It’s not easy discerning what customers want, especially when it comes to selling them a house. It’s easy to impress them with expansive spaces, expensive fittings, and manicured lawns. But to understand the pulse of the customer and keep them happy is not given to everyone. In the last few years, developers have turned to building luxury and uber-luxury homes thinking that’s where demand will come from and, more often than not, find themselves laden with inventory. This is where Ramky Estates has not erred. M Nanda Kishore, MD, has worked intelligently by working closely with customers to understand deeply the needs of the buyers and adhering to the requirements before venturing into a new project. And this has worked well for the company.
All cities are built differently. In India, what will work in a Tier-I city might not be acceptable in a Tier-2 city. While most cities are cosmopolitan now, a large number of buyers in smaller cities are still locals who want the amenities they are used to and one that adheres to their tastes. Nanda Kishore says, “We are thorough with our market research before embarking on a new project. Over the years, we have realised the importance of due diligence and talking to our customers – including men, women and children – to understand from them their preferences. Only then does the project get into design, which also contain the inputs received from customers.”
Interestingly, Ramky Estates is perhaps the only Tier-1 city based company that has projects across five cities in South (Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, and Warangal) and met with success, which is remarkable because now they have to understand the requirements of the unique buyers in each of these cities. It is also one of the rare companies who can claim to have stayed zero debt for a long time, considering the huge scale at which they operate.
Decoding customer needs
Considering that location plays a pivotal role in the success of a project, not forgetting the profiles of the residents who will ultimately live in those homes, Ramky Estates has been prudent in choosing locales that offer amenities outside the societies. Today, buyers want access to schools, transportation, entertainment, etc and developers are listening.
Having completed 27 projects so far, the company has gleaned insights into what works and doesn’t. According to Nanda Kishore, “What makes us most happy is knowing that all our projects are generally sold out before completion and also occupied by the buyers. Primarily, 98% of our buyers occupy the apartments and this gives us a sense of fulfilment.”
A primary reason that Nanda Kishore attributes this is to the functionality of the apartments that make it attractive to buyers. “When buyers are paying for every square feet of the home, it is important that we make efforts to give them the best. We prefer to concentrate on functionality instead of spending on offering idle attractions requiring uncalled for maintenance later on. Of course, we are looking at external facades and claddings in a couple of our projects but it would not be feasible in the majority of them. So pedestrian-friendly podiums, basement car parks that go straight from the entry and only come out at exit, are some of the thoughtful ideas that go into our developments.”
Keeping true to its vision ‘To be a touchstone for customer delight and stakeholder value’ sums up its actions. The team believes that integrity and transparency, customer centricity, sense of ownership, innovation and social commitment is what will stand them in good stead throughout their lifecycle. With 28 years of experience, and having delivered 10 million sq-ft, with over 7500 happy families, the Group is not sitting on its laurels. Nanda Kishore is aware that the real estate sector is undergoing a transformation and he is keeping up with the times. “With the kind of changes, it is critical to rope in erudite and skilled professionals who will bring in a sense of governance and strategy. The scale of projects today have multiplied twice or thrice over and this calls for a steadfast approach. This is what we have done within the company. Our entire leadership comprises professionals who are experts in their own way. With strong systems and processes in place, adoption of technology, and keeping up with the times, is what makes our company highly professional,” he adds.
Transforming cityscapes
Balancing myriad projects while constantly looking for land banks, mulling future projects, and assessing new business models is a norm today for a true blue real estate developer. Nanda Kishore says that the corporate today has land banks across Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai and 15 million sq-ft under development with another 4 million sq-ft in the pipeline. Following an asset-light model and attempting to stay risk-free, it is the first developer in Hyderabad to venture into the realm of virtual reality with RamkyVerse, a virtual reality platform allowing prospective buyers to virtually experience the company’s ongoing projects.
The company has also bolstered its position with the launch of three new projects – Ramky One Astra at Kokapet in West Hyderabad, Ramky One Genext and Ramky One Orion at Uppal in East Hyderabad. Other ongoing projects of the company include Ramky One Odyssey at Kokapet, Ramky One Orbit at Nallagandla, Ramky One Symphony at Patancheru, Ramky TruSpace Aspire at Balanagar and Ramky One Harmony at Kukatpally in Hyderabad, and Ramky One Krystal apartment and villa projects at Sheelanagar in Visakhapatnam. Funds for all the projects are from internal accruals.
The residential projects under execution in other cities include – Ramky One Karnival at Electronic City, Bengaluru and RWD Grandcorridor at Poonamallee High Road & RWD Spotlight at Thirumazhisai in Chennai. All these projects are spread across a significant geographical profile.
The company has begun scouting for opportunities in the warehousing space. Plans are afoot to develop about 4 lakh sq-ft over the next five years.
But for now, the company is content concentrating on the projects in hand and speaking to customers regularly to discern how future projects should be built.
