"We Are Known As The McDonalds Of The Trophy Industry" - Parag Anand
Meet Parag Anand, the driving force behind Benson Trophies and Awards. With years of experience in the awards and recognition industry, he has not only steered his company to success but has also played a pivotal role in promoting excellence and motivation through recognition. In this exclusive interview with EE, Parag shares his insights into the world of trophies, awards, and the importance of acknowledging achievements in various fields.
Excerpts:
As one of the leading trophy manufacturers and suppliers in Delhi & NCR, India, and Canada, could you share with us the journey of Benson Trophies and Awards and how it became a prominent player in the industry?
Benson Awards and Trophies was founded in the year 1984, my father started the trophy business in Delhi, and he was one of the pioneers of the trophy industry in the country. During my father's time the company was mainly focused on schools and colleges, when I joined the company 13 years back, my focus was mainly to target corporates because I came from a corporate background having worked with various MNCs. Post my joining, we used to distribute trophies through event companies, and corporate gifting vendors as well as direct to customers who'd reach out to us. Nowadays our focus is on eco-friendly products, through which we've expanded over the last two years catering to various cities across India. Our team strength is around 40 people now and we manage to be very fast in our execution and delivery because of our extensive manpower.
What sets Benson Trophies and Awards apart from other trophy manufacturers in the market?
We do theme-based trophies, for example, we make trophies for ENBA the E4M event. All our trophies are customised and for that, we use a set of designers. Secondly, we have in-house facilities, and lastly, we carry a large inventory with us. We are actually known as the McDonalds of the trophy industry, even if you require 100 trophies by evening, we can deliver.
With such a wide range of trophy types available, which ones do you find are the most popular among your customers, and why do you think they are preferred?
The eco-friendly range is quite popular now because of an increased emphasis on sustainability, so the trophies we make in natural wood are really in demand as it brings a sustainability factor to the table.
In an industry where quality and aesthetics matter, how do you ensure that Benson Trophies and Awards consistently delivers intriguing designs and top-quality products?
Because I come from a corporate background, that makes it a little easy for me in terms of my own taste and choices. All our products are made with great raw materials, we have a quality check process within the company where the production guy signs off on every dispatch and then we send a WhatsApp message to the customer for a Google review. If a positive review comes in the production guy is incentivised and if it's poor, then he's punished (laughs).
How do you manage logistics to ensure timely delivery of trophies and awards to your clients across Delhi, Noida, and Gurgaon, as well as other regions in India and Canada?
We have pan-India tie-ups with various cargo companies which makes it quite easy for us to dispatch the trophies. Because our logistic tie-ups are very strong, 25 per cent of my sales come from Mumbai, another 25 per cent comes from Bangalore, and 50 per cent comes from Delhi.
As a well-known trophy supplier, what are some of the factors that have contributed to long-lasting relationships with your clients?
It's all about ethics. There have been situations where people have dropped their trophies at their events, or they took their trophies without the box, and it broke in the luggage, so we extend our services to cater to these issues that arise after the delivery of the trophies too. We also maintain punctuality; our trophies will never arrive late. For instance, we provided trophies for an Economic Times event, and some of the trophies broke while doing the quality check. The next day we sent a guy via a flight to go deliver those trophies on time.
In a competitive market, what strategies do you employ to keep your prices reasonable without compromising on the quality of your products?
We always put in bulk orders for raw materials, and for every category, we have an inventory of at least 100 trophies each We work through a lot of event companies, and the costing must be put in a bracket where they can also earn some money. We make sure we can keep relatively competitive prices by buying raw materials in bulk and maintaining a huge inventory.
As a Managing Director, what are some of the challenges you face in running a successful trophy manufacturing company, and how do you overcome them?
There's a communication gap sometimes and another challenge is that other trophy manufacturers have a single department working on the trophies, so the clients are in communication with a single person, but we're a more organised company and have multiple departments so when each department completes their bit of work, the client gets updated. We do it to keep the client updated throughout the process, but it sometimes is a bit of a challenge to explain to them why multiple people are in contact with them regarding their order. The biggest challenge I would say is maintaining quality with shorter deadlines.
Finally, what message or advice would you like to share with potential customers looking for top-quality trophies and awards for their events or occasions?
I would always tell potential customers only one thing. Always give good quality trophies because they reflect your brand. When a person comes to an event, the only tangible thing they take with them is the trophy. The trophy will stay in their office, they will look at it every day, and if the trophy is badly made it will reflect on your company and your brand.
