”We are Bringing the Right Product to the Right Customer.”
We operate in Karakoy, where the heart of the electronics sector beats. There are about 500 shops here, large or small. Maintaining its leadership in component supply for the last 15 years, Ozdisan Elektronik’s Karakoy branch has been continuing its activities since 1996. We met with Branch Manager Ali Yurttas to assess the trends in the sector. We asked, and he answered.
Hi Ali, can you please talk about yourself a bit?
I was born in 1965 in the Surmene district of Trabzon. I completed my primary education in Surmene, and my secondary education in Samsun. I graduated from Eskisehir Anadolu University, Department of Business Administration.
How and when did your paths cross with Ozdisan Elektronik?
After graduating university in 1986, my first work experience was at Ozdisan Elektronik. In years, my experience and knowledge about the electronics sector have also increased. Since I was a part of the core team of Ozdisan, I became one of those who observed the years that followed in the best way. I completed my 31st year at Ozdisan Elektronik. Here, I’ve been involved in many departments from customer relations to marketing strategies. I would like to share a word from one of our founders, Ali Rıza Yurttas: “If you want to earn money, you should plan correctly when buying the goods. After that, it is very easy to sell.” I think this horizon also sums up Ozdisan’s success in component supply. In our early years, I have repeatedly witnessed one of our founders, Davut Yurttas, transferring the technology we have to the customers with discipline. These have been my most important sources of motivation.
What are your general activities as a team at Ozdisan Elektronik Karakoy Branch? Can you tell us about the business processes there?
We have been continuing our works at Karakoy branch since 1996. We have chosen this location to further expand our company. We have a team of 6 people. The main mission of our team here is to bring the right product to the right customer. Even the electronics companies in our region are consulting us whether they should work on holidays or not. We also receive the support of our expert staff in terms of technical knowledge. Our company has become the doyen of the sector. We can actively observe this in the market as well. There are even people from neighboring companies in the region who consult us about the technical details of the products. With the awareness that we are the ‘big brother’ and leader of the sector, we are continuing our activities in Karakoy.
As a branch, you are in face-to-face dialogue with the customer. What have you observed?
Ozdisan Elektronik is recognized as a reliable brand in the sector. We always support the products of the companies that we are a distributor of. Selling products has never been our first goal. First of all, we are trying to understand which product the customer needs. We have developed a warm and friendly communication language with our customers over the years. Our name represents “reliability” in the market. In recent months, I had overheard two people chatting about the products of a foreign brand that has just entered the Turkish market. One of them said to the other, “If Ozdisan brought the product, you can comfortably buy it” and added: “Even if you encounter technical difficulties, they will solve it.” It’s flattering to hear that, of course.
Do you also provide technical support to your customers?
I would like to explain this with another example. A production company was buying thyristor modules every Friday evening for 1000 euros. Later, we found out that they were stocking the product because their modules were constantly exploding. After realizing that something was wrong, our specialists immediately intervened in the situation. Two engineers visited the customer to observe the issue on site. The error was not caused by the product or the company. It turned out that, due to the decrease in the voltage in the iron smelting machine, the thyristors were blowing. We showed the company the way for the solution. After they bought a transformer and filtered their own electricity, the problem was resolved. As a company, our focus is not on making sales, but on providing solutions.
What are your principles about sales and marketing? What kind of road map are you drawing for your team at this point?
I believe that sales and marketing teams should have a good understanding of the corporate culture, mission and vision of the company they work for. We want our teams to visit our production centers in order to be able to introduce our company to our customers correctly. A good marketer is a person who analyzes the customer’s demands and offers appropriate solutions accordingly. For this, they must know the products in the warehouse perfectly. I think that people who learn the company’s product range correctly will serve the company well. We often ask our team to go to the warehouses and get to know the products in our inventory. In this way, they can stand comfortably behind our product. We understand the importance of face-to-face communication even better in our branches. We also make frequent customer visits.
How do you benefit from ozdisan.com when selling your products? What are the customer’s opinion on this platform?
From the early 90s, we have become the leading company in Türkiye in the field of power electronics. Some of the companies thought that we only had power electronics products in our structure. With ozdisan.com, we have overcome this prejudice. Ozdisan.com, which we have established with an investment of $2.5M, allows us to differentiate ourselves from other players in the sector. We use a computer at our any branch as an “application desk”. Our customers are surprised when they see that we have such a platform. Setting up this infrastructure requires both cost and time investment. Our website also serves as a knowledge base for professionals in the industry and those who want to do research and development activities at universities.
Can you tell us about your short- and long-term plans?
Since the second half of 2018, the fluctuations in the foreign exchange rate, rising interest rates and falling purchasing power have negatively affected us, as is the case in many other sectors. Especially from the point of view of importing companies like us, fluctuations in the exchange rate prevent us from seeing ahead. In today’s current conditions, our goal in the short term is to continue the company’s policies and to maintain our position in the long term.
“With the awareness that we are the ‘big brother’ and leader of the sector, we are continuing our activities in Karakoy.”
Which product groups of yours have been in more demand in recent years?
Speaking specifically about our Karakoy branch, all the products that we distribute are in demand. There has also been a serious increase in sales in PCBA for the last 3 years as well.
Which sectors have you been selling products mainly for recently?
We are seeing serious demand from companies engaged in elevator and welding machine production. Recently, we are also doing serious business with the medical sector. We have observed that almost all products, from the patient bed control boards to X-ray machines’ equipment setup, are relevant to our sector. We had the opportunity to work with companies that manufacture health devices in our country and export them to the Middle East and Eastern Europe. We also sell products from our branch to about 500 sales companies located in the region. This is equivalent to 40 percent of our sales.
