Muscat- Daikin-Muscat Electronics was named ‘Oman’s Most Trusted Brand’ of 2018 in the Air Conditioners Category. In an interview with Muscat Daily, Geeju Paul, general manager at Muscat Electronics discusses the brand strengths of Daikin and the outlook for air conditioners business in the Omani market.
For the second consecutive year Daikin–Muscat Electronics has won Oman’s Most Trusted Brand Award in Air Conditioners Category. What were the key strengths that helped your company to win this award again?
The product reliability and the after sales support offered by Muscat Electronics and Daikin have helped us to bag this award again. With the unmatched experience and dedication of our team, we are able to provide excellent pre and post-sales support to all our customers. The repeat of award shows that consumers are continuing to keep faith in Daikin brand in Oman. How important is customer trust and satisfaction in your business, and what strategies have you adopted to retain customer satisfaction in the long run?
Air conditioner performance is crucial in Oman as we have long and harsh summer in almost 90 per cent parts of the country. No one can stay without air conditioners during the summer months and hence a reliable air conditioner backed by flawless service and parts support is the deciding factor for gaining customer confidence. Muscat Electronics has been serving its customers in Oman for the past forty years. We are thankful to all our customers who voted Daikin-Muscat Electronics as the most trusted brand in the sultanate. We are in the continuous process of upgrading our capabilities in the product range, market reach and improving service levels at all departments. We also believe that the right air conditioning solution plays a big part in the well being of individuals, which in turn allows individuals to achieve their best performance.
The window AC segment is continuing to witness a declining trend over the years due to shift in preference to split or centralised air conditioners in Oman. What type of challenges or opportunities does this situation create for you? Daikin, renowned for its innovations in air conditioning industry had moved out of window AC manufacturing long back. Window AC sales in Oman is mostly in replacement market and currently all new projects are designed with split ACs and central ACs. Now the customer awareness on energy efficiency has also increased and their preference for energy efficient VRV systems and inverter split ACs is going to improve the demand of Daikin products.
In addition to an improved performance, the new product lines are always with better solutions for protecting our environment. Oman’s economy is witnessing a rebound in growth since last year after experiencing a slowdown in previous years. Do you expect a strong pick up in air-conditioners demand and business due to improved economic outlook this year and next year?
Although we don’t expect a sudden surge in demand following the slowdown, given that the air conditioning solutions are not normally finalised at the early stage of mobilising of a project. However, we feel Oman with its dedicated and educated young population along with the very wise initiatives being undertaken by the government, offer the key ingredients for a stable and growing economy. As more customers become educated, they will start differentiating between traders in AC business and solution providers like us with similar capabilities. We feel there are opportunities for Muscat Electronics and the companies of the same standards to play their part in the growing economy.
Air conditioners market is highly competitive with many brands available in Oman. How do Daikin and Muscat Electronics ensure that you continue to remain competitive in the market?
Our strategy is to demonstrate the technological leadership of Daikin products to customers by continuous engagements and provide a new level of customer experience to all our end users. We are in the process of setting up a new ‘Daikin Solutions Plaza’ next to our Ruwi office, which will be an experience centre that makes Daikin technology and Muscat Electronics capabilities visible to all the visitors.
