, while
addressing the email queries the basics and what information has to be put forward and how it is
to be presented. The courses also helped in enhancing communication and portraying being well-
groomed, as being an Intern was always taken to various cross functional meetings in order to
speak concisely and up to the mark while making a point. This helped the intern in building good
interpersonal relationships with the professionals as they understood even being just an Intern
not only portrayed the professional upfront, the intern’s work depicted the same.

3. Any directions for future learning or career path that you may like to pursue:
After learning the various courses and understanding the importance Marketing plays with
respect to branding and awareness of the product or service which effect the revenue of the
company as well as its reputation, to help the company sustain in this competitive environment,
 42

understanding what target audience is and other parameters has built confidence in inter to aspire
pursue a career path in Digital Marketing.
 43

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Chand, S. (n.d.). CRM: Customer Relationship Management: Meaning, Need and Techniques of
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Definitions of Marketing. (2013, July). Retrieved from American Marketing Association :

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